大智度論 魔事品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · The Deeds of Māra
魔事品：須菩提問求佛道者云何生諸留難，佛歷數魔事——樂說辯不即生與卒起、書經受持時偃𠐻傲慢戲笑輕蔑、不得滋味便棄捨、未受記無名字便從會起去、捨根攀枝取聲聞經十番詰問、樂說不如法、著文字著無文字、十類異念、貪著利養、惡魔持諸餘深經；論主釋怨賊喻、四魔分科、逐條隨文，末以燒熱金丸、酥和毒收尾（經＋論）
前品說般若是珍寶聚、多有留難，說十方諸佛以佛眼護視書經之人——名字標出來了，相狀還沒有說。於是本品開卷，須菩提問：「云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難？」佛的答法出人意料——不說山精鬼魅，先說一件極平常的事：「樂說辯不即生，當知是菩薩魔事。」高座說法，辯才遲遲不來，聽者心壞，這就是魔事。可是接著又說：「樂說辯卒起，當知亦是菩薩魔事。」辯才洶湧而至，「自恣樂說，無有義理，如逸馬難制；又如大水暴漲，眾穢渾雜」——這也是魔事。遲也是魔，疾也是魔；一開卷就把讀者慣常的魔想拆了。此下逐相數過：書經時偃𠐻傲慢、戲笑亂心、輕笑不敬、各各不和合；讀誦時轉相形笑、共相輕蔑；乃至「我不得是經中滋味」便棄捨去，起一念，「念念却一劫」。
魔究竟是什麼？論主的回答從有為法的底部說起：「一切有為法各有增上。增上者共相違，相違即是怨賊。」水滅火，火消水，草木尚且相害，何況眾生——菩薩有大悲心，不與眾生作怨，而眾生與菩薩作怨；菩薩此身是有為法，本身就能作留難。「如是諸難事，佛總名為魔。」然後立起全品的綱：「魔有四種：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔。」魔，秦言能奪命者——不但奪身命，亦奪智慧命。四魔看似四個，論主隨即收回：「實是一魔，分別其義，故有四」；三魔不相遠離，有五眾則有煩惱，有煩惱則天魔得其便。魔不是外面來的一支軍隊，是有為之網自身的張力。所以佛說留難的用意也不在對抗：「佛不令行人毀害留難者，但令覺知，不隨其事。」魔事品不是驅魔的法，是覺知的法。
第二段經文轉到一個更隱微的失處：得深般若而棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經。佛連設七喻，喻喻詰問。譬如狗不從大家求食，反從作務者索；欲得見象，見已反觀其跡；欲見大海，見已反求牛跡水；工匠欲擬作釋提桓因勝殿，而揆則日月宮殿；欲見轉輪聖王，見而不識，反取小國王相貌，說「轉輪聖王與此何異」；飢人得百味食，反食六十日穀飯；得無價摩尼珠，反持比水精珠。每設一喻，佛必問：「是人為黠不？」須菩提每答：「為不黠。」十番詰問，十番不黠——同一件事問了十遍，因為這件事人正在做第十一遍。論主配其法：「狗喻行者，般若波羅蜜喻主人」；般若是三藏根本，餘經是為度眾生故說的枝葉，「捨其根而攀枝葉」，雖是木名而不中用。有人要問：三十七品、三解脫門，般若經中也有，憑什麼但名聲聞經？論答得乾淨：「摩訶衍中雖有是法，與畢竟空合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心，為一切眾生故說；聲聞經則不爾，為小乘證故。」法同而心異，心異而乘異。
魔事的名單越列越細，細到連「無」也不放過。般若波羅蜜無樂說相——不可思議相、不生不滅相、不垢不淨相、不亂不散相、無說相、無言無義相、無所得相，七相皆遮。須菩提問：那般若可書嗎？佛答：「不可書」，自性無故，「無法不能書無法」。然而作是念「無法是深般若波羅蜜」，當知即是魔事；以字著般若是魔事，著無文字般若亦是魔事。論主把這個雙遮說破：「畢竟空、無所有亦非般若波羅蜜相」——知無所有是般若相，即是魔事。兩頭都不許著，因為魔不揀有無，只認一個著字。最險的一著在品末：惡魔不必以惡相現，「惡魔方便持諸餘深經」與菩薩——聲聞深經真是深經，空、無相、無作、盡苦本，魔拿真東西來換你手裡更真的東西。「譬如燒熱金丸，色雖妙好，不可捉。」
全品收在一個喻上：「譬如人以酥和毒，毒勢則歇，不能害人。」同一個三解脫門，在聲聞經中如但服毒，在般若中如毒得酥——因為般若中廣說菩薩方便道，「觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故」。觀而不證，四個字是全品的出路：般若不拒二乘之法，唯不許二乘之證。所以魔事滿品而品意不怖——留難逐相數盡，正是要行者逐相認得；認得即覺知，覺知即不隨。「是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道」——這句收尾看似判教，其實是指路：於般若中求，無上道易得。
The preceding chapter said that prajñā is the heap of precious treasure and has many hindrances, and that the buddhas of the ten directions watch over with the Buddha-eye the person who copies the sūtra—the name was set out, but the marks were not yet told. So this chapter opens with Subhūti asking: ‘How do good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha give rise to hindrances?’ The Buddha's way of answering is unexpected—he speaks not of mountain sprites and ghosts but first of a most ordinary thing: ‘When the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’ On the high seat, expounding the Dharma, eloquence slow in coming, the hearers' minds spoiled—this is a deed of Māra. Yet he goes on to say: ‘When the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly, know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’ Eloquence surging up in a flood, ‘indulging in delight in speech with no meaning or principle, like a runaway horse hard to rein in; again like a great water in sudden spate, muddied with every kind of filth’—this too is a deed of Māra. Slow is Māra, quick is Māra; the chapter has hardly opened and the reader's accustomed idea of Māra is already taken apart. From here the marks are counted off one by one: when copying the sūtra, sprawling and haughty, jesting and laughing with a distracted mind, sneering without respect, each at odds with the others; when reading and reciting, mocking one another, despising one another; and even, ‘I do not find the savour in this sūtra’—and so one abandons it and goes away; with one thought arising, ‘thought by thought one is set back a kalpa’.
What, in the end, is Māra? The treatise-author's answer begins from the bottom of conditioned dharmas: ‘Every conditioned dharma has its dominant; the dominants oppose one another, and to oppose is to be an enemy and a thief.’ Water quenches fire, fire dries up water; even grass and trees injure one another—how much more beings. The bodhisattva has a mind of great compassion and does not make himself an enemy of beings, yet beings make themselves enemies of the bodhisattva; and the bodhisattva's own body is a conditioned dharma, and can itself make hindrances. ‘All such things of difficulty the Buddha names together as Māra.’ Then the framework of the whole chapter is set up: ‘Māra is of four kinds: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods.’ Māra, in the language of Qin, is ‘one who can seize life’—not only the life of the body but the life of wisdom too. The four Māras look like four, and the treatise-author at once gathers them back: ‘In reality it is one Māra; because its meaning is distinguished, there are four’; three of the Māras are never far from one another—where there are the five aggregates there are afflictions, and where there are afflictions the Māra of the heavens finds his opening. Māra is not an army come from outside; it is the tension within the net of the conditioned itself. And so the intent of the Buddha's speaking of hindrances is not opposition either: ‘The Buddha does not have the practitioner injure and harm what hinders him; he only has him be aware of it and not follow along with it.’ The chapter on the deeds of Māra is not a method for driving out Māra; it is a method of awareness.
The second passage of the sūtra turns to a more hidden place of loss: having obtained the deep prajñā, one abandons it and goes away, and takes up the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise. The Buddha sets up seven similes in a row, each a challenge. It is like a dog that does not seek food from the great household but instead begs it from the servant; like one who wishes to see an elephant and, having seen it, turns round to examine its footprints; like one who wishes to see the great sea and, having seen it, turns round to seek the water in an ox's hoofprint; like a craftsman who wishes to model the victorious palace of Śakra Devānām Indra and takes his measure instead from the palaces of the sun and moon; like one who wishes to see a wheel-turning sage king and, seeing him, does not recognise him, but takes instead the appearance of a petty king and says ‘how does the wheel-turning sage king differ from this?’; like a hungry man who obtains food of a hundred flavours and instead eats sixty-day grain; like one who obtains a priceless maṇi jewel and instead sets it beside a crystal bead. At each simile the Buddha must ask: ‘Is this person clever?’ And Subhūti answers each time: ‘Not clever.’ Ten challenges, ten times not clever—the same thing asked ten times over, because this is the thing people are doing for the eleventh time. The treatise-author matches it to the Dharma: ‘the dog is the practitioner, prajñāpāramitā is the master of the house’; prajñā is the root of the three baskets, and the other sūtras are branches and leaves spoken in order to deliver beings—‘abandoning the root to climb the branches and leaves’, though they bear the name of the tree, they are of no use. Someone will ask: the thirty-seven limbs and the three gates of liberation are in the prajñā sūtras too—on what ground are they called śrāvaka sūtras only? The treatise answers cleanly: ‘In the Mahāyāna, though these dharmas are present, they are joined with ultimate emptiness, the mind is attached to nothing, and, not abandoning sarvajñā and the mind of great compassion, they are spoken for the sake of all beings; the śrāvaka sūtras are not so, being for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle.’ The dharma is the same and the mind differs; the mind differs and the vehicle differs.
The list of the deeds of Māra grows ever finer, so fine that even ‘nothing’ is not let off. Prajñāpāramitā has no mark of delighting in speech—the mark of the inconceivable, the mark of neither arising nor ceasing, the mark of neither stained nor pure, the mark of neither disordered nor scattered, the mark of no speech, the mark of no words and no meaning, the mark of nothing to be attained: all seven marks are negated. Subhūti asks: then can prajñā be written? The Buddha answers: ‘It cannot be written’, because its self-nature is non-existent, and ‘a non-existent dharma cannot write a non-existent dharma’. Yet to think ‘the non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā’—know that this too is a deed of Māra; to attach to prajñā as letters is a deed of Māra, and to attach to a prajñā without letters is also a deed of Māra. The treatise-author states this double negation openly: ‘ultimate emptiness and non-existence are likewise not the mark of prajñāpāramitā’—to know non-existence as the mark of prajñā is itself a deed of Māra. Neither end may be attached to, because Māra does not sort existence from non-existence; he recognises only the one word ‘attachment’. The most dangerous move comes at the end of the chapter: the evil Māra need not appear in an evil form—‘the evil Māra, as a device, holds out other deep sūtras’ to the bodhisattva; the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas are truly deep sūtras—emptiness, the signless, non-action, the exhaustion of the root of suffering—and Māra takes the real thing to trade for the thing in your hand that is more real still. ‘It is like a ball of gold heated red-hot: though its colour is fine and beautiful, it cannot be grasped.’
The whole chapter is gathered up in one simile: ‘It is like a person who mixes poison with ghee: the force of the poison then subsides and cannot harm anyone.’ The same three gates of liberation, in the śrāvaka sūtras, are like taking poison alone; within prajñā they are like poison that has got ghee—because within prajñā the bodhisattva's path of skilful means is widely taught: ‘contemplating the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha and not realising it, practising the three gates of liberation with the mind of great compassion’. To contemplate and not realise—the four Chinese characters rendered here by these words are the way out of the whole chapter: prajñā does not refuse the dharmas of the two vehicles; it only does not permit the realisation of the two vehicles. Therefore the deeds of Māra fill the chapter and the intent of the chapter is not fear—the hindrances are counted out mark by mark precisely so that the practitioner may recognise them mark by mark; to recognise is to be aware, and to be aware is not to follow. ‘Therefore one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras’—this closing sentence looks like a judgement of the teachings, but in fact it points the way: seek it within prajñā, and the unsurpassed path is easily attained.
卷68 〔T25 0533a02〕
大智度論釋魔事品第四十六 聖者龍樹造 後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯 【經】 慧命須菩提白佛言：「世尊！是善男子、善女人發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，行六波羅蜜，成就眾生、淨佛世界，佛已讚歎說其功德。世尊！云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難？」 佛告須菩提：「樂說辯不即生，當知是菩薩魔事。」 須菩提言：「世尊！何因緣故，樂說辯不即生是菩薩魔事？」 佛言：「有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，難具足六波羅蜜。以是因緣故，樂說辯不即生是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！樂說辯卒起，當知亦是菩薩魔事。」 「世尊！何因緣故，樂說辯卒起復是魔事？」 佛言：「菩薩摩訶薩行檀波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜，著樂說法；以是因緣故，樂說辯卒起，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！書是般若波羅蜜經時，偃𠐻傲慢，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！書是經時，戲笑亂心，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！若書是經時，輕笑不敬，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！若書是經時，心亂不定，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！若書是經時，各各不和合，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！善男子、善女人作是念：『我不得是經中滋味。』便棄捨去，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！受持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦、說、若正憶念時，偃𠐻傲慢，當知是菩薩魔事。〔T25 0533b〕復次，須菩提！若受持般若波羅蜜經，親近、正憶念時，轉相形笑，當知是菩薩魔事。復次，須菩提！若受持般若波羅蜜經，讀、誦、正憶念、修行時，共相輕蔑，當知是菩薩魔事。若受持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦乃至正憶念時，散亂心，當知是菩薩魔事。若受持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦乃至正憶念時，心不和合，當知是菩薩魔事。」 須菩提白佛言：「世尊！世尊說：『善男子、善女人作是念：「我不得經中滋味。」便棄捨去，當知是菩薩魔事。』世尊！何因緣故，菩薩不得經中滋味，便棄捨去？」 佛言：「是菩薩摩訶薩前世不久行般若波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜，是人聞說是般若波羅蜜，便從坐起，作是念言：『我於般若波羅蜜中無記。』心不清淨，便從坐起去，當知是菩薩魔事。」 須菩提白佛言：「世尊！何因緣故不與受記，聞說是深般若波羅蜜時，便從坐起去？」 佛告須菩提：「若菩薩未入法位中，諸佛不與受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記。復次，須菩提！聞說般若波羅蜜時，菩薩作是念：『我是中無名字。』心不清淨，當知是菩薩魔事。」 須菩提言：「何因緣故，是深般若波羅蜜中，不說是菩薩名字？」 佛言：「未受記菩薩，諸佛不說名字。復次，須菩提！是菩薩摩訶薩作是念：『是般若波羅蜜中，無我生處名字，若聚落、城邑。』是人不欲聽聞般若波羅蜜，便從會中起去。是人如所起念時，念念却一劫，甫當更勤精進求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 〔T25 0533c〕 【論】 釋曰： 一切有為法各有增上。增上者共相違，相違即是怨賊。如水得增上力滅火，火得增上力則消水，乃至草木各有相害，何況眾生！菩薩摩訶薩有大悲心，雖不與眾生作怨，而眾生與菩薩作怨；菩薩身，有為法故，能作留難。 佛上說菩薩功德，所謂諸佛、菩薩、諸天所護，而未說怨賊相。以佛憐愍故，先雖略說；今須菩提請，佛廣說留難事。佛雖於一切眾生、一切法心平等，以是菩薩能大利益世間故，說好醜相及利害相、是道非道、留難事。佛不令行人毀害留難者，但令覺知，不隨其事。 何者是怨賊？略說若眾生法、非眾生法，能沮壞菩薩無上道心。非眾生者，若疾病、飢渴、寒熱、槌壓、墜落等。眾生者，魔及魔民、惡鬼、邪疑不信者、斷善根者、定有所得者、實定分別諸法者、深著世間樂者、怨賊、官事、師子、虎、狼、惡獸、毒蟲等。眾生賊有二種：若內、若外。內者，自從心生，憂愁不得法味，生邪見、疑悔、不信等；外者，如上說。 如是諸難事，佛總名為魔。 魔有四種：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔。 煩惱魔者，所謂百八煩惱等，分別八萬四千諸煩惱。 五眾魔者，是煩惱業和合因緣，得是身：四大及四大造色，眼根等色是名色眾；百八煩惱等諸受和合，名為受眾；小、大、無量、無所有想，分別和合，名為想眾；因好醜心發，能起貪欲、瞋恚等心相應、不相應法，名〔T25 0534a〕為行眾；六情、六塵和合，故生六識，是六識分別，和合無量無邊心，是名識眾。 死魔者，無常因緣故，破相續五眾壽命，盡離三法——識、斷、壽故，名為死魔。 天子魔者，欲界主，深著世間樂，用有所得故生邪見，憎嫉一切賢聖涅槃道法，是名天子魔。 魔，秦言能奪命者。雖死魔實能奪命，餘者亦能作奪命因緣，亦奪智慧命，是故名殺者。 問曰： 一五眾魔攝三種魔，何以故別說四？ 答曰： 實是一魔，分別其義，故有四。煩惱魔者，人因貪欲、瞋恚故死，亦能作奪命因緣，是近奪命因緣故別說。天子魔，雜福德業因緣故，力勢大，邪見力故，能奪慧命，亦能作死因緣，是故別說。無常死力大，一切無能免者，甚可畏厭故別說。 問曰： 是魔何以惱亂行道者？ 答曰： 先已廣說。是品中皆有四種魔義，但隨處說。復次，三魔不相遠離：若有五眾，則有煩惱；有煩惱，則天魔得其便；五眾、煩惱和合故有天魔。 是故須菩提問佛：「上已讚歎說菩薩功德，今云何是菩薩魔事起？」 佛答：「樂說辯不即生，是為魔事」者，若菩薩摩訶薩憐愍眾生故，高座說法，而樂說辯不生。聽者憂愁：「我等故來，而法師不說。」或作是念：「法師怖畏故不能說。」或言：「不知故不說。」或自惟過咎深重故不說，或謂不得供養故不肯說，或謂輕賤我等故不說，或串樂故不說。如是等種種因緣，聽者心壞，故以不樂說名為魔事。 復次，是菩薩憐愍眾生故來欲說法，聽者欲聞，而法師心生欲說，〔T25 0534b〕而口不能言。現見是魔事，如魔入阿難心，佛三問而三不答，久乃說者。 此中須菩提問世尊：「何因緣故辯不即生？」 佛答：「菩薩行六波羅蜜時，難具足六波羅蜜。」所以者何？是人先世因緣故，鈍根、懈怠，魔得其便；不一心行六波羅蜜故，樂說辯不即生。 問曰： 如樂說辯不即生，可是魔事；今樂說辯卒起，何以復是魔事？ 答曰： 是法師愛法、著法，求名聲故，自恣樂說，無有義理，如逸馬難制；又如大水暴漲，眾穢渾雜。是故此中佛自說：「菩薩行六波羅蜜，著樂說法，是為魔事。」 復次，是般若波羅蜜為破憍慢故出；而書是經者生我心、憍慢心；憍慢故身亦高，所謂偃𠐻傲慢。書是般若波羅蜜時，用輕心、瞋心、戲笑、不敬。 復次，是般若波羅蜜，若一心、攝心，猶尚難得，何況散亂心書！書時從人口受、或寫經卷，若一心和合則得；若授者不與，如是等種種因緣，是不和合。 復次，觀看是般若波羅蜜經時，品品皆空，無可樂處，作是念：「我於是經不得滋味！」便棄捨去。般若波羅蜜是一切諸樂根本，此人不得其味，是為魔事。 復次，受持、讀、誦、說、正憶念時，偃𠐻、形笑、散亂心、不和合，如上說。「共相輕蔑」者，從人受持、讀、誦、正憶念時，師徒互相輕賤。書寫經時，但有捨去，無相輕賤。 問曰： 上諸事中，何以但問「不得經中滋味」，不問餘者？ 答曰： 般若波羅蜜，聖人所說與凡人說異，是故凡夫人不得滋味。 須菩提意謂：「般若波羅蜜是清淨珍寶聚，能利益眾〔T25 0534c〕生，無有過惡，是人云何不得滋味？」 佛答：「是人先世不久行六波羅蜜故，菩薩信等五根薄；薄故，不能信空、無相、無作、無依止法，嬈亂心起，作是言：『佛一切智，何以不與我受記？』便捨去。」 餘者易解，故不問。 須菩提問：「若爾者，何以故不與授記？」佛是大悲，應當愍念，防護其心，不令墮惡！ 佛言：「未入法位人，諸佛不與授記。」所以者何？諸佛雖悉知眾生久遠事，為五通仙人及諸天見是人未有善行業因緣可授記者，若為授記，輕佛不信：「無有因緣，云何與授記？」是故入法位者，與授記。 是人名字及聚落處，亦如是。 是人從坐起去，隨其起念多少，念念却一劫；償罪畢，還得人身，甫當復爾所劫行。 【經】 「復次，須菩提！菩薩學餘經，棄捨般若波羅蜜，終不能至薩婆若。善男子、善女人為捨其根而攀枝葉，當知亦是菩薩魔事。」 須菩提白佛言：「世尊！何等是餘經，善男子、善女人所學，不能至薩婆若？」 佛言：「是聲聞所應行經，所謂四念處、四正勤，四如意足、五根、五力、七覺分、八聖道分，空、無相、無作解脫門。善男子、善女人住是中，得須陀洹果、斯陀含果、阿那含果、阿羅漢果，是名聲聞所行經，不能至薩婆若。如是，善男子、善女人捨般若波羅蜜，親近是餘經。何以故？須菩提！般若波羅蜜中，出生諸菩薩摩訶薩，成就世間、出世間法。須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩學般若波羅蜜時，亦學世間、出世間法。須菩提！譬如狗不〔T25 0535a〕從大家求食，反從作務者索。如是，須菩提！當來世有善男子、善女人棄捨深般若波羅蜜而攀枝葉，聲聞、辟支佛所應行經，當知是為菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如有人欲得見象，見已，反觀其跡。須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為黠不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 佛言：「諸求佛道善男子、善女人亦復如是，得深般若波羅蜜棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經。須菩提！當知是為菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如人欲見大海，見已，反求牛跡水。作是念：『大海水能與此等不？』須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為黠不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 佛言：「當來世有求佛道善男子、善女人亦如是，得深般若波羅蜜，棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經，當知是亦菩薩摩訶薩魔事。須菩提！譬如工匠、若工匠弟子欲擬作釋提桓因勝殿，而揆則日月宮殿。須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為黠不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 「如是，須菩提！當來世有薄福德善男子、善女人求佛道者，得是深般若波羅蜜棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經中求薩婆若。須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為𭶑不？」 須菩提言：「為不𭶑。」 佛言：「當知亦是菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如有人欲見轉輪聖王，見而不識，後見諸小國王，取其相貌，作如是言：『轉輪聖王與此何異？』須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為𭶑不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 「須菩提！當來世有薄福德善男子、善女人求佛道者得是深般若波羅蜜，棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經，持求薩婆若。須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為𭶑不？」 須〔T25 0535b〕菩提言：「為不黠。」 「當知是為菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如飢人得百味食，棄捨去，反食六十日穀飯。須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為黠不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 佛言：「當來世有求佛道善男子、善女人得聞深般若波羅蜜，棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經，持求薩婆若，於汝意云何？是人為黠不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 「當知是亦菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如人得無價摩尼珠，反持比水精珠。須菩提！於汝意云何？是人為黠不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 佛言：「當來世有求佛道善男子、善女人得聞深般若波羅蜜，棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經，持求薩婆若，是人為黠不？」 須菩提言：「為不黠。」 「當知是亦菩薩魔事。 「復次，須菩提！是求佛道善男子、善女人書是深般若波羅蜜時，樂說不如法事，不得書成般若波羅蜜。所謂樂說色、聲、香、味、觸、法，樂說持戒、禪定、無色定，樂說檀波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜，樂說四念處乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。何以故？須菩提！是般若波羅蜜中無樂說相。須菩提！般若波羅蜜不可思議相，般若波羅蜜不生不滅相，般若波羅蜜不垢不淨相，般若波羅蜜不亂不散相，般若波羅蜜無說相，般若波羅蜜無言無義相，般若波羅蜜無所得相。何以故？須菩提！是般若波羅蜜中，無是諸相。須菩提！若有善男子、善女人求菩薩道者書是般若波羅蜜經時，以是諸法散亂心，當知是亦菩薩魔事。」 須菩提白佛言：「世尊！是般若波羅蜜可書耶？」 佛言：「不可書。何以故？般若波羅蜜自性〔T25 0535c〕無故，禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜，乃至一切種智自性無故；若自性無，是不名為性，無法不能書無法。須菩提！若求菩薩道善男子、善女人作是念：『無法是深般若波羅蜜。』當知即是菩薩魔事。」 「世尊！是求菩薩道善男子、善女人用文字書般若波羅蜜，自念：『我書是般若波羅蜜。』以字著般若波羅蜜，當知亦是菩薩魔事。何以故？世尊！是般若波羅蜜無文字，禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜無有文字。世尊！色無文字，受、想、行、識無文字，乃至一切種智無文字。世尊！若求菩薩道善男子、善女人著無文字般若波羅蜜，乃至著無文字一切種智，當知亦是菩薩魔事。讀、誦、說、正憶念、如說修行，亦如是。」 「復次，須菩提！求佛道善男子、善女人，書般若波羅蜜時，若國土念起、聚落念起、城邑念起、方念起，若聞謗毀其師念起，若念父母及兄弟姊妹諸餘親里、若念賊、若念旃陀羅、若念眾女、若念婬女，如是等種種諸餘異念留難；惡魔復益其念，破壞書般若波羅蜜，破壞讀、誦、說、正憶念、如說修行。須菩提！當知是亦菩薩魔事。 「復次，須菩提！求佛道善男子、善女人得名譽、恭敬、布施、供養，所謂衣服、飲食、臥床、疾藥、種種樂具，善男子、善女人書是般若波羅蜜經，受、讀、誦乃至正憶念時，愛著是事，不得書成般若波羅蜜，乃至正憶念，當知是亦菩薩魔事。 「復次，須菩提！求佛道善男子、善女人書般若波羅蜜〔T25 0536a〕乃至如說修行時，惡魔方便持諸餘深經與是菩薩摩訶薩；有方便者，不應貪著惡魔所與諸餘深經。何以故？是經不能令人至薩婆若故。是中無方便菩薩摩訶薩聞是諸餘深經，便捨深般若波羅蜜。須菩提！我是般若波羅蜜中，廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道；諸菩薩摩訶薩應當從是中求。須菩提！今善男子、善女人求菩薩道，捨是深般若波羅蜜，於魔所與聲聞、辟支佛深經中求方便道，當知亦是菩薩魔事。」 【論】 釋曰： 學餘經，捨般若波羅蜜等，有人於聲聞法中受戒學法，初不聞般若波羅蜜；或時餘處聞，深著先所學法，捨於般若波羅蜜，於先所學法中求薩婆若。有聲聞弟子先得般若波羅蜜，不知義趣、不得滋味，以聲聞經行菩薩道。有人是聲聞弟子，得般若波羅蜜經，欲信受；餘聲聞人沮壞其心，語言：「是經初後不相應，無有定相，汝宜捨之！聲聞法中，何所不有？六足阿毘曇及其論議分別諸法相，即是般若波羅蜜；八十部律，即是尸羅波羅蜜；阿毘曇中，分別諸禪、解脫、諸三昧等，是禪波羅蜜；三藏本生中，讚歎解脫，布施、忍辱、精進，即是三波羅蜜。」如是等種種因緣，捨般若波羅蜜，於聲聞經中求薩婆若。如人欲得堅實好木，捨其根莖而取枝葉，雖是木名而不中用。 復次，般若波羅蜜是三藏根本；得般若波羅蜜已，為度眾生故說餘事，是名「枝葉」。 復次，聲聞經中雖說諸法實相，而不了了；〔T25 0536b〕般若波羅蜜經中，分明顯現，易見易得。如人攀緣枝葉則墮落，若捉莖幹則堅固。若執聲聞經，則墮小乘中；若持般若波羅蜜，易得無上道。是故說：「捨根莖，取枝葉。」 問曰： 三十七品、三解脫門，《般若經》中亦有，今何以故但名聲聞、辟支佛經？ 答曰： 摩訶衍中雖有是法，與畢竟空合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心，為一切眾生故說；聲聞經則不爾，為小乘證故。 復次，菩薩行般若波羅蜜故，能成就世間、出世間法；是故菩薩若求佛，應當學般若波羅蜜。譬如狗為主守備，應當從主索食，而反於奴、客求；菩薩亦如是。狗喻行者，般若波羅蜜喻主人。般若中有種種利益，而捨求餘經。佛欲令分明易見，故說譬喻。象、大海、帝釋殿、轉輪聖王、無價寶亦如是。 問曰： 五欲生五蓋，以五蓋覆智慧故，不應樂說；何以故樂說餘六波羅蜜，乃至無上道，而言不如法？ 答曰： 「不如法」者，不如般若波羅蜜實相。般若波羅蜜實相中無定相法，云何可樂說？若有定相，則心著樂說。諸佛及菩薩以大悲心故為眾生說法，不著語言；用無所得法，示眾生畢竟空相般若波羅蜜。是人書、讀、誦等，以染著心取六塵相乃至無上道，故言不如法。 問曰： 若般若波羅蜜畢竟空，無所有法，不可書、讀、誦等；如是，則不應有魔事？ 答曰： 畢竟空、無所有亦非般若波羅蜜相，何以故是魔事？此中說：若是人知無所有是般若波羅蜜相，即是魔事。若用文字書般若波〔T25 0536c〕羅蜜，自知：「我書般若波羅蜜。」有此著心，即是魔事。若人知般若波羅蜜相，不以著心書、讀、誦等；若有來破者，是為破般若波羅蜜。 復次，內有煩惱魔、外有天子魔，是二事因緣故，書般若波羅蜜乃至修行時，壞般若波羅蜜。念起者，所謂念此國土不安穩，彼國土豐樂；聚落、城邑、方，亦如是。 或聞謗毀其師，捨般若波羅蜜，欲助師除滅惡名；或聞父母疾病、官事；或念賊恐怖，欲發心詣餘處；旃陀羅亦如是。與賊、旃陀羅共住，則發瞋恚；與眾婬女共住故，婬欲心發。如是等種種因緣，破壞般若波羅蜜；菩薩覺知，當莫念、莫說。 或書般若波羅蜜時，鈍根者於多恭敬、供養事中愛著，自念：「我能書、能隨行故有是。」著是利養，即是魔事。 或有利根者，魔或思惟：「是菩薩不著世間樂，一心受般若波羅蜜，此人不可沮壞，我今當以聲聞深經轉其心，使成阿羅漢。」 佛言：「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著。」譬如燒熱金丸，色雖妙好，不可捉。若菩薩無方便、不大利根，得是經歡喜，是空、無相、無作，盡苦本，何復過是！便捨般若波羅蜜，亦是魔事。 何以故？此中佛說因緣：「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故。」譬如人以酥和毒，毒勢則歇，不能害人。般若亦如是，菩薩於般若中求無上道易得；於餘經則難，如但服毒。是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道。
《大智度論》卷68 · T25n1509 0533a02–0537a01
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.
本品題為《大智度論》釋〈魔事品〉第四十六，聖者龍樹所造，後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什所譯，在卷六十八。
經①：留難之問——樂說辯不生與卒起、書經受持諸相、不得滋味便棄捨、未受記無名字
慧命須菩提向佛稟白：『世尊！這些善男子、善女人發了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，行六波羅蜜，成就眾生、清淨佛世界，佛已經讚歎、宣說了他們的功德。世尊！為什麼善男子、善女人求佛道時，會生出種種留難？』
佛告訴須菩提：『樂說的辯才不能即時生起，當知這是菩薩的魔事。』
須菩提說：『世尊！由於什麼因緣，樂說的辯才不即時生起是菩薩的魔事？』
佛說：『有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，難以具足六波羅蜜。因為這個因緣，樂說的辯才不即時生起，是菩薩的魔事。再者，須菩提！樂說的辯才突然勃起，當知也是菩薩的魔事。』
『世尊！由於什麼因緣，樂說的辯才突然勃起又是魔事？』
佛說：『菩薩摩訶薩行檀波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜時，貪著於樂說法；因為這個因緣，樂說的辯才突然勃起，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！書寫這般若波羅蜜經時，身體偃仰倨傲、心懷憍慢，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！書寫這部經時，嬉戲談笑、心思散亂，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！若書寫這部經時，輕慢譏笑、不生恭敬，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！若書寫這部經時，心亂不定，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！若書寫這部經時，彼此各各不相和合，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！善男子、善女人心裡這樣想：「我不得是經中滋味。」便棄捨離去，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！受持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦、演說、或正憶念時，偃仰倨傲、心懷憍慢，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！若受持般若波羅蜜經，親近、正憶念時，轉過來互相譏笑對方的形貌，當知是菩薩魔事。再者，須菩提！若受持般若波羅蜜經，讀、誦、正憶念、修行時，互相輕蔑，當知是菩薩魔事。若受持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦乃至正憶念時，心思散亂，當知是菩薩魔事。若受持般若波羅蜜，讀、誦乃至正憶念時，心不和合，當知是菩薩魔事。』
須菩提向佛稟白：『世尊！世尊說過：「善男子、善女人作是念：「我不得經中滋味。」便棄捨去，當知是菩薩魔事。」世尊！由於什麼因緣，菩薩得不到經中的滋味，便棄捨離去？』
佛說：『這位菩薩摩訶薩前世修行般若波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜的時間不久，這人聽人宣說這般若波羅蜜，便從座位起身，心裡這樣想：「我於般若波羅蜜中無記。」心不清淨，便從座位起身離去，當知是菩薩魔事。』
須菩提向佛稟白：『世尊！由於什麼因緣不給與受記，令他聽說這深般若波羅蜜時，便從座位起身離去？』
佛告訴須菩提：『若菩薩尚未進入法位之中，諸佛不給與受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記。再者，須菩提！聽人宣說般若波羅蜜時，菩薩心裡這樣想：「我是中無名字。」心不清淨，當知是菩薩魔事。』
須菩提說：『由於什麼因緣，這深般若波羅蜜中，不說這位菩薩的名字？』
佛說：『尚未受記的菩薩，諸佛不說他的名字。再者，須菩提！這位菩薩摩訶薩心裡這樣想：「是般若波羅蜜中，無我生處名字，若聚落、城邑。」這人不想聽聞般若波羅蜜，便從法會之中起身離去。這人隨著他所起的念頭，起念之時，一念一念各倒退一劫，才又應當更加勤勉精進，去求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。』
論①：怨賊喻、四魔分科、隨文釋辯不生乃至念念却劫
論主解釋說：
一切有為之法各有增上之力。增上之力彼此相違，相違就是怨賊。如水得了增上之力便熄滅火，火得了增上之力便消耗水，乃至草木也各有相害之處，何況眾生！菩薩摩訶薩有大悲心，雖然不與眾生結怨，眾生卻與菩薩作怨；菩薩之身是有為法的緣故，怨賊能對他作出留難。
佛在前面說菩薩的功德，就是為諸佛、菩薩、諸天所護念，卻還未說怨賊之相。因為佛憐愍的緣故，先前雖然只是略說；如今須菩提啟請，佛便廣說留難之事。佛雖然對一切眾生、一切法心行平等，但因為菩薩能大大利益世間的緣故，為他說好相醜相、利相害相、是道非道、留難之事。佛不是要行道人去毀害作留難的人，只是要他覺察知道，不隨順其事。
什麼是怨賊？略說：無論是眾生之法、非眾生之法，凡能沮壞菩薩無上道心的都是。非眾生的，如疾病、飢渴、寒熱、槌打擠壓、墜落等。眾生的，如魔及魔民、惡鬼、心懷邪疑而不信的人、斷善根的人、執定有所得的人、實在地決定分別諸法的人、深深貪著世間快樂的人、怨賊、官府之事、師子、虎、狼、惡獸、毒蟲等。眾生賊有兩種：或內、或外。內的，是從自心生起，憂愁而得不到法味，生起邪見、疑悔、不信等；外的，如上面所說。
像這樣的種種難事，佛總稱為魔。
魔有四種：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔。
煩惱魔，就是一百零八煩惱等，分別開來為八萬四千諸煩惱。
五眾魔，是煩惱與業和合的因緣而得了這個身：四大及四大所造的色，眼根等色，名為色眾；一百零八煩惱等諸受和合，名為受眾；小想、大想、無量想、無所有想，分別和合，名為想眾；因著對好醜的心念發動，能生起貪欲、瞋恚等心相應、心不相應之法，名為行眾；六情與六塵和合，因此生起六識，這六識加以分別，和合成無量無邊的心，名為識眾。
死魔，是以無常為因緣，破壞相續五眾的壽命，窮盡而離於三法——識、斷、壽——的緣故，名為死魔。
天子魔，是欲界之主，深深貪著世間快樂，以有所得的心故而生邪見，憎恨嫉妒一切賢聖與涅槃道法，名為天子魔。
魔，秦地之言是「能奪命者」。雖然只有死魔實際能奪命，其餘的也能作奪命的因緣，也能奪智慧之命，所以名為殺者。
有人問：單一個五眾魔就已收攝其他三種魔，為什麼還分別說四種？
回答說：實際上是一個魔，只是分別它的義理，所以有四種。煩惱魔，人因貪欲、瞋恚而死，也能作奪命的因緣，是接近奪命的因緣，所以另外說。天子魔，夾雜福德之業的因緣，勢力強大，以邪見之力，能奪慧命，也能作死的因緣，所以另外說。無常之死力量大，一切人無能倖免，非常可畏可厭，所以另外說。
有人問：魔為什麼要惱亂行道的人？
回答說：先前已經廣說。這一品之中處處都有四種魔的義理，只是隨處而說。再者，三種魔互不相離：若有五眾，就有煩惱；有了煩惱，天魔就得其方便；五眾與煩惱和合，所以有天魔。
所以須菩提問佛：「上已讚歎說菩薩功德，今云何是菩薩魔事起？」
佛回答「樂說辯不即生，是為魔事」的意思是：若菩薩摩訶薩因憐愍眾生的緣故，登上高座說法，而樂說的辯才不生起。聽的人憂愁：「我等故來，而法師不說。」或者這樣想：「法師怖畏故不能說。」或者說：「不知故不說。」或者以為他自省過咎深重才不說，或者以為得不到供養才不肯說，或者以為輕賤我們才不說，或者以為慣習安樂才不說。像這樣種種因緣，聽者的心便壞了，所以把不樂說名為魔事。
再者，這位菩薩因憐愍眾生的緣故前來想要說法，聽者想聽，法師心裡也生起想說之意，口中卻說不出話來。這是現前可見的魔事，如同魔進入阿難心中，佛三次發問而阿難三次不能回答，過了很久才說出來。
此中須菩提問世尊：「何因緣故辯不即生？」
佛回答：「菩薩行六波羅蜜時，難具足六波羅蜜。」為什麼呢？這人由於先世的因緣，根機遲鈍、懈怠，魔得其方便；不能一心行六波羅蜜，所以樂說的辯才不即時生起。
有人問：樂說的辯才不即時生起，可以說是魔事；如今樂說的辯才突然勃起，為什麼又是魔事？
回答說：這位法師愛法、著法，貪求名聲，於是放縱自恣地樂說，說得毫無義理，如同奔逸的馬難以控制；又如大水暴漲，眾多污穢混雜其中。所以此中佛親自說：「菩薩行六波羅蜜，著樂說法，是為魔事。」
再者，這般若波羅蜜是為破除憍慢而出現於世；而書寫這部經的人卻生起我心、憍慢心；因憍慢故連身體也高抬起來，就是所謂「偃𠐻傲慢」。書寫這般若波羅蜜時，用輕慢心、瞋恚心、嬉戲談笑、不恭敬。
再者，這般若波羅蜜，即使一心、攝心，尚且難得，何況以散亂之心書寫！書寫時或從人口中領受、或抄寫經卷，若一心和合便能得成；若傳授的人不肯給與，像這樣種種因緣，就是不和合。
再者，觀看這般若波羅蜜經時，見品品都說空，沒有可愛樂之處，便這樣想：「我於是經不得滋味！」便棄捨離去。般若波羅蜜是一切諸樂的根本，這人得不到它的滋味，是為魔事。
再者，受持、讀、誦、演說、正憶念時的偃仰倨傲、譏笑形貌、散亂心、不和合，如上面所說。「共相輕蔑」，是從人受持、讀、誦、正憶念時，師徒互相輕賤。書寫經卷時，只有捨去，沒有互相輕賤。
有人問：上面諸事之中，為什麼只問「不得經中滋味」，不問其餘的？
回答說：般若波羅蜜，聖人所說的與凡人所說的不同，所以凡夫人得不到滋味。
須菩提心裡以為：「般若波羅蜜是清淨珍寶聚，能利益眾生，無有過惡，是人云何不得滋味？」
佛回答：『這人先世修行六波羅蜜的時間不久，作為菩薩，信等五根薄弱；因為薄弱，不能信受空、無相、無作、無依止之法，擾亂之心生起，說出這樣的話：「佛一切智，何以不與我受記？」便捨離而去。』
其餘的容易理解，所以不問。
須菩提問：「若爾者，何以故不與授記？」佛是大悲，應當憐愍護念，防護他的心，不令他墮於惡趣才是！
佛說：「未入法位人，諸佛不與授記。」為什麼呢？諸佛雖然完全知道眾生久遠之事，但因五通仙人及諸天見這人尚未有可以授記的善行業因緣，若給他授記，他們會輕視佛而不信：「無有因緣，云何與授記？」所以是對入了法位的人，才給與授記。
這人的名字及聚落住處，也是如此。
這人從座位起身離去，隨他起念多少，一念一念各倒退一劫；償罪完畢，重新得到人身，才又應當再修行那麼多劫。
經②：捨根攀枝取聲聞經十番詰問、樂說不如法、般若不可書、十類異念、貪著利養、惡魔持諸餘深經
『再者，須菩提！菩薩學習其餘的經，棄捨般若波羅蜜，終究不能到達薩婆若。善男子、善女人這是捨棄樹根而攀取枝葉，當知也是菩薩魔事。』
須菩提向佛稟白：『世尊！哪些是其餘的經，善男子、善女人學了它，不能到達薩婆若？』
佛說：『就是聲聞人所應修行的經，即四念處、四正勤、四如意足、五根、五力、七覺分、八聖道分，空、無相、無作解脫門。善男子、善女人住在這裡面，得須陀洹果、斯陀含果、阿那含果、阿羅漢果，這名為聲聞所行之經，不能到達薩婆若。像這樣，善男子、善女人捨棄般若波羅蜜，去親近這些其餘的經。為什麼呢？須菩提！般若波羅蜜中，出生諸菩薩摩訶薩，成就世間、出世間之法。須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩學般若波羅蜜時，也就學了世間、出世間之法。須菩提！譬如狗不向主人家求食，反而向做工的僕役索取。像這樣，須菩提！當來之世會有善男子、善女人，棄捨深般若波羅蜜而攀取枝葉——聲聞、辟支佛所應行的經，當知這是菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如有人想要見象，見到了，反而回頭去觀察象的腳印。須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
佛說：『諸求佛道的善男子、善女人也是這樣，得了深般若波羅蜜卻棄捨而去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行的經。須菩提！當知這是菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如有人想看大海，見到了，反而去尋求牛蹄印裡的水，這樣想：「大海水能與此等不？」須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
佛說：『當來之世有求佛道的善男子、善女人也是如此，得了深般若波羅蜜，棄捨而去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行的經，當知這也是菩薩摩訶薩的魔事。須菩提！譬如工匠、或工匠的弟子，想要仿造釋提桓因的勝殿，卻去測量日月宮殿。須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
『像這樣，須菩提！當來之世有薄福德的善男子、善女人求佛道的，得了這深般若波羅蜜卻棄捨而去，到聲聞、辟支佛所應行的經中去求薩婆若。須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
佛說：『當知也是菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如有人想見轉輪聖王，見了卻不認識，後來見到諸小國王，取他們的相貌，說這樣的話：「轉輪聖王與此何異？」須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
『須菩提！當來之世有薄福德的善男子、善女人求佛道的，得了這深般若波羅蜜，棄捨而去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行的經，拿它來求薩婆若。須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
『當知這是菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如飢餓的人得到百味的美食，棄捨而去，反而去吃六十日的穀飯。須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
佛說：『當來之世有求佛道的善男子、善女人，得聞深般若波羅蜜，棄捨而去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行的經，拿它來求薩婆若。你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
『當知這也是菩薩魔事。須菩提！譬如有人得了無價的摩尼寶珠，反而拿它去與水精珠相比。須菩提！你意下如何？這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
佛說：『當來之世有求佛道的善男子、善女人，得聞深般若波羅蜜，棄捨而去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行的經，拿它來求薩婆若，這人算聰明嗎？』
須菩提說：『不算聰明。』
『當知這也是菩薩魔事。
『再者，須菩提！這求佛道的善男子、善女人，書寫這深般若波羅蜜時，樂說不如法之事，便不能書寫成就般若波羅蜜。所謂樂說色、聲、香、味、觸、法，樂說持戒、禪定、無色定，樂說檀波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜，樂說四念處乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。為什麼呢？須菩提！這般若波羅蜜中沒有樂說之相。須菩提！般若波羅蜜是不可思議相，般若波羅蜜是不生不滅相，般若波羅蜜是不垢不淨相，般若波羅蜜是不亂不散相，般若波羅蜜是無說相，般若波羅蜜是無言無義相，般若波羅蜜是無所得相。為什麼呢？須菩提！這般若波羅蜜中，沒有這些諸相。須菩提！若有善男子、善女人求菩薩道的，書寫這般若波羅蜜經時，以這些法散亂其心，當知這也是菩薩魔事。』
須菩提向佛稟白：『世尊！這般若波羅蜜可以書寫嗎？』
佛說：『不可書寫。為什麼呢？般若波羅蜜自性無的緣故，禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜，乃至一切種智自性無的緣故；若自性是無，那就不名為性，無法不能書寫無法。須菩提！若求菩薩道的善男子、善女人心裡這樣想：「無法是深般若波羅蜜。」當知這就是菩薩魔事。』
『世尊！這求菩薩道的善男子、善女人用文字書寫般若波羅蜜，自己想著：「我書是般若波羅蜜。」以文字執著般若波羅蜜，當知也是菩薩魔事。為什麼呢？世尊！這般若波羅蜜沒有文字，禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜沒有文字。世尊！色沒有文字，受、想、行、識沒有文字，乃至一切種智沒有文字。世尊！若求菩薩道的善男子、善女人執著無文字的般若波羅蜜，乃至執著無文字的一切種智，當知也是菩薩魔事。讀、誦、演說、正憶念、如說修行，也是如此。』
『再者，須菩提！求佛道的善男子、善女人，書寫般若波羅蜜時，若國土的念頭生起、聚落的念頭生起、城邑的念頭生起、方所的念頭生起，若聽到有人謗毀其師而念頭生起，若念及父母及兄弟姊妹諸餘親里、若念及賊、若念及旃陀羅、若念及眾女、若念及婬女，像這樣種種其餘的異念作留難；惡魔又增益他的念頭，破壞書寫般若波羅蜜，破壞讀、誦、演說、正憶念、如說修行。須菩提！當知這也是菩薩魔事。
『再者，須菩提！求佛道的善男子、善女人得到名譽、恭敬、布施、供養，就是衣服、飲食、臥床、疾病醫藥、種種娛樂之具，善男子、善女人書寫這般若波羅蜜經，受持、讀、誦乃至正憶念時，愛著這些事，便不能書寫成就般若波羅蜜，乃至不能成就正憶念，當知這也是菩薩魔事。
『再者，須菩提！求佛道的善男子、善女人書寫般若波羅蜜乃至如說修行時，惡魔以方便手段拿其餘諸部深經給這位菩薩摩訶薩；有方便力的人，不應貪著惡魔所給的其餘諸深經。為什麼呢？因為這些經不能令人到達薩婆若。此中沒有方便力的菩薩摩訶薩，聽了這些其餘的深經，便捨棄深般若波羅蜜。須菩提！我在這般若波羅蜜中，廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩的方便之道；諸菩薩摩訶薩應當從這裡面尋求。須菩提！如今善男子、善女人求菩薩道，捨棄這深般若波羅蜜，到魔所給與的聲聞、辟支佛深經之中去求方便道，當知也是菩薩魔事。』
論②：根莖枝葉喻、同法異心、狗喻總攝、不如法訓釋、著空亦魔、內外二魔、燒熱金丸、酥和毒
論主解釋說：
「學餘經，捨般若波羅蜜」等：有人在聲聞法中受戒、學法，起初不曾聽聞般若波羅蜜；或者後來在別處聽到了，卻深深執著先前所學之法，捨棄般若波羅蜜，在先前所學之法中求薩婆若。有聲聞弟子先得了般若波羅蜜，卻不了解它的義趣、得不到滋味，以聲聞經來行菩薩道。有人是聲聞弟子，得了般若波羅蜜經，想要信受；其餘的聲聞人沮壞他的心，對他說：『這部經前後不相應，沒有決定之相，你應該捨了它！聲聞法中，什麼沒有呢？六足阿毘曇及它的論議分別諸法之相，就是般若波羅蜜；八十部律，就是尸羅波羅蜜；阿毘曇中分別諸禪、解脫、諸三昧等，就是禪波羅蜜；三藏本生之中讚歎解脫，布施、忍辱、精進，就是那三種波羅蜜。』像這樣種種因緣，捨棄般若波羅蜜，在聲聞經中求薩婆若。如同有人想要得到堅實的好木材，捨棄樹的根與莖而去取枝葉，雖然還叫作木材，卻不中用。
再者，般若波羅蜜是三藏的根本；得了般若波羅蜜之後，為度眾生的緣故說其餘之事，這名為「枝葉」。
再者，聲聞經中雖然也說諸法實相，卻說得不明瞭；般若波羅蜜經中，分明顯現，容易見、容易得。如同有人攀緣枝葉就會墮落，若抓住莖幹就堅固。若執取聲聞經，就墮入小乘之中；若持般若波羅蜜，容易得無上道。所以說「捨根莖，取枝葉」。
有人問：三十七品、三解脫門，《般若經》中也有，如今為什麼只稱它們是聲聞、辟支佛經？
回答說：摩訶衍中雖有這些法，卻是與畢竟空相合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心的緣故，為一切眾生而說；聲聞經就不是這樣，是為小乘的證果而說。
再者，菩薩因為行般若波羅蜜，能成就世間、出世間之法；所以菩薩若求佛道，應當學般若波羅蜜。譬如狗為主人守備門戶，應當向主人索取食物，卻反而向奴僕、賓客求食；菩薩也是如此。狗比喻行道的人，般若波羅蜜比喻主人。般若之中有種種利益，卻捨了它去求其餘的經。佛想要使道理分明易見，所以說譬喻。象、大海、帝釋勝殿、轉輪聖王、無價寶珠，也是如此。
有人問：五欲生五蓋，五蓋覆蔽智慧，所以不應樂說；為什麼樂說其餘六波羅蜜，乃至無上道，也說是不如法？
回答說：「不如法」，是不如般若波羅蜜的實相。般若波羅蜜實相之中沒有決定之相的法，怎麼可以樂說？若有決定之相，心就執著於樂說。諸佛及菩薩以大悲心的緣故為眾生說法，不執著語言；用無所得之法，向眾生開示畢竟空相的般若波羅蜜。這人書寫、讀、誦等，以染著之心去取六塵之相乃至無上道之相，所以說不如法。
有人問：若般若波羅蜜畢竟空、是無所有之法，不可書寫、讀、誦等；若是這樣，就不應當有魔事了？
回答說：畢竟空、無所有也不是般若波羅蜜之相，為什麼會是魔事呢？此中說的是：若這人認知無所有就是般若波羅蜜之相，這就是魔事。若用文字書寫般若波羅蜜，自己認知：「我書般若波羅蜜。」有這樣的著心，就是魔事。若人知般若波羅蜜之相，不以執著之心書寫、讀、誦等；這時若有前來破壞的人，那就是在破壞般若波羅蜜。
再者，內有煩惱魔、外有天子魔，因這兩件事的因緣，書寫般若波羅蜜乃至修行時，破壞般若波羅蜜。「念起」，就是念想：這個國土不安穩，那個國土豐足安樂；聚落、城邑、方所，也是如此。
或者聽到有人謗毀其師，便捨棄般若波羅蜜，想去幫助師父除滅惡名；或者聽到父母疾病、官府之事；或者念及盜賊而恐怖，想要動身前往別處；對旃陀羅也是如此。與賊、旃陀羅共住，就發起瞋恚；與眾多婬女共住，婬欲之心就發動。像這樣種種因緣，破壞般若波羅蜜；菩薩覺察知道了，應當不去念、不去說。
或者書寫般若波羅蜜時，鈍根的人在眾多恭敬、供養之事中生起愛著，自己想著：「我能書、能隨行故有是。」貪著這些利養，就是魔事。
或者有利根的人，魔或者這樣思惟：「是菩薩不著世間樂，一心受般若波羅蜜，此人不可沮壞，我今當以聲聞深經轉其心，使成阿羅漢。」
佛說：「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著。」譬如燒熱的金丸，顏色雖然美妙好看，卻不可以手捉。若菩薩沒有方便力、又不是大利根，得了這些經心生歡喜：這是空、無相、無作，能窮盡苦的根本，還有什麼超過這個的呢！便捨棄般若波羅蜜，這也是魔事。
為什麼呢？此中佛說了因緣：「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故。」譬如有人用酥和合毒藥，毒的力勢就消歇，不能害人。般若也是如此，菩薩在般若中求無上道容易得；在其餘的經中就難，如同單服毒藥。所以不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道。
This chapter is titled the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa's commentary on the forty-sixth chapter, "The Deeds of Māra", composed by the noble Nāgārjuna and translated by the Tripiṭaka master Kumārajīva of the land of Kucha under the Later Qin; it is in the sixty-eighth fascicle.
Sūtra ①: The Question of Hindrances—the Eloquence of Delighting in Speech Not Arising and Arising Suddenly, the Marks in Writing Out and Upholding the Sūtra, Abandoning It for Not Finding Its Savour, No Prediction and No Name
The venerable Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! These good men and good women have aroused the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, practise the six perfections, bring beings to maturity, and purify buddha-worlds, and the Buddha has already praised and proclaimed their merits. World-Honored One! Why is it that when good men and good women seek the path of the Buddha, all kinds of hindrances arise?’
The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘When the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
Subhūti said: ‘World-Honored One! Through what cause and condition is it a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva that the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once?’
The Buddha said: ‘There are bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who, when practising prajñāpāramitā, find it hard to fulfil the six perfections. Through this cause and condition the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once, and this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! When the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly and surges up, know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
‘World-Honored One! Through what cause and condition is it again a deed of Māra when the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly and surges up?’
The Buddha said: ‘When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises dānapāramitā and so on up to prajñāpāramitā, he is attached to the dharma of delighting in speech; through this cause and condition the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly and surges up—know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! When writing out this prajñāpāramitā sūtra, if one's body sprawls back haughtily and the mind harbours arrogance, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! When writing out this sūtra, if one jests and laughs and the mind is distracted, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! If, when writing out this sūtra, one slights and sneers and gives rise to no respect, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! If, when writing out this sūtra, the mind is disordered and unsettled, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! If, when writing out this sūtra, those involved are each at odds with the other and not in harmony, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! If a good man or good woman thinks in his mind: 「我不得是經中滋味。」 tr. "I do not find the savour in this sūtra." and so abandons it and goes away, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! If, when receiving and upholding prajñāpāramitā, reading, reciting, expounding, or rightly recollecting it, one sprawls back haughtily and the mind harbours arrogance, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! If, when receiving and upholding the prajñāpāramitā sūtra, drawing near to it, and rightly recollecting it, people turn about and mock one another's appearance, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Furthermore, Subhūti! If, when receiving and upholding the prajñāpāramitā sūtra, reading, reciting, rightly recollecting, and cultivating it, people slight one another, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. If, when receiving and upholding prajñāpāramitā, reading, reciting, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, the mind is distracted, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. If, when receiving and upholding prajñāpāramitā, reading, reciting, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, minds are not in harmony, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! The World-Honored One has said: 「善男子、善女人作是念：「我不得經中滋味。」便棄捨去，當知是菩薩魔事。」 tr. "If a good man or good woman has this thought: ‘I do not find the savour in the sūtra,’ and so abandons it and goes away, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva." World-Honored One! Through what cause and condition does the bodhisattva not find the savour in the sūtra, and so abandon it and go away?’
The Buddha said: ‘This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, in former lives, did not long cultivate prajñāpāramitā, dhyānapāramitā, vīryapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, śīlapāramitā, and dānapāramitā; when this person hears someone expound this prajñāpāramitā, he rises from his seat and thinks in his mind: 「我於般若波羅蜜中無記。」 tr. "Within prajñāpāramitā I have no prediction." His mind is not pure, and so he rises from his seat and goes away—know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! Through what cause and condition is the prediction not given to him, so that when he hears this deep prajñāpāramitā spoken he rises from his seat and goes away?’
The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘If a bodhisattva has not yet entered into the position of dharmas, the buddhas do not give him the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Furthermore, Subhūti! When hearing someone expound prajñāpāramitā, the bodhisattva thinks in his mind: 「我是中無名字。」 tr. "My name is not in it." His mind is not pure—know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
Subhūti said: ‘Through what cause and condition is the name of this bodhisattva not spoken in this deep prajñāpāramitā?’
The Buddha said: ‘The buddhas do not speak the names of bodhisattvas who have not yet received the prediction. Furthermore, Subhūti! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva thinks in his mind: 「是般若波羅蜜中，無我生處名字，若聚落、城邑。」 tr. "In this prajñāpāramitā there is no name of my birthplace, whether village or town." This person does not wish to hear prajñāpāramitā, and so rises from the assembly and goes away. According to the thoughts this person gives rise to, at the time the thoughts arise, thought by thought he is set back a kalpa each time, and only then must he again exert himself all the more with vigour to seek anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.’
Treatise ①: The Simile of Enemies and Thieves, the Division of the Four Māras, and an Explanation Following the Text from Eloquence Not Arising up to Being Set Back a Kalpa Thought by Thought
The treatise-author explains:
Every conditioned dharma has its own dominant power. Dominant powers oppose one another, and to oppose is to be an enemy and a thief. For instance, when water gains the dominant power it quenches fire; when fire gains the dominant power it dries up water; and so on up to grass and trees, which each have their ways of harming one another—how much more beings! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva has a mind of great compassion; although he does not make enmity with beings, beings make enmity with the bodhisattva; because the bodhisattva's body is a conditioned dharma, enemies and thieves are able to make hindrances for him.
Earlier the Buddha spoke of the bodhisattva's merits—namely, that he is protected and kept in mind by the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the gods—but had not yet spoken of the marks of enemies and thieves. Because the Buddha is compassionate, earlier he spoke only briefly; now, because Subhūti requests it, the Buddha speaks broadly of the matters of hindrance. Although the Buddha's mind and conduct are equal toward all beings and all dharmas, because the bodhisattva can greatly benefit the world, he speaks for him of fair marks and foul marks, marks of benefit and marks of harm, what is the path and what is not the path, and the matters of hindrance. The Buddha does not have the practitioner injure and harm those who make hindrances; he only has him be aware of it and know it, and not follow along with the matter.
What are enemies and thieves? Briefly: whether dharmas of beings or dharmas not of beings, whatever can thwart and destroy the bodhisattva's mind of the unsurpassed path is such. Those not of beings are such things as illness, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, beating and crushing, falling, and so on. Those of beings are such as Māra and Māra's people, evil ghosts, people who harbour wrong doubts and do not believe, people who have cut off their roots of goodness, people who hold fixedly to something to be attained, people who really and decisively discriminate dharmas, people deeply greedy for and attached to worldly pleasure, enemies and thieves, matters of officialdom, lions, tigers, wolves, evil beasts, poisonous creatures, and so on. Thieves that are beings are of two kinds: either inner or outer. The inner arise from one's own mind: being sorrowful and not finding the flavour of the Dharma, giving rise to wrong views, doubt and regret, unbelief, and so on; the outer are as spoken of above.
All such kinds of difficulty as these the Buddha calls together Māra.
Māra is of four kinds: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods.
The Māra of the afflictions is the hundred and eight afflictions and so on, which, when distinguished, are the eighty-four thousand afflictions.
The Māra of the five aggregates is this body, obtained through the cause and condition of afflictions and karma coming together: the four great elements and the form made from the four great elements, form such as the eye faculty—these are called the aggregate of form; the coming together of the hundred and eight afflictions and the other feelings is called the aggregate of feeling; small perception, great perception, immeasurable perception, and the perception of nothing whatsoever, distinguished and brought together, are called the aggregate of perception; the dharmas, associated with mind and not associated with mind, that arise through the stirring of the mind's thought toward the fair and the foul and can give rise to such minds as greed and hatred, are called the aggregate of constructions; the six faculties come together with the six sense-objects and thereby the six consciousnesses arise, and these six consciousnesses discriminate and come together into immeasurable and boundless minds—this is called the aggregate of consciousness.
The Māra of death: because, with impermanence as its cause and condition, it destroys the life of the continuous five aggregates, which is exhausted and parts from the three dharmas—consciousness, severance, and life—it is called the Māra of death.
The Māra who is a son of the gods is the lord of the desire realm; deeply greedy for and attached to worldly pleasure, he gives rise to wrong views because of a mind with something to be attained, and hates and envies all the worthies and sages and the dharma of the path of nirvāṇa—this is called the Māra who is a son of the gods.
Māra, in the language of Qin, is 「能奪命者」 tr. "one who can seize life". Although only the Māra of death actually seizes life, the others too can act as causes and conditions for seizing life, and can also seize the life of wisdom; therefore it is called the killer.
Someone asks: the Māra of the five aggregates alone already includes the other three Māras; why, then, are four spoken of separately?
The answer: in reality it is one Māra; only because its meaning is distinguished are there four. The Māra of the afflictions: people die through greed and hatred, so it too can act as a cause and condition for seizing life, and it is a near cause and condition for seizing life; therefore it is spoken of separately. The Māra who is a son of the gods, through the cause and condition of karma mixed with merit, has great power and force; by the power of wrong views he can seize the wisdom-life, and he can also act as a cause and condition of death; therefore he is spoken of separately. The death of impermanence has great power; no one at all can escape it; it is exceedingly to be feared and to be wearied of; therefore it is spoken of separately.
Someone asks: why does Māra trouble and disturb the practitioner?
The answer: this has already been spoken of broadly earlier. In this chapter the meaning of the four Māras is present everywhere, and it is only spoken of according to the place. Furthermore, three of the Māras are not apart from one another: if there are the five aggregates, there are afflictions; when there are afflictions, the Māra of the heavens finds his opening; the five aggregates and the afflictions come together, and therefore there is the Māra of the heavens.
Therefore Subhūti asks the Buddha: 「上已讚歎說菩薩功德，今云何是菩薩魔事起？」 tr. "Above, the bodhisattva's merits have already been praised and spoken of; how now do the bodhisattva's deeds of Māra arise?"
The meaning of the Buddha's answer 「樂說辯不即生，是為魔事」 tr. "the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once—this is a deed of Māra" is this: a bodhisattva-mahāsattva, out of compassion for beings, ascends the high seat to expound the Dharma, and the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise. The hearers are sorrowful: 「我等故來，而法師不說。」 tr. "We came on purpose, and yet the Dharma-master does not speak." Or they think this: 「法師怖畏故不能說。」 tr. "The Dharma-master is afraid, and so cannot speak." Or they say: 「不知故不說。」 tr. "He does not know, and so does not speak." Or they suppose that, reflecting on himself, his faults are deep and heavy and so he does not speak; or they suppose that, not having obtained offerings, he is unwilling to speak; or they suppose that he despises us and so does not speak; or they suppose that he is accustomed to ease and so does not speak. Through such various causes and conditions as these, the hearers' minds are spoiled; therefore not delighting in speech is called a deed of Māra.
Furthermore, this bodhisattva, out of compassion for beings, has come wishing to expound the Dharma; the hearers wish to hear, and the Dharma-master too gives rise in his mind to the wish to speak, yet no words can come out of his mouth. This is a deed of Māra visible before one's eyes—just as Māra entered Ānanda's mind, and the Buddha asked three times and three times Ānanda could not answer, and only after a long while did he speak.
Here Subhūti asks the World-Honored One: 「何因緣故辯不即生？」 tr. "Through what cause and condition does eloquence not arise at once?"
The Buddha answers: 「菩薩行六波羅蜜時，難具足六波羅蜜。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva practises the six perfections, it is hard for him to fulfil the six perfections." Why? This person, through the causes and conditions of former lives, has dull faculties and is lazy, and Māra finds his opening; he cannot practise the six perfections single-mindedly, and therefore the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once.
Someone asks: that the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once may be called a deed of Māra; now, when the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly and surges up, why is that too a deed of Māra?
The answer: this Dharma-master loves the Dharma, is attached to the Dharma, and is greedy for renown, and so he indulges himself unrestrained in delight in speech, speaking with no meaning or principle at all, like a runaway horse hard to rein in; again, like a great water in sudden spate, with every kind of filth mixed in it. Therefore here the Buddha himself says: 「菩薩行六波羅蜜，著樂說法，是為魔事。」 tr. "The bodhisattva practises the six perfections and is attached to the dharma of delighting in speech—this is a deed of Māra."
Furthermore, this prajñāpāramitā appeared in the world in order to break arrogance; yet the one writing out this sūtra gives rise to the mind of self and the mind of arrogance; because of arrogance even his body is held high, which is what is called 「偃𠐻傲慢」 tr. "sprawling back haughtily and arrogant". When writing out this prajñāpāramitā, one uses a slighting mind, a mind of hatred, jesting and laughing, and no respect.
Furthermore, this prajñāpāramitā is hard to obtain even with one mind and a gathered mind—how much more when writing it out with a distracted mind! When writing it out, one either receives it from someone's mouth or copies a sūtra scroll; if one is single-minded and in harmony, it can be accomplished; if the one who transmits it is unwilling to give it—such various causes and conditions as these are what is meant by not being in harmony.
Furthermore, when looking at this prajñāpāramitā sūtra, one sees that chapter after chapter speaks of emptiness, with nothing that can be loved and delighted in, and so one thinks this: 「我於是經不得滋味！」 tr. "I do not find the savour in this sūtra!" and so abandons it and goes away. Prajñāpāramitā is the root of all delights; that this person does not find its savour is a deed of Māra.
Furthermore, the sprawling back haughtily, the mocking of appearances, the distracted mind, and the not being in harmony at the time of receiving and upholding, reading, reciting, expounding, and rightly recollecting are as spoken of above. 「共相輕蔑」 tr. "slighting one another" is: when receiving and upholding, reading, reciting, and rightly recollecting it from someone, teacher and disciple despise each other. When writing out the sūtra scroll there is only abandoning it and going away; there is no despising of one another.
Someone asks: among the matters above, why is only 「不得經中滋味」 tr. "not finding the savour in the sūtra" asked about, and not the rest?
The answer: in prajñāpāramitā, what the sages speak differs from what ordinary people speak; therefore ordinary people do not find its savour.
Subhūti supposed in his mind: 「般若波羅蜜是清淨珍寶聚，能利益眾生，無有過惡，是人云何不得滋味？」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā is the heap of pure precious treasure; it can benefit beings and has no fault or evil; how can this person not find its savour?"
The Buddha answers: ‘In former lives this person did not long cultivate the six perfections; as a bodhisattva, his five faculties of faith and the rest are weak; because they are weak, he cannot believe and accept the dharmas of emptiness, the signless, non-action, and non-reliance; a disturbed mind arises, and he speaks such words as these: 「佛一切智，何以不與我受記？」 tr. "The Buddha is omniscient; why does he not give me the prediction?" and so leaves and goes away.’
The rest is easy to understand, and so is not asked about.
Subhūti asks: 「若爾者，何以故不與授記？」 tr. "If that is so, why is the prediction not given?" The Buddha is great compassion; he ought to have compassion for him and protect and keep him in mind, guarding his mind so as not to let him fall into the evil destinies!
The Buddha says: 「未入法位人，諸佛不與授記。」 tr. "To a person who has not yet entered the position of dharmas, the buddhas do not give the prediction." Why? Although the buddhas fully know the distant matters of beings, the seers with the five supernormal powers and the gods, seeing that this person does not yet have the causes and conditions of wholesome deeds and karma for which a prediction could be given, would, if he were given the prediction, slight the Buddha and not believe: 「無有因緣，云何與授記？」 tr. "There are no causes and conditions; how can the prediction be given?" Therefore it is to those who have entered the position of dharmas that the prediction is given.
The name of this person and the village where he dwells are likewise so.
This person rises from his seat and goes away; according to how many thoughts he gives rise to, thought by thought he is set back a kalpa each time; when he has finished repaying his offence and again obtains a human body, only then must he again cultivate for that many kalpas.
Sūtra ②: Abandoning the Root to Climb the Branches and Taking the Śrāvaka Sūtras, with Ten Challenges; Delighting in Speech Not in Accord with the Dharma; Prajñā Cannot Be Written; Ten Kinds of Other Thoughts; Greed for and Attachment to Gain and Offerings; the Evil Māra Holds Out Other Deep Sūtras
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! A bodhisattva who studies other sūtras and abandons prajñāpāramitā will in the end be unable to reach sarvajñā. Such good men and good women abandon the root of the tree and climb to take the branches and leaves; know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What are the other sūtras which good men and good women study and yet cannot reach sarvajñā?’
The Buddha said: ‘They are the sūtras that śrāvakas should practise, namely the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernormal power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the noble path, and the gates of liberation of emptiness, the signless, and non-action. Good men and good women abide in these and attain the fruit of srota-āpanna, the fruit of sakṛdāgāmin, the fruit of anāgāmin, and the fruit of arhat; these are called the sūtras practised by śrāvakas, and they cannot reach sarvajñā. In this way good men and good women abandon prajñāpāramitā and draw near to these other sūtras. Why? Subhūti! Within prajñāpāramitā the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas are born, and worldly and world-transcending dharmas are accomplished. Subhūti! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva studies prajñāpāramitā, he also thereby studies worldly and world-transcending dharmas. Subhūti! It is like a dog that does not seek food from the master's household but instead begs it from the servant who does the work. In this way, Subhūti! in the age to come there will be good men and good women who abandon the deep prajñāpāramitā and climb to take the branches and leaves—the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise; know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Subhūti! It is like a person who wishes to see an elephant and, having seen it, turns round instead to examine the elephant's footprints. Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
The Buddha said: ‘The good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha are also like this: having obtained the deep prajñāpāramitā, they abandon it and go away, and take the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise. Subhūti! Know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Subhūti! It is like a person who wishes to see the great sea and, having seen it, goes instead to seek the water in an ox's hoofprint, thinking this: 「大海水能與此等不？」 tr. "Can the water of the great sea equal this?" Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
The Buddha said: ‘In the age to come there will be good men and good women seeking the path of the Buddha who are also like this: having obtained the deep prajñāpāramitā, they abandon it and go away, and take the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise; know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva-mahāsattva. Subhūti! It is like a craftsman, or a craftsman's apprentice, who wishes to model the victorious palace of Śakra Devānām Indra, and instead goes to measure the palaces of the sun and moon. Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
‘In this way, Subhūti! in the age to come there will be good men and good women of slight merit seeking the path of the Buddha who, having obtained this deep prajñāpāramitā, abandon it and go away, and seek sarvajñā in the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise. Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
The Buddha said: ‘Know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Subhūti! It is like a person who wishes to see a wheel-turning sage king and, seeing him, does not recognise him; later he sees the petty kings, takes their appearance, and speaks these words: 「轉輪聖王與此何異？」 tr. "How does the wheel-turning sage king differ from this?" Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
‘Subhūti! In the age to come there will be good men and good women of slight merit seeking the path of the Buddha who, having obtained this deep prajñāpāramitā, abandon it and go away, take the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise, and with them seek sarvajñā. Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
‘Know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Subhūti! It is like a hungry person who obtains food of a hundred flavours, abandons it and goes away, and instead eats sixty-day grain. Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
The Buddha said: ‘In the age to come there will be good men and good women seeking the path of the Buddha who, having heard the deep prajñāpāramitā, abandon it and go away, take the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise, and with them seek sarvajñā. What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
‘Know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Subhūti! It is like a person who obtains a priceless maṇi jewel and instead sets it beside a crystal bead for comparison. Subhūti! What do you think? Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
The Buddha said: ‘In the age to come there will be good men and good women seeking the path of the Buddha who, having heard the deep prajñāpāramitā, abandon it and go away, take the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise, and with them seek sarvajñā. Is this person clever?’
Subhūti said: ‘Not clever.’
‘Know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! When these good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha write out this deep prajñāpāramitā, they delight in speaking of matters not in accord with the Dharma, and so cannot accomplish the writing out of prajñāpāramitā. That is, they delight in speaking of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and mental objects; they delight in speaking of keeping the precepts, of meditative concentration, and of the formless absorptions; they delight in speaking of dānapāramitā and so on up to prajñāpāramitā; they delight in speaking of the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Why? Subhūti! In this prajñāpāramitā there is no mark of delighting in speech. Subhūti! Prajñāpāramitā is the mark of the inconceivable; prajñāpāramitā is the mark of neither arising nor ceasing; prajñāpāramitā is the mark of neither stained nor pure; prajñāpāramitā is the mark of neither disordered nor scattered; prajñāpāramitā is the mark of no speech; prajñāpāramitā is the mark of no words and no meaning; prajñāpāramitā is the mark of nothing to be attained. Why? Subhūti! In this prajñāpāramitā there are none of these marks. Subhūti! If there are good men and good women seeking the bodhisattva path who, when writing out this prajñāpāramitā sūtra, have their minds scattered and disordered by these dharmas, know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! Can this prajñāpāramitā be written?’
The Buddha said: ‘It cannot be written. Why? Because the self-nature of prajñāpāramitā is non-existent; because the self-nature of dhyānapāramitā, vīryapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, śīlapāramitā, and dānapāramitā, and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, is non-existent; if self-nature is non-existent, then it is not called a nature, and a non-existent dharma cannot write a non-existent dharma. Subhūti! If good men and good women seeking the bodhisattva path think in their minds: 「無法是深般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "The non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā." know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
‘World-Honored One! When these good men and good women seeking the bodhisattva path write out prajñāpāramitā in letters and think to themselves: 「我書是般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "I am writing this prajñāpāramitā." they are attached to prajñāpāramitā as letters—know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Why? World-Honored One! This prajñāpāramitā has no letters; dhyānapāramitā, vīryapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, śīlapāramitā, and dānapāramitā have no letters. World-Honored One! Form has no letters; feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness have no letters; and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds has no letters. World-Honored One! If good men and good women seeking the bodhisattva path are attached to a prajñāpāramitā without letters, and so on up to are attached to an omniscience of all kinds without letters, know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Reading, reciting, expounding, rightly recollecting, and practising as it is taught are likewise so.’
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! When good men and good women seeking the path of the Buddha write out prajñāpāramitā, if thoughts of lands arise, thoughts of villages arise, thoughts of towns arise, thoughts of places arise; if, hearing someone slander and disparage their teacher, thoughts arise; if they think of their parents, and of their brothers and sisters and their other kin; if they think of thieves; if they think of caṇḍāla; if they think of women; if they think of harlots—such various other thoughts as these make hindrances; and the evil Māra further increases their thoughts, and destroys the writing out of prajñāpāramitā, and destroys reading, reciting, expounding, rightly recollecting, and practising as it is taught. Subhūti! Know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! Good men and good women seeking the path of the Buddha obtain renown, respect, gifts, and offerings—namely clothing, food and drink, bedding, medicines for illness, and all kinds of articles of amusement; when these good men and good women write out this prajñāpāramitā sūtra, and receive and uphold, read, recite, and so on up to rightly recollect it, they love and are attached to these things, and so cannot accomplish the writing out of prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to cannot accomplish rightly recollecting it; know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.
‘Furthermore, Subhūti! When good men and good women seeking the path of the Buddha write out prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to practise as it is taught, the evil Māra, as a device, holds out other deep sūtras of various sections to this bodhisattva-mahāsattva; one who has the power of skilful means should not be greedy for or attached to the other deep sūtras the evil Māra gives. Why? Because these sūtras cannot bring one to reach sarvajñā. Here, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva without the power of skilful means, hearing these other deep sūtras, then abandons the deep prajñāpāramitā. Subhūti! In this prajñāpāramitā I have broadly taught the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas; the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should seek it within this. Subhūti! Now, good men and good women seeking the bodhisattva path abandon this deep prajñāpāramitā, and in the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas that Māra gives they seek the path of skilful means—know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva.’
Treatise ②: The Simile of Root, Trunk, Branches, and Leaves; the Same Dharma with a Different Mind; the Simile of the Dog Gathering All; the Gloss on "Not in Accord with the Dharma"; Attachment to Emptiness Is Also Māra; the Two Māras, Inner and Outer; the Ball of Gold Heated Red-Hot; Poison Mixed with Ghee
The treatise-author explains:
「學餘經，捨般若波羅蜜」 tr. "Studying other sūtras and abandoning prajñāpāramitā" and so on: there are people who receive the precepts and study the Dharma within the śrāvaka Dharma, and at first have never heard prajñāpāramitā; or later they hear it elsewhere, yet are deeply attached to the Dharma they studied before, abandon prajñāpāramitā, and seek sarvajñā in the Dharma they studied before. There are śrāvaka disciples who first obtain prajñāpāramitā, yet do not understand its meaning and purport and do not find its savour, and practise the bodhisattva path by the śrāvaka sūtras. There are people who are śrāvaka disciples who obtain the prajñāpāramitā sūtra and wish to believe and accept it; other śrāvakas thwart and spoil their minds, saying to them: ‘This sūtra does not accord from beginning to end and has no fixed mark; you should give it up! What is there that the śrāvaka Dharma lacks? The six-part abhidharma and its treatises, which discriminate the marks of dharmas, are prajñāpāramitā; the eighty sections of the Vinaya are śīlapāramitā; the discrimination of the dhyānas, the liberations, the samādhis, and so on in the abhidharma is dhyānapāramitā; the praise of liberation in the three baskets and the jātaka, and giving, patience, and vigour, are those three pāramitā.’ Through such various causes and conditions as these they abandon prajñāpāramitā and seek sarvajñā in the śrāvaka sūtras. It is like a person who wishes to obtain good, solid timber, abandons the root and trunk of the tree, and takes the branches and leaves: though it is still called timber, it is of no use.
Furthermore, prajñāpāramitā is the root of the three baskets; after obtaining prajñāpāramitā, the other matters spoken for the sake of delivering beings are called 「枝葉」 tr. "branches and leaves".
Furthermore, although the śrāvaka sūtras also speak of the real mark of all dharmas, they do not speak of it clearly; in the prajñāpāramitā sūtras it is distinctly manifest, easy to see and easy to attain. It is as when a person who climbs by branches and leaves falls, while if he holds the trunk he is secure. If one takes the śrāvaka sūtras, one falls into the Small Vehicle; if one holds prajñāpāramitā, the unsurpassed path is easily attained. Therefore it says 「捨根莖，取枝葉」 tr. "abandoning the root and trunk and taking the branches and leaves".
Someone asks: the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are also present in the Prajñā Sūtra; why now are they called only the sūtras of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas?
The answer: although these dharmas are present in the Mahāyāna, they are joined with ultimate emptiness, the mind is attached to nothing, and, because sarvajñā and the mind of great compassion are not abandoned, they are spoken for the sake of all beings; the śrāvaka sūtras are not so—they are spoken for the realisation of the fruit of the Small Vehicle.
Furthermore, because the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā, he can accomplish worldly and world-transcending dharmas; therefore if the bodhisattva seeks the path of the Buddha, he should study prajñāpāramitā. It is like a dog that guards the gate for its master: it ought to beg food from the master, yet instead it seeks food from the slaves and guests; the bodhisattva is also like this. The dog is likened to the practitioner, and prajñāpāramitā is likened to the master. Within prajñā there are all kinds of benefit, yet one abandons it to seek other sūtras. The Buddha wished to make the principle distinct and easy to see, and so spoke similes. The elephant, the great sea, the victorious palace of Śakra, the wheel-turning sage king, and the priceless jewel are likewise so.
Someone asks: the five desires give rise to the five hindrances, and the five hindrances cover wisdom, so one should not delight in speaking of them; why is delighting in speaking of the rest—the six perfections and so on up to the unsurpassed path—also said to be not in accord with the Dharma?
The answer: 「不如法」 tr. "not in accord with the Dharma" means not in accord with the real mark of prajñāpāramitā. Within the real mark of prajñāpāramitā there is no dharma with a fixed mark; how could one delight in speaking of it? If there were a fixed mark, the mind would be attached to delighting in speech. The buddhas and the bodhisattvas expound the Dharma for beings out of the mind of great compassion and are not attached to words; with the dharma of nothing to be attained they open and show to beings the prajñāpāramitā of the mark of ultimate emptiness. This person, in writing out, reading, reciting, and so on, takes with a defiled and attached mind the marks of the six sense-objects and so on up to the mark of the unsurpassed path; therefore it is said to be not in accord with the Dharma.
Someone asks: if prajñāpāramitā is ultimate emptiness and is a dharma without anything existent, it cannot be written out, read, recited, and so on; if that is so, there ought to be no deeds of Māra?
The answer: ultimate emptiness and non-existence are likewise not the mark of prajñāpāramitā; how then would it be a deed of Māra? What is said here is: if this person knows non-existence as the mark of prajñāpāramitā, this is a deed of Māra. If one writes out prajñāpāramitā in letters and knows of oneself: 「我書般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "I am writing prajñāpāramitā." —having such an attached mind is a deed of Māra. If a person knows the mark of prajñāpāramitā and does not write out, read, recite, and so on with an attached mind, then if someone comes to destroy it, that is destroying prajñāpāramitā.
Furthermore, within there is the Māra of the afflictions, and without there is the Māra who is a son of the gods; through the causes and conditions of these two things, when one writes out prajñāpāramitā and so on up to practises it, prajñāpāramitā is destroyed. 「念起」 tr. "thoughts arise" means thinking: this land is not peaceful and secure, that land is abundant and happy; villages, towns, and places are likewise so.
Or, hearing someone slander and disparage one's teacher, one abandons prajñāpāramitā and wishes to go and help the teacher remove the bad name; or one hears of one's parents' illness or of matters of officialdom; or, thinking of robbers, one is terrified and wishes to set off for elsewhere; toward caṇḍāla it is likewise so. Dwelling together with thieves and caṇḍāla, one gives rise to hatred; dwelling together with many harlots, the mind of lust is stirred. Through such various causes and conditions as these, prajñāpāramitā is destroyed; the bodhisattva, having become aware of it and known it, should not think of these and should not speak of them.
Or, when writing out prajñāpāramitā, a person of dull faculties gives rise to love and attachment amid many matters of respect and offerings, and thinks to himself: 「我能書、能隨行故有是。」 tr. "Because I can write and can practise accordingly, I have this." To be greedy for and attached to this gain and these offerings is a deed of Māra.
Or there is a person of sharp faculties, and Māra perhaps reflects thus: 「是菩薩不著世間樂，一心受般若波羅蜜，此人不可沮壞，我今當以聲聞深經轉其心，使成阿羅漢。」 tr. "This bodhisattva is not attached to worldly pleasure and receives prajñāpāramitā single-mindedly; this person cannot be thwarted and spoiled; I shall now turn his mind with the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas and make him become an arhat."
The Buddha says: 「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著。」 tr. "Though the śrāvaka sūtras are deep, one should not be greedy for or attached to them." It is like a ball of gold heated red-hot: though its colour is fine, wondrous, and beautiful to look at, it cannot be grasped with the hand. If a bodhisattva has no power of skilful means and is not of great, sharp faculties, on obtaining these sūtras he rejoices in his mind: this is emptiness, the signless, non-action, which can exhaust the root of suffering—what is there that surpasses this! And so he abandons prajñāpāramitā; this too is a deed of Māra.
Why? Here the Buddha has spoken the cause and condition: 「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故。」 tr. "In prajñāpāramitā the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas is broadly taught—namely, contemplating the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha and not realising it, because one practises the three gates of liberation with the mind of great compassion." It is like a person who mixes poison with ghee: the force of the poison then subsides and cannot harm anyone. Prajñā is also like this: seeking the unsurpassed path within prajñā, the bodhisattva easily attains it; within other sūtras it is hard, like taking the poison alone. Therefore one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras.
魔事品：功德已讚何以復說留難，樂說辯不生與卒起何以同是魔事，四魔實一何以說四，十番詰問何以皆結為不黠，般若不可書何以執無法執無文字亦是魔事，十類異念何以皆成留難，惡魔何以反持深經與人，酥和毒喻何以明於般若中求道易而於餘經難
在問什麼
前面諸品，佛一路讚歎行般若菩薩的功德——諸佛護念、諸天守護、現世後世種種利益。這一品風向陡轉：慧命須菩提起而問道，善男子、善女人發了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，行六波羅蜜，成就眾生、淨佛世界，功德佛已讚了；那麼求佛道的人，為什麼會生出種種留難？佛的回答，是一長串出人意表的清單：說法時辯才生不起來，是魔事；辯才生得太快太猛，也是魔事；書寫經卷時傲慢、戲笑、輕慢、心亂、不和合，是魔事；讀了覺得沒滋味便走，是魔事；因為經裡沒有自己的受記、名字、家鄉，便從法會起身離去，是魔事；捨深般若去攀聲聞經，是魔事；乃至執著「無法是深般若波羅蜜」、執著無文字，仍然是魔事。
這一品在問什麼？在問行道人的敵情。論主開篇即點明：一切有為法各有增上，增上者共相違，相違即是怨賊——行道不是在真空中行，凡是能沮壞無上道心的，眾生也罷、非眾生也罷、外境也罷、自心也罷，佛總名為魔。於是論主立出四魔的總分科：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔，又自設問答：四魔實是一魔，何以別說為四？魔何以偏要惱亂行道者？經文後半，佛以十番詰問把『捨深般若、取聲聞經』的顛倒問到無可躲閃——見象反觀其跡、欲觀大海反求牛跡之水，這樣的人聰明嗎？須菩提十次答：不聰明。而全品最深的一轉在末後：般若畢竟空、不可書，那麼執「空」、執「無所有」，是不是就對了？佛言，那還是魔事。魔事的清單從外境一路數到最微細的著心，這正是本品的用意所在。
逐段解明
一、留難之問——功德已讚而怨賊未說。 須菩提的問，論主替我們讀出了它的位置：「上已讚歎說菩薩功德，今云何是菩薩魔事起？」讚歎與留難是一對——不知功德則不肯發心，不知留難則行之必敗。此問一出，佛便從讚歎之品轉入敵情之品。
二、樂說辯不即生。 清單的第一條就出人意表：樂說的辯才不即時生起，是魔事。須菩提追問所以，佛答：菩薩行般若波羅蜜時，難以具足六波羅蜜，以是因緣，辯才不即生。論主隨文釋出這一條的痛處：菩薩憐愍眾生故高座說法，辯才卻不生，聽者心中生出七種猜疑——「我等故來，而法師不說」，或想「法師怖畏故不能說」，或說「不知故不說」，或以為自省過咎深重、或以為不得供養、或以為輕賤聽眾、或以為慣習安樂故不說——如是種種因緣，聽者心壞，故以不樂說名為魔事。又引現前可證之事：魔入阿難心中，佛三問而三不答，久乃能說——辯之不生，不是小事，是魔得其便。論主再釋其遠因：是人先世因緣，鈍根、懈怠，魔得其便，不能一心行六波羅蜜，故樂說辯不即生。
三、樂說辯卒起。 緊接的一條恰是前條的反面：辯才突然勃起，也是魔事。論主自設問答：不生可說是魔事，卒起何以復是魔事？答：是法師愛法、著法，求名聲故，自恣樂說，無有義理，如奔逸之馬難以控制，又如大水暴漲、眾穢渾雜。所以佛自說：「菩薩行六波羅蜜，著樂說法，是為魔事。」兩條合觀，魔事的判準立見：不在辯之遲速，在心之著與不著——不生是被縛，卒起是失控，同是一心不得自在。
四、書經時五種留難。 佛續數書寫般若經時的相狀：偃𠐻傲慢、戲笑亂心、輕笑不敬、心亂不定、各各不和合。論主釋「偃𠐻傲慢」最切：般若波羅蜜本為破憍慢故出，而書經者反生我心、憍慢心；憍慢故連身體也高抬起來——法本治病，人卻在持法之時病得更重，此其所以為魔事。又釋散亂與不和合：般若若一心、攝心猶尚難得，何況散亂心書；書時從人口受、或寫經卷，一心和合則得，授者不與，種種因緣即是不和合。
五、不得滋味便棄捨。 善男子、善女人作是念，我不得是經中滋味，便棄捨去——此條佛與須菩提往復最多。須菩提專就此條追問，論主也自設問答：上諸事中，何以但問「不得經中滋味」不問餘者？答：般若波羅蜜，聖人所說與凡人說異，是故凡夫人不得滋味；餘者易解，故不問。須菩提意謂般若是清淨珍寶聚，能利益眾生、無有過惡，此人云何不得滋味？佛答出病根：是人先世不久行六波羅蜜，信等五根薄；薄故不能信空、無相、無作、無依止法，嬈亂心起，怨言「佛一切智，何以不與我受記」，便捨去。論主又補一釋：觀看般若經時，品品皆空，無可樂處，遂謂不得滋味——殊不知般若正是一切諸樂的根本，得不到它的滋味，本身就是魔事。
六、受持讀誦時五種留難與共相輕蔑。 書寫之外，受持、讀、誦、說、正憶念時同樣有偃𠐻傲慢、轉相形笑、共相輕蔑、散亂心、心不和合五相。論主特為分辨「共相輕蔑」與書寫時諸相之別：從人受持、讀、誦、正憶念時，師徒互相輕賤，名共相輕蔑；書寫經時但有捨去，無相輕賤——受法必有師承，師徒之間的相輕，是受持階段特有的破壞相。
七、未受記與無名字。 何以不得滋味便從坐起去？因為心裡計較：我於般若波羅蜜中無記、我是中無名字、經中無我生處名字聚落城邑。須菩提代問：佛是大悲，何以不與授記、防護其心？佛答：未入法位人，諸佛不與授記。論主釋其理由：諸佛雖悉知眾生久遠之事，但五通仙人及諸天見此人尚無善行業因緣可授記，若為授記，他們將輕佛不信——「無有因緣，云何與授記？」故入法位者方與授記；名字與聚落處不說，其理亦同。授記不是安慰，是印證；印證無據，反損信心。
八、從會起去、念念却一劫。 這一組留難的果報極重：是人從坐起去，隨其起念多少，念念各退一劫；償罪畢，還得人身，才又應當再行爾所劫。從法會起身那一步看似小事，論主如實傳出經意：以輕慢心背深法而去，每一念都是在往回走。
九、怨賊喻——增上相違。 論主開釋全品，先立總喻：一切有為法各有增上，增上者共相違，相違即是怨賊——如水得增上力滅火，火得增上力則消水，乃至草木各有相害，何況眾生。菩薩有大悲心，雖不與眾生作怨，眾生卻與菩薩作怨；菩薩之身是有為法，故怨賊能對他作留難。魔事之所以可能，根子在「有為」二字：只要還在有為法中行道，就在增上相違的力場之中。
十、佛廣說留難之由。 佛前說功德而未說怨賊相，以憐愍故先略說；今須菩提請，佛乃廣說。論主點出兩重分寸：佛於一切眾生、一切法心平等，而為菩薩能大利益世間故，說好醜、利害、是道非道、留難之事；又，佛不令行人毀害留難者，但令覺知，不隨其事。這一句是全品的行門總綱——說魔事不是教人與魔作戰，是教人認得而不隨。
十一、怨賊分科與總名為魔。 何者是怨賊？論主分科：能沮壞菩薩無上道心的，若眾生法、若非眾生法。非眾生者，疾病、飢渴、寒熱、槌壓、墜落等。眾生者，魔及魔民、惡鬼、邪疑不信者、斷善根者、定有所得者、實定分別諸法者、深著世間樂者、怨賊、官事，乃至師子、虎、狼、惡獸、毒蟲。眾生賊復分內外：內者自從心生，憂愁不得法味，生邪見、疑悔、不信等；外者如上說。清單雖雜，收束只一句：如是諸難事，佛總名為魔。魔不是一類妖異，是一切沮道之力的總名。
十二、四魔總標與煩惱魔。 魔有四種：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔。煩惱魔者，百八煩惱等，分別為八萬四千諸煩惱——最貼身的魔，是自心的煩惱本身。
十三、五眾魔。 五眾魔者，煩惱與業和合因緣得此身：四大及四大造色、眼根等色名色眾；百八煩惱等諸受和合名受眾；小、大、無量、無所有想分別和合名想眾；因好醜心發、能起貪欲瞋恚等心相應不相應法名行眾；六情六塵和合生六識，六識分別、和合無量無邊心名識眾。此段把五眾一一數過——色受想行識這個身心自身，就是魔；不待外敵，受身即在魔中。
十四、死魔與天子魔。 死魔者，以無常因緣，破相續五眾的壽命，窮盡而離於識、斷、壽三法，名為死魔。天子魔者，欲界之主，深著世間樂，用有所得故生邪見，憎嫉一切賢聖涅槃道法。四魔之中唯此一種是外在的有情之魔，而其病根經文說得分明——「深著世間樂」與「有所得」，與行人自心的病同一名字。
十五、魔訓能奪命者。 論主出訓詁：魔，秦地之言是「能奪命者」。雖然實際奪命的只是死魔，其餘三種也能作奪命的因緣，且能奪智慧命，是故名殺者。命有二重：身命與慧命；魔之為殺者，重在後者。
十六、一魔何以說四。 論主自設問：五眾魔一種已攝其餘三魔，何以別說四？答：實是一魔，分別其義故有四。煩惱魔，人因貪欲瞋恚故死，是近奪命因緣故別說；天子魔，雜福德業因緣故力勢大，邪見力故能奪慧命，亦能作死因緣故別說；無常死力最大，一切無能免者，甚可畏厭故別說。四魔是一魔的四個切面，各就其可畏處立名。
十七、魔何以惱亂行者、三魔不相離。 又問：魔為什麼惱亂行道者？答：先已廣說；此品中皆有四種魔義，但隨處說。又出三魔相依之理：若有五眾則有煩惱，有煩惱則天魔得其便，五眾煩惱和合故有天魔。這三句是防魔的地圖：天子魔看似外敵，其入口卻是自家的五眾與煩惱——內不和合，外魔方得其便。
十八、捨根攀枝總標與聲聞經之目。 經②轉入全品分量最重的一組魔事：菩薩學餘經、棄捨般若波羅蜜，終不能至薩婆若——為捨其根而攀枝葉。須菩提問何等是餘經，佛答：聲聞所應行經，所謂四念處、四正勤、四如意足、五根、五力、七覺分、八聖道分，空、無相、無作解脫門；住是中得須陀洹果、斯陀含果、阿那含果、阿羅漢果，是名聲聞所行經，不能至薩婆若。而般若波羅蜜中出生諸菩薩摩訶薩，成就世間出世間法；學般若時，亦學世間出世間法。此段須看清所簡的是「經」的趣向，不是法目本身——三十七品之名雙方共有，所趣之果不同（詳下同法異心段）。
十九、十番詰問——狗、象、大海、勝殿、轉輪聖王、百味食、摩尼珠。 佛連設譬喻、十番詰問，每番皆以「於汝意云何？是人為黠不」收問，須菩提十答皆言為不黠。先以狗喻起：譬如狗不從大家求食，反從作務者索。次象喻：欲得見象，見已反觀其跡。次大海喻：欲見大海，見已反求牛跡水，還想著「大海水能與此等不」。次勝殿喻：工匠欲擬作釋提桓因勝殿，而揆則日月宮殿——此喻連兩番詰問。次轉輪聖王喻：欲見轉輪聖王，見而不識，後見諸小國王取其相貌，言「轉輪聖王與此何異」——亦連兩番。次百味食喻：飢人得百味食，棄捨去反食六十日穀飯。末摩尼珠喻：人得無價摩尼珠，反持比水精珠——又連兩番。十番之間，佛一次又一次點明所喻：當來世求佛道的善男子、善女人，得深般若波羅蜜棄捨去，取聲聞、辟支佛所應行經，持求薩婆若——當知是菩薩魔事；其中數番特標「薄福德」三字。十喻同一格局：所求是全體，所取是遺跡、支流、仿本、小樣、粗糧、假珠——不是聲聞經無價值，是拿它求薩婆若，如求象於跡、求海於牛跡水，方向本身錯了。
二十、樂說不如法與般若七相。 書寫深般若時樂說不如法事，不得書成般若波羅蜜——所謂樂說色聲香味觸法，樂說持戒、禪定、無色定，樂說檀波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜，樂說四念處乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。何以連善法都不許樂說？因為般若波羅蜜中無樂說相。經文於此正面標出般若七相：不可思議相、不生不滅相、不垢不淨相、不亂不散相、無說相、無言無義相、無所得相——般若中無是諸相可取，若書經時以是諸法散亂其心，亦是魔事。
廿一、般若不可書——自性無故、執無法亦魔。 須菩提問：般若波羅蜜可書耶？佛言：不可書。何以故？般若自性無故，禪、毘梨耶、羼提、尸羅、檀波羅蜜乃至一切種智自性無故；若自性無，是不名為性，無法不能書無法。緊接著是全品最鋒利的一轉：若有人因此作念「無法是深般若波羅蜜」，當知即是菩薩魔事。說不可書，是遮著有；纔執「無法」，又墮著無——般若之教雙遮兩邊，把「空」拿在手裡當一個東西，與把「有」拿在手裡，同是著心。
廿二、著文字與著無文字。 須菩提續白：用文字書般若，自念「我書是般若波羅蜜」，以字著般若，亦是魔事——因為般若無文字，五波羅蜜無文字，色受想行識乃至一切種智無文字。而下一句立即補上另一邊：若著「無文字」的般若波羅蜜，乃至著無文字的一切種智，當知亦是菩薩魔事；讀、誦、說、正憶念、如說修行，亦如是。著文字是魔事，著無文字仍是魔事——兩句並讀，方見經意不在文字的有無，在著與不著。
廿三、十類異念留難。 書寫般若時，異念蜂起：國土念起、聚落念起、城邑念起、方所念起，聞謗毀其師念起，念父母及兄弟姊妹諸餘親里，念賊，念旃陀羅，念眾女，念婬女——如是種種諸餘異念作留難；惡魔復益其念，破壞書寫，破壞讀、誦、說、正憶念、如說修行。十類之中，有山河故土，有師門恩義，有骨肉親情，有怖畏，有欲染——經文一項不諱，連眾女、婬女之念也如實列出：凡能牽心離經的，不論其貌為善為惡為常情，於書經之時同是留難；而惡魔的手法不是另造念頭，是「復益其念」——順著人心已有的念頭加碼。
廿四、貪著利養。 求佛道者得名譽、恭敬、布施、供養——衣服、飲食、臥床、疾藥、種種樂具——書經受讀誦乃至正憶念時愛著是事，不得書成般若波羅蜜，當知亦是魔事。前面的留難奪人以苦，這一條奪人以樂：供養本身不是罪，愛著供養而經業不成，纔是魔事。
廿五、惡魔持諸餘深經。 最後一條最陰柔：惡魔方便持諸餘深經與是菩薩。有方便者不應貪著——何以故？是經不能令人至薩婆若故；無方便的菩薩聞是諸餘深經，便捨深般若波羅蜜。佛於此鄭重自標：我是般若波羅蜜中，廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，諸菩薩應當從是中求；捨深般若而於魔所與聲聞、辟支佛深經中求方便道，當知亦是菩薩魔事。魔到最後不用惡事誘人，用「深經」誘人——經深不深不是判準，能不能至薩婆若纔是判準。
廿六、學餘經四類人與沮壞之語。 論主釋「學餘經，捨般若」，列出實際發生的幾類人：有人在聲聞法中受戒學法，初不聞般若；或後於餘處聞之，深著先所學法，捨般若而於先所學法中求薩婆若。有聲聞弟子先得般若，不知義趣、不得滋味，以聲聞經行菩薩道。更有聲聞弟子得般若經欲信受，餘聲聞人沮壞其心，說出一整套說詞：「是經初後不相應，無有定相，汝宜捨之！」聲聞法中何所不有——六足阿毘曇及其論議分別諸法相即是般若波羅蜜，八十部律即是尸羅波羅蜜，阿毘曇中分別諸禪解脫諸三昧等是禪波羅蜜，三藏本生中讚歎解脫、布施忍辱精進即是三波羅蜜。這套說詞的可怕處，在它句句像是抬舉：把般若『還原』為聲聞法中本有之物，於是捨般若便顯得毫無損失。論主收之以喻：如人欲得堅實好木，捨其根莖而取枝葉，雖是木名而不中用。
廿七、根莖枝葉二釋。 論主再給『捨根攀枝』兩重正釋。其一：般若波羅蜜是三藏根本，得般若已，為度眾生故說餘事，是名枝葉——枝葉不是贗品，是從根本派生的方便。其二：聲聞經中雖說諸法實相而不了了，般若經中分明顯現、易見易得；如人攀緣枝葉則墮落，捉莖幹則堅固——執聲聞經則墮小乘中，持般若則易得無上道，是故說「捨根莖，取枝葉」。兩釋合觀：枝葉自有其用，錯只錯在捨根而攀枝。
廿八、同法異心。 論主自設本品最要緊的一問：三十七品、三解脫門，般若經中亦有，今何以故但名聲聞、辟支佛經？答：摩訶衍中雖有是法，與畢竟空合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心，為一切眾生故說；聲聞經則不爾，為小乘證故。法目全同，所以異者在心：與畢竟空合、不捨大悲、為一切眾生，同一個四念處便是菩薩道；為小乘證，同一個四念處便是聲聞經。大小之判不在法上，在用法之心上。
廿九、狗喻總攝諸喻。 論主回頭把喻收攏：菩薩行般若故能成就世間出世間法，故求佛者應當學般若。譬如狗為主人守備，應當從主索食，而反於奴、客求食；狗喻行者，般若波羅蜜喻主人——般若中有種種利益，而捨之求餘經。佛欲令分明易見，故說譬喻；象、大海、帝釋殿、轉輪聖王、無價寶，亦如是。十番之喻，一句收盡：向該給的地方去求。
三十、不如法訓釋。 又問：五欲生五蓋、五蓋覆智慧，不應樂說可解；何以樂說餘六波羅蜜乃至無上道，而言不如法？答：「不如法」者，不如般若波羅蜜實相。實相中無定相法，云何可樂說？若有定相，則心著樂說。諸佛菩薩以大悲心為眾生說法，不著語言；用無所得法，示眾生畢竟空相般若。是人書讀誦等，以染著心取六塵相乃至無上道相，故言不如法。不如法三字由此定義：不是所說的內容非法，是能說的心不如實相——染著心取相，說無上道也不如法。
卅一、畢竟空何以有魔事——著空亦魔。 論主自設全品義理最深的一問：若般若畢竟空、無所有法，不可書讀誦等，如是則不應有魔事？答：畢竟空、無所有亦非般若波羅蜜相，何以故是魔事？此中說：若是人知「無所有是般若波羅蜜相」，即是魔事；若用文字書般若，自知「我書般若波羅蜜」，有此著心，即是魔事。若人知般若波羅蜜相，不以著心書讀誦等——這時若有前來破壞的，那纔是破般若波羅蜜。答意雙遮：把畢竟空立為般若之相，空已成相，著相即魔；魔事的界線始終劃在著心上，不劃在書與不書、空與不空上。
卅二、內外二魔釋念起與十念隨釋。 論主以四魔框架收攝異念一段：內有煩惱魔、外有天子魔，是二事因緣故，書般若乃至修行時壞般若波羅蜜。「念起」者，念此國土不安穩、彼國土豐樂；聚落、城邑、方，亦如是。隨後逐項釋十念：或聞謗毀其師，捨般若欲助師除滅惡名；或聞父母疾病、官事；或念賊恐怖，欲發心詣餘處，旃陀羅亦如是；與賊、旃陀羅共住則發瞋恚，與眾婬女共住故婬欲心發。護師是義，念親是孝，避賊是常情——論主不否認其情，只指出其果：如是種種因緣，破壞般若波羅蜜。而藥方只一句：菩薩覺知，當莫念、莫說。
卅三、鈍根貪利養、利根遭轉。 論主把最後兩條魔事分屬兩種根機。鈍根者：書般若時，於多恭敬供養事中愛著，自念「我能書、能隨行故有是」，著是利養，即是魔事——把法上的功德記在我上，供養遂成餌。利根者：魔自忖此菩薩不著世間樂、一心受般若，不可沮壞，「我今當以聲聞深經轉其心，使成阿羅漢」。魔的兩套手法於此並陳：對鈍根用世樂，對利根用道法——連「使成阿羅漢」都可以是魔的目標，因為那正好斷了佛道。
卅四、燒熱金丸喻。 佛言：「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著。」論主出喻：譬如燒熱金丸，色雖妙好，不可捉。若菩薩無方便、不大利根，得是經歡喜——是空、無相、無作，能盡苦本，何復過是！——便捨般若波羅蜜，亦是魔事。金丸是真金，聲聞經是真深；喻的鋒芒在「燒熱」二字：於求薩婆若的人，此刻捉它必被燒——貪著之危不因所貪是真法而減。
卅五、酥和毒喻——全品收尾。 何以故？此中佛自說因緣：「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故。」論主以喻收束全品：譬如人以酥和毒，毒勢則歇，不能害人。般若亦如是：菩薩於般若中求無上道易得，於餘經則難，如但服毒。三解脫門本通涅槃，獨行則證小果，是毒；與般若之酥、大悲之心和合，觀而不證，毒勢自歇，反成菩薩方便道。是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道——全品以此句終。
不要讀錯
不要把魔事讀成外來的妖異敘事。論主的四魔分科說得分明：煩惱魔是自心的百八煩惱，五眾魔是色受想行識這個身心自身，死魔是無常，四者之中只有天子魔是外在有情——而三魔不相離，有五眾則有煩惱，有煩惱則天魔得其便。本品清單裡的魔事，泰半是行人自己的心相：傲慢、戲笑、貪利養、計較受記名字、著文字、著無文字。讀本品若只向外防魔，恰好漏掉了經文用力最深的地方。
不要把『捨聲聞經』讀成貶抑三十七品。論主自問自答得極清楚：三十七品、三解脫門，般若經中亦有；所簡者是「為小乘證故」的趣向，不是法目本身。摩訶衍中同是此法，與畢竟空合、不捨大悲，即是菩薩道。十喻所訶的是拿枝葉當根本、拿象跡當象——聲聞經自有其用，錯在於中求薩婆若。若讀成大乘可以不修念處、正勤，是把經文讀反了。
不要把「不可書」「無法」「無文字」讀成廢書寫、廢誦讀。經文說般若自性無故不可書，隨即說執「無法是深般若波羅蜜」即是魔事；說以字著般若是魔事，隨即說著無文字亦是魔事。論主又明言：不以著心書讀誦，纔是持般若；有來破者，是為破般若波羅蜜。全段雙遮有無，鋒刃始終落在「著心」二字，不落在書寫誦讀之事上——本品自身正是勸人書寫、受持、讀誦般若的經文，豈有自廢之理。
不要把十類異念與眾女、婬女等條目輕輕滑過，或代經文遮掩。經文如實列出：謗師之念、父母兄弟之念、賊與旃陀羅之念、眾女婬女之念，一律是書經時的留難；論主亦如實釋之——助師除惡名是義舉，念父母疾病是人情，而於書般若之時，凡牽心離經者同名留難。經不諱言，疏亦不當代為軟化；當看的是那句收束：菩薩覺知，當莫念、莫說——是覺知不隨，不是憎惡所念之人。
修行作用
本品給用功人的第一件受用，是一份可以逐條自檢的清單。說法時辯不生、辯卒起；書經時傲慢、戲笑、輕慢、心亂、不和合；讀誦時師徒相輕；覺得無滋味想走；計較自己有沒有受記、有沒有名字；貪著恭敬供養；異念蜂起——這些全是日用中認得出的相。本品的用法就是佛說的那一句：但令覺知，不隨其事。不是與每一相搏鬥，是在相起時認得它的名字：這是魔事。認得，它的力量就折了一半。
第二件受用，在『不得滋味便棄捨』一條的自省。讀深經覺得無味，人總歸咎於經；佛的診斷卻是五根薄——先世不久行六波羅蜜，信等五根薄，故不能信空、無相、無作、無依止法。日用中於般若法門生不起歡喜時，此條可作回光之處：無味未必是經淡，可能是自己的信根進退之候；此時起身離去，念念却劫，堅坐續讀，即是增根。
第三件受用，是十喻的方向感。見象反觀其跡、求海反取牛跡水——十喻教的是一個『向何處求』的判斷：所求若是薩婆若，就當向出生薩婆若的地方求。行人日用中揀擇法門、揀擇讀本，可以常問十喻之問：我此刻所親近的，是根莖還是枝葉？它能至我所求之地嗎？
第四件受用，是著空之勘。行人稍解空義，最易把「畢竟空」「無所有」握成新的所得；本品明言：知無所有是般若相，即是魔事。日用中作空觀時，可用此條回勘：我是在離著，還是在把「空」當作一件東西持著？併同著文字、著無文字一對讀之：離文字相不在毀文字，在不著。
第五件受用，是利根者之警。魔對治利根人的辦法，是拿深經、拿「使成阿羅漢」來轉心——用功愈得力，所遇的岔路愈精緻。燒熱金丸之喻宜常記：色雖妙好，不可捉；判準不是深不深、真不真，是至不至薩婆若、捨不捨大悲。而酥和毒喻給出正面用法：三解脫門不是不修，和以般若與大悲，觀而不證，毒即成藥。
承衍
本品的骨幹，是兩段經文與兩段論釋。經①自須菩提問留難起，佛歷數魔事：樂說辯不即生、卒起，書經時偃𠐻傲慢、戲笑亂心、輕笑不敬、心亂不定、各各不和合，不得滋味便棄捨，受持讀誦時偃𠐻傲慢、轉相形笑、共相輕蔑、散亂心、心不和合，未受記、無名字、無生處名字而從會起去、念念却劫。論①先立怨賊喻——增上相違即是怨賊——次明佛廣說留難之由、怨賊眾生非眾生內外之分科，總名為魔；立四魔分科：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔，出「能奪命者」之訓，答一魔何以說四、魔何以惱亂行者、三魔不相離；然後隨文釋辯不生之七疑與阿難之事、辯卒起之逸馬暴水、憍慢散亂不和合、滋味與五根、授記與法位、念念却劫。經②立捨根攀枝之總標，數聲聞所行經之目，設狗、象、大海、勝殿、轉輪聖王、百味食、摩尼珠之喻而十番詰問；次明樂說不如法與般若七相、不可書與執無法、著文字與著無文字、十類異念、貪著利養、惡魔持諸餘深經。論②釋學餘經之四類人與沮壞之語，出根莖枝葉二釋，答同法異心之問，以狗喻總攝諸喻，訓「不如法」，答畢竟空何以有魔事而明著空亦魔，以內外二魔釋念起而隨釋十念，分鈍根利根二機，末以燒熱金丸、酥和毒二喻收束：不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道。
本品與前後諸品的義脈，可見者有三線。其一，須菩提之問自標其承接：功德佛已讚歎——前此諸品廣讚行般若之德，本品補其所未說的怨賊相；論主明言，以佛憐愍故先雖略說，今須菩提請，佛廣說留難事——讚德與說難，是一法的兩面。其二，本品『捨深般若取聲聞經』一軸，與此前諸品反覆申明的般若總攝諸度、出生菩薩之義互為表裡：正因般若是根本，捨根攀枝纔成顛倒；同法異心一答，又為般若中攝三十七品、三解脫門之義下一轉語。其三，本品魔事之說未竟——佛於品末標出般若中廣說方便道、觀二乘道而不證之義，此義與魔事之餘相，皆在其後諸品續說；讀者可合前後觀之，以見說難之教與方便之教的一貫（其品目異稱、傳本分卷與後世徵引之考，詳考據層）。
The Deeds of Māra: Why, the Merits Having Been Praised, Hindrances Are Spoken of Again; Why the Eloquence of Delighting in Speech Not Arising and Arising Suddenly Are Alike Deeds of Māra; Why the Four Māras, Being in Reality One, Are Spoken of as Four; Why the Ten Challenges All Conclude in Not Clever; Why, Prajñā Being Unwritable, Grasping the Non-existent Dharma and Grasping the Absence of Letters Are Also Deeds of Māra; Why Ten Kinds of Stray Thoughts All Become Hindrances; Why the Evil Māra Instead Holds Out Deep Sūtras to People; and Why the Simile of Poison Mixed with Ghee Shows That Seeking the Path within Prajñā Is Easy and within Other Sūtras Hard
What Is Being Asked
Through the preceding chapters the Buddha has all along been praising the merits of the bodhisattva who practises prajñā—the buddhas watch over him in their thought, the gods guard him, benefits of every kind in this life and in later lives. In this chapter the wind turns sharply: the venerable Subhūti rises and asks: good men and good women have given rise to the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, they practise the six perfections, bring beings to maturity, and purify buddha-worlds, and the Buddha has already praised their merits; then why do those who seek the path of the Buddha give rise to hindrances of every kind? The Buddha’s answer is a long list that runs against all expectation: when one expounds the Dharma and eloquence will not arise, that is a deed of Māra; when eloquence arises too fast and too fiercely, that is also a deed of Māra; when one writes out the sūtra-scroll haughtily...; to read, find it without savour, and go away, is a deed of Māra; to rise from the assembly and leave because the sūtra contains no prediction of oneself, no name of one’s own, no hometown of one’s own, is a deed of Māra; to abandon the deep prajñā and climb to the śrāvaka sūtras is a deed of Māra; and so on up to attaching to 「無法是深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā," attaching to the absence of letters—this is still a deed of Māra.
What is this chapter asking? It is asking about the enemy’s disposition against the one who practises the path. The treatise-author states it plainly at the outset: every conditioned dharma has its dominant; the dominants oppose one another, and to oppose is to be an enemy and a thief—the path is not practised in a vacuum; whatever can spoil and ruin the mind set on the unsurpassed path, whether beings or non-beings, whether outer objects or one’s own mind, the Buddha names altogether as Māra. And so the treatise-author sets up the overall division into the four Māras: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods; and further raises question and answer himself: the four Māras are in reality one Māra—why speak of them separately as four? Why does Māra insist on troubling and disturbing those who practise the path? In the latter half of the sūtra text the Buddha, with ten challenges, presses the inversion of ‘abandoning the deep prajñā and taking up the śrāvaka sūtras’ until there is no place left to hide—one sees the elephant and turns round to examine its footprints, one wishes to view the great sea and turns round to seek the water in an ox’s hoofprint: is such a person clever? Ten times Subhūti answers: not clever. And the deepest turn of the whole chapter comes at the end: prajñā is ultimately empty and cannot be written; then, to grasp 「空」 tr. "emptiness," to grasp 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent"—is that right, then? The Buddha says: that is still a deed of Māra. The list of the deeds of Māra is counted from outer objects all the way down to the subtlest attached mind; this is exactly where the intent of this chapter lies.
Passage by Passage
1. The question of hindrances—the merits praised, but the enemy and thief not yet told. The treatise-author reads out for us the place of Subhūti’s question: 「上已讚歎說菩薩功德，今云何是菩薩魔事起？」 tr. "Above, the bodhisattva’s merits have been praised and told; now, how do the bodhisattva’s deeds of Māra arise?" Praise and hindrance are a pair—one who does not know the merits will not be willing to give rise to the mind, and one who does not know the hindrances will surely fail in practising. Once this question is put, the Buddha turns from chapters of praise to a chapter on the enemy’s disposition.
2. The eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once. The very first item on the list runs against expectation: the eloquence of delighting in speech not arising at once is a deed of Māra. Subhūti presses for the reason, and the Buddha answers: when the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā, it is hard to fulfil the six perfections; for this reason eloquence does not arise at once. The treatise-author, following the text, draws out where this item hurts: the bodhisattva, out of pity for beings, mounts the high seat to expound the Dharma, but eloquence does not arise, and seven kinds of suspicion arise in the hearers’ minds—「我等故來，而法師不說」 tr. "We came on purpose, and the Dharma-master does not speak," or they think 「法師怖畏故不能說」 tr. "the Dharma-master is afraid and so cannot speak," or they say 「不知故不說」 tr. "he does not know, and so does not speak," or they suppose that he is reflecting on the depth of his own faults, or that he has not received offerings, or that he looks down on the hearers, or that he is used to his ease and comfort and so does not speak—for such various causes and conditions the hearers’ minds are spoiled, and therefore not delighting in speech is called a deed of Māra. He further cites a matter that can be verified before one’s eyes: Māra entered Ānanda’s mind; the Buddha asked him three times and three times he did not answer, and only after a long while could he speak—eloquence not arising is no small matter; it is Māra finding his opening. The treatise-author further explains its distant cause: because of the causes and conditions of a former life, this person is of dull faculties and indolent; Māra finds his opening, he cannot practise the six perfections single-mindedly, and so the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once.
3. The eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly. The item immediately following is exactly the reverse of the one before: eloquence suddenly surging up is also a deed of Māra. The treatise-author raises question and answer himself: not arising can be said to be a deed of Māra; why is arising suddenly also a deed of Māra? Answer: this Dharma-master loves the Dharma, is attached to the Dharma, and seeks fame, and so indulges in delight in speech with no meaning or principle, like a runaway horse hard to rein in; again like a great water in sudden spate, muddied with every kind of filth. Therefore the Buddha himself says: 「菩薩行六波羅蜜，著樂說法，是為魔事。」 tr. "The bodhisattva practises the six perfections and is attached to delighting in speaking the Dharma: this is a deed of Māra." Viewing the two items together, the criterion for a deed of Māra stands out at once: it lies not in whether eloquence is slow or quick, but in whether the mind is attached or not—not arising is being bound, arising suddenly is losing control; both alike are the one mind not being free.
4. Five kinds of hindrance when copying the sūtra. The Buddha goes on to count the marks that appear when copying the prajñā sūtra: sprawling and haughty, jesting and laughing with a distracted mind, sneering without respect, the mind disordered and unsettled, each at odds with the others. The treatise-author’s explanation of 「偃𠐻傲慢」 tr. "sprawling and haughty" is the most pointed: prajñāpāramitā came forth in the first place to break arrogance, yet the one copying the sūtra instead gives rise to a mind of self, a mind of arrogance; because of arrogance even his body is held high—the Dharma is meant to cure the sickness, yet the person grows sicker at the very moment of holding the Dharma; this is why it is a deed of Māra. He further explains scattering and not being in harmony: prajñā, even with a single mind and a gathered mind, is still hard to obtain—how much less when one writes it out with a scattered mind; when copying, one receives from someone’s mouth, or writes out a sūtra-scroll; with single mind and in harmony one obtains it; if the one who transmits does not give it, the various causes and conditions are just what not being in harmony is.
5. Finding no savour, one abandons it. Good men and good women form this thought: I do not find the savour in this sūtra—and so abandon it and go away. On this item the Buddha and Subhūti go back and forth the most. Subhūti presses specifically on this item, and the treatise-author too raises question and answer himself: among all the matters above, why ask only about 「不得經中滋味」 tr. "not finding the savour in the sūtra" and not about the rest? Answer: in prajñāpāramitā, what the noble ones speak is different from what ordinary people speak, and therefore ordinary people do not find its savour; the rest are easy to understand, and so are not asked about. Subhūti’s meaning is that prajñā is the heap of pure precious treasure, able to benefit beings, without fault or evil—how can this person not find its savour? The Buddha answers with the root of the illness: in former lives this person did not long practise the six perfections, and the five faculties beginning with faith are thin; because they are thin he cannot have faith in the dharmas of emptiness, the signless, non-action, and non-dependence; a troubled and disturbed mind arises, and he complains, 「佛一切智，何以不與我受記」 tr. "The Buddha is omniscient; why does he not give me a prediction?"—and so abandons it and goes away. The treatise-author adds a further explanation: when one looks into the prajñā sūtra, chapter after chapter is all empty, with nothing in it to delight in, and so one says one does not find the savour—not knowing that prajñā is precisely the root of all delights; not finding its savour is itself a deed of Māra.
6. Five kinds of hindrance when receiving, upholding, reading, and reciting, and despising one another. Besides copying, when receiving and upholding, reading, reciting, expounding, and rightly recollecting, there are likewise five marks: sprawling and haughty, mocking one another, despising one another, a scattered mind, minds not in harmony. The treatise-author distinguishes in particular between 「共相輕蔑」 tr. "despising one another" and the marks that appear in copying: when one receives, upholds, reads, recites, and rightly recollects from someone, teacher and disciple look down on one another—this is called despising one another; when copying the sūtra there is only abandoning and going away, with no looking down on one another—receiving the Dharma must have a line from teacher to disciple, and the mutual contempt between teacher and disciple is a mark of ruin peculiar to the stage of receiving and upholding.
7. No prediction and no name. Why, finding no savour, does one rise from one’s seat and leave? Because one reckons in one’s mind: in prajñāpāramitā there is no prediction for me, there is no name of mine in it, there is in the sūtra no name of my birthplace, village, town, or city. Subhūti asks on their behalf: the Buddha is of great compassion—why does he not confer the prediction and guard their minds? The Buddha answers: to a person who has not entered the position of dharmas, the buddhas do not confer the prediction. The treatise-author explains the reason: although the buddhas fully know the matters of beings from long ago, the seers with the five supernormal powers and the gods see that this person has as yet no causes and conditions of wholesome conduct and karma for which a prediction could be conferred; if a prediction were conferred on him, they would look down on the Buddha and not have faith: 「無有因緣，云何與授記？」 tr. "There are no causes and conditions; how can he confer a prediction?" Therefore it is to those who have entered the position of dharmas that the prediction is conferred; that the name and the village are not told follows the same principle. A prediction is not a consolation but a confirmation; a confirmation without ground would instead damage faith.
8. Rising from the assembly and leaving—thought by thought one is set back a kalpa. The retribution for this group of hindrances is extremely heavy: when this person rises from his seat and leaves, according to how many thoughts of rising there are, thought by thought he is set back a kalpa each; when the penalty is paid, he again obtains a human body, and only then must he practise again for that many kalpas. Rising from the assembly looks like a small matter, and the treatise-author transmits the sūtra’s meaning as it is: to turn one’s back on the deep Dharma and leave with a contemptuous mind—every thought is a walking backward.
9. The simile of the enemy and thief—dominants opposing one another. Opening up the whole chapter, the treatise-author first sets up an overall simile: every conditioned dharma has its dominant; the dominants oppose one another, and to oppose is to be an enemy and a thief—as water, obtaining dominant power, quenches fire, and fire, obtaining dominant power, dries up water, and so on up to grass and trees each injuring one another—how much more beings. The bodhisattva has a mind of great compassion; though he does not make himself an enemy of beings, beings make themselves enemies of the bodhisattva; the bodhisattva’s body is a conditioned dharma, and so the enemy and thief can make hindrances for him. That the deeds of Māra are possible at all has its root in the word 「有為」 tr. "conditioned": so long as one practises the path within conditioned dharmas, one is within the field of force of dominants opposing one another.
10. Why the Buddha speaks at length of the hindrances. Earlier the Buddha spoke of the merits and did not yet speak of the marks of the enemy and thief; out of pity he first spoke of them briefly; now, at Subhūti’s request, the Buddha speaks of them at length. The treatise-author points out two measures of tact: the Buddha’s mind is equal toward all beings and all dharmas, yet because bodhisattvas can greatly benefit the world, he speaks of the fair and the foul, benefit and harm, what is the path and what is not the path, the matters of hindrance; further, the Buddha does not have the practitioner injure and harm what hinders him, but only has him be aware of it and not follow along with it. This sentence is the general principle of practice for the whole chapter—speaking of the deeds of Māra is not teaching people to do battle with Māra; it is teaching them to recognise and not follow.
11. The division of enemies and thieves, and the name Māra given to them all. What are the enemies and thieves? The treatise-author divides them: whatever can spoil and ruin the bodhisattva’s mind set on the unsurpassed path, whether the dharmas of beings or the dharmas of non-beings. The non-beings are sickness, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, being struck or crushed, falling, and the like. The beings are Māra and Māra’s people, evil ghosts, those of wrong doubt and without faith, those who have cut off their roots of goodness, those fixed on something to be attained, those who discriminate dharmas as really fixed, those deeply attached to worldly delights, enemies and thieves, official affairs, and so on up to lions, tigers, wolves, evil beasts, and poisonous creatures. The thieves that are beings are further divided into inner and outer: the inner arise from one’s own mind—grieving at not finding the savour of the Dharma, giving rise to wrong views, doubt and regret, lack of faith, and the like; the outer are as said above. The list is mixed, yet it is gathered up in a single sentence: all such things of difficulty the Buddha names together as Māra. Māra is not one class of uncanny beings; it is the collective name for every force that obstructs the path.
12. The four Māras set out in general, and the Māra of the afflictions. Māra is of four kinds: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods. The Māra of the afflictions is the hundred and eight afflictions and the like, distinguished into eighty-four thousand afflictions—the Māra closest to the body is the afflictions of one’s own mind themselves.
13. The Māra of the five aggregates. The Māra of the five aggregates: from the causes and conditions of the coming together of afflictions and karma one obtains this body: the four great elements and the form made from the four great elements, the eye-faculty and so on, are called the aggregate of form; the coming together of the various feelings, the hundred and eight afflictions and the like, is called the aggregate of feeling; the coming together of the discriminations of perceptions small, great, immeasurable, and without anything existent is called the aggregate of perception; the dharmas associated and not associated with the mind, which, set going by the fair and the foul, can give rise to minds of greed, hatred, and the like, are called the aggregate of constructions; the six faculties and the six sense-objects come together and give rise to the six consciousnesses, and the six consciousnesses discriminate, and the coming together of immeasurable and boundless minds is called the aggregate of consciousness. This passage counts the five aggregates one by one—this body and mind of form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness itself is Māra; there is no need to wait for an outer enemy—to receive a body is already to be within Māra.
14. The Māra of death and the Māra who is a son of the gods. The Māra of death: through the causes and conditions of impermanence it breaks the life of the five aggregates that continue in succession, which is exhausted and parts from the three dharmas of consciousness, severance, and life; it is called the Māra of death. The Māra who is a son of the gods is the lord of the desire realm, deeply attached to worldly delights; because he makes use of something to be attained he gives rise to wrong views, and hates and envies the Dharma of the path to nirvāṇa of all the worthies and noble ones. Of the four Māras, only this one is a Māra that is an outer sentient being, yet the sūtra text states the root of its illness plainly—「深著世間樂」 tr. "deeply attached to worldly delights" and 「有所得」 tr. "something to be attained," the very same names as the illness of the practitioner’s own mind.
15. Māra glossed as one who can seize life. The treatise-author gives the gloss: Māra, in the language of Qin, is 「能奪命者」 tr. "one who can seize life." Although what actually seizes life is only the Māra of death, the other three can also serve as causes and conditions of seizing life, and moreover can seize the life of wisdom; therefore it is called the killer. Life is twofold: the life of the body and the life of wisdom; Māra as killer weighs most on the latter.
16. Why one Māra is spoken of as four. The treatise-author asks himself: the one kind, the Māra of the five aggregates, already includes the other three Māras—why speak of four separately? Answer: in reality it is one Māra; because its meaning is distinguished, there are four. The Māra of the afflictions: people die because of greed and hatred; it is a near cause and condition of seizing life, and so is spoken of separately; the Māra who is a son of the gods, because of the causes and conditions of mixed merit and karma, has great power and force, and by the power of wrong views can seize the life of wisdom, and can also serve as a cause and condition of death, and so is spoken of separately; the power of death through impermanence is the greatest, none can escape it, it is utterly to be feared and wearied of, and so is spoken of separately. The four Māras are four facets of one Māra, each named according to what in it is to be feared.
17. Why Māra troubles the practitioner; the three Māras never apart. He asks again: why does Māra trouble and disturb those who practise the path? Answer: this has already been told at length before; in this chapter the meaning of the four kinds of Māra is present throughout, only spoken of as each place calls for. He further brings out the principle of the three Māras depending on one another: if there are the five aggregates there are afflictions; if there are afflictions the Māra of the heavens finds his opening; because the five aggregates and the afflictions come together there is the Māra of the heavens. These three sentences are the map for guarding against Māra: the Māra who is a son of the gods looks like an outer enemy, yet his way in is one’s own five aggregates and afflictions—only when within one is not in harmony does the outer Māra find his opening.
18. Abandoning the root to climb the branches, set out in general, and the list of the śrāvaka sūtras. Sūtra ② turns to the weightiest group of deeds of Māra in the whole chapter: the bodhisattva who studies other sūtras and abandons prajñāpāramitā can never reach sarvajñā—it is abandoning the root to climb the branches and leaves. Subhūti asks which are the other sūtras, and the Buddha answers: the sūtras that śrāvakas should practise, namely the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernormal power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the noble path, and the gates of liberation of emptiness, the signless, and non-action; abiding in these one obtains the fruit of srota-āpanna, the fruit of sakṛdāgāmin, the fruit of anāgāmin, the fruit of arhat—these are called the sūtras that śrāvakas practise, which cannot reach sarvajñā. But from prajñāpāramitā the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas are born, and worldly and world-transcending dharmas are accomplished; when one studies prajñā, one also studies worldly and world-transcending dharmas. In this passage one must see clearly that what is being set aside is the direction of the 「經」 tr. "sūtras," not the items of the Dharma themselves—the names of the thirty-seven limbs of the path are shared by both sides, while the fruits they head toward differ (see in detail the passage below on the same dharma and a different mind).
19. The ten challenges—dog, elephant, great sea, victorious palace, wheel-turning sage king, food of a hundred flavours, maṇi jewel. The Buddha sets up similes one after another in ten challenges, each closing its question with 「於汝意云何？是人為黠不」 tr. "What do you think? Is this person clever?"—and all ten of Subhūti’s answers say: not clever. It opens with the simile of the dog: like a dog that does not seek food from the great household but instead begs it from the servant. Next the simile of the elephant: wishing to see an elephant, and having seen it, turning round to examine its footprints. Next the simile of the great sea: wishing to see the great sea, and having seen it, turning round to seek the water in an ox’s hoofprint, and still thinking, 「大海水能與此等不」 tr. "Can the water of the great sea equal this?" Next the simile of the victorious palace: a craftsman wishes to model the victorious palace of Śakra Devānām Indra, and takes his measure from the palaces of the sun and moon—this simile carries two challenges in a row. Next the simile of the wheel-turning sage king: wishing to see a wheel-turning sage king, seeing him yet not recognising him, then afterwards seeing petty kings and taking up their appearance, saying, 「轉輪聖王與此何異」 tr. "How does the wheel-turning sage king differ from this?"—this too carries two in a row. Next the simile of food of a hundred flavours: a hungry man obtains food of a hundred flavours, abandons it and goes off to eat sixty-day grain instead. Last the simile of the maṇi jewel: a man obtains a priceless maṇi jewel and instead sets it beside a crystal bead—again two in a row. Across the ten challenges the Buddha time and again points out what is meant: good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha in the ages to come, having obtained the deep prajñāpāramitā, abandon it and go away, take up the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise, and hold to them to seek sarvajñā—know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva; in several of the challenges he specially marks the words 「薄福德」 tr. "thin in merit." The ten similes share one pattern: what is sought is the whole, what is taken is the trace, the tributary, the imitation, the smaller specimen, the coarse grain, the false jewel—it is not that the śrāvaka sūtras are without value, but that to take them to seek sarvajñā is like seeking the elephant in its footprints, seeking the sea in the water of an ox’s hoofprint: the direction itself is wrong.
20. Delighting in speech not in accord with the Dharma, and the seven marks of prajñā. When copying the deep prajñā, matters of delighting in speech not in accord with the Dharma prevent the copying of prajñāpāramitā from being accomplished—namely, delighting in speaking of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; delighting in speaking of keeping the precepts, meditation, and the formless absorptions; delighting in speaking of dānapāramitā and so on up to prajñāpāramitā; delighting in speaking of the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Why is even delighting in speaking of wholesome dharmas not permitted? Because in prajñāpāramitā there is no mark of delighting in speech. Here the sūtra text directly sets out the seven marks of prajñā: the mark of the inconceivable, the mark of neither arising nor ceasing, the mark of neither stained nor pure, the mark of neither disordered nor scattered, the mark of no speech, the mark of no words and no meaning, the mark of nothing to be attained—in prajñā there are none of these marks to be grasped; if, when copying the sūtra, one scatters and disorders one’s mind with these dharmas, this too is a deed of Māra.
21. Prajñā cannot be written—because its self-nature is non-existent; grasping the non-existent dharma is also Māra. Subhūti asks: can prajñāpāramitā be written? The Buddha says: it cannot be written. Why? Because the self-nature of prajñā is non-existent; because the self-nature of dhyāna, vīrya, kṣānti, śīla, and dānapāramitā, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, is non-existent; if the self-nature is non-existent, it is not called a nature, and a non-existent dharma cannot write a non-existent dharma. Immediately follows the sharpest turn of the whole chapter: if someone on this account forms the thought, 「無法是深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā," know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. To say it cannot be written is to block attachment to existence; the moment one grasps 「無法」 tr. "the non-existent dharma," one falls again into attachment to non-existence—the teaching of prajñā blocks both extremes together; to hold 「空」 tr. "emptiness" in the hand as a thing is, like holding 「有」 tr. "existence" in the hand, alike an attached mind.
22. Attachment to letters and attachment to the absence of letters. Subhūti continues, saying to the Buddha: to write prajñā with letters and think to oneself, 「我書是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "I am writing this prajñāpāramitā," attaching to prajñā through the letters, is also a deed of Māra—because prajñā is without letters, the five perfections are without letters, form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, are without letters. And the next sentence at once supplies the other side: if one attaches to a prajñāpāramitā that is 「無文字」 tr. "without letters," and so on up to attaching to an omniscience of all kinds without letters, know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva; reading, reciting, expounding, rightly recollecting, and practising as taught are likewise. Attachment to letters is a deed of Māra, and attachment to the absence of letters is still a deed of Māra—only when the two sentences are read side by side does one see that the sūtra’s intent lies not in whether there are letters or not, but in attachment or non-attachment.
23. Ten kinds of stray thoughts as hindrances. When copying prajñā, stray thoughts swarm up: thoughts of lands arise, thoughts of villages arise, thoughts of towns and cities arise, thoughts of regions arise, on hearing one’s teacher slandered thoughts arise, thoughts of father and mother, of brothers and sisters and other kin, thoughts of thieves, thoughts of caṇḍālas, thoughts of women, thoughts of harlots—all such various other stray thoughts make hindrances; and the evil Māra further increases these thoughts, ruins the copying, ruins reading, reciting, expounding, rightly recollecting, and practising as taught. Among the ten kinds there are the mountains and rivers of one’s homeland, the gratitude and duty owed to one’s teacher’s gate, the affection of flesh and blood, fear, and the taint of desire—the sūtra text does not hide a single item, and lists as they are even the thoughts of women and of harlots: whatever can draw the mind away from the sūtra, whether it looks good, evil, or simply natural feeling, is alike a hindrance at the time of copying the sūtra; and the evil Māra’s method is not to fabricate another thought but to 「復益其念」 tr. "further increase these thoughts"—to add weight along the thoughts already present in a person’s mind.
24. Greedy attachment to gain and offerings. One who seeks the path of the Buddha obtains fame, reverence, gifts, and offerings—robes, food and drink, bedding, medicine for sickness, requisites of every kind for comfort—and if, when copying the sūtra, receiving, reading, reciting, and so on up to rightly recollecting, he loves and attaches to these things, the copying of prajñāpāramitā is not accomplished; know that this too is a deed of Māra. The earlier hindrances rob a person through suffering; this item robs a person through delight: offerings are not in themselves a fault; it is loving and attaching to offerings so that the work on the sūtra is not accomplished that is a deed of Māra.
25. The evil Māra holds out other deep sūtras. The last item is the most insidious: the evil Māra, as a device, holds out other deep sūtras to this bodhisattva. One who has skilful means should not be greedily attached—why? Because these sūtras cannot bring a person to sarvajñā; a bodhisattva without skilful means, hearing these other deep sūtras, abandons the deep prajñāpāramitā. Here the Buddha solemnly declares of himself: in this prajñāpāramitā I have widely taught the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, and bodhisattvas ought to seek it within this; to abandon the deep prajñā and seek the path of skilful means in the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas given by Māra—know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. At the last Māra does not use evil deeds to lure people; he uses 「深經」 tr. "deep sūtras" to lure them—whether a sūtra is deep or not is not the criterion; whether it can reach sarvajñā is the criterion.
26. The four kinds of people who study other sūtras, and the words that spoil and ruin. The treatise-author, explaining 「學餘經，捨般若」 tr. "studying other sūtras, abandoning prajñā," lists several kinds of people for whom it actually happens: some receive the precepts and study the Dharma within the śrāvaka Dharma and at first do not hear prajñā; or later hear it elsewhere, but, deeply attached to the Dharma they studied first, abandon prajñā and seek sarvajñā in the Dharma they studied first. There are śrāvaka disciples who first obtain prajñā but do not know its meaning and purport and do not find its savour, and practise the bodhisattva path with the śrāvaka sūtras. And there are śrāvaka disciples who obtain the prajñā sūtra and wish to have faith in it and receive it, but other śrāvakas spoil and ruin their minds, speaking a whole set of arguments: 「是經初後不相應，無有定相，汝宜捨之！」 tr. "This sūtra does not agree from beginning to end, it has no fixed mark; you had better abandon it!" What is there that is not in the śrāvaka Dharma—the six-part abhidharma and its discussions distinguishing the marks of dharmas are prajñāpāramitā; the eighty sections of the Vinaya is śīla pāramitā; the distinguishing in the Abhidharma of the meditations, the liberations, the samādhis, and so on is dhyāna pāramitā; the praise of liberation, giving, patience, and vigour in the jātakas of the three baskets is the three pāramitās. What is frightening in this set of arguments is that every sentence of it seems to raise prajñā up: prajñā is ‘reduced back’ to something the śrāvaka Dharma already has, so that abandoning prajñā appears to be no loss at all. The treatise-author closes it with a simile: as a person who wants good solid timber abandons the root and trunk and takes the branches and leaves—though they bear the name of wood, they are of no use.
27. Two explanations of root, trunk, branches, and leaves. The treatise-author then gives two correct explanations of ‘abandoning the root to climb the branches’. The first: prajñāpāramitā is the root of the three baskets; having obtained prajñā, one speaks of other matters in order to deliver beings, and these are called branches and leaves—branches and leaves are not counterfeits, but skilful means grown out of the root. The second: although the śrāvaka sūtras speak of the real mark of all dharmas, they do not make it fully clear, while in the prajñā sūtras it is clearly manifest, easy to see and easy to obtain; as a person who climbs by the branches and leaves falls, while one who grips the trunk is firm—holding to the śrāvaka sūtras one falls into the Small Vehicle, holding to prajñā one easily attains the unsurpassed path; therefore it is said 「捨根莖，取枝葉」 tr. "abandoning the root and trunk, taking the branches and leaves." Viewing the two explanations together: branches and leaves have their own use; the error lies only in abandoning the root to climb the branches.
28. The same dharma, a different mind. The treatise-author raises himself the most important question of this chapter: the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are also in the prajñā sūtras—why now are they called only śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha sūtras? Answer: in the Mahāyāna, though these dharmas are present, they are joined with ultimate emptiness, the mind is attached to nothing, and, not abandoning sarvajñā and the mind of great compassion, they are spoken for the sake of all beings; the śrāvaka sūtras are not so, being for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle. The items of the Dharma are wholly the same; what differs lies in the mind: joined with ultimate emptiness, not abandoning great compassion, for the sake of all beings—the very same four foundations of mindfulness are the bodhisattva path; for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle, the very same four foundations of mindfulness are a śrāvaka sūtra. The judgement of great and small lies not in the dharma but in the mind that uses the dharma.
29. The simile of the dog gathers up all the similes. The treatise-author turns back and draws the similes together: because the bodhisattva practises prajñā he can accomplish worldly and world-transcending dharmas; therefore one who seeks the Buddha ought to study prajñā. It is like a dog that keeps guard for its master and ought to beg food from the master, yet instead seeks food from the slaves and guests; the dog is the practitioner, prajñāpāramitā is the master—in prajñā there are benefits of every kind, yet one abandons it to seek other sūtras. The Buddha, wishing to make it clear and easy to see, speaks in similes; the elephant, the great sea, Śakra’s palace, the wheel-turning sage king, the priceless treasure, are likewise. The similes of the ten challenges are gathered up in one sentence: seek in the place where it is to be given.
30. The gloss on not in accord with the Dharma. He asks further: that the five desires give rise to the five hindrances and the five hindrances cover wisdom, so that one should not delight in speaking of them, can be understood; why is delighting in speaking of the other six perfections and so on up to the unsurpassed path called not in accord with the Dharma? Answer: 「不如法」 tr. "not in accord with the Dharma" means not in accord with the real mark of prajñāpāramitā. In the real mark there are no dharmas of fixed mark—how could one delight in speaking of it? If there were a fixed mark, the mind would attach to delighting in speech. The buddhas and bodhisattvas expound the Dharma for beings with a mind of great compassion, not attached to words; with the dharma of nothing to be attained they show beings the prajñā of the mark of ultimate emptiness. This person, copying, reading, reciting, and so on, grasps with a tainted and attached mind the marks of the six sense-objects and so on up to the mark of the unsurpassed path; therefore it is said to be not in accord with the Dharma. The three Chinese characters rendered here as ‘not in accord with the Dharma’ are defined by this: it is not that the content of what is spoken is against the Dharma, but that the mind that speaks is not in accord with the real mark—grasping marks with a tainted and attached mind, even speaking of the unsurpassed path is not in accord with the Dharma.
31. Why there are deeds of Māra in ultimate emptiness—attachment to emptiness is also Māra. The treatise-author raises himself the question of deepest meaning in the whole chapter: if prajñā is ultimately empty, a dharma without anything existent, which cannot be written, read, recited, and so on, then in that case there should be no deeds of Māra? Answer: ultimate emptiness and without anything existent are likewise not the mark of prajñāpāramitā; why is this a deed of Māra? Here it is said: if this person knows 「無所有是般若波羅蜜相」 tr. "without anything existent is the mark of prajñāpāramitā," that is a deed of Māra; if one writes prajñā with letters and knows oneself, 「我書般若波羅蜜」 tr. "I am writing prajñāpāramitā," having this attached mind is a deed of Māra. If a person knows the mark of prajñāpāramitā and does not copy, read, recite, and so on with an attached mind—then if anyone comes forward to ruin this, that is what breaking prajñāpāramitā truly is. The answer blocks both sides: to set up ultimate emptiness as the mark of prajñā—emptiness has already become a mark, and attaching to a mark is Māra; the line of the deeds of Māra is always drawn at the attached mind, never at writing or not writing, empty or not empty.
32. The inner and outer Māras explaining the arising of thoughts, and the ten thoughts explained in turn. The treatise-author gathers up the passage on stray thoughts with the framework of the four Māras: within there is the Māra of the afflictions, without there is the Māra who is a son of the gods; through the causes and conditions of these two, prajñāpāramitā is ruined in copying prajñā and so on up to practising. 「念起」 tr. "Thoughts arise" means thinking that this land is not peaceful and secure and that land is prosperous and happy; villages, towns and cities, and regions are likewise. Then he explains the ten thoughts item by item: some hear their teacher slandered, and abandon prajñā wishing to help the teacher do away with the bad name; some hear of father and mother being sick, or of official affairs; some think of thieves in fear and want to set out for elsewhere, and caṇḍālas likewise; dwelling together with thieves or caṇḍālas, hatred arises; dwelling together with women and harlots, a mind of lust arises. Protecting one’s teacher is duty, thinking of one’s kin is filial piety, avoiding thieves is ordinary feeling—the treatise-author does not deny the feeling, he only points out its result: through such various causes and conditions prajñāpāramitā is ruined. And the medicine is a single sentence: the bodhisattva, being aware of it, should not think of it and should not speak of it.
33. The dull-faculty person greedy for gain and offerings, the sharp-faculty person turned aside. The treatise-author assigns the last two deeds of Māra to two kinds of faculty. The one of dull faculties: when copying prajñā, amid much reverence and many offerings he loves and attaches, thinking to himself, 「我能書、能隨行故有是」 tr. "It is because I can copy and can practise accordingly that I have this," and attaches to this gain and offering—this is a deed of Māra; he credits the merit that belongs to the Dharma to the self, and so the offerings become bait. The one of sharp faculties: Māra reckons to himself that this bodhisattva is not attached to worldly delights and receives prajñā single-mindedly, and cannot be spoiled and ruined: 「我今當以聲聞深經轉其心，使成阿羅漢」 tr. "I shall now turn his mind with the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas, and make him become an arhat." Here Māra’s two sets of methods are laid out side by side: toward the dull-faculty he uses worldly delights, toward the sharp-faculty he uses the Dharma of the path—even 「使成阿羅漢」 tr. "make him become an arhat" can be Māra’s aim, because it is just what cuts off the path of the Buddha.
34. The simile of the ball of gold heated red-hot. The Buddha says: 「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著。」 tr. "Though the śrāvaka sūtras are deep, one should not be greedily attached to them." The treatise-author gives a simile: it is like a ball of gold heated red-hot: though its colour is fine and beautiful, it cannot be grasped. If a bodhisattva is without skilful means and not of greatly sharp faculties, and, obtaining these sūtras, rejoices—this is emptiness, the signless, non-action, which can exhaust the root of suffering: what could surpass this!—and so abandons prajñāpāramitā, this too is a deed of Māra. The ball of gold is real gold, and the śrāvaka sūtras are really deep; the edge of the simile lies in the word 「燒熱」 tr. "heated red-hot": for one who seeks sarvajñā, to grasp it at this moment is surely to be burned—the danger of greedy attachment does not lessen because what is craved is a true dharma.
35. The simile of poison mixed with ghee—the close of the whole chapter. Why? Here the Buddha himself tells the cause and condition: 「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故。」 tr. "Within prajñāpāramitā the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas is widely taught, namely contemplating the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha and not realising it, because one practises the three gates of liberation with the mind of great compassion." The treatise-author closes the whole chapter with a simile: it is like a person who mixes poison with ghee: the force of the poison then subsides and cannot harm anyone. Prajñā is likewise: within prajñā the bodhisattva seeks the unsurpassed path and easily attains it, whereas in other sūtras it is hard, like taking poison alone. The three gates of liberation lead through to nirvāṇa of themselves; practised alone they realise the small fruit, and this is the poison; joined with the ghee of prajñā and the mind of great compassion, contemplating and not realising, the force of the poison subsides of itself, and it becomes instead the bodhisattva’s path of skilful means. Therefore one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras—with this sentence the whole chapter ends.
Do Not Misread
Do not read the deeds of Māra as a narrative of uncanny beings coming from outside. The treatise-author’s division into the four Māras says it plainly: the Māra of the afflictions is the hundred and eight afflictions of one’s own mind, the Māra of the five aggregates is this body and mind of form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness itself, the Māra of death is impermanence; of the four, only the Māra who is a son of the gods is an outer sentient being—and the three Māras are never apart: if there are the five aggregates there are afflictions; if there are afflictions the Māra of the heavens finds his opening. The deeds of Māra on this chapter’s list are for the most part the practitioner’s own marks of mind: arrogance, jesting and laughing, greed for gain and offerings, reckoning over predictions and names, attachment to letters, attachment to the absence of letters. If one reads this chapter only as guarding against Māra outside, one misses precisely the place where the sūtra text puts its deepest effort.
Do not read ‘abandoning the śrāvaka sūtras’ as disparaging the thirty-seven limbs of the path. The treatise-author’s own question and answer are perfectly clear: the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are also in the prajñā sūtras; what is set aside is the direction 「為小乘證故」 tr. "for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle," not the items of the Dharma themselves. In the Mahāyāna these are the same dharmas, and joined with ultimate emptiness, not abandoning great compassion, they are the bodhisattva path. What the ten similes rebuke is taking the branches and leaves for the root, taking the elephant’s footprints for the elephant—the śrāvaka sūtras have their own use; the error lies in seeking sarvajñā in them. To read it as saying that the Great Vehicle need not cultivate the foundations of mindfulness and the right efforts is to read the sūtra text backwards.
Do not read 「不可書」 tr. "cannot be written," 「無法」 tr. "the non-existent dharma," and 「無文字」 tr. "without letters" as abolishing copying and abolishing recitation. The sūtra text says that because the self-nature of prajñā is non-existent it cannot be written, and at once says that to grasp 「無法是深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā" is a deed of Māra; it says that attaching to prajñā through letters is a deed of Māra, and at once says that attaching to the absence of letters is also a deed of Māra. The treatise-author further states clearly: not copying, reading, and reciting with an attached mind is what upholding prajñā truly is; if someone comes to break it, that is breaking prajñāpāramitā. The whole passage blocks both existence and non-existence, and its blade always falls on the words 「著心」 tr. "attached mind," not on the acts of copying and reciting—this chapter is itself a sūtra text urging people to copy, receive and uphold, read, and recite prajñā; how could it abolish itself?
Do not slide lightly past the ten kinds of stray thoughts and items such as women and harlots, or cover them over on the sūtra’s behalf. The sūtra text lists them as they are: the thought of one’s teacher being slandered, thoughts of father and mother, brothers and sisters, thoughts of thieves and caṇḍālas, thoughts of women and harlots—all without exception are hindrances at the time of copying the sūtra; and the treatise-author explains them as they are—helping one’s teacher do away with a bad name is a righteous act, thinking of father and mother being sick is human feeling, yet at the time of copying prajñā, whatever draws the mind away from the sūtra is alike called a hindrance. The sūtra does not avoid saying it, and the exposition should not soften it on the sūtra’s behalf; what is to be looked at is the sentence that closes it: the bodhisattva, being aware of it, should not think of it and should not speak of it—this is being aware and not following, not hating the people who are thought of.
Bearing on Practice
The first benefit this chapter gives the one who applies effort is a list that can be checked against oneself item by item. When expounding the Dharma, eloquence does not arise, eloquence arises suddenly; when copying the sūtra, arrogance, jesting and laughing, contempt, a disordered mind, not being in harmony; when reading and reciting, teacher and disciple looking down on one another; feeling it has no savour and wanting to leave; reckoning whether one has received a prediction, whether one’s name is there; greedy attachment to reverence and offerings; stray thoughts swarming up—these are all marks recognisable in daily use. The way to use this chapter is the one sentence the Buddha spoke: only be aware of it and do not follow along with it. It is not wrestling with each mark, but recognising its name when the mark arises: this is a deed of Māra. Once it is recognised, half its power is broken.
The second benefit lies in self-examination through the item ‘finding no savour, one abandons it’. When one reads a deep sūtra and finds it without savour, one always blames the sūtra; the Buddha’s diagnosis, however, is that the five faculties are thin—in former lives one did not long practise the six perfections, the five faculties beginning with faith are thin, and so one cannot have faith in the dharmas of emptiness, the signless, non-action, and non-dependence. When in daily use no gladness arises toward the Dharma-gate of prajñā, this item can be the place to turn the light back: the lack of savour is not necessarily that the sūtra is bland; it may be the season when one’s own root of faith advances or retreats; to rise and leave at this time is to be set back a kalpa thought by thought, and to sit firm and go on reading is to increase the faculties.
The third benefit is the sense of direction in the ten similes. Seeing the elephant and turning round to examine its footprints, seeking the sea and turning round to take the water in an ox’s hoofprint—what the ten similes teach is a judgement of ‘where to seek’: if what one seeks is sarvajñā, one should seek it in the place that gives birth to sarvajñā. In daily use, when choosing a Dharma-gate or choosing a text to read, the practitioner can often ask the question of the ten similes: what I am drawing near to at this moment—is it root and trunk, or branches and leaves? Can it reach the place I seek?
The fourth benefit is the examination of attachment to emptiness. When the practitioner understands a little of the meaning of emptiness, it is easiest of all to grip 「畢竟空」 tr. "ultimate emptiness" and 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent" as a new attainment; this chapter says clearly: to know without anything existent as the mark of prajñā is a deed of Māra. In daily use, when contemplating emptiness, one can check back with this item: am I leaving attachment behind, or am I holding 「空」 tr. "emptiness" as a thing? Read it together with the pair, attachment to letters and attachment to the absence of letters: leaving the mark of letters lies not in destroying letters, but in not attaching.
The fifth benefit is the warning for those of sharp faculties. Māra’s way of dealing with people of sharp faculties is to use deep sūtras, to use 「使成阿羅漢」 tr. "make him become an arhat," to turn the mind—the more one’s effort takes hold, the more refined the forks in the road one meets. The simile of the ball of gold heated red-hot should be kept always in mind: though its colour is fine and beautiful, it cannot be grasped; the criterion is not whether it is deep or not, true or not, but whether it reaches sarvajñā or not, whether it abandons great compassion or not. And the simile of poison mixed with ghee gives the positive use: the three gates of liberation are not to be left uncultivated; mixed with prajñā and great compassion, contemplated and not realised, the poison becomes medicine.
Further Resonances
The backbone of this chapter is two passages of sūtra and two passages of treatise explanation. Sūtra ① begins from Subhūti’s question about hindrances, and the Buddha counts through the deeds of Māra: the eloquence of delighting in speech not arising at once and arising suddenly; when copying the sūtra, sprawling and haughty, jesting and laughing with a distracted mind, sneering without respect, the mind disordered and unsettled, each at odds with the others; finding no savour and abandoning it; when receiving, upholding, reading, and reciting, sprawling and haughty, mocking one another, despising one another, a scattered mind, minds not in harmony; having no prediction, no name, no name of one’s birthplace, and rising from the assembly and leaving, set back a kalpa thought by thought. Treatise ① first sets up the simile of the enemy and thief—dominants opposing one another are enemies and thieves—then makes clear why the Buddha speaks of the hindrances at length and the division of enemies and thieves into beings and non-beings, inner and outer, all named together as Māra; it sets up the division into the four Māras: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods, gives the gloss 「能奪命者」 tr. "one who can seize life," and answers why one Māra is spoken of as four, why Māra troubles the practitioner, and that the three Māras are never apart; then, following the text, it explains the seven suspicions when eloquence does not arise and the matter of Ānanda, the runaway horse and the sudden spate when eloquence arises suddenly, arrogance, scattering, and not being in harmony, savour and the five faculties, prediction and the position of dharmas, and being set back a kalpa thought by thought. Sūtra ② sets out in general abandoning the root to climb the branches, counts the list of the sūtras that śrāvakas practise, sets up the similes of the dog, the elephant, the great sea, the victorious palace, the wheel-turning sage king, the food of a hundred flavours, and the maṇi jewel, with ten challenges; next it makes clear delighting in speech not in accord with the Dharma and the seven marks of prajñā, that it cannot be written and grasping the non-existent dharma, attachment to letters and attachment to the absence of letters, the ten kinds of stray thoughts, greedy attachment to gain and offerings, and the evil Māra holding out other deep sūtras. Treatise ② explains the four kinds of people who study other sūtras and the words that spoil and ruin, gives the two explanations of root, trunk, branches, and leaves, answers the question of the same dharma and a different mind, gathers up all the similes with the simile of the dog, glosses 「不如法」 tr. "not in accord with the Dharma," answers why there are deeds of Māra in ultimate emptiness and makes clear that attachment to emptiness is also Māra, explains the arising of thoughts with the inner and outer Māras and then the ten thoughts in turn, divides the two capacities of dull and sharp faculties, and at the end closes with the two similes of the ball of gold heated red-hot and of poison mixed with ghee: one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras.
In the vein of meaning linking this chapter with the chapters before and after it, three lines can be seen. First, Subhūti’s question itself marks what it carries on from: the Buddha has already praised the merits—the chapters before this one praised at length the virtues of practising prajñā, and this chapter supplies the marks of the enemy and thief that had not yet been told; the treatise-author states plainly that, out of the Buddha’s pity, although earlier they were spoken of briefly, now at Subhūti’s request the Buddha speaks at length of the matters of hindrance—praising the virtues and speaking of the difficulties are two sides of one Dharma. Second, this chapter’s axis of ‘abandoning the deep prajñā and taking up the śrāvaka sūtras’ stands as inside and outside with the meaning, set forth again and again in the preceding chapters, that prajñā gathers up all the perfections and gives birth to bodhisattvas: precisely because prajñā is the root, abandoning the root to climb the branches becomes an inversion; and the answer on the same dharma and a different mind gives a turning word on the meaning that the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are included within prajñā. Third, this chapter’s account of the deeds of Māra is not finished—at the end of the chapter the Buddha marks out the meaning that within prajñā the path of skilful means is widely taught, contemplating the paths of the two vehicles and not realising them; this meaning, together with the remaining marks of the deeds of Māra, is continued in the chapters that follow; the reader may view the preceding and following chapters together, to see the single continuity of the teaching that speaks of difficulties and the teaching of skilful means (the examination of the chapter’s variant names, of the division of fascicles in the transmitted texts, and of later citations is detailed in the Apparatus).
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，全在卷六十八，單一單元。前品〈歎信行品第四十五〉訖於卷六十七末，本品以卷首起題重起——品題「大智度論釋魔事品第四十六」〔T25 0533a02〕居卷六十八之首，造署譯署全出（「聖者龍樹造」〔T25 0533a04〕、「後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯」〔T25 0533a05〕）。本品訖界為「是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道」句迄，次品品題「大智度論釋兩不和合品第四十七」〔T25 0537a01〕緊接其後——本品範圍內無卷末題，卷六十八未竟即續入品四十七；宋、元、宮三本品題夾註「訖四十七品上」（見第四目、第八目）正著錄此卷收尾跨越品四十六、四十七分界之實況。
全品純漢字五千五百二十六（extract --check 工具值）。品內結構二【經】二【論】交替、單一單元：【經】〔T25 0533a06〕、【論】〔T25 0533c01〕、【經】〔T25 0534c16〕、【論】〔T25 0536a11〕。四標籤皆恰在塊首，無鑲嵌型過渡；四標籤各有校記，宋、宮、聖乙三本無此四枚結構標記（唯底本明立經論分界——結構標記存否屬底本傳承層，如實誌錄，結構計數仍依底本標籤為準，見第八目全帳）。
問答之數與說者結構：經①以須菩提問「云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難」發端，佛逐相答魔事，中間須菩提三度追問所以（辯不即生之故、不得滋味之故、不與受記不說名字之故）；經②佛連設七喻（見第三目），十番詰問「是人為黠不」「是人為𭶑不」，須菩提十答（九「為不黠」、一「為不𭶑」〔T25 0535a22〕），又於「可書耶」一問下與佛往復（〔T25 0535b28〕起）。論中正式問答凡七組：論①四組（「一五眾魔攝三種魔，何以故別說四」〔T25 0534a08〕、「是魔何以惱亂行道者」〔T25 0534a15〕、「今樂說辯卒起，何以復是魔事」〔T25 0534b07〕、「何以但問『不得經中滋味』，不問餘者」〔T25 0534b26〕）、論②三組（「今何以故但名聲聞、辟支佛經」〔T25 0536b05〕、「何以故樂說餘六波羅蜜，乃至無上道，而言不如法」〔T25 0536b17〕、「則不應有魔事」〔T25 0536b26〕）。義理兩軸循經論之分：經①列書寫受持讀誦時之留難諸相，經②明捨深般若取聲聞經之魔事與著相著空之魔事；論①開四魔分科總釋，論②逐喻配法、雙遮有無。
二、術語考
魔事·留難。 全品之總名。須菩提發端之問：「云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難？」〔T25 0533a09〕——經以「留難」問，佛以「魔事」答，逐相皆結「當知是菩薩魔事」。論總其名：「如是諸難事，佛總名為魔」〔T25 0533c20〕。留難是相，魔是總名——本品之名由此立。
怨賊。 論①開卷之訓：「一切有為法各有增上。增上者共相違，相違即是怨賊」〔T25 0533c01〕——水火相滅、草木相害，何況眾生；「菩薩摩訶薩有大悲心，雖不與眾生作怨，而眾生與菩薩作怨；菩薩身，有為法故，能作留難」〔T25 0533c04〕。怨賊之分科：「略說若眾生法、非眾生法，能沮壞菩薩無上道心」〔T25 0533c12〕——非眾生者疾病飢渴寒熱槌壓墜落等，眾生者魔及魔民、惡鬼、邪疑不信者、斷善根者乃至惡獸毒蟲等；「眾生賊有二種：若內、若外。內者，自從心生，憂愁不得法味，生邪見、疑悔、不信等」〔T25 0533c18〕。
四魔。 本品分科之綱：「魔有四種：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔」〔T25 0533c21〕。煩惱魔者，「所謂百八煩惱等，分別八萬四千諸煩惱」〔T25 0533c22〕；五眾魔者，煩惱業和合因緣所得之身，論逐眾訓色受想行識五眾之成〔T25 0533c23〕；死魔者，「無常因緣故，破相續五眾壽命，盡離三法——識、斷、壽故，名為死魔」〔T25 0534a02〕；天子魔者，「欲界主，深著世間樂，用有所得故生邪見，憎嫉一切賢聖涅槃道法」〔T25 0534a04〕。四魔何以別說，論自設答：「實是一魔，分別其義，故有四」〔T25 0534a09〕——煩惱是近奪命因緣故別說，天子魔力勢大能奪慧命故別說，「無常死力大，一切無能免者，甚可畏厭故別說」〔T25 0534a14〕。又「三魔不相遠離：若有五眾，則有煩惱；有煩惱，則天魔得其便」〔T25 0534a17〕。
魔——秦言能奪命者。 論主自出譯訓：「魔，秦言能奪命者。雖死魔實能奪命，餘者亦能作奪命因緣，亦奪智慧命，是故名殺者」〔T25 0534a06〕——身命與慧命雙收，四魔皆殺者之義由此立。
樂說辯（不即生·卒起）。 魔事首相，兩頭皆病。不即生者，「是人先世因緣故，鈍根、懈怠，魔得其便；不一心行六波羅蜜故，樂說辯不即生」〔T25 0534b04〕，聽者心壞，故以不樂說名為魔事；卒起者，「是法師愛法、著法，求名聲故，自恣樂說，無有義理，如逸馬難制」〔T25 0534b08〕。遲與疾皆非，其病在著。
法位·受記·念念却一劫。 不與受記之故：「未入法位人，諸佛不與授記」〔T25 0534c07〕——諸佛雖悉知眾生久遠事，未有善行業因緣可授記者若為授記，五通仙人及諸天「輕佛不信」〔T25 0534c11〕。聞般若不得滋味、不得授記而起念捨去者，其報：「是人從坐起去，隨其起念多少，念念却一劫；償罪畢，還得人身，甫當復爾所劫行」〔T25 0534c13〕。又不得滋味之因，佛繫諸五根：「是人先世不久行六波羅蜜故，菩薩信等五根薄；薄故，不能信空、無相、無作、無依止法」〔T25 0534c02〕。
聲聞所應行經·薩婆若。 經②之辨。何等是餘經？「是聲聞所應行經，所謂四念處、四正勤，四如意足、五根、五力、七覺分、八聖道分，空、無相、無作解脫門」〔T25 0534c20〕，住是中得四沙門果，「是名聲聞所行經，不能至薩婆若」〔T25 0534c24〕。論設難：三十七品、三解脫門般若經中亦有，何以但名聲聞辟支佛經？答以同法異心：「摩訶衍中雖有是法，與畢竟空合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心，為一切眾生故說；聲聞經則不爾，為小乘證故」〔T25 0536b06〕。
不如法。 書經時樂說色聲香味觸法乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，皆名「樂說不如法事」〔T25 0535b15〕。論訓其字：「『不如法』者，不如般若波羅蜜實相。般若波羅蜜實相中無定相法，云何可樂說？若有定相，則心著樂說」〔T25 0536b18〕——非謂餘六度非法，是染著心取相故不如。
般若七相。 經②列般若之相以奪樂說：「般若波羅蜜不可思議相，般若波羅蜜不生不滅相，般若波羅蜜不垢不淨相，般若波羅蜜不亂不散相，般若波羅蜜無說相，般若波羅蜜無言無義相，般若波羅蜜無所得相」〔T25 0535b20〕——七相皆遮，故「是般若波羅蜜中無樂說相」〔T25 0535b19〕。
不可書·自性無。 須菩提問「是般若波羅蜜可書耶」，佛答：「不可書。何以故？般若波羅蜜自性無故」〔T25 0535b29〕，乃至一切種智自性無故；「若自性無，是不名為性，無法不能書無法」〔T25 0535c03〕。而遮詞自身亦不可取：「若求菩薩道善男子、善女人作是念：『無法是深般若波羅蜜。』當知即是菩薩魔事」〔T25 0535c04〕——以字著般若是魔事，著無文字般若亦是魔事，論收其雙遮：「畢竟空、無所有亦非般若波羅蜜相」〔T25 0536b27〕。
方便道。 品末之眼。「我是般若波羅蜜中，廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道；諸菩薩摩訶薩應當從是中求」〔T25 0536a05〕；論引佛說出其體：「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故」〔T25 0536c23〕——觀而不證，是般若攝二乘法而不墮二乘之樞。
三、譬喻與故事
本品要喻極富——經②連設七喻、十番詰問，論②總攝配法，論中復自出四喻，引事一（阿難）。
魔入阿難心事（引事·承「辯不即生」義）。 法師心生欲說而口不能言，「現見是魔事，如魔入阿難心，佛三問而三不答，久乃說者」〔T25 0534b01〕——以阿難之事證辯不即生非必根鈍，魔力所致，現見有徵。
逸馬·大水暴漲喻（承「卒起」義）。 自恣樂說無有義理，「如逸馬難制；又如大水暴漲，眾穢渾雜」〔T25 0534b09〕——辯之卒起非德，是失控。
七喻十詰（經②·捨深般若取聲聞經）。 佛連設七喻，喻喻詰問「是人為黠不」，須菩提逐答「為不黠」：其一，狗喻——「譬如狗不從大家求食，反從作務者索」〔T25 0534c29〕；其二，象喻——「譬如有人欲得見象，見已，反觀其跡」〔T25 0535a04〕；其三，大海喻——「譬如人欲見大海，見已，反求牛跡水」〔T25 0535a09〕；其四，日月宮殿喻——「譬如工匠、若工匠弟子欲擬作釋提桓因勝殿，而揆則日月宮殿」〔T25 0535a15〕；其五，轉輪聖王喻——「譬如有人欲見轉輪聖王，見而不識，後見諸小國王，取其相貌」〔T25 0535a23〕；其六，百味食喻——「譬如飢人得百味食，棄捨去，反食六十日穀飯」〔T25 0535b02〕；其七，摩尼珠喻——「譬如人得無價摩尼珠，反持比水精珠」〔T25 0535b08〕。七喻同證一事：得深般若而棄捨去、取聲聞辟支佛所應行經，是菩薩魔事。論②結其法：「狗喻行者，般若波羅蜜喻主人。般若中有種種利益，而捨求餘經。佛欲令分明易見，故說譬喻。象、大海、帝釋殿、轉輪聖王、無價寶亦如是」〔T25 0536b13〕。
根莖枝葉喻（經論相貫）。 經②之標語：「善男子、善女人為捨其根而攀枝葉，當知亦是菩薩魔事」〔T25 0534c17〕；論廣其喻：「如人欲得堅實好木，捨其根莖而取枝葉，雖是木名而不中用」〔T25 0536a25〕；又自訓枝葉：「般若波羅蜜是三藏根本；得般若波羅蜜已，為度眾生故說餘事，是名『枝葉』」〔T25 0536a27〕；又「如人攀緣枝葉則墮落，若捉莖幹則堅固。若執聲聞經，則墮小乘中；若持般若波羅蜜，易得無上道」〔T25 0536b01〕。
燒熱金丸喻（承「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著」義）。 利根者魔以聲聞深經轉其心，佛言聲聞經雖深不應貪著——「譬如燒熱金丸，色雖妙好，不可捉」〔T25 0536c19〕。深經之深是真深，貪著之著是真墮。
酥和毒喻（承「方便道」義·全品收尾）。 「譬如人以酥和毒，毒勢則歇，不能害人。般若亦如是，菩薩於般若中求無上道易得；於餘經則難，如但服毒」〔T25 0536c25〕——同一三解脫門，在般若中如毒得酥，在聲聞經中如但服毒；「是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道」〔T25 0536c28〕。
四、所釋經文
品名網：魔事／覺魔兩名系（並錄不判）。 本品品名兩名系，逐一據底本誌之。其一，魔事品——本論底本品題〔T25 0533a02〕「大智度論釋魔事品第四十六」；宋、元本作「大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六訖四十七品上」、宮本作「大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六品訖四十七品上」（宋元宮三本夾註「訖四十七品上」——卷六十八收尾實跨品四十六、四十七分界，與本品範圍內無卷末題之實況相符，見第一目）、明本作「大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六」、聖本作「大智度論釋第四十五品魔事品六十八，訖第四十六品上」（-1 階·聖本自有「訖」記亦作 -1 階）；所釋經 T223 品題〔T08 0318b13〕「摩訶般若波羅蜜經魔事品第四十六」；吉藏疏 mulu「魔事品第四十六」〔X24n0451 0293c24〕。其二，覺魔品——本論聖乙本品題作「摩訶般若波羅蜜品第四十五覺魔七十二」（經題式·-1 階·「覺魔」異名·帶聖乙自身卷序「七十二」）、石本作「摩訶般若波羅蜜經覺魔品第四十五」（經題式·-1 階）。兩名（魔事／覺魔）分屬底本傳承層固有異名，並錄不判。
品次 -1 階（聖聖乙石續存·唯品題一層）。 本論聖本「第四十五品」、聖乙本「第四十五」、石本「品第四十五」，皆較底本品序少一，與品四十四聖「第四十三品」、品四十五聖「第四十四品上」逐品順推、同向同幅——-1 階鏈於本品續存無斷。本品範圍內 -1 階唯品題一層：品內無卷末題可資端點對證（卷六十八末在品四十七範圍內），品末亦無石本「釋某品竟」型注，預期中未見、非異常，如實分記。
T223 mulu n 屬性 +1 偏移（續存）。 所釋經 T223 側 mulu 編碼層：本品 mulu 之 n 屬性標「47」而顯文標「46 魔事品」〔T08 0318b13〕——n 屬性 +1 偏移自品四十一以來屢見，本品續存（品四十五 n=46、本品 n=47，逐品 +1 連續）；次品〈兩過品〉mulu n 屬性標「48」而顯文標「47 兩過品」〔T08 0320b15〕，同款 +1。惟再次品〈佛母品〉之 mulu 亦標 n=48（顯文「48 佛母品」）——n 屬性於此重出收斂，屬 T223 側編碼層自身之游移，如實誌錄，不強解；對位仍以顯文與內容逐字比對為準。又 T223 側品界與卷界合一：本品經文訖〔T08 0320b08〕，「摩訶般若波羅蜜經卷第十三」〔T08 0320b09〕收卷，〈兩過品〉起於卷第十四首——本論側品界不繫卷界（卷六十八跨兩品）、所釋經側品界恰繫卷界，兩傳承分卷各自為政，如實分記。
全量牒經對讀（兩側對勘·開篇逐句核·對照組）。 本論經①開篇與所釋經〈魔事品〉逐字幾近同文——本論「慧命須菩提白佛言：『世尊！是善男子、善女人發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，行六波羅蜜，成就眾生、淨佛世界……』」〔T25 0533a06〕；T223 同段作「爾時慧命須菩提白佛言：『世尊！是善男子、善女人發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，行六波羅蜜，成就眾生、淨佛國土……』」〔T08 0318b14〕——同一發端、同一場景結構（誰問、問何事、佛答何相），文字幾近全同，差在 T223 多「爾時」前置語、「淨佛國土」對本論「淨佛世界」二處；而本論「世界」二字校記，聖、聖乙、石三本正作「國土」（見第八目〔T25 0533a08〕條）——本論古本與所釋經於此一字跨藏相印，如實誌錄。對照組：「揆則日月宮殿」「反食六十日穀飯」「反持比水精珠」三串漢字流，於 T223 全經與 T1509 全論各唯一見（各一處、皆本品），對位唯一、無他品可淆，非拿甲本詞搜乙本之弱判。判為「同名同品」（品名唯覺魔一系之異，品身逐字同文）。本論二【論】層為論體之結構性擴增，所釋經無此層，非異文。所釋經 T223 側於本品對讀範圍內之校勘 witness 逐條統計，此處未展開（唯品題位置與首句「爾時」注已逐字補核如上），據實誌其未展開，俟後續考據補查，不以估值充數。
五、般若義眼
本品之眼，在「魔事」二字被般若翻透——魔不在外相之可怖，在行者心之所著；凡奪般若行處，皆名魔事。其義可約為五重。
其一，留難總名為魔，令覺知不令毀害。論開卷即立：有為法增上相違即是怨賊，「如是諸難事，佛總名為魔」〔T25 0533c20〕；而佛說留難之意，「佛不令行人毀害留難者，但令覺知，不隨其事」〔T25 0533c11〕——魔事品不是驅魔之法，是覺知之法。四魔分科（煩惱、五眾、死、天子）而「實是一魔，分別其義，故有四」〔T25 0534a09〕，三魔相依，內外相引——魔之網即有為之網。
其二，兩頭皆魔事。辯不即生是魔事，辯卒起亦是魔事；不得滋味棄捨去是魔事，著樂說法亦是魔事；以字著般若是魔事，「著無文字般若波羅蜜」〔T25 0535c13〕亦是魔事；乃至「若是人知無所有是般若波羅蜜相，即是魔事」〔T25 0536b28〕——般若無定相，故取任何一頭皆是著，著即是魔。魔事之列舉逐相不同，其病一也。
其三，捨根攀枝，喻喻同一失。七喻十詰，狗、象、大海、日月宮殿、轉輪聖王、百味食、摩尼珠——皆是得其本而反求其末；「般若波羅蜜是三藏根本」〔T25 0536a27〕，聲聞經是為度眾生故說之枝葉。同法異心之判收其疑：三十七品三解脫門般若中亦有，而「與畢竟空合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心，為一切眾生故說」〔T25 0536b07〕——法同而心異，心異而乘異。
其四，魔亦持深經。惡魔留難不必以惡相現，「惡魔方便持諸餘深經與是菩薩摩訶薩」〔T25 0536a01〕，乃至聲聞深經「是空、無相、無作，盡苦本」〔T25 0536c21〕——深亦能奪，如燒熱金丸色雖妙好不可捉。魔事之最險處不在淺，在似。
其五，般若如酥，能和毒為藥。品末酥和毒喻收全品：三解脫門在聲聞經中如但服毒，在般若中「觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故」〔T25 0536c24〕，毒勢則歇——般若不拒二乘之法，唯不許二乘之證；方便道之名由此立。故魔事滿品而品意不怖：覺知即不隨，於般若中求，無上道易得。
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。本品古德覆讀唯一家：釋所釋經之吉藏疏存完整專章；釋論之慧影疏於本品零覆蓋；均正書中無本品之引。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）。 於所釋經〈魔事品〉之逐文疏，起〔X24n0451 0293c24〕（mulu「魔事品第四十六」，緊接品四十五〈聞持品〉疏訖處），迄〔X24n0451 0295a13〕前（次 mulu「兩過品第四十七」起前，本目依 mulu 連續序列判定），覆本品經全篇。其可誌者三。其一，品位來意——「此下第二、魔明留難。上品雖言魔為留難，未出留難事，今廣出留難事也」〔X24n0451 0294a01〕：吉藏以前品但言魔為留難、本品廣出留難事，與本論「先雖略說；今須菩提請，佛廣說留難事」〔T25 0533c08〕之來意相值。其二，四魔內外因果之科——「魔者，四魔雖內外因果，三為內魔，天為外魔，由內故有外也。陰與死魔是果，煩惱為因也」〔X24n0451 0294a04〕：吉藏以內外、因果兩對科四魔，並自設「更有二魔」之問，以寒熱等無情物屬陰魔攝、魔民惡人屬天魔攝——與本論四魔分科（見第二目）同綱而科法自成一家，誌錄不判。其三，品之分科——「品二：初請說魔事，二詶說」〔X24n0451 0294a13〕：以請說、詶說二分本品。
慧影《大智度論疏》（X46n0791）·零覆蓋（如實誌）。 為釋本論之唯一古疏，僅殘卷存世。本品品名兩系（魔事品／覺魔品）於 X46n0791 全檔回搜零命中；本品所繫論卷六十八不在殘卷覆蓋範圍——零覆蓋屬殘卷實況，非搜尋失誤，如實誌錄負結果。
均正《大乘四論玄義》（X46n0784）·零命中（如實誌）。 本品品名兩系於 X46n0784 全檔回搜零命中，均正於本品無具名引，如實誌錄。
七、互讀與承衍
本品之義脈，前後相承者有四，皆此目所誌，不代定讀。
其一，『留難—魔事』之品次承衍（論主自證·硬鏈本論自身）。 前品〈歎信行品〉經⑤已標「是甚深般若波羅蜜，多有留難」〔T25 0528c22〕，其論總名之：「留難者，魔事等壞般若波羅蜜因緣」〔T25 0529b18〕——前品標其名而未廣其相；本品須菩提即以「生諸留難」發問，佛廣說魔事諸相，論①自述其承：「以佛憐愍故，先雖略說；今須菩提請，佛廣說留難事」〔T25 0533c07〕——品次相生，論主自成經緯，本目誌其迹。
其二，品內自證之貫串。 「是品中皆有四種魔義，但隨處說」〔T25 0534a16〕——論主於四魔分科下自判全品體例：經文逐相列魔事而不標四魔之名，四魔義隨處貫串。本帳經①十二相、經②諸段之逐相全譜與此相應（全量教義對帳見義疏層）。
其三，天台「魔事境」之義理淵源（義引非逐字·誌關聯不判）。 天台止觀十境，魔事居其五——智顗《摩訶止觀》：「開止觀為十：一、陰界入，二、煩惱，三、病患，四、業相，五、魔事，六、禪定，七、諸見，八、增上慢，九、二乘，十、菩薩」〔T46 0049a27〕。其引《大品》之文：「樂說辯卒起，是為魔事；不卒起，亦是魔事」〔T46 0047c14〕——與本品經文「樂說辯不即生，當知是菩薩魔事」〔T25 0533a10〕、「樂說辯卒起，當知亦是菩薩魔事」〔T25 0533a15〕義合而非逐字同文（天台合併倒裝兩條為一組對句，屬義引）。湛然《止觀輔行傳弘決》兩處明稱品題：「具如魔事品中說」〔T46 0406a16〕、「大品魔事品文」〔T46 0406b02〕——屬品題層級之明示互讀；又「大品云。教菩薩離六波羅蜜皆名魔事」〔T46 0406b04〕，與本品捨深般若取聲聞經一軸義近而亦非逐字。本品為天台魔事境之義理淵源之一，誌關聯，不判逐字承用。 又《法華玄義》「魔事」僅一見——引《釋論》「若離諸法實相，皆名魔事」〔T33 0794b24〕，此八字流於本品全範圍零命中，繫本論他卷之義，非本品文；《法華文句》僅一見亦屬敘事泛語〔T33 0954a06 一帶〕，與本品無涉——二者候補不登，如實誌錄負結果。
其四，寶庫掛鏈（穩定徵引·軟引）。 本品四魔分科與「魔，秦言能奪命者」之訓、兩頭皆魔之雙遮、「觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證」之方便道義，為後世論魔事、判權實之所本，落穩定徵引〔T25n1509 魔事品·卷六十八〕；心經／金剛經／唯識諸帙引本論處尚未定稿，故軟引，俟其逐字核存。此屬般若義下貫諸經之承衍，誌錄不判。
八、校本與版本說明
本品底本為《大智度論》卷六十八〔T25 0533a02–0537a01〕（品身正文自品題〔T25 0533a02〕起，終於「是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道」句迄，次品品題〔T25 0537a01〕前；本品範圍內無卷末題，卷六十八續入品四十七）；所釋經校本為《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》〈魔事品〉〔T08 0318b13–0320b09〕（品訖即卷第十三訖）；古德疏校本為吉藏《大品經義疏》（X24n0451，覆本品〔X24n0451 0293c24–0295a13〕前）；慧影《大智度論疏》（X46n0791）本品零覆蓋、均正《大乘四論玄義》（X46n0784）本品零命中（見第六目）。異讀校記依大正校勘，涉大正底本與宋、元、明、宮、聖、聖乙、石（石山寺本）諸本及麗藏（K）、CBETA 校之異——聖乙本自品四十五起入帳，本品續見。
品題校記（品名兩系與 -1 階、「訖四十七品上」夾註之底據·專列）。 品題〔T25 0533a02〕一注七造——「大智度論釋魔事品第四十六（卷六十八）【大】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六訖四十七品上【宋】【元】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六【明】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六品訖四十七品上【宮】｜大智度論釋第四十五品魔事品六十八，訖第四十六品上【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第四十五覺魔七十二【聖乙】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜經覺魔品第四十五【石】」——此即品名兩系、品次 -1 階、卷跨品界之底據，如實並錄，不強加調解（析論見第四目）。
CBETA 依麗藏補字特殊型一條（lem 為 CBETA 校訂·專列）。 論①「散亂心書」釋段一條，屬 CBETA 現代校勘層特殊型、非傳統諸本並陳型，逐字核底本，專列：〔T25 0534b15〕——lem 為 CBETA 依《高麗藏》（K14n0549）補「若」字（「若一心、攝心」之「若」），【大】本原缺。如實誌錄其型，未強行歸類為傳統異讀；本版讀者面從 CBETA 現行文本讀法。
結構標記存否注四條（宋宮聖乙無經論標·專列）。 本品四枚結構標記各有校記：【經】〔T25 0533a06〕、【論】〔T25 0533c01〕、【經】〔T25 0534c16〕、【論】〔T25 0536a11〕，宋、宮、聖乙三本皆無此標（後二枚為前二枚之共用注重引，見下帳 star 標記）——僅底本明立經論分界，屬底本傳承層，如實誌錄，非義理問題。
校勘總帳（一百六十六條全量對帳·底本原樣）。 下依工作底本原樣傳錄——本品校記合計一百六十六條 app，與工作底本 extract --check 工具值 app 166 機械相合。app 條依底本出現序全量列之，內含 star-corresp 重引二十七條（同一異讀於文中重複出現共用一注），隨條標明——本品二十七條 star 之 corresp 目標全數品內原生、無跨品（與品四十四之跨品共用型異，如實誌錄）。異本讀法並列保存，正文仍從現行底本讀法：
app 條（一百六十六·底本出現序·star-corresp 隨條標明）
- 〔T25 0533a02〕大智度論釋魔事品第四十六（卷六十八）【大】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六訖四十七品上【宋】【元】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六【明】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六品訖四十七品上【宮】｜大智度論釋第四十五品魔事品六十八，訖第四十六品上【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第四十五覺魔七十二【聖乙】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜經覺魔品第四十五【石】（品題一注七造·魔事／覺魔兩名系＋聖聖乙石-1階＋宋元宮「訖四十七品上」夾註·見第四目）
- 〔T25 0533a06〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】（結構標記存否注·宋宮聖乙無此標·見第一目）
- 〔T25 0533a06〕慧【大】｜爾時慧【元】【明】
- 〔T25 0533a08〕世界【大】｜國土【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533a10〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533a12〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533005)＝品內〔T25 0533a10〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533a14〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533005)＝品內〔T25 0533a10〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533a15〕提【大】｜薩【明】
- 〔T25 0533a15〕說【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0533a15〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533005)＝品內〔T25 0533a10〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533a16〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533005)＝品內〔T25 0533a10〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533a18〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533005)＝品內〔T25 0533a10〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533a21〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533a22〕若書【大】｜善【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533a22〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】【石】（star·corresp→note(0533008)＝品內〔T25 0533a21〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533a25〕若【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0533b01〕親【大】｜時親【聖】
- 〔T25 0533b02〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】【石】（star·corresp→note(0533008)＝品內〔T25 0533a21〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533b04〕輕蔑【大】｜輕慢【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0533b06〕乃至【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b09〕菩薩【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b11〕便【大】｜使【聖】
- 〔T25 0533b17〕受【大】｜授【明】
- 〔T25 0533b17〕深【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0533b19〕受【大】｜授【元】【明】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533b22〕深【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b23〕受【大】｜授【元】【明】（star·corresp→note(0533018)＝品內〔T25 0533b19〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533b24〕須【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b27〕念【大】｜〔－〕【宮】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533b28〕甫【大】｜轉【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c01〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】（結構標記存否注·宋宮聖乙無此標·見第一目）
- 〔T25 0533c07〕以【大】｜今【元】【明】【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0533c11〕相【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c13〕沮【大】｜爼【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c14〕槌壓【大】｜推壓【宋】【元】【明】｜推押【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c15〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c16〕實【大】｜寶【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c18〕蟲【大】｜虫【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c18〕賊【大】｜賊者【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c19〕心【大】｜正【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c19〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533028)＝品內〔T25 0533c15〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0533c21〕種【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c26〕想【大】｜相【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c27〕相【大】｜想【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a04〕斷【大】｜熱【元】｜熱【南藏】
- 〔T25 0534a05〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533028)＝品內〔T25 0533c15〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534a07〕雖【大】｜唯【元】【明】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a09〕答【大】｜益【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a12〕雜【大】｜離【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a13〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533028)＝品內〔T25 0533c15〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534a14〕免【大】｜勉【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534a16〕已【大】｜以【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534a21〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533005)＝品內〔T25 0533a10〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534a22〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】
- 〔T25 0534a24〕不【大】｜〔－〕【石】
- 〔T25 0534a28〕為【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534a29〕來【大】｜未【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a29〕而【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b01〕見【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b02〕久【大】｜久久【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b03〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】（star·corresp→note(0534007)＝品內〔T25 0534a22〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534b05〕其【大】｜甚【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b07〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】（star·corresp→note(0534007)＝品內〔T25 0534a22〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534b07〕可【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b07〕卒【大】｜即【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b10〕漲【大】｜長【宮】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b10〕雜【大】｜離【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0534004)＝品內〔T25 0534a12〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534b13〕心【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b15〕若（K14n0549_p1171c08）【CB】【麗-CB】｜〔－〕【大】（CBETA 依麗藏補「若」字型·【大】本原缺·見第八目專列）
- 〔T25 0534b19〕波羅蜜【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0534b20〕作【大】｜復作【聖】
- 〔T25 0534b23〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b24〕持【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b24〕互【大】｜吾【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b25〕無相輕賤【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b25〕賤【大】｜賤以是故無【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b26〕諸【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b28〕人【大】｜夫人【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534c01〕不【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534c03〕薄【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534c04〕以【大】｜以故【石】
- 〔T25 0534c05〕受【大】｜授【元】【明】（star·corresp→note(0533018)＝品內〔T25 0533b19〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534c06〕授【大】｜受【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534c09〕仙人【大】｜化人【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534c10〕是【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534c10〕授【大】｜受【聖】
- 〔T25 0534c10〕者【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534c16〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533002)＝品內〔T25 0533a06〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534c18〕其【大】｜甚【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0534014)＝品內〔T25 0534b05〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0534c20〕所【大】｜取【聖】
- 〔T25 0534c24〕經【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535a01〕從【大】｜〔－〕【石】
- 〔T25 0535a02〕捨【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535a04〕人【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535a10〕見已，反【大】｜水【聖】｜反【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535a12〕道【大】｜道者【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535a14〕菩薩【大】｜諸菩薩【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535a15〕薩【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535a15〕匠【大】｜匠若工匠【石】
- 〔T25 0535a19〕深【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533019)＝品內〔T25 0533b22〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0535a19〕蜜【大】｜蜜便【聖】
- 〔T25 0535a20〕取【大】｜於【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0535a24〕作【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b01〕為【大】｜亦【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535b07〕知【大】｜如【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b08〕價【大】｜賈【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b11〕求【大】｜緣【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b14〕是【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535b23〕說【大】｜說無示【元】【明】
- 〔T25 0535b23〕義【大】｜議【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b25〕是【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】（star·corresp→note(0535016)＝品內〔T25 0535b14〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0535b25〕相【大】｜法相【宋】【元】【明】｜法【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c03〕故【大】｜法【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535c03〕性【大】｜法【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c03〕書【大】｜盡【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c07〕文【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c07〕書【大】｜盡【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0535022)＝品內〔T25 0535c03〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0535c07〕是【大】｜成是【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c08〕字【大】｜文字【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c08〕亦是【大】｜是亦【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c10〕梨【大】｜離【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c17〕若【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】｜起【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c18〕起【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c20〕旃【大】｜栴【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c22〕讀【大】｜持讀【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c23〕菩薩【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535c25〕所【大】｜所所【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c26〕受【大】｜受持【元】【明】【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c26〕誦【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535c27〕愛【大】｜受【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a02〕方便【大】｜方便力【元】【明】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536a10〕亦是【大】｜是亦【聖】【聖乙】【石】（star·corresp→note(0535026)＝品內〔T25 0535c08〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0536a11〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533023)＝品內〔T25 0533c01〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0536a12〕法【大】｜師僧【宋】【元】【明】【宮】｜師僧法【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a13〕於【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a17〕沮【大】｜爼【聖】【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0533026)＝品內〔T25 0533c13〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0536a25〕堅【大】｜經【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a28〕是【大】｜是故【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536b11〕狗【大】｜狛【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b12〕備【大】｜[口*(乏-之+友)]【聖】
- 〔T25 0536b12〕當【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536b14〕令【大】｜今【宋】【元】【明】
- 〔T25 0536b16〕王【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b16〕價【大】｜賈【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0535014)＝品內〔T25 0535b08〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0536b21〕及【大】｜乃【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b23〕書【大】｜盡【石】
- 〔T25 0536b24〕染【大】｜深【宮】
- 〔T25 0536b24〕取【大】｜取相【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b26〕答曰【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c06〕穩【大】｜隱【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c07〕土【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c09〕疾病【大】｜病疾【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0536c10〕詣【大】｜諸【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c10〕旃【大】｜栴【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0535030)＝品內〔T25 0535c20〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0536c10〕旃【大】｜栴【聖乙】（star·corresp→note(0535030)＝品內〔T25 0535c20〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0536c11〕眾【大】｜眾女【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c11〕共【大】｜供【石】
- 〔T25 0536c14〕愛【大】｜受【宋】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0536c16〕或【大】｜感【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c17〕受【大】｜愛【石】
- 〔T25 0536c17〕沮【大】｜爼【聖】
- 〔T25 0536c19〕熱【大】｜然【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c20〕好【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c21〕苦【大】｜若【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c26〕酥【大】｜蘇【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c26〕勢【大】｜熱【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
以上一百六十六條，與工作底本錨點校記之數機械相合，star 之目標已隨條標明並逐條覆核。品題一注七造與 CBETA 補字特殊型一條已於上文專列，並與所釋經、古德疏雙向對校（第四目、第六目）。
所釋經 witness 統計（未展開·誌闕待補）。 所釋經 T223 側於本品對讀範圍（〔T08 0318b13〕起至卷第十三訖）內之校勘 witness 逐條統計，此處未展開（唯品題位置與首句「爾時」二字注已逐字補核，見第四目），據實誌其未展開，俟後續考據補查，不以估值充數。
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; it falls wholly in Fascicle 68, as a single unit. The preceding chapter, "Praise of Practising in Faith", Chapter 45, ends at the close of Fascicle 67; this chapter begins afresh with a title at the head of the fascicle—the chapter title 「大智度論釋魔事品第四十六」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth"〔T25 0533a02〕 stands at the head of Fascicle 68, and the signatures of author and translator are given in full (「聖者龍樹造」 tr. "Composed by the noble Nāgārjuna"〔T25 0533a04〕 and 「後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯」 tr. "Translated by Kumārajīva, Tripiṭaka master of Kucha, in the Later Qin"〔T25 0533a05〕). The closing boundary of this chapter is the sentence 「是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道」 tr. "therefore one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras", and the title of the next chapter, 「大智度論釋兩不和合品第四十七」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Two Discords, the Forty-seventh"〔T25 0537a01〕, follows immediately after it—there is no fascicle-end title within the range of this chapter: Fascicle 68, not yet finished, continues into Chapter 47; the interlinear note in the chapter titles of the three editions Song, Yuan, and Palace, 「訖四十七品上」 tr. "ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter" (see Section IV and Section VIII), records exactly this actual state, in which the close of this fascicle crosses the boundary between Chapters 46 and 47.
The whole chapter has five thousand five hundred and twenty-six pure Chinese characters (the tool value of extract --check). Within the chapter the structure is two Sūtra 【經】 and two Treatise 【論】 sections in alternation, a single unit: 【經】〔T25 0533a06〕, 【論】〔T25 0533c01〕, 【經】〔T25 0534c16〕, 【論】〔T25 0536a11〕. All four tags fall exactly at the head of their blocks, with no transition of the embedded type; each of the four tags has a collation note, and the three texts Song, Palace, and the Shōgozō B lack these four structural markers (only the base text clearly sets up the division between sūtra and treatise—whether the structural markers are present belongs to the layer of the base text's transmission; it is recorded as it is, and the structural count still follows the tags of the base text; see the full ledger in Section VIII).
As to the number of questions and answers and the structure of speakers: Sūtra ① begins with Subhūti asking 「云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難」 tr. "How do good men and good women, seeking the path of the Buddha, give rise to hindrances?", and the Buddha answers mark by mark with the deeds of Māra, Subhūti in between asking three times more for the reason (why eloquence does not arise at once, why one does not find the savour, why the prediction is not given and the name not spoken); in Sūtra ② the Buddha sets up seven similes in a row (see Section III), with ten challenges, 「是人為黠不」 tr. "Is this person clever?" and 「是人為𭶑不」 tr. "Is this person clever?", and Subhūti's ten answers (nine times 「為不黠」 tr. "Not clever", once 「為不𭶑」 tr. "Not clever"〔T25 0535a22〕); and further, under the one question 「可書耶」 tr. "Can it be written?", he goes back and forth with the Buddha (from〔T25 0535b28〕). In the treatise there are seven formal groups of question and answer in all: four in Treatise ① (「一五眾魔攝三種魔，何以故別說四」 tr. "The one Māra of the five aggregates includes the three kinds of Māra; why are four spoken of separately?"〔T25 0534a08〕, 「是魔何以惱亂行道者」 tr. "Why does this Māra trouble and disturb those who practise the path?"〔T25 0534a15〕, 「今樂說辯卒起，何以復是魔事」 tr. "Now when the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly, why is that again a deed of Māra?"〔T25 0534b07〕, 「何以但問『不得經中滋味』，不問餘者」 tr. "Why does he ask only about ‘not finding the savour in the sūtra’, and not ask about the rest?"〔T25 0534b26〕), and three in Treatise ② (「今何以故但名聲聞、辟支佛經」 tr. "Now why are they called only the sūtras of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas?"〔T25 0536b05〕, 「何以故樂說餘六波羅蜜，乃至無上道，而言不如法」 tr. "Why is it said that delighting in speaking of the rest—the six perfections, and so on up to the unsurpassed path—is not in accord with the Dharma?"〔T25 0536b17〕, 「則不應有魔事」 tr. "then there should be no deeds of Māra"〔T25 0536b26〕). The two doctrinal axes follow the division of sūtra and treatise: Sūtra ① lists the marks of hindrance at the time of writing, receiving and upholding, reading and reciting; Sūtra ② makes clear the deed of Māra of abandoning the deep prajñā to take up the śrāvaka sūtras, and the deeds of Māra of attaching to marks and attaching to emptiness; Treatise ① opens the classification of the four Māras as a general explanation, and Treatise ② matches the similes one by one to the Dharma and negates both existence and non-existence.
II. Terms Examined
The deeds of Māra · hindrance. The general name of the whole chapter. Subhūti's opening question: 「云何善男子、善女人，求於佛道，生諸留難？」 tr. "How do good men and good women, seeking the path of the Buddha, give rise to hindrances?"〔T25 0533a09〕—the sūtra asks with 「留難」 tr. "hindrance", the Buddha answers with 「魔事」 tr. "deed of Māra", and mark after mark concludes 「當知是菩薩魔事」 tr. "know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva". The treatise sums up the name: 「如是諸難事，佛總名為魔」 tr. "All such things of difficulty the Buddha names together as Māra"〔T25 0533c20〕. Hindrance is the mark, Māra is the general name—the name of this chapter is established from this.
Enemy and thief. The gloss at the opening of Treatise ①: 「一切有為法各有增上。增上者共相違，相違即是怨賊」 tr. "Every conditioned dharma has its dominant. The dominants oppose one another, and to oppose is to be an enemy and a thief"〔T25 0533c01〕—water and fire destroy each other, grass and trees harm each other, how much more beings; 「菩薩摩訶薩有大悲心，雖不與眾生作怨，而眾生與菩薩作怨；菩薩身，有為法故，能作留難」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva has a mind of great compassion; though he does not make himself an enemy of beings, beings make themselves enemies of the bodhisattva; the bodhisattva's body, because it is a conditioned dharma, can make hindrances"〔T25 0533c04〕. The classification of enemies and thieves: 「略說若眾生法、非眾生法，能沮壞菩薩無上道心」 tr. "In brief, whether dharmas that are beings or dharmas that are not beings, they can obstruct and destroy the bodhisattva's mind set on the unsurpassed path"〔T25 0533c12〕—those that are not beings are sickness, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, being struck and crushed, falling, and the like; those that are beings are Māra and Māra's people, evil ghosts, those of wrong doubt who do not believe, those who have cut off their roots of goodness, and so on up to evil beasts and poisonous insects and the like; 「眾生賊有二種：若內、若外。內者，自從心生，憂愁不得法味，生邪見、疑悔、不信等」 tr. "The thieves that are beings are of two kinds: inner and outer. The inner arise from one's own mind: grieving at not finding the savour of the Dharma, giving rise to wrong views, doubt and regret, lack of faith, and the like"〔T25 0533c18〕.
The four Māras. The framework of this chapter's classification: 「魔有四種：煩惱魔、五眾魔、死魔、天子魔」 tr. "Māra is of four kinds: the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the five aggregates, the Māra of death, and the Māra who is a son of the gods"〔T25 0533c21〕. The Māra of the afflictions is 「所謂百八煩惱等，分別八萬四千諸煩惱」 tr. "namely the hundred and eight afflictions and the like, which, when distinguished, are the eighty-four thousand afflictions"〔T25 0533c22〕; the Māra of the five aggregates is the body obtained from the causes and conditions of afflictions and karma coming together, and the treatise explains aggregate by aggregate how the five aggregates, form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, are formed〔T25 0533c23〕; the Māra of death is 「無常因緣故，破相續五眾壽命，盡離三法——識、斷、壽故，名為死魔」 tr. "because, through the causes and conditions of impermanence, it breaks the continuity of the five aggregates and the life-span, and completely separates the three dharmas—consciousness, cutting-off, and life-span—it is called the Māra of death"〔T25 0534a02〕; the Māra who is a son of the gods is 「欲界主，深著世間樂，用有所得故生邪見，憎嫉一切賢聖涅槃道法」 tr. "the lord of the desire realm, deeply attached to worldly pleasure, who, because he works with something to be attained, gives rise to wrong views and hates and envies the path and Dharma of nirvāṇa of all the worthies and sages"〔T25 0534a04〕. Why the four Māras are spoken of separately, the treatise itself asks and answers: 「實是一魔，分別其義，故有四」 tr. "In reality it is one Māra; because its meaning is distinguished, there are four"〔T25 0534a09〕—the afflictions are spoken of separately because they are the near cause and condition for seizing life; the Māra who is a son of the gods is spoken of separately because his power and might are great and he can seize the life of wisdom; 「無常死力大，一切無能免者，甚可畏厭故別說」 tr. "the power of impermanent death is great, there is no one at all who can escape it, and it is greatly to be feared and wearied of; therefore it is spoken of separately"〔T25 0534a14〕. Further, 「三魔不相遠離：若有五眾，則有煩惱；有煩惱，則天魔得其便」 tr. "Three of the Māras are never far from one another: if there are the five aggregates, there are afflictions; if there are afflictions, the Māra of the heavens finds his opening"〔T25 0534a17〕.
Māra—in the language of Qin, ‘one who can seize life’. The treatise-author's own translation-gloss: 「魔，秦言能奪命者。雖死魔實能奪命，餘者亦能作奪命因緣，亦奪智慧命，是故名殺者」 tr. "Māra, in the language of Qin, is ‘one who can seize life’. Although it is the Māra of death that really can seize life, the others too can be causes and conditions for seizing life, and they also seize the life of wisdom; therefore it is called the killer"〔T25 0534a06〕—the life of the body and the life of wisdom are both taken in, and the meaning that all four Māras are killers is established from this.
The eloquence of delighting in speech (not arising at once · arising suddenly). The first mark of the deeds of Māra; both ends are sickness. As to not arising at once: 「是人先世因緣故，鈍根、懈怠，魔得其便；不一心行六波羅蜜故，樂說辯不即生」 tr. "Because of causes and conditions of former lives, this person is of dull faculties and lazy, and Māra finds his opening; because he does not practise the six perfections single-mindedly, the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once"〔T25 0534b04〕; the hearers' minds are spoiled, and therefore not delighting in speech is named a deed of Māra. As to arising suddenly: 「是法師愛法、著法，求名聲故，自恣樂說，無有義理，如逸馬難制」 tr. "Because this Dharma-teacher loves the Dharma, is attached to the Dharma, and seeks fame, he indulges in delight in speech with no meaning or principle, like a runaway horse hard to rein in"〔T25 0534b08〕. Slow and quick are both wrong; the sickness lies in attachment.
The position of dharmas · receiving the prediction · thought by thought set back a kalpa. The reason the prediction is not given: 「未入法位人，諸佛不與授記」 tr. "To a person who has not entered the position of dharmas, the buddhas do not give the prediction"〔T25 0534c07〕—although the buddhas fully know the long-distant affairs of beings, if they were to give the prediction to one who does not yet have the causes and conditions of good practice and karma for which a prediction can be given, the sages with the five supernormal powers and the gods would 「輕佛不信」 tr. "slight the Buddha and not believe"〔T25 0534c11〕. As for one who hears prajñā without finding its savour and without obtaining the prediction, and gives rise to the thought of abandoning it and leaving, his retribution is: 「是人從坐起去，隨其起念多少，念念却一劫；償罪畢，還得人身，甫當復爾所劫行」 tr. "This person rises from his seat and leaves; according to how many thoughts he gives rise to, thought by thought he is set back a kalpa; when he has paid off the penalty and again obtains a human body, he must then practise again for that many kalpas"〔T25 0534c13〕. Further, the Buddha ties the cause of not finding the savour to the five faculties: 「是人先世不久行六波羅蜜故，菩薩信等五根薄；薄故，不能信空、無相、無作、無依止法」 tr. "Because in former lives this person did not long practise the six perfections, the bodhisattva's five faculties of faith and the rest are thin; because they are thin, he cannot believe in the dharmas of emptiness, the signless, non-action, and non-reliance"〔T25 0534c02〕.
The sūtras that śrāvakas should practise · sarvajñā. The distinction drawn in Sūtra ②. What are the other sūtras? 「是聲聞所應行經，所謂四念處、四正勤，四如意足、五根、五力、七覺分、八聖道分，空、無相、無作解脫門」 tr. "These are the sūtras that śrāvakas should practise, namely the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernormal power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the noble path, and the gates of liberation of emptiness, the signless, and non-action"〔T25 0534c20〕; abiding in these one obtains the four śramaṇa fruits, and 「是名聲聞所行經，不能至薩婆若」 tr. "these are called the sūtras that śrāvakas practise, which cannot reach sarvajñā"〔T25 0534c24〕. The treatise raises an objection: the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are also in the prajñā sūtras; why are they called only the sūtras of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas? It answers with the same dharma and a different mind: 「摩訶衍中雖有是法，與畢竟空合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心，為一切眾生故說；聲聞經則不爾，為小乘證故」 tr. "In the Mahāyāna, though these dharmas are present, they are joined with ultimate emptiness, the mind is attached to nothing, and, not abandoning sarvajñā and the mind of great compassion, they are spoken for the sake of all beings; the śrāvaka sūtras are not so, being for the sake of the realisation of the Small Vehicle"〔T25 0536b06〕.
Not in accord with the Dharma. When writing the sūtra, delighting in speaking of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, is in every case named 「樂說不如法事」 tr. "a matter of delighting in speech that is not in accord with the Dharma"〔T25 0535b15〕. The treatise glosses the words: 「『不如法』者，不如般若波羅蜜實相。般若波羅蜜實相中無定相法，云何可樂說？若有定相，則心著樂說」 tr. "‘Not in accord with the Dharma’ means not in accord with the real mark of prajñāpāramitā. In the real mark of prajñāpāramitā there is no dharma of fixed mark; how could one delight in speaking of it? If there were a fixed mark, the mind would be attached to delighting in speech"〔T25 0536b18〕—this does not mean that the rest, the six perfections, are not the Dharma; it is because the defiled, attached mind grasps at marks that they are not in accord.
The seven marks of prajñā. Sūtra ② lists the marks of prajñā in order to take away delight in speech: 「般若波羅蜜不可思議相，般若波羅蜜不生不滅相，般若波羅蜜不垢不淨相，般若波羅蜜不亂不散相，般若波羅蜜無說相，般若波羅蜜無言無義相，般若波羅蜜無所得相」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā has the mark of the inconceivable; prajñāpāramitā has the mark of neither arising nor ceasing; prajñāpāramitā has the mark of neither stained nor pure; prajñāpāramitā has the mark of neither disordered nor scattered; prajñāpāramitā has the mark of no speech; prajñāpāramitā has the mark of no words and no meaning; prajñāpāramitā has the mark of nothing to be attained"〔T25 0535b20〕—all seven marks are negations, and therefore 「是般若波羅蜜中無樂說相」 tr. "in this prajñāpāramitā there is no mark of delighting in speech"〔T25 0535b19〕.
Cannot be written · its self-nature is non-existent. Subhūti asks 「是般若波羅蜜可書耶」 tr. "Can this prajñāpāramitā be written?", and the Buddha answers: 「不可書。何以故？般若波羅蜜自性無故」 tr. "It cannot be written. Why? Because the self-nature of prajñāpāramitā is non-existent"〔T25 0535b29〕, and so on up to because the self-nature of omniscience of all kinds is non-existent; 「若自性無，是不名為性，無法不能書無法」 tr. "If the self-nature is non-existent, this is not called a nature; a non-existent dharma cannot write a non-existent dharma"〔T25 0535c03〕. Yet the word of negation itself is not to be grasped either: 「若求菩薩道善男子、善女人作是念：『無法是深般若波羅蜜。』當知即是菩薩魔事」 tr. "If good men and good women who seek the bodhisattva path think thus: ‘The non-existent dharma is the deep prajñāpāramitā,’ know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva"〔T25 0535c04〕—to attach to prajñā as letters is a deed of Māra, and to attach to a prajñā without letters is also a deed of Māra; the treatise gathers up its double negation: 「畢竟空、無所有亦非般若波羅蜜相」 tr. "ultimate emptiness and being without anything existent are likewise not the mark of prajñāpāramitā"〔T25 0536b27〕.
The path of skilful means. The eye at the end of the chapter. 「我是般若波羅蜜中，廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道；諸菩薩摩訶薩應當從是中求」 tr. "In this prajñāpāramitā of mine I widely teach the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas; the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should seek within it"〔T25 0536a05〕; the treatise cites the Buddha's words to bring out its substance: 「於般若波羅蜜中廣說諸菩薩摩訶薩方便道，所謂觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故」 tr. "Within prajñāpāramitā the path of skilful means of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas is widely taught, namely contemplating the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha and not realising it, because one practises the three gates of liberation with the mind of great compassion"〔T25 0536c23〕—to contemplate and not realise is the pivot by which prajñā takes in the dharmas of the two vehicles and yet does not fall into the two vehicles.
III. Similes and Stories
The key similes of this chapter are extremely rich—in Sūtra ② seven similes are set up in a row with ten challenges, and Treatise ② gathers them all up and matches them to the Dharma; within the treatise four further similes are given of its own accord, and one event is cited (Ānanda).
The event of Māra entering Ānanda's mind (a cited event · carrying on the meaning of 「辯不即生」 tr. "eloquence not arising at once"). When the Dharma-teacher's mind gives rise to the wish to speak but his mouth cannot speak, 「現見是魔事，如魔入阿難心，佛三問而三不答，久乃說者」 tr. "this deed of Māra is seen before our eyes: as when Māra entered Ānanda's mind, the Buddha asked three times and three times he did not answer, and only after a long time did he speak"〔T25 0534b01〕—the event of Ānanda is used to prove that eloquence not arising at once is not necessarily dullness of faculties but is brought about by the power of Māra, a sign seen before one's eyes.
The simile of the runaway horse and of the great water in sudden spate (carrying on the meaning of 「卒起」 tr. "arising suddenly"). Indulging in delight in speech with no meaning or principle is 「如逸馬難制；又如大水暴漲，眾穢渾雜」 tr. "like a runaway horse hard to rein in; again like a great water in sudden spate, muddied with every kind of filth"〔T25 0534b09〕—eloquence arising suddenly is not a virtue; it is a loss of control.
The seven similes and ten challenges (Sūtra ② · abandoning the deep prajñā to take up the śrāvaka sūtras). The Buddha sets up seven similes in a row, at each simile challenging 「是人為黠不」 tr. "Is this person clever?", and Subhūti answers each time 「為不黠」 tr. "Not clever": first, the simile of the dog—「譬如狗不從大家求食，反從作務者索」 tr. "It is like a dog that does not seek food from the great household but instead begs it from the servant"〔T25 0534c29〕; second, the simile of the elephant—「譬如有人欲得見象，見已，反觀其跡」 tr. "It is like someone who wishes to see an elephant and, having seen it, turns round to examine its footprints"〔T25 0535a04〕; third, the simile of the great sea—「譬如人欲見大海，見已，反求牛跡水」 tr. "It is like someone who wishes to see the great sea and, having seen it, turns round to seek the water in an ox's hoofprint"〔T25 0535a09〕; fourth, the simile of the palaces of the sun and moon—「譬如工匠、若工匠弟子欲擬作釋提桓因勝殿，而揆則日月宮殿」 tr. "It is like a craftsman, or a craftsman's apprentice, who wishes to model the victorious palace of Śakra Devānām Indra, and takes his measure from the palaces of the sun and moon"〔T25 0535a15〕; fifth, the simile of the wheel-turning sage king—「譬如有人欲見轉輪聖王，見而不識，後見諸小國王，取其相貌」 tr. "It is like someone who wishes to see a wheel-turning sage king and, seeing him, does not recognise him, and afterwards, seeing the petty kings, takes their appearance"〔T25 0535a23〕; sixth, the simile of food of a hundred flavours—「譬如飢人得百味食，棄捨去，反食六十日穀飯」 tr. "It is like a hungry man who obtains food of a hundred flavours, abandons it and goes away, and instead eats sixty-day grain"〔T25 0535b02〕; seventh, the simile of the maṇi jewel—「譬如人得無價摩尼珠，反持比水精珠」 tr. "It is like someone who obtains a priceless maṇi jewel and instead holds it up against a crystal bead"〔T25 0535b08〕. The seven similes prove one and the same thing: to obtain the deep prajñā and abandon it and go away, taking up the sūtras that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas should practise, is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva. Treatise ② concludes their Dharma: 「狗喻行者，般若波羅蜜喻主人。般若中有種種利益，而捨求餘經。佛欲令分明易見，故說譬喻。象、大海、帝釋殿、轉輪聖王、無價寶亦如是」 tr. "The dog stands for the practitioner, prajñāpāramitā stands for the master of the house. In prajñā there are benefits of every kind, yet he abandons it and seeks other sūtras. The Buddha, wishing to make it clear and easy to see, therefore speaks in similes. The elephant, the great sea, Śakra's palace, the wheel-turning sage king, and the priceless jewel are likewise"〔T25 0536b13〕.
The simile of root, stem, branches, and leaves (running through sūtra and treatise). The marker phrase of Sūtra ②: 「善男子、善女人為捨其根而攀枝葉，當知亦是菩薩魔事」 tr. "Good men and good women who abandon the root to climb the branches and leaves—know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva"〔T25 0534c17〕; the treatise broadens the simile: 「如人欲得堅實好木，捨其根莖而取枝葉，雖是木名而不中用」 tr. "as when someone wishing to obtain good, firm, solid timber abandons its root and stem and takes the branches and leaves: though they bear the name of timber, they are of no use"〔T25 0536a25〕; it further glosses branches and leaves itself: 「般若波羅蜜是三藏根本；得般若波羅蜜已，為度眾生故說餘事，是名『枝葉』」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā is the root of the three baskets; having obtained prajñāpāramitā, one speaks of other matters in order to deliver beings—these are called ‘branches and leaves’"〔T25 0536a27〕; and further, 「如人攀緣枝葉則墮落，若捉莖幹則堅固。若執聲聞經，則墮小乘中；若持般若波羅蜜，易得無上道」 tr. "as a person who climbs by the branches and leaves falls, while one who grasps the stem and trunk is secure: if one holds to the śrāvaka sūtras, one falls into the Small Vehicle; if one upholds prajñāpāramitā, one easily attains the unsurpassed path"〔T25 0536b01〕.
The simile of the ball of gold heated red-hot (carrying on the meaning of 「聲聞經雖深，不應貪著」 tr. "though the śrāvaka sūtras are deep, one should not crave and attach to them"). For those of sharp faculties, Māra turns their minds with the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas; the Buddha says that though the śrāvaka sūtras are deep, one should not crave and attach to them—「譬如燒熱金丸，色雖妙好，不可捉」 tr. "It is like a ball of gold heated red-hot: though its colour is fine and beautiful, it cannot be grasped"〔T25 0536c19〕. The depth of the deep sūtras is real depth; the attachment of craving and attaching is a real fall.
The simile of poison mixed with ghee (carrying on the meaning of 「方便道」 tr. "the path of skilful means" · closing the whole chapter). 「譬如人以酥和毒，毒勢則歇，不能害人。般若亦如是，菩薩於般若中求無上道易得；於餘經則難，如但服毒」 tr. "It is like a person who mixes poison with ghee: the force of the poison then subsides and cannot harm anyone. Prajñā is likewise: when the bodhisattva seeks the unsurpassed path within prajñā, it is easily attained; in the other sūtras it is hard, like taking poison alone"〔T25 0536c25〕—the same three gates of liberation are, within prajñā, like poison that has got ghee, and in the śrāvaka sūtras like taking poison alone; 「是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道」 tr. "therefore one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras"〔T25 0536c28〕.
IV. The Sūtra Passage Explained
The network of chapter names: the two name-systems, Deeds of Māra / Awareness of Māra (recorded side by side without judgement). The chapter name of this chapter has two name-systems, each recorded in turn according to the base text. First, the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra—the chapter title in the base text of this treatise〔T25 0533a02〕, 「大智度論釋魔事品第四十六」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth"; the Song and Yuan editions read 「大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六訖四十七品上」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Sixty-eight, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth, ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter", the Palace edition reads 「大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六品訖四十七品上」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Sixty-eight, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth chapter, ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter" (the interlinear note 「訖四十七品上」 tr. "ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter" in the three editions Song, Yuan, and Palace—the close of Fascicle 68 actually crosses the boundary between Chapters 46 and 47, agreeing with the actual state that there is no fascicle-end title within the range of this chapter; see Section I), the Ming edition reads 「大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Sixty-eight, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth", and the Shōgozō text reads 「大智度論釋第四十五品魔事品六十八，訖第四十六品上」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, commentary on the forty-fifth chapter, Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, sixty-eight, ending at the first part of the forty-sixth chapter" (the -1 step · the Shōgozō text's own 「訖」 tr. "ending" note is also at the -1 step); the chapter title of the sūtra explained, T223〔T08 0318b13〕, reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經魔事品第四十六」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth"; the mulu of Jizang's commentary reads 「魔事品第四十六」 tr. "Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth"〔X24n0451 0293c24〕. Second, the Chapter on Awareness of Māra—in this treatise the chapter title of the Shōgozō B text reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜品第四十五覺魔七十二」 tr. "Chapter on Mahāprajñāpāramitā, the Forty-fifth, Awareness of Māra, seventy-two" (of the sūtra-title type · the -1 step · the variant name 「覺魔」 tr. "Awareness of Māra" · carrying the Shōgozō B text's own fascicle number, 「七十二」 tr. "seventy-two"), and the Ishiyama text reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經覺魔品第四十五」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on Awareness of Māra, the Forty-fifth" (of the sūtra-title type · the -1 step). The two names (Deeds of Māra / Awareness of Māra) are variant names belonging respectively to the layer of the base text's transmission itself, and are recorded side by side without judgement.
The -1 step in the chapter number (continuing in the Shōgozō, the Shōgozō B, and the Ishiyama texts · only at the layer of the chapter title). In this treatise the Shōgozō text's 「第四十五品」 tr. "the forty-fifth chapter", the Shōgozō B text's 「第四十五」 tr. "the forty-fifth", and the Ishiyama text's 「品第四十五」 tr. "Chapter, the Forty-fifth" are each one less than the chapter order of the base text, advancing chapter by chapter in the same direction and by the same amount as the Shōgozō's 「第四十三品」 tr. "the forty-third chapter" for Chapter 44 and the Shōgozō's 「第四十四品上」 tr. "the forty-fourth chapter, first part" for Chapter 45—the chain of the -1 step continues unbroken in this chapter. Within the range of this chapter the -1 step appears only at the one layer of the chapter title: within the chapter there is no fascicle-end title by which the end point could be checked against it (the end of Fascicle 68 falls within the range of Chapter 47), and at the end of the chapter there is no note of the Ishiyama type 「釋某品竟」 tr. "end of the commentary on such-and-such chapter" either; this is absence where none was expected, not an anomaly, and each is recorded separately as it is.
The +1 offset of the n attribute in the T223 mulu (continuing). On the mulu encoding layer of the sūtra explained, T223: the n attribute of this chapter's mulu marks 「47」 tr. "the number 47" while the displayed text marks 「46 魔事品」 tr. "46 Chapter on the Deeds of Māra"〔T08 0318b13〕—the +1 offset of the n attribute, seen repeatedly since Chapter 41, continues in this chapter (Chapter 45 n=46, this chapter n=47, +1 continuously chapter by chapter); the next chapter, "The Two Faults", has its mulu n attribute marked 「48」 tr. "the number 48" while the displayed text marks 「47 兩過品」 tr. "47 Chapter on the Two Faults"〔T08 0320b15〕, the same +1. But the mulu of the chapter after that, "The Mother of the Buddhas", is also marked n=48 (displayed text 「48 佛母品」 tr. "48 Chapter on the Mother of the Buddhas")—here the n attribute recurs and converges, a wavering belonging to the T223 side's own encoding layer; it is recorded as it is and not forcibly explained, and the alignment still takes the displayed text and word-by-word comparison of the content as the standard. Further, on the T223 side the chapter boundary coincides with the fascicle boundary: the sūtra text of this chapter ends at〔T08 0320b08〕, 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經卷第十三」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Fascicle Thirteen"〔T08 0320b09〕 closes the fascicle, and "The Two Faults" begins at the head of Fascicle 14—on this treatise's side the chapter boundary is not tied to the fascicle boundary (Fascicle 68 spans two chapters), while on the side of the sūtra explained the chapter boundary is tied exactly to the fascicle boundary; the two transmissions divide their fascicles each in its own way, and this is recorded separately as it is.
Comparative reading of the full quoted sūtra (two-sided collation · sentence-by-sentence check of the opening · comparison group). The opening of Sūtra ① in this treatise is almost word for word the same as "The Deeds of Māra" in the sūtra explained—this treatise: 「慧命須菩提白佛言：『世尊！是善男子、善女人發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，行六波羅蜜，成就眾生、淨佛世界……』」 tr. "The venerable Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! These good men and good women arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, practise the six perfections, bring beings to maturity, purify buddha-worlds …’"〔T25 0533a06〕; T223 has the same passage as 「爾時慧命須菩提白佛言：『世尊！是善男子、善女人發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，行六波羅蜜，成就眾生、淨佛國土……』」 tr. "At that time the venerable Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! These good men and good women arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, practise the six perfections, bring beings to maturity, purify buddha-lands …’"〔T08 0318b14〕—the same opening, the same scene structure (who asks, what is asked, what marks the Buddha answers with), the wording almost entirely the same, differing in two places: the prefatory 「爾時」 tr. "At that time", which T223 has in addition, and T223's 「淨佛國土」 tr. "purify buddha-lands" against this treatise's 「淨佛世界」 tr. "purify buddha-worlds"; and for the two characters 「世界」 tr. "worlds" of this treatise the collation note shows that the Shōgozō, the Shōgozō B, and the Ishiyama texts read precisely 「國土」 tr. "lands" (see the entry at〔T25 0533a08〕 in Section VIII)—the ancient texts of this treatise and the sūtra explained correspond across the canons in this one word; recorded as it is. Comparison group: the three strings of Chinese characters 「揆則日月宮殿」 tr. "takes his measure from the palaces of the sun and moon", 「反食六十日穀飯」 tr. "instead eats sixty-day grain", and 「反持比水精珠」 tr. "instead holds it up against a crystal bead" each appear only once in the whole of T223 and in the whole of T1509 (once each, all in this chapter); the alignment is unique, with no other chapter to confuse it—not the weak judgement of searching one text with the words of another. It is judged 「同名同品」 tr. "same name, same chapter" (the chapter name differs only by the one system Awareness of Māra, and the chapter body is word for word the same). The two 【論】 layers of this treatise are a structural expansion of the treatise form; the sūtra explained has no such layer, and they are not variant readings. The entry-by-entry statistics of the collation witnesses on the T223 side within the scope of the comparative reading for this chapter were not unfolded here (only the chapter-title position and the note on 「爾時」 tr. "At that time" in the first sentence have been supplemented and checked character by character, as above); the fact that they were not unfolded is recorded as it is, left to later collation to check and supplement, and no estimate is used to fill the number.
V. The Prajñā Eye
The eye of this chapter lies in the two words 「魔事」 tr. "deeds of Māra" being turned right through by prajñā—Māra lies not in the fearfulness of outer marks but in what the practitioner's mind is attached to; whatever seizes the place where prajñā is practised is named a deed of Māra. Its meaning can be summed up in five layers.
First, hindrances are named together as Māra, so that one may be aware of them, not so that one may injure them. The treatise establishes this at its very opening: the dominants of conditioned dharmas oppose one another, and that is enemy and thief; 「如是諸難事，佛總名為魔」 tr. "All such things of difficulty the Buddha names together as Māra"〔T25 0533c20〕; and the intent of the Buddha's speaking of hindrances: 「佛不令行人毀害留難者，但令覺知，不隨其事」 tr. "The Buddha does not have the practitioner injure and harm what hinders him; he only has him be aware of it and not follow along with it"〔T25 0533c11〕—the chapter on the deeds of Māra is not a method for driving out Māra; it is a method of awareness. The four Māras are classified (the afflictions, the five aggregates, death, the son of the gods), and yet 「實是一魔，分別其義，故有四」 tr. "in reality it is one Māra; because its meaning is distinguished, there are four"〔T25 0534a09〕; three Māras depend on one another, inner and outer draw each other on—the net of Māra is the net of the conditioned.
Second, both ends are deeds of Māra. Eloquence not arising at once is a deed of Māra, and eloquence arising suddenly is also a deed of Māra; not finding the savour and abandoning it and going away is a deed of Māra, and attachment to delighting in speaking of dharmas is also a deed of Māra; to attach to prajñā as letters is a deed of Māra, and 「著無文字般若波羅蜜」 tr. "attaching to a prajñāpāramitā without letters"〔T25 0535c13〕 is also a deed of Māra; and even 「若是人知無所有是般若波羅蜜相，即是魔事」 tr. "if this person knows being without anything existent as the mark of prajñāpāramitā, that is a deed of Māra"〔T25 0536b28〕—prajñā has no fixed mark, and so to grasp either end is attachment, and attachment is Māra. The enumerated deeds of Māra differ mark by mark; their sickness is one.
Third, abandoning the root to climb the branches: simile after simile, the same loss. The seven similes and ten challenges—the dog, the elephant, the great sea, the palaces of the sun and moon, the wheel-turning sage king, the food of a hundred flavours, the maṇi jewel—are all cases of having obtained the root and seeking instead the tip; 「般若波羅蜜是三藏根本」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā is the root of the three baskets"〔T25 0536a27〕, and the śrāvaka sūtras are branches and leaves spoken in order to deliver beings. The judgement of the same dharma with a different mind settles the doubt: the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are also in prajñā, yet there 「與畢竟空合，心無所著，以不捨薩婆若、大悲心，為一切眾生故說」 tr. "they are joined with ultimate emptiness, the mind is attached to nothing, and, not abandoning sarvajñā and the mind of great compassion, they are spoken for the sake of all beings"〔T25 0536b07〕—the dharma is the same and the mind differs; the mind differs and the vehicle differs.
Fourth, Māra too holds out deep sūtras. The hindrance of the evil Māra need not appear in an evil form: 「惡魔方便持諸餘深經與是菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. "the evil Māra, as a device, holds out other deep sūtras to this bodhisattva-mahāsattva"〔T25 0536a01〕, and even the deep sūtras of the śrāvakas, 「是空、無相、無作，盡苦本」 tr. "these are emptiness, the signless, and non-action, the exhaustion of the root of suffering"〔T25 0536c21〕—depth too can seize, like a ball of gold heated red-hot, whose colour, though fine and beautiful, cannot be grasped. The most dangerous place among the deeds of Māra lies not in the shallow but in the resembling.
Fifth, prajñā is like ghee, able to mix poison into medicine. The simile of poison mixed with ghee at the end of the chapter gathers up the whole chapter: the three gates of liberation in the śrāvaka sūtras are like taking poison alone, while in prajñā 「觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證，以大悲心行三解脫門故」 tr. "contemplating the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha and not realising it, because one practises the three gates of liberation with the mind of great compassion"〔T25 0536c24〕, the force of the poison subsides—prajñā does not refuse the dharmas of the two vehicles; it only does not permit the realisation of the two vehicles; the name of the path of skilful means is established from this. Therefore the deeds of Māra fill the chapter, yet the intent of the chapter is not fear: to be aware is not to follow, and seeking within prajñā, the unsurpassed path is easily attained.
VI. Divergent Readings of the Masters
The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa has no tradition of a complete line-by-line commentary, and the ancient masters' citations and explanations are, as a matter of fact, partial and uneven. For this chapter there is only one ancient master's reading: Jizang's commentary on the sūtra explained preserves a complete chapter devoted to it; Huiying's commentary on the treatise has zero coverage of this chapter; Junzheng's book has no citation of this chapter. This section records the correspondence between what they comment on and cite and this chapter, without judging the relative merit of the masters' interpretations.
Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451). Its line-by-line commentary on "The Deeds of Māra" in the sūtra explained begins at〔X24n0451 0293c24〕 (the mulu entry 「魔事品第四十六」 tr. "Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth", immediately following the point where the commentary on Chapter 45, "Hearing and Upholding", ends) and runs to just before〔X24n0451 0295a13〕 (before the start of the next mulu entry, 「兩過品第四十七」 tr. "Chapter on the Two Faults, the Forty-seventh"; this section determines this according to the continuous sequence of mulu entries), covering the whole of the sūtra of this chapter. Three things in it may be recorded. First, the reason for the chapter's coming—「此下第二、魔明留難。上品雖言魔為留難，未出留難事，今廣出留難事也」 tr. "From here is the second: Māra makes clear the hindrances. The chapter above, though it said that Māra makes hindrances, did not yet set out the matters of hindrance; now it sets out the matters of hindrance at length"〔X24n0451 0294a01〕: Jizang takes it that the preceding chapter only said that Māra makes hindrances and this chapter sets out the matters of hindrance at length, which matches this treatise's statement of intent, 「先雖略說；今須菩提請，佛廣說留難事」 tr. "though it was spoken of briefly before, now at Subhūti's request the Buddha speaks at length of the matters of hindrance"〔T25 0533c08〕. Second, the classification of the four Māras by inner and outer, cause and result—「魔者，四魔雖內外因果，三為內魔，天為外魔，由內故有外也。陰與死魔是果，煩惱為因也」 tr. "As to Māra: though the four Māras are inner and outer, cause and result, three are inner Māras and the heavenly one is the outer Māra; it is because of the inner that there is the outer. The Māra of the aggregates and the Māra of death are results; the afflictions are the cause"〔X24n0451 0294a04〕: Jizang classifies the four Māras by the two pairs, inner and outer and cause and result, and himself raises the question of 「更有二魔」 tr. "two further Māras", assigning insentient things such as cold and heat to be included in the Māra of the aggregates, and Māra's people and evil persons to be included in the Māra of the heavens—sharing the same framework as the classification of the four Māras in this treatise (see Section II), while its method of classification forms a school of its own; recorded without judgement. Third, the division of the chapter—「品二：初請說魔事，二詶說」 tr. "The chapter has two parts: first, the request to speak of the deeds of Māra; second, the reply"〔X24n0451 0294a13〕: he divides this chapter into the two parts of request and reply.
Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) · zero coverage (recorded as it is). It is the only ancient commentary explaining this treatise, and survives only in fragmentary fascicles. A search back through the whole of X46n0791 for both systems of this chapter's name (Chapter on the Deeds of Māra / Chapter on Awareness of Māra) gives zero hits; Fascicle 68 of the treatise, to which this chapter belongs, is not within the coverage of the fragmentary fascicles—the zero coverage belongs to the actual state of the fragments, not to a failure of search, and the negative result is recorded as it is.
Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) · zero hits (recorded as it is). A search back through the whole of X46n0784 for both systems of this chapter's name gives zero hits; Junzheng has no named citation of this chapter; recorded as it is.
VII. Cross-reading and Further Resonances
The lines of meaning of this chapter, carried on before and after, are four; all are recorded in this section and do not stand in for a fixed reading.
First, the carrying-on in chapter order of ‘hindrance—deed of Māra’ (attested by the treatise-author himself · a hard link within this treatise itself). In Sūtra ⑤ of the preceding chapter, "Praise of Practising in Faith", it is already marked: 「是甚深般若波羅蜜，多有留難」 tr. "this very deep prajñāpāramitā has many hindrances"〔T25 0528c22〕, and its treatise names it in general: 「留難者，魔事等壞般若波羅蜜因緣」 tr. "Hindrances are the deeds of Māra and the like, causes and conditions that spoil prajñāpāramitā"〔T25 0529b18〕—the preceding chapter marks the name without unfolding its marks; in this chapter Subhūti asks at once with 「生諸留難」 tr. "give rise to hindrances", the Buddha speaks at length of the marks of the deeds of Māra, and Treatise ① states its own continuation: 「以佛憐愍故，先雖略說；今須菩提請，佛廣說留難事」 tr. "Because of the Buddha's compassion, though it was spoken of briefly before, now at Subhūti's request the Buddha speaks at length of the matters of hindrance"〔T25 0533c07〕—the chapters give rise to one another in order, the treatise-author himself forms warp and weft, and this section records its trace.
Second, the thread attested within the chapter itself. 「是品中皆有四種魔義，但隨處說」 tr. "In this chapter there is everywhere the meaning of the four kinds of Māra; it is only spoken of according to the place"〔T25 0534a16〕—under the classification of the four Māras the treatise-author himself judges the manner of the whole chapter: the sūtra text lists the deeds of Māra mark by mark without labelling them with the names of the four Māras, and the meaning of the four Māras runs through it wherever it arises. This ledger's full register, mark by mark, of the twelve marks of Sūtra ① and of the passages of Sūtra ② corresponds to this (the complete reconciliation of the doctrine is in the exposition layer).
Third, the doctrinal source of Tiantai's 「魔事境」 tr. "object of the deeds of Māra" (a citation of the sense, not word for word · the connection recorded without judgement). Among the ten objects of Tiantai's calming and contemplation, the deeds of Māra stand fifth—Zhiyi's Great Calming and Contemplation: 「開止觀為十：一、陰界入，二、煩惱，三、病患，四、業相，五、魔事，六、禪定，七、諸見，八、增上慢，九、二乘，十、菩薩」 tr. "Calming and contemplation is opened into ten: first, the aggregates, sense-fields, and elements; second, the afflictions; third, sickness; fourth, the marks of karma; fifth, the deeds of Māra; sixth, meditative absorption; seventh, the views; eighth, overweening pride; ninth, the two vehicles; tenth, the bodhisattva"〔T46 0049a27〕. Its citation of the Larger Sūtra: 「樂說辯卒起，是為魔事；不卒起，亦是魔事」 tr. "When the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly, this is a deed of Māra; when it does not arise suddenly, this too is a deed of Māra"〔T46 0047c14〕—which agrees in sense with, but is not word for word the same as, this chapter's sūtra text 「樂說辯不即生，當知是菩薩魔事」 tr. "When the eloquence of delighting in speech does not arise at once, know that this is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva"〔T25 0533a10〕 and 「樂說辯卒起，當知亦是菩薩魔事」 tr. "When the eloquence of delighting in speech arises suddenly, know that this too is a deed of Māra for the bodhisattva"〔T25 0533a15〕 (Tiantai merges the two items into a single paired sentence in reversed order; this is a citation of the sense). Zhanran's Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation names the chapter title explicitly in two places: 「具如魔事品中說」 tr. "in full, as said in the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra"〔T46 0406a16〕 and 「大品魔事品文」 tr. "the text of the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra in the Larger Sūtra"〔T46 0406b02〕—an explicit cross-reading at the level of the chapter title; further, 「大品云。教菩薩離六波羅蜜皆名魔事」 tr. "The Larger Sūtra says: to teach a bodhisattva to depart from the six perfections is in every case named a deed of Māra"〔T46 0406b04〕, close in sense to this chapter's axis of abandoning the deep prajñā to take up the śrāvaka sūtras, but likewise not word for word. This chapter is one of the doctrinal sources of Tiantai's object of the deeds of Māra; the connection is recorded, without judging whether the wording was taken over word for word. Further, in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus 「魔事」 tr. "deeds of Māra" appears only once—citing the Expository Treatise: 「若離諸法實相，皆名魔事」 tr. "whatever departs from the real mark of all dharmas is in every case named a deed of Māra"〔T33 0794b24〕; this eight-character string has zero hits in the whole range of this chapter and belongs to the sense of another fascicle of this treatise, not to the text of this chapter; in the Words and Phrases of the Lotus it also appears only once, as general narrative wording〔T33 0954a06 一帶〕, unrelated to this chapter—neither is registered as a candidate, and the negative result is recorded as it is.
Fourth, linking to the treasury (stable citation · soft citation). This chapter's classification of the four Māras and its gloss 「魔，秦言能奪命者」 tr. "Māra, in the language of Qin, is ‘one who can seize life’", the double negation by which both ends are Māra, and the meaning of the path of skilful means, 「觀聲聞、辟支佛道而不證」 tr. "contemplating the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha and not realising it", are what later generations based themselves on in discussing the deeds of Māra and in judging the provisional and the real; they are set down as a stable citation〔T25n1509 魔事品·卷六十八〕; the places where the Heart Sūtra, the Diamond Sūtra, and the mirror of Consciousness-only cite this treatise are not yet finalised, so the citation is soft, awaiting word-for-word checking of what is kept there. This belongs to the carrying-on of the meaning of prajñā down through the sūtras; recorded without judgement.
VIII. Witnesses and Editions
The base text of this chapter is Fascicle 68 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa〔T25 0533a02–0537a01〕 (the main text of the chapter body begins from the chapter title〔T25 0533a02〕 and ends with the sentence 「是故不應從聲聞經中求菩薩道」 tr. "therefore one should not seek the bodhisattva path in the śrāvaka sūtras", before the title of the next chapter〔T25 0537a01〕; there is no fascicle-end title within the range of this chapter, and Fascicle 68 continues into Chapter 47); the collation text for the sūtra explained is "The Deeds of Māra" in the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra〔T08 0318b13–0320b09〕 (the end of the chapter is also the end of Fascicle 13); the ancient-master commentary text for collation is Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451, covering this chapter at〔X24n0451 0293c24–0295a13〕, up to just before the end point); Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) has zero coverage of this chapter, and Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) has zero hits for this chapter (see Section VI). The variant collation notes follow the Taishō collation, covering differences between the Taishō base text and the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace editions, the Shōgozō manuscript, the Shōgozō B manuscript, and the Ishiyama text (the Ishiyama-dera manuscript), as well as the Korean Canon (K) and the CBETA collation—the Shōgozō B manuscript entered the ledger from Chapter 45 onward, and continues to appear in this chapter.
Collation note on the chapter title (the evidential basis of the two name-systems, the -1 step, and the interlinear note 「訖四十七品上」 tr. "ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter" · listed separately). The chapter title〔T25 0533a02〕, one note made in seven forms—「大智度論釋魔事品第四十六（卷六十八）【大】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六訖四十七品上【宋】【元】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六【明】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六品訖四十七品上【宮】｜大智度論釋第四十五品魔事品六十八，訖第四十六品上【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第四十五覺魔七十二【聖乙】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜經覺魔品第四十五【石】」 tr. "‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth (Fascicle Sixty-eight)’ in the Taishō; ‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Sixty-eight, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth, ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter’ in the Song and Yuan; ‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Sixty-eight, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth’ in the Ming; ‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Sixty-eight, Commentary on the Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, the Forty-sixth chapter, ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter’ in the Palace; ‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, commentary on the forty-fifth chapter, Chapter on the Deeds of Māra, sixty-eight, ending at the first part of the forty-sixth chapter’ in the Shōgozō; ‘Chapter on Mahāprajñāpāramitā, the Forty-fifth, Awareness of Māra, seventy-two’ in the Shōgozō B; ‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on Awareness of Māra, the Forty-fifth’ in the Ishiyama"—this is the evidential basis for the two name-systems, the -1 step in the chapter number, and the fascicle crossing the chapter boundary; it is recorded side by side as it is, with no reconciliation forced upon it (for the analysis see Section IV).
One special case of CBETA supplying a character according to the Korean Canon (the lem is a CBETA emendation · listed separately). One entry in the passage of Treatise ① explaining 「散亂心書」 tr. "writing with a scattered mind" belongs to a special type of the modern CBETA collation layer, not to the traditional type in which the various editions are set side by side; it was checked word for word against the base text, and it is listed separately:〔T25 0534b15〕—the lem is the character 「若」 tr. "if" supplied by CBETA according to the Korean Canon (K14n0549) (in 「若一心、攝心」 tr. "if with one mind, with a gathered mind", the character 「若」 tr. "if"), originally missing in the 【大】 text. Its type is recorded as it is, without forcibly classifying it as a traditional variant reading; the reader-facing text of this edition follows the reading of the current CBETA text.
Four notes on the presence of the structural markers (the Song, the Palace, and the Shōgozō B lack the sūtra and treatise tags · listed separately). Each of this chapter's four structural markers has a collation note: 【經】〔T25 0533a06〕, 【論】〔T25 0533c01〕, 【經】〔T25 0534c16〕, 【論】〔T25 0536a11〕; the three texts Song, Palace, and the Shōgozō B all lack these tags (the latter two are repeated citations of the shared notes of the first two; see the star marks in the ledger below)—only the base text clearly sets up the division between sūtra and treatise, which belongs to the layer of the base text's transmission; recorded as it is, and not a doctrinal question.
Complete ledger of collation notes (all one hundred and sixty-six entries reconciled · base text as it stands). Below, transcribed in their original form from the working base text—the collation notes of this chapter total one hundred and sixty-six app entries, agreeing mechanically with app 166, the tool value of extract --check on the working base text. The app entries are listed in full in the order of their appearance in the base text, including twenty-seven star-corresp repeated citations (the same variant reading recurring in the text and sharing one note), marked with each entry—the corresp targets of this chapter's twenty-seven star entries are all native within the chapter, none shared across chapters (unlike the cross-chapter shared type of Chapter 44; recorded as it is). The readings of the variant texts are preserved side by side, while the main text still follows the reading of the current base text:
App entries (one hundred and sixty-six · in order of appearance in the base text · star-corresp marked with each entry)
- 〔T25 0533a02〕大智度論釋魔事品第四十六（卷六十八）【大】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六訖四十七品上【宋】【元】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六【明】｜大智度論卷第六十八釋魔事品第四十六品訖四十七品上【宮】｜大智度論釋第四十五品魔事品六十八，訖第四十六品上【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第四十五覺魔七十二【聖乙】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜經覺魔品第四十五【石】(one note on the chapter title made in seven forms · the two name-systems Deeds of Māra / Awareness of Māra + the -1 step of the Shōgozō, the Shōgozō B, and the Ishiyama + the interlinear note 「訖四十七品上」 tr. "ending at the first part of the forty-seventh chapter" of the Song, Yuan, and Palace · see Section IV)
- 〔T25 0533a06〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】(note on the presence of the structural marker · the Song, the Palace, and the Shōgozō B lack this tag · see Section I)
- 〔T25 0533a06〕慧【大】｜爾時慧【元】【明】
- 〔T25 0533a08〕世界【大】｜國土【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533a10〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533a12〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533005) = the note at〔T25 0533a10〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533a14〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533005) = the note at〔T25 0533a10〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533a15〕提【大】｜薩【明】
- 〔T25 0533a15〕說【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0533a15〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533005) = the note at〔T25 0533a10〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533a16〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533005) = the note at〔T25 0533a10〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533a18〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533005) = the note at〔T25 0533a10〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533a21〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533a22〕若書【大】｜善【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533a22〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】【石】(star · corresp → note(0533008) = the note at〔T25 0533a21〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533a25〕若【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0533b01〕親【大】｜時親【聖】
- 〔T25 0533b02〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】【石】(star · corresp → note(0533008) = the note at〔T25 0533a21〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533b04〕輕蔑【大】｜輕慢【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0533b06〕乃至【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b09〕菩薩【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b11〕便【大】｜使【聖】
- 〔T25 0533b17〕受【大】｜授【明】
- 〔T25 0533b17〕深【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0533b19〕受【大】｜授【元】【明】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533b22〕深【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b23〕受【大】｜授【元】【明】(star · corresp → note(0533018) = the note at〔T25 0533b19〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533b24〕須【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533b27〕念【大】｜〔－〕【宮】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0533b28〕甫【大】｜轉【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c01〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】(note on the presence of the structural marker · the Song, the Palace, and the Shōgozō B lack this tag · see Section I)
- 〔T25 0533c07〕以【大】｜今【元】【明】【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0533c11〕相【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c13〕沮【大】｜爼【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c14〕槌壓【大】｜推壓【宋】【元】【明】｜推押【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c15〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c16〕實【大】｜寶【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c18〕蟲【大】｜虫【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c18〕賊【大】｜賊者【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c19〕心【大】｜正【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0533c19〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533028) = the note at〔T25 0533c15〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0533c21〕種【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c26〕想【大】｜相【聖】
- 〔T25 0533c27〕相【大】｜想【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a04〕斷【大】｜熱【元】｜熱【南藏】
- 〔T25 0534a05〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533028) = the note at〔T25 0533c15〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534a07〕雖【大】｜唯【元】【明】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a09〕答【大】｜益【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a12〕雜【大】｜離【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a13〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533028) = the note at〔T25 0533c15〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534a14〕免【大】｜勉【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534a16〕已【大】｜以【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534a21〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533005) = the note at〔T25 0533a10〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534a22〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】
- 〔T25 0534a24〕不【大】｜〔－〕【石】
- 〔T25 0534a28〕為【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534a29〕來【大】｜未【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534a29〕而【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b01〕見【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b02〕久【大】｜久久【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b03〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】(star · corresp → note(0534007) = the note at〔T25 0534a22〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534b05〕其【大】｜甚【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b07〕辯【大】｜辨【聖】(star · corresp → note(0534007) = the note at〔T25 0534a22〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534b07〕可【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b07〕卒【大】｜即【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b10〕漲【大】｜長【宮】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b10〕雜【大】｜離【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0534004) = the note at〔T25 0534a12〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534b13〕心【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b15〕若（K14n0549_p1171c08）【CB】【麗-CB】｜〔－〕【大】(of the type in which CBETA supplies the character 「若」 tr. "if" according to the Korean Canon · originally missing in the 【大】 text · see the separate listing in Section VIII)
- 〔T25 0534b19〕波羅蜜【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0534b20〕作【大】｜復作【聖】
- 〔T25 0534b23〕笑【大】｜咲【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b24〕持【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b24〕互【大】｜吾【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b25〕無相輕賤【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0534b25〕賤【大】｜賤以是故無【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534b26〕諸【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534b28〕人【大】｜夫人【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534c01〕不【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534c03〕薄【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534c04〕以【大】｜以故【石】
- 〔T25 0534c05〕受【大】｜授【元】【明】(star · corresp → note(0533018) = the note at〔T25 0533b19〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534c06〕授【大】｜受【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534c09〕仙人【大】｜化人【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0534c10〕是【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0534c10〕授【大】｜受【聖】
- 〔T25 0534c10〕者【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0534c16〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533002) = the note at〔T25 0533a06〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534c18〕其【大】｜甚【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0534014) = the note at〔T25 0534b05〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0534c20〕所【大】｜取【聖】
- 〔T25 0534c24〕經【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535a01〕從【大】｜〔－〕【石】
- 〔T25 0535a02〕捨【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535a04〕人【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535a10〕見已，反【大】｜水【聖】｜反【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535a12〕道【大】｜道者【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535a14〕菩薩【大】｜諸菩薩【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535a15〕薩【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535a15〕匠【大】｜匠若工匠【石】
- 〔T25 0535a19〕深【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533019) = the note at〔T25 0533b22〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0535a19〕蜜【大】｜蜜便【聖】
- 〔T25 0535a20〕取【大】｜於【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0535a24〕作【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b01〕為【大】｜亦【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535b07〕知【大】｜如【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b08〕價【大】｜賈【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b11〕求【大】｜緣【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b14〕是【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535b23〕說【大】｜說無示【元】【明】
- 〔T25 0535b23〕義【大】｜議【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535b25〕是【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】(star · corresp → note(0535016) = the note at〔T25 0535b14〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0535b25〕相【大】｜法相【宋】【元】【明】｜法【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c03〕故【大】｜法【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535c03〕性【大】｜法【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c03〕書【大】｜盡【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c07〕文【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c07〕書【大】｜盡【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0535022) = the note at〔T25 0535c03〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0535c07〕是【大】｜成是【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c08〕字【大】｜文字【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c08〕亦是【大】｜是亦【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c10〕梨【大】｜離【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c17〕若【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】｜起【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c18〕起【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c20〕旃【大】｜栴【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c22〕讀【大】｜持讀【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0535c23〕菩薩【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535c25〕所【大】｜所所【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0535c26〕受【大】｜受持【元】【明】【聖】
- 〔T25 0535c26〕誦【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
- 〔T25 0535c27〕愛【大】｜受【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a02〕方便【大】｜方便力【元】【明】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536a10〕亦是【大】｜是亦【聖】【聖乙】【石】(star · corresp → note(0535026) = the note at〔T25 0535c08〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0536a11〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533023) = the note at〔T25 0533c01〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0536a12〕法【大】｜師僧【宋】【元】【明】【宮】｜師僧法【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a13〕於【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a17〕沮【大】｜爼【聖】【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0533026) = the note at〔T25 0533c13〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0536a25〕堅【大】｜經【聖】
- 〔T25 0536a28〕是【大】｜是故【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536b11〕狗【大】｜狛【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b12〕備【大】｜[口*(乏-之+友)]【聖】
- 〔T25 0536b12〕當【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536b14〕令【大】｜今【宋】【元】【明】
- 〔T25 0536b16〕王【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b16〕價【大】｜賈【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0535014) = the note at〔T25 0535b08〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0536b21〕及【大】｜乃【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b23〕書【大】｜盡【石】
- 〔T25 0536b24〕染【大】｜深【宮】
- 〔T25 0536b24〕取【大】｜取相【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536b26〕答曰【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c06〕穩【大】｜隱【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c07〕土【大】｜〔－〕【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c09〕疾病【大】｜病疾【聖】【聖乙】【石】
- 〔T25 0536c10〕詣【大】｜諸【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c10〕旃【大】｜栴【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0535030) = the note at〔T25 0535c20〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0536c10〕旃【大】｜栴【聖乙】(star · corresp → note(0535030) = the note at〔T25 0535c20〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0536c11〕眾【大】｜眾女【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c11〕共【大】｜供【石】
- 〔T25 0536c14〕愛【大】｜受【宋】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0536c16〕或【大】｜感【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c17〕受【大】｜愛【石】
- 〔T25 0536c17〕沮【大】｜爼【聖】
- 〔T25 0536c19〕熱【大】｜然【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c20〕好【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c21〕苦【大】｜若【宮】
- 〔T25 0536c26〕酥【大】｜蘇【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
- 〔T25 0536c26〕勢【大】｜熱【宮】【聖】【聖乙】
The above one hundred and sixty-six entries agree mechanically with the number of anchored collation notes in the working base text; the targets of the star entries are marked with each entry, each checked entry by entry. The one note on the chapter title made in seven forms and the one special case of CBETA supplying a character have been listed separately above, and collated both ways against the sūtra explained and the ancient masters' commentaries (Section IV, Section VI).
Witness statistics for the sūtra explained (not unfolded · the gap recorded for later supplementing). The entry-by-entry statistics of the collation witnesses on the T223 side within the scope of the comparative reading for this chapter (from〔T08 0318b13〕 to the end of Fascicle 13) were not unfolded here (only the chapter-title position and the note on the two characters 「爾時」 tr. "At that time" in the first sentence have been supplemented and checked character by character; see Section IV); the fact that they were not unfolded is recorded as it is, left to later collation to check and supplement, and no estimate is used to fill the number.