大智度論 大事起品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · The Great Matter Arises

The Great Matter Arises: Why Prajñā Is Said to Arise for the Sake of the Great Matter and So On up to for the Sake of the Matter Equal to the Unequalled; Why Containing and Receiving the Five Perfections Does Not Hinder Each of the Five Perfections Having Its Distinct Mark; Why the Consecrated King Entrusting Affairs to His Great Minister Is a Simile for Prajñā and the Buddha; Why Not Grasping and Not Clinging Instead Become the Power to Accomplish; Why the Buddha's Counter-question and Subhūti's Answer ‘No’ Are Precisely a Confirmation; Why Not Seeing and Therefore Not Grasping Is the Pivot of the Whole Chapter; Why, the Knowledge and Severance of the Worthy and Holy Being Precisely the Bodhisattva's Acceptance of the Non-arising of Dharmas, It Is Nevertheless Said That They Do Not Equal It; Why Those Who Believe and Understand at Once Must Come from Hearing and Upholding in a Former Life; Why Those Who Heard in a Former Life but Did Not Ask about What Was in It Are in This Life Doubtful, Regretful, and Hard to Awaken; Why One Who Heard, Did Not Ask, and Did Not Practise Has a Mind like a Light Feather Following the Wind and Will Fall into One of the Two Grounds; Why the Very Deep Causes and Conditions, Already Spoken of, Are Spoken of Again; Why Deep and Shallow Not Being Fixed Does Not Spoil the Name of the Very Deep; and Why the Highest, Middle, and Lowest Grades of Those Who Practise Prajñā Are Judged by Asking and Practising

What Is Being Asked

The opening sentence of this chapter is a cry of praise from Subhūti: this deep prajñāpāramitā arises for the sake of the great matter, arises for the sake of the inconceivable matter, arises for the sake of the unweighable matter, arises for the sake of the matter without measure, arises for the sake of the matter equal to the unequalled. The word ‘arises’ is the eye of this chapter's title—prajñā is not a thing that exists of itself out of nowhere; it arises for a purpose. For the sake of what does it arise? For the sake of the great matter. What is the great matter? Subhūti does not answer this himself; the Buddha takes it up and answers. This one question and one answer set the frame of the whole chapter firmly in place.

The Buddha's answer has two layers. The first layer is ‘containing and receiving’: within prajñā the five perfections are contained and received; inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas are contained and received; the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path are contained and received; the Buddha's ten powers and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds are contained and received; all the dharmas of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, the dharmas of bodhisattvas, and the dharmas of the buddhas are within prajñā, and prajñā can accomplish their matter. Immediately the Buddha sets out the most famous simile of this chapter: a consecrated king is the most honoured in his land; all the affairs of state are entrusted to his great minister to carry out, and the king himself is at ease and without a care. The second layer is ‘not grasping and not clinging’: because prajñā does not grasp form and does not cling to form, it can accomplish; and so on up to: because it does not grasp and does not cling to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, it can accomplish. Only the two layers together make the complete answer—the reason prajñā can arise for the sake of the great matter lies, first, in there being nothing it does not contain, and second, in there being nothing it grasps.

Subhūti does not let the second layer pass. He presses: what does it mean that by not grasping and not clinging it can accomplish? The Buddha gives no direct explanation, but instead asks a counter-question: have you ever seen form as something that can be grasped or clung to? Subhūti answers ‘No’. The Buddha asks again of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and Subhūti again answers ‘No’. Then the Buddha praises him with 「善哉」 tr. "Good," and states of himself: I too do not see it—「不見故不取，不取故不著」 tr. "because I do not see it I do not grasp it; because I do not grasp it I do not cling to it." A single sentence of ten characters is the pivot of the whole chapter—not grasping and not clinging is not a forceful letting go; it is because there is fundamentally nothing seen.

After the one simile and the one exchange of question and answer, the sūtra text changes speaker. The gods of the desire and form realms break in to praise prajñā as very deep, and set up a comparison of worth: if all the beings of the three-thousand great-thousand world became persons who practise in faith, persons who practise by the Dharma, and so on up to arhats and pratyekabuddhas, their knowledge and severance would not equal a bodhisattva's practising deep prajñā for a single day. The reason given is extremely weighty—the knowledge and severance of these worthy and holy ones 「即是菩薩摩訶薩無生法忍」 tr. "are precisely the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas." The Buddha confirms this statement, and adds a further comparison: one who writes out and upholds prajñā swiftly attains nirvāṇa, surpassing those seeking the two vehicles who stay far from prajñā and practise other sūtras. The gods praise the five names in another round, say that prajñā 「亦不增、亦不減」 tr. "neither increases nor decreases," and then bow their heads, circle the Buddha, and depart.

When the gods have left the scene, Subhūti takes up the main thread again and asks the key question of the latter half of the chapter: the bodhisattvas who, hearing deep prajñā, believe and understand it at once—from where have they ended their lives to come and be born here? The Buddha answers with three places of origin—among humans, world-systems of other quarters, and the presence of the bodhisattva Maitreya—and sets out the simile ‘a new-born calf that does not leave its mother’ to make plain their mark of constantly following the teacher of the Dharma. Having answered on those who can believe and understand, the Buddha turns to the other side and tells, item by item, of those who cannot believe and understand: those who in a former life heard it but did not ask about what was in it, in this life, hearing prajñā, are doubtful and regretful and hard to awaken; those who in a former life heard the five perfections, heard the emptinesses, heard the limbs of the path, and did not ask, are likewise doubtful and regretful and hard to awaken; those who in a former life both heard and asked but did not practise have minds like a light feather that follows the wind—firm for one day up to five days, falling away when parted from it, until in the end they do not write out and do not uphold, are not guarded by prajñā, and of the two grounds, the śrāvaka ground and the pratyekabuddha ground, will fall into one.

The treatise-author takes over, and the first thing he does is ask on the reader's behalf a most down-to-earth doubt: the very deep causes and conditions have already been spoken of many times before; why are they spoken of again today? The answer is the warmest passage of the whole chapter—a great king had long sought a son; a messenger came ten times to report it, and ten times the king rejoiced without answering, only because 「久來願滿故，喜心內悅，樂聞不已」 tr. "my long-cherished wish is fulfilled, my heart rejoices within, and I delight in hearing it without end." It is not repeated words; there is benefit in the words. From this the treatise-author draws a general rule: deep and shallow are not fixed; to one who understands there is nothing deep; one who does not understand calls it deep. Then he explains the sūtra passage by passage: why containing and receiving does not hinder each of the five perfections having its distinct mark; who in the simile of the consecrated king is the king and who the minister; the gloss 「初染曰取，生愛曰著」 tr. "the first staining is called grasping; the arising of love is called clinging"; why, among the four kinds of answer, the Buddha uses the counter-question. At the end the treatise-author again questions himself: since the knowledge and severance of the worthy and holy are precisely the bodhisattva's acceptance of non-arising, why is it said that they do not equal it? He answers with three similes—the force of the water gathering and quickening, the great minister not reaching the crown prince, the first gates of the Small Vehicle and the Great Vehicle—and concludes that the object is the same while keenness and dullness differ, and compassion and vow differ. The whole chapter is gathered up with the highest, middle, and lowest grades of those who practise prajñā, and announces that the following chapter will continue this meaning with the parable of a ship breaking up in the great sea.

Passage by Passage

1. The question of the five 「故起」 tr. "arises for the sake of" . When Subhūti opens his mouth it is not to ask about the Dharma but to praise: deep prajñā 「為大事故起」 tr. "arises for the sake of the great matter," and so on up to 「無等等事故起」 tr. "arises for the sake of the matter equal to the unequalled." The five sentences are laid out in a row; the first four go in one breath, and for the fifth, 「無等等事故起」 tr. "arises for the sake of the matter equal to the unequalled," Subhūti starts afresh with a separate address, 「世尊」 tr. "World-Honored One," before saying it—in this pause the sūtra text itself preserves a tone of voice. Among the five names, 「大」 tr. "great" is the general one; 「不可思議」 tr. "inconceivable" speaks of its not being measurable by the mind; 「不可稱」 tr. "unweighable" speaks of wisdom being unable to weigh prajñā (the treatise-author glosses it himself in the preceding chapter: weighing means wisdom; prajñā is very deep and extremely heavy while wisdom is light and thin, and so it cannot weigh it); 「無有量」 tr. "without measure" speaks of its having no bounds; 「無等等」 tr. "equal to the unequalled" speaks of there being nothing comparable to it. Why does Subhūti first praise and then ask? Because he has heard of the virtues of prajñā through many chapters; by now it is not that he does not know that prajñā is good, but that he wants to ask clearly: for the sake of what, in the end, does it arise?

2. The meaning of containing and receiving, and the simile of the consecrated king. The Buddha first confirms, 「如是！如是！」 tr. "Just so! Just so!" and then gives the causes and conditions. The causes and conditions come down to a single Chinese character, rendered here as ‘contain’. Within prajñā the five perfections are contained and received; inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas are contained and received; the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path are contained and received; the Buddha's ten powers and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds are contained and received—from the six perfections to the emptinesses, to the limbs of the path, to the merits of the fruit of buddhahood, layer upon layer, all are within prajñā. Straight away comes the simile: 「譬如灌頂王，國土中尊，諸有官事皆委大臣，國王安樂無事」 tr. "It is like a consecrated king, honoured in the land, who entrusts all the affairs of state to his great minister, and the king is at ease and without a care"—the weight of the simile falls not on the king's being honoured but on his being ‘without a care’—precisely because all the affairs can be carried out, the king can leave them undone himself. The words that apply the simile the Buddha also speaks himself: all the dharmas of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, the dharmas of bodhisattvas, and the dharmas of the buddhas are within prajñā; 「般若波羅蜜能成辦其事」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā can accomplish its matter." Therefore prajñā arises for the sake of the great matter, and so on up to arising for the sake of the matter equal to the unequalled.

3. Because it does not grasp and does not cling, it can accomplish. Within the same passage the Buddha turns a further layer: from 「復次」 tr. "Again" onward, he says that prajñā can accomplish because it does not grasp form and does not cling to form; it can accomplish because it does not grasp and does not cling to feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds; it can accomplish because it does not grasp and does not cling to the fruit of the srota-āpanna and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. This turn is extremely important. What was just said was ‘containing’; what is said here is ‘not grasping’—if one listened only to the first half, it would be easy to imagine prajñā as a great container that can hold everything; the second half at once dismantles the container too: the reason it can contain and receive everything is precisely that it neither grasps nor clings to any dharma. Being able to accomplish and not grasping or clinging are, here, two faces of one and the same matter.

4. Subhūti asks again the reason for accomplishing. Subhūti presses: 「云何色不取、不著故般若波羅蜜能成辦？」 tr. "How is it that, because form is not grasped and not clung to, prajñāpāramitā can accomplish?" and pushes the question as far as anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. What he asks is a real difficulty: not grasping and not clinging are words of negation; accomplishing is a word of achievement—how can negation achieve? Had this question not been asked, the set of counter-questions that follows would have nowhere to rest.

5. The Buddha's counter-questions and Subhūti's answers. The Buddha does not reason directly, but instead asks Subhūti: 「於汝意云何？頗見是色可取、可著不？」 tr. "What do you think? Do you see any form that can be grasped or clung to?" Subhūti answers: 「不也！世尊！」 tr. "No, World-Honored One!" The Buddha asks again whether feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi can be grasped or clung to, and Subhūti answers again: 「不也！世尊！」 tr. "No, World-Honored One!" This exchange occupies four passages in the sūtra text; the speakers alternate four times, yet there are only two answering sentences, and the two are exactly the same. A reader who finds it repetitive misses precisely the sūtra's intent—what the Buddha wants is not an explanation, but for Subhūti to shine the light through once in his own wisdom-eye. When he cannot answer 「可取」 tr. "it can be grasped," the difficulty disperses of itself.

6. Because one does not see, one does not grasp; because one does not grasp, one does not cling. Hearing the answer, the Buddha praises: 「善哉！善哉！」 tr. "Good, good!" and then at once states of himself: I too do not see form as something that can be grasped or clung to; 「不見故不取，不取故不著」 tr. "because I do not see it I do not grasp it; because I do not grasp it I do not cling to it"; I too do not see feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi and the omniscience of all kinds as something that can be grasped or clung to—because I do not see them I do not grasp them, because I do not grasp them I do not cling to them; I too do not see the dharmas of the buddhas, the dharmas of the Tathāgata, the dharmas of the one who is so of himself, and the dharmas of the omniscient one as something that can be grasped or clung to—because I do not see them I do not grasp them, because I do not grasp them I do not cling to them. The three rounds of examples push upward layer by layer, and at the end not even the Buddha's own dharmas are left standing. The conclusion is an exhortation: bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, with regard to form and so on up to the dharmas of the omniscient one, 「亦不應取、亦不應著」 tr. "should also not grasp and should also not cling." The order of these ten characters must be seen clearly: first there is not seeing, and only then not grasping; first there is not grasping, and only then not clinging. It is not that one first sets up a rule of not grasping and keeps to it; it is that where one sees has become empty, and grasping naturally has nowhere to set its hand.

7. The gods praise prajñā as very deep, and set up the comparison of the knowledge and severance of the worthy and holy. The speaker has changed. The gods of the desire and form realms call prajñā 「甚深、難見、難解、不可思惟比類知」 tr. "very deep, hard to see, hard to understand, not to be known by thinking and comparison," and yet 「微妙、善巧、智慧、寂滅者可知」 tr. "it can be known by the subtle, the skilful, the wise, and the quiescent"—the hard and the possible are set side by side; people are not shut out. They say further that one who can believe prajñā should be known to be a bodhisattva who has made many offerings to the buddhas, planted many roots of goodness, and kept company with good friends: faith is precious because behind it there are extremely long causes and conditions. Next they set up the comparison: if all the beings in the three-thousand great-thousand world became persons who practise in faith, persons who practise by the Dharma, persons of the eight, and so on up to those who attain the four fruits and pratyekabuddhas, their knowledge and severance would not equal a bodhisattva's accepting, wishing, considering, and reckoning in practising deep prajñā for a single day. The reason goes all the way in one sentence: the knowledge and severance of these worthy and holy ones 「即是菩薩摩訶薩無生法忍」 tr. "are precisely the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas." This sentence is the fuse for all the discussion in the latter half of the chapter.

8. The Buddha confirms, and adds the comparison of those who write out and uphold. The Buddha answers 「如是！如是！」 tr. "Just so! Just so!" acknowledging what the gods have said. Then he adds another comparison: good men and good women who hear deep prajñā and write it out, receive and uphold it, read, recite, expound, and rightly recollect it swiftly attain nirvāṇa, surpassing those seeking the two vehicles who stay far from deep prajñā and practise other sūtras 「若一劫、若減一劫」 tr. "for a kalpa or for somewhat less than a kalpa." Why can they surpass them? Because 「是深般若波羅蜜中廣說上妙法」 tr. "within this deep prajñāpāramitā the supreme and wondrous Dharma is taught at length," and this supreme and wondrous Dharma is what persons who practise in faith, persons who practise by the Dharma, and so on up to pratyekabuddhas should learn, and what bodhisattvas too should learn; having learned it they attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. One sūtra, learned in common by the three vehicles; what is learned is the same while where one arrives differs—the distinction lies only in the capacity of the learner's mind.

9. The gods again praise the five names, and make plain that it neither increases nor decreases. The gods 「俱發聲言」 tr. "raised their voices together and said," praising once more the five names with which Subhūti began: the great perfection, inconceivable, unweighable, without measure, equal to the unequalled. Then they say that persons who practise in faith, persons who practise by the Dharma, and persons of the eight learn it and achieve accomplishment; those of the four fruits and pratyekabuddhas learn it and achieve; bodhisattvas learn within it and attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; and the last sentence is the important one: 「是深般若波羅蜜亦不增、亦不減。」 tr. "This deep prajñāpāramitā neither increases nor decreases." The three vehicles learn it together and prajñā does not increase; no one learns it and prajñā does not decrease—what increases and decreases is what the learners attain, not the substance of prajñā.

10. The gods bow to the Buddha and depart. 「是時諸欲、色界天子頂禮佛足，遶佛而去；去是不遠，忽然不現，各還本處。」 tr. "At that time the gods of the desire and form realms bowed their heads at the Buddha's feet, circled the Buddha, and departed; not far from there, they suddenly vanished, each returning to his own place." This passage has no question and no answer; it is pure narrative. Its function is to change the scene: one round of praise is enough, and the speaking role is to be handed back to Subhūti; with this the theme of the latter half of the sūtra text turns from ‘what prajñā is’ to ‘what person can receive prajñā’.

11. Where those who believe and understand at once come from. Subhūti's question is extremely concrete: those who, hearing deep prajñā, 「即時信解者，從何處終來生是間」 tr. "believe and understand it at once—from where have they ended their lives to come and be born here?" What he asks about is not a principle but a history. This question opens up the whole latter half of the chapter—since prajñā is so very deep, those in today's assembly who can believe and understand it on the spot are surely not there by chance.

12. The simile of the new-born calf, and returning from among humans to be born among humans. The Buddha first depicts the mark of one who believes and understands at once: 「不沒、不却、不難、不疑、不悔」 tr. "does not sink, does not shrink back, finds no difficulty, has no doubt, has no regret"; he gladly delights in hearing it, and having heard, recollects it; walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, he never sets it aside or forgets it, 「常隨法師」 tr. "constantly following the teacher of the Dharma." Then comes the simile: 「譬如新生犢子不離其母」 tr. "like a new-born calf that does not leave its mother"—the sense of the simile is very plain—a newly born calf does not stay by its mother because it understands a principle; it is a natural leaning of one on the other; the one who first believes prajñā follows the teacher of the Dharma in the same way. Then the Buddha answers where he comes from: at the end of his life on the human path he is born again among humans. Why? Because in a former life he heard deep prajñā, and wrote out and upheld it, revered, honoured, and praised it, and made offerings of flowers and incense and so on up to banners and canopies. The reason his believing and understanding is ‘at once’ is that the work was done long before, in a former life; the swiftness of this life is the length of past lives.

13. Those who come from other quarters, and merits accomplished in a former life. Subhūti asks again: are there bodhisattvas who made offerings to the buddhas in world-systems of other quarters, ended their lives there, came to be born here, and on hearing deep prajñā believe and understand it at once? The Buddha answers directly, 「有」 tr. "There are," and restates their mark: on hearing they believe and understand, and write out, uphold, read, recite, expound, and rightly recollect. The reason again comes back to their history—having heard prajñā in the presence of the buddhas of other quarters and believed, understood, written out, and upheld it, they ended their lives there and came to be born here; 「當知是人是先世功德成就」 tr. "know that this person's merits were accomplished in a former life." The two questions and two answers have the same form, and the places answered differ: one on the human path, one in other quarters; they come back to one meaning—believing and understanding at once must have a prior cause.

14. Those who heard it from Maitreya; not asking in a former life brings doubt and regret in this life—prajñā and the five perfections. The Buddha goes on to state the third place of origin: there are bodhisattvas who heard this deep prajñā from the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Maitreya and, through the causes and conditions of this root of goodness, have come to be born here. The three places of origin having been told, the sūtra text at once turns to the other side, and this turn is the finest passage of the chapter. First the general mark: though in a former life one heard deep prajñā, one 「不問中事」 tr. "did not ask about what was in it"; being born among humans and hearing prajñā, 「心有疑悔，難悟」 tr. "the mind has doubt and regret, and is hard to awaken." Then it is spread out one by one: though in a former life one heard dhyānapāramitā, one did not ask about what was in it, and in this life, hearing prajñā, because one did not ask, doubt and regret keep arising; vīrya, kṣānti, śīla, dāna—the five perfections, one item each, in identical sentence form. Here one must not find it repetitive and merge or abridge it—each of the five perfections is a gate of its own; in whichever gate one fell short in a former life, in that very gate one is obstructed in this life; the sūtra text points out gate by gate precisely so that the practitioner may look at himself and see where he fell short. The criterion of this passage must be seen clearly: it is not ‘never having heard’, it is ‘having heard and not asked’. To hear without asking is as good as not having taken the Dharma into oneself.

15. Not asking about the emptinesses is the same. 「復次」 tr. "Again" begins another item: though in a former life one heard inner emptiness, outer emptiness, inner-and-outer emptiness, and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, and did not ask about what was in it, being born among humans and hearing deep prajñā, because one did not ask, one is again doubtful and regretful and hard to awaken. The gate of the emptinesses and the gate of the perfections stand side by side as two, each forming its own item.

16. Not asking about the limbs of the path and the rest is the same. Another 「復次」 tr. "Again": though in a former life one heard the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the five superknowledges, the Buddha's ten powers and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, and did not ask about what was in them, being born among humans and hearing deep prajñā, because one did not ask, one is again doubtful and regretful and hard to awaken. The opening of this item is entirely the same as that of the previous one, while the dharmas listed differ—the previous item cited the emptinesses; this item cites the limbs of the path and the dharmas of merit; the sūtra text makes them two items rather than combining them into one because the gates in which one fell short are not the same to begin with. Viewing the three items together: whoever in a former life heard in any one gate—the six perfections, the emptinesses, or the limbs of the path—and did not ask, in this life on meeting prajñā becomes doubtful and regretful; the root of the sickness is just one: 「不問」 tr. "not asking."

17. Hearing and not practising—the light feather following the wind, and falling into one of the two grounds. The last item is the gravest sickness. In a former life one heard deep prajñā and 「不問中事而不行」 tr. "did not ask about what was in it, and did not practise"—so the base text reads here; the Yuan and Ming editions, the Shōgozō manuscript, and the Ishiyama-dera manuscript lack the character 「不」 tr. "not," reading 「問中事而不行」 tr. "asked about what was in it, but did not practise"; and the 「何以故」 tr. "Why?" that follows also says 「雖問中事，不如說行」 tr. "though he asked about what was in it, he did not practise as it teaches." The variant readings are recorded side by side, without judgement. Such a person, hearing prajñā in this life, is firm in mind for one day up to five days and nothing can break him, 「若離所聞時便退失」 tr. "but when he is parted from what he has heard, he falls away." The Buddha gives a simile: 「譬如輕毛隨風東西。」 tr. "It is like a light feather that follows the wind east and west." The mind light and unfixed, the resolve scattered and unsettled—therefore sometimes he wishes to hear and sometimes he does not. The Buddha then tells his shortcomings layer by layer: it is not long since he set his mind on it; he has not kept company with good friends; he has not made many offerings to the buddhas; in former lives he did not write out, did not read, did not recite, did not rightly recollect; he did not learn the six perfections, did not learn the emptinesses, did not learn the limbs of the path and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds. Therefore in this life he has 「新發大乘意」 tr. "newly set his mind on the Great Vehicle," with little faith and little delight, and cannot write out, uphold, read, or recite. Then the Buddha tells the consequence to the end: one who does not write out and does not uphold is not guarded by deep prajñā, and so on up to not being guarded by the omniscience of all kinds, and also does not practise as it teaches; 「是人或墮二地——若聲聞地、若辟支佛地」 tr. "this person may fall into one of the two grounds—either the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground," and the last sentence states it again: 「於二地中當墮一地」 tr. "of the two grounds he will fall into one." Note the order of cause and effect the Buddha gives: not writing out and not upholding comes first, not being guarded comes next, not practising as it teaches comes next, falling into one of the two grounds comes last—it is not that prajñā does not guard people; it is that the person himself first goes and stands where guarding cannot reach.

18. Why the very deep is spoken of again—the simile of the great king. The treatise-author opens by setting a question himself: 「上來數說是般若波羅蜜甚深因緣，今何以復重說？」 tr. "Above, the very deep causes and conditions of this prajñāpāramitā have been spoken of several times; why are they now spoken of again?" The answer first sets a general rule: 「處處說甚深，多有所益；凡人不知，謂為重說。」 tr. "To speak of the very deep in place after place brings much benefit; ordinary people do not know this and call it repetition." Then comes the most vivid simile of the whole chapter: a great king had long had no legitimate son, and prayed for many years without response; one day, while the king was away travelling, his consort gave birth to a boy and sent a message to tell the king, 「大夫人產男」 tr. "The great consort has given birth to a boy"; the king heard it with joy and did not answer, and so it went ten times over. The messenger asked whether the king had not heard, and the king answered: 「我即聞之，久來願滿故，喜心內悅，樂聞不已耳！」 tr. "I heard it at once; my long-cherished wish is fulfilled, my heart rejoices within, and I delight in hearing it without end!" He then rewarded him with a million taels of gold, a hundred thousand taels for each telling. The treatise-author gathers up the simile: the king heard the messenger's words, and 「語中有利益，非重語，不知者謂為重」 tr. "in the words there was benefit; it was not repetition, and only one who does not know calls it repetition." In applying it to the Dharma he speaks from three sides: the Buddha, the bodhisattvas, and Subhūti know that there is great benefit in it; Subhūti, hearing deep prajñā, 「不能得底，轉覺甚深」 tr. "cannot reach its bottom, and feels it ever more very deep"; the hearers, hearing of the very deep in place after place, obtain benefits such as meditative concentration and wisdom—only ordinary people call it repetition. Repetition or not is judged in the hearer, not in the speaker.

19. Deep and shallow are not fixed. The treatise-author goes a step further: 「深淺無定，隨眾生，解者無深，不解者謂為深。」 tr. "Deep and shallow are not fixed; they follow beings: to one who understands there is nothing deep; one who does not understand calls it deep." Then why are the two Chinese characters 「甚深」 tr. "very deep" constantly spoken? Because prajñā is such that 「除佛無能遍知故」 tr. "apart from the Buddha no one can know it fully." The Buddha speaks of the very deep for the sake of beings, and it 「無定甚深相」 tr. "has no fixed mark of being very deep"; if the very deep were a fixed mark, 「無人能行」 tr. "no one could practise it." Hence it says: 「菩薩謂般若甚深，為不行般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "For a bodhisattva to take prajñā to be very deep is not to practise prajñāpāramitā." This item must be taken in with the greatest care—it does not say that prajñā is not deep; it says that depth is not a fixed mark of prajñā. To grasp 「甚深」 tr. "very deep" as a really existent difficulty is, on the contrary, precisely not to practise prajñā.

20. The very deep causes and conditions are precisely the five kinds of arising. The treatise-author points to the theme: the so-called very deep causes and conditions are precisely 「為大事故起，乃至無等等事故起」 tr. "arising for the sake of the great matter, and so on up to arising for the sake of the matter equal to the unequalled," and he notes, 「大事等義如先說」 tr. "the meaning of the great matter and the rest is as explained before"—the meanings of the names great matter, inconceivable, unweighable, without measure, and equal to the unequalled were explained in the preceding chapter, and are not set out again here. The economy of the treatise-author's writing shows precisely that he does not deal in repetition.

21. The Buddha himself tells the causes and conditions of the great matter. The treatise-author points again—「此中佛自說大事等因緣」 tr. "here the Buddha himself tells the causes and conditions of the great matter and the rest," and what is meant is 「般若波羅蜜含受五波羅蜜等諸法。」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā contains and receives the five perfections and the other dharmas." This marks out the first layer of the Buddha's answer in Sūtra ①, as the basis for the next question.

22. How the five perfections, each with a distinct mark, can be said to be contained and received—the simile of the consecrated king developed, and the simile of throwing fire. The treatise-author raises an objection himself—「五波羅蜜等各異相」 tr. "the five perfections and the rest each have a distinct mark"; how then can one say 「般若波羅蜜中含受」 tr. "they are contained and received within prajñāpāramitā"? The objection is extremely precise: giving is relinquishing, keeping the precepts is guarding, each has its own mark of practice—how can they all be said to be within prajñā? The answer comes in two parts. The first part: 「是中說經中含受」 tr. "what is spoken of here is containing and receiving within the sūtra"—the containing and receiving spoken of here is in terms of the sūtra text, that is, the dharmas of the perfections set forth at length in the prajñā sūtra. Only the second part is the doctrinal meaning: the five perfections and the other dharmas come together with prajñā, and because of dedication by skilful means they 「得至佛道」 tr. "are able to reach the path of the Buddha." Containing and receiving is not accommodation in space; it is that the perfections must come together with prajñā and be dedicated by skilful means before they can travel onto the path of the Buddha; apart from prajñā, the five perfections are only five perfections. The treatise-author then matches the simile of the consecrated king in Sūtra ① item by item: 「灌頂王如佛，國事是種種度眾生法，大臣是般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "The consecrated king is like the Buddha; the affairs of state are the various dharmas for delivering beings; the great minister is prajñāpāramitā." The Buddha entrusts and relies on prajñā to accomplish the various dharmas, and so he can 「安處禪定，快樂無事」 tr. "dwell at ease in meditative concentration, joyful and without a care." After matching it he adds another simile: 「又如欲除乾薪草木，以火投中，則火力能燒令盡，人便無事。」 tr. "Again, it is like one who wishes to clear away dry firewood, grass, and trees: he throws fire into them, and the power of the fire can burn them up entirely, and the person then has no more to do." The two similes make plain one meaning—it is not that the Buddha does no work; it is that what he entrusts goes to the right person, and what he throws in is fire; prajñā is to the Buddha as the great minister is to the king, as fire is to firewood.

23. Because it does not grasp and does not cling it is called containing and receiving; the first staining is called grasping, the arising of love is called clinging. The treatise-author turns again: 「是般若波羅蜜不取、不著色等諸法故名含受」 tr. "because this prajñāpāramitā does not grasp and does not cling to form and the other dharmas, it is called containing and receiving"—joining the second layer of Sūtra ① back to the first, and stating outright that not grasping and not clinging is precisely why there is containing and receiving. Then comes a gloss: 「初染曰取，生愛曰著。」 tr. "The first staining is called grasping; the arising of love is called clinging." These eight characters divide grasping from clinging in sequence and in depth: when the mind first becomes stained, it is called grasping; when the staining gives rise to love, it is called clinging. Grasping is the beginning of clambering after objects; clinging is the completion of sticking fast. Only when one knows them to be two does one know that the order in the sūtra text, 「不見故不取，不取故不著」 tr. "because one does not see, one does not grasp; because one does not grasp, one does not cling," is a single road of withdrawal that goes all the way to the end.

24. The sūtra text restated: the intent of the counter-question among the four kinds of answer. In this passage the treatise-author does not start a separate question and answer; he retells the scene of question and answer in Sūtra ① and adds an explanation. First he restates Subhūti's question: 「云何般若為色等諸法不取、不著故名含受？」 tr. "How is it that prajñā is called containing and receiving because it does not grasp and does not cling to form and the other dharmas?" Next he restates the Buddha's manner of answering and points out its form—「佛於四答中以反問答」 tr. "among the four answers the Buddha answers by counter-question"; what he asks is 「於汝意云何？以智慧眼見是色等法可取、可著不？」 tr. "What do you think? Do you, with the wisdom-eye, see these dharmas such as form as something that can be grasped or clung to?" The four answers are the four forms of answering a question; earlier in this treatise it is said, 「四事答中，此是反問答」 tr. "among the four kinds of answer, this is the answer by counter-question"; here the treatise-author points out that what the Buddha uses is precisely that one form, the answer by counter-question. Next he restates what Subhūti thought in his mind: 「若智慧眼見空、無相、無作、無量、不可思議相，云何當答色等法定相可取、可著？」 tr. "If the wisdom-eye sees the mark of emptiness, the signless, non-action, the immeasurable, and the inconceivable, how should I answer that dharmas such as form have a fixed mark that can be grasped or clung to?" The reason Subhūti answers 「不也」 tr. "No" lies here: what the wisdom-eye sees is emptiness, the signless, non-action; there is from the first no fixed mark to grasp. Lastly he restates the Buddha's confirmation: 「汝未得一切智，不見色等諸法；我一切智人亦不見色等諸法」 tr. "You have not yet obtained omniscience, and do not see form and the other dharmas; I, the omniscient one, also do not see form and the other dharmas," and therefore he praises, saying 「善哉！」 tr. "Good!" Teacher and disciple on both sides alike do not see, and so the answer and the question accord. Following on, the treatise-author also restates the gods' praise, and his gloss on two terms stands within the same quotation as the restated words: 「智者，十智。斷者，二種斷：有殘斷、無殘斷；學人有殘斷，無學人無殘斷。」 tr. "Knowledge is the ten knowledges. Severance is two kinds of severance: severance with remainder and severance without remainder; those in training have severance with remainder, those beyond training have severance without remainder." The sūtra text says only the four characters 「若智、若斷」 tr. "knowledge and severance"; the treatise-author fills in their content. As for the ten knowledges, the treatise-author himself lists them in fascicle twenty-three: dharma-knowledge, the subsequent knowledge, the knowledge of others' minds, worldly knowledge, the knowledge of suffering, the knowledge of origination, the knowledge of cessation, the knowledge of the path, the knowledge of exhaustion, and the knowledge of non-arising. According to the treatise-author's own glosses: dharma-knowledge is knowledge without outflows that takes as its object the dharmas bound to the desire realm together with their cause, their cessation, and the path; the subsequent knowledge is knowledge without outflows of the same kind that takes the form and formless realms as its object; the knowledge of others' minds knows the mind and mental-factor dharmas of others at present in the desire realm and the form realm, and a small portion of minds without outflows—when it takes a mind with outflows as its object it is with outflows, and when it takes a mind without outflows as its object it is without outflows, and so the treatise-author says 「一當分別」 tr. "one is to be distinguished"; worldly knowledge is all wisdom with outflows, the only one of the ten knowledges that has outflows; the knowledge of suffering, the knowledge of origination, the knowledge of cessation, and the knowledge of the path are knowledges without outflows obtained in contemplating the four aspects of each of the four truths; the knowledge of exhaustion is the insight and clarity without outflows of 「我見苦已，斷集已，盡證已，修道已」 tr. "I have seen suffering, I have severed origination, I have realised exhaustion, I have cultivated the path"; the knowledge of non-arising is the insight and clarity without outflows of 「不復更見、不復更斷、不復更證、不復更修」 tr. "there is no more seeing again, no more severing again, no more realising again, no more cultivating again." The treatise-author sums up: 「十智，一有漏，八無漏，一當分別。」 tr. "Of the ten knowledges, one is with outflows, eight are without outflows, and one is to be distinguished." As for the two severances, the severing of the afflictions is of two kinds: severance with remainder, where the afflictions are severed but not exhausted and something still remains, is the severance of those in training; severance without remainder, where the afflictions are severed completely with nothing remaining, is the severance of those beyond training. The treatise-author's intent: the knowledge and severance of the worthy and holy are complete in this way, and yet a bodhisattva's practising prajñā for a single day still surpasses them—what follows explains why it surpasses, and in the end it comes back again to that fuse-sentence: 「是諸賢聖智、斷，皆是菩薩無生法忍。」 tr. "The knowledge and severance of all these worthy and holy ones are all the bodhisattva's acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas."

25. If it is precisely the acceptance of non-arising, why say that it does not equal it—the simile of the water's force gathering and quickening. The treatise-author sets his third question himself: 「若諸賢聖智、斷即是無生忍者，何以言不如？」 tr. "If the knowledge and severance of the worthy and holy are precisely the acceptance of non-arising, why is it said that they do not equal it?" The question is extremely sharp: having said they are one and the same thing, how can one then distinguish higher and lower? The answer first names two failings: 「信行等人無大悲、捨眾生故不如」 tr. "persons who practise in faith and the rest have no great compassion and abandon beings, and so do not equal him," and also 「無方便力，不能於涅槃自反」 tr. "they have no power of skilful means and cannot turn themselves back from nirvāṇa." One failing lies in compassion, one in skilful means. Then comes the simile: 「譬如眾水會恒河俱入大海，欲入海時水勢湊急，眾生在中無能自反，惟有大力者乃能自出。」 tr. "It is like the many waters that meet in the Ganges and together enter the great sea: when they are about to enter the sea the force of the water gathers and quickens, and no being within it can turn itself back; only one of great strength can get himself out." In the simile, 「入海」 tr. "entering the sea" is entering nirvāṇa; the force of the water gathering and quickening is the momentum toward quiescence; being unable to turn oneself back is that, having come this far, one can no longer turn round to deliver beings; the one of great strength who can get himself out is the bodhisattva's power of skilful means. So where they do not equal him lies not in the dharma realised, but in whether one can come back.

26. The first acceptance surpasses knowledge and severance already accomplished—the simile of the great minister not reaching the crown prince. 「復次」 tr. "Again" gives a further answer: although the knowledge and severance of the other worthy and holy ones are already accomplished, 「菩薩始得無生忍而力能過之，是故勝」 tr. "the bodhisattva who has just obtained the acceptance of non-arising has the strength to pass beyond them, and therefore he is superior." Though the merits of knowledge and severance are accomplished, they 「不及菩薩初忍」 tr. "do not reach the bodhisattva's first acceptance." The simile: 「譬如大臣功業雖大，不及太子。」 tr. "It is like a great minister whose achievements, however great, do not reach the crown prince." The great minister's merit is already accomplished and the crown prince's merit not yet manifest, yet their stations are distinct of themselves—what is compared is not the present measure of achievement but the station one occupies. This simile comes from the same set of images of sovereign and minister as the simile of the consecrated king in Sūtra ① of this chapter, but what it makes plain is different: that simile makes plain that the Buddha entrusts prajñā; this simile makes plain that the worthy and holy do not reach the first acceptance.

27. The first gate of the Small Vehicle and the first gate of the Great Vehicle. 「復次」 tr. "Again" gives the third answer: 「煖、頂、忍法是小乘初門，菩薩法忍是大乘初門」 tr. "the dharmas of warmth, summit, and acceptance are the first gate of the Small Vehicle; the bodhisattva's acceptance of dharmas is the first gate of the Great Vehicle"; though the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas do in the end have their accomplishment, they 「尚不及菩薩初入道門，何況成佛！」 tr. "still do not reach the gate by which the bodhisattva first enters the path—how much less his becoming a Buddha!" The previous simile spoke in terms of station; this item speaks in terms of gate—the places of entry of the two vehicles are different from the start, so without waiting to discuss their final accomplishment, high and low are already settled at the moment of entering the gate. Viewing the three answers together: one concerns compassion and skilful means, one concerns station, one concerns gate; layer by layer they close in, and where they come back to is one.

28. How the knowledge and severance of the two vehicles are precisely the bodhisattva's acceptance of non-arising. The treatise-author sets his fourth question himself, facing the opposite way from the third—「聲聞、辟支佛法是小乘，菩薩是大乘」 tr. "the dharmas of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are the Small Vehicle; the bodhisattva is the Great Vehicle"; how then can one say 「二乘智斷即是菩薩無生忍」 tr. "the knowledge and severance of the two vehicles are precisely the bodhisattva's acceptance of non-arising"? The previous question wondered at speaking of difference within sameness; this question wonders at speaking of sameness within difference. The answer is extremely brief: 「所緣同，如、法性、實際亦同。利鈍智慧為異，又有無量功德及大悲心守護故勝。」 tr. "The object is the same; suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality are also the same. The wisdom differs in keenness and dullness, and further there is the guarding of immeasurable merits and the mind of great compassion, and so it is superior." The sameness lies in the object and in suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality; the difference lies in the keenness or dullness of knowledge, and in merit and great compassion. What is the same is the Dharma; what differs is the person—two questions answered, clamping it from front and back, and then there is no room for misunderstanding where sameness and difference meet.

29. The various other statements are praise of prajñā. The treatise-author passes over it in one sentence: 「餘種種說，是讚般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "The various other statements are praise of prajñāpāramitā." The words in the sūtra text in which the gods again praise the five names and make plain that it neither increases nor decreases the treatise-author does not explain again sentence by sentence, but judges them to be words of praise. This is an instance of the treatise-author's choosing and leaving aside—what should be explained he explains, what should be passed over he passes over, and passing over is also a judgement.

30. The highest, middle, and lowest grades of those who practise prajñā. The whole chapter is gathered up into a grading. The lowest grade: hearing prajñā, 「直信聽受，不問中義」 tr. "simply believes and receives it, and does not ask about the meaning in it." The middle grade: 「既聞已，問義而不能行」 tr. "having heard, asks about the meaning but cannot practise." The highest grade: 「聞、解、能行」 tr. "hears, understands, and can practise." There are only two criteria—asking or not asking, practising or not practising. Then the treatise-author matches the three grades one by one with the three kinds of mark in the latter half of Sūtra ①: the lowest, though he obtains a human body, hearing prajñā is doubtful and regretful and hard to awaken, because he is 「根鈍、福薄」 tr. "dull in faculties and thin in merit"—precisely those in the sūtra text who did not ask in a former life. The middle obtains a human body, believes and delights single-mindedly, can know the meaning and intent, and 「從一日至四、五日，心能堅固」 tr. "from one day up to four or five days, his mind can be firm"; beyond this he cannot believe and delight, sometimes wishing to hear and sometimes not, because in past lives 「雖解義而不能行」 tr. "though he understood the meaning, he could not practise"—precisely the one in the sūtra text like a light feather following the wind. The highest obtains a human body, hears prajñā, and 「心即深解，信樂不捨，常隨法師」 tr. "his mind at once understands it deeply; he believes and delights and does not let go, and constantly follows the teacher of the Dharma"—precisely the one in the sūtra text like a new-born calf that does not leave its mother. The sūtra text speaks of them scattered in front; the treatise-author gathers them up behind; the three items interlock one to one, and not one falls empty.

31. Falling into the two vehicles, and the parable of the broken ship in the following chapter. The last sentence judges the outcome: the middle and lower two kinds of bodhisattva spoken of above 「不能得上地故，當墮二乘，不為般若所守護故」 tr. "cannot obtain the higher ground, and so will fall into the two vehicles, because they are not guarded by prajñā." Then the treatise-author announces what follows—「為更明了是事故，佛於後品中為作譬喻」 tr. "to make this matter clearer still, the Buddha in the following chapter makes a parable," and the words of the parable are 「如大海水中船破，若得所依則能渡，不得所依則不能渡。」 tr. "As when a ship breaks up in the waters of the great sea: one who gets something to hold on to can cross, and one who gets nothing to hold on to cannot cross." With this it links to the next chapter. The whole chapter begins with prajñā ‘arising for the sake of the great matter’ and closes with whether a person can cross or cannot cross—what the great matter is for is precisely this crossing.

Do Not Misread

Do not read ‘containing and receiving’ as prajñā gathering all dharmas up inside itself. The treatise-author's question and answer say it clearly: the five perfections and the rest each have a distinct mark, so containing and receiving is not dissolving distinct marks into one. The answer has two parts; the first part says 「是中說經中含受」 tr. "what is spoken of here is containing and receiving within the sūtra," which is in terms of the sūtra's setting forth at length; only the second part is where the doctrinal meaning lies—the five perfections come together with prajñā and are dedicated by skilful means, and so are able to reach the path of the Buddha. Containing and receiving is ‘coming together and so being able to reach’, not ‘gathering in and returning to one’. To read it as meaning that prajñā, a single dharma, is already complete, so that the five perfections need not be cultivated, is exactly contrary to the treatise's meaning: precisely because the five perfections need prajñā to reach the path of the Buddha, the five perfections must by all means be cultivated.

Do not read the simile of the consecrated king as the Buddha doing no work. The application of the simile the treatise-author matches himself: the king is like the Buddha, the affairs of state are the various dharmas for delivering beings, the great minister is prajñā. The king's being 「安樂無事」 tr. "at ease and without a care" is because the affairs are all being carried out, not because there are no affairs. The simile of throwing fire to clear away firewood, added afterward, settles this point completely—fire thrown into firewood, the firewood exhausted, the person has no more to do; having nothing more to do is the mark after the work is accomplished, not the attitude at the outset. If a practitioner takes 「快樂無事」 tr. "joyful and without a care" as the manner of his own effort, he has read the simile upside down.

Do not read 「不見故不取，不取故不著」 tr. "because one does not see, one does not grasp; because one does not grasp, one does not cling" as closing one's eyes and not looking. The order in the sūtra text is that the Buddha illuminates with the wisdom-eye and does not see, not that he does not go to illuminate. The thought the treatise-author supplies for Subhūti says it clearly: what the wisdom-eye sees is the mark of emptiness, the signless, non-action, the immeasurable, and the inconceivable, and so he cannot answer that dharmas such as form have a fixed mark to grasp. It is because the illumination is thorough that no fixed mark is seen; it is not that one does not illuminate and says there is nothing. In the same way, Subhūti's two answers, 「不也！世尊！」 tr. "No, World-Honored One!" are not perfunctory responses but real answers given after he has shone the light through in his own seeing; when the Buddha praises, 「善哉」 tr. "Good," it is precisely this illumination he praises.

Do not read 「甚深」 tr. "very deep" as a degree of difficulty that can be grasped. The treatise-author says plainly 「深淺無定」 tr. "deep and shallow are not fixed" and 「無定甚深相」 tr. "it has no fixed mark of being very deep," and says: 「菩薩謂般若甚深，為不行般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "For a bodhisattva to take prajñā to be very deep is not to practise prajñāpāramitā." If the very deep is taken as a fixed mark, the practitioner sets up a threshold before the Dharma and instead does not practise. But one must not fall to the other side either and say that prajñā is not deep—it is constantly said to be very deep because 「除佛無能遍知」 tr. "apart from the Buddha no one can know it fully," and this is a true statement. Depth is spoken of in terms of beings' not yet understanding, not by setting up a mark in the Dharma itself.

Do not read the passage on not asking in a former life as a doctrine of fate. What the sūtra text reproaches item by item is 「不問中事」 tr. "not asking about what was in it," not faculties fixed by heaven. The three items—the five perfections, the emptinesses, and the limbs of the path—are set side by side precisely so that the practitioner may look at himself and see in which gate he fell short; and the sickness of the middle grade is plainer still—「雖解義而不能行」 tr. "though he understood the meaning, he could not practise." The cause of the sickness lies in asking and in practising, and both are things that can be done now. To read it as ‘doubt and regret in this life are fixed by past karma’ is to shut the door that the sūtra text opens for people.

Do not read the knowledge and severance of the worthy and holy being 「即是菩薩摩訶薩無生法忍」 tr. "precisely the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas," and their 「不如是菩薩一日行深般若」 tr. "not equalling this bodhisattva's practising deep prajñā for a single day," as a contradiction between front and back. The treatise-author clamps it with two questions: the earlier question, 「即是無生忍者，何以言不如」 tr. "if they are precisely the acceptance of non-arising, why say that they do not equal it," is answered in compassion and skilful means, in station, and in gate; the later question, how one can say 「二乘智斷即是菩薩無生忍」 tr. "the knowledge and severance of the two vehicles are precisely the bodhisattva's acceptance of non-arising," is answered in the object being the same and suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality being the same. What is the same is the dharma realised; what differs is the keenness or dullness and the compassion and vow of the person who realises it. The sūtra and the treatise do not contradict themselves.

Do not read ‘will fall into one of the two grounds’ as a rebuke. The order the sūtra text gives is: not writing out and not upholding, therefore not guarded by prajñā; not guarded, therefore not practising as it teaches; not practising as it teaches, therefore of the two grounds he will fall into one. Falling is the natural result of not receiving guarding, not a punishment. The treatise-author's announcement at the end of the parable of the broken ship in the following chapter makes this point thoroughly—「若得所依則能渡，不得所依則不能渡」 tr. "one who gets something to hold on to can cross, and one who gets nothing to hold on to cannot cross"; all that is said throughout is whether there is something to hold on to, not that anyone is sending down punishment.

Bearing on Practice

The first use of this chapter for one who applies effort is that it establishes ‘asking’ as an item of practice. The sūtra text sets three items side by side—in a former life hearing the six perfections and not asking, hearing the emptinesses and not asking, hearing the limbs of the path and not asking—and in this life all become doubt and regret, hard to awaken; the treatise-author's three-grade judgement also judges 「不問中義」 tr. "not asking about the meaning in it" to be the lowest grade. In daily life, reading the sūtras and hearing the Dharma, to hear without any doubt arising and without pressing further seems smooth and agreeable, but in fact the Dharma has not come in. Here one can make a ready self-check: about what I heard today, can I ask a question? If I cannot, it is not necessarily because I have already understood; it may only be that I have not yet touched it.

The second use is that the simile of the light feather following the wind can serve as a mirror for a retreating mind. The sūtra text speaks very finely: for one day, two days, up to five days one's mind is firm and nothing can break it, 「若離所聞時便退失」 tr. "but when parted from what one has heard, one falls away"; sometimes one wishes to hear, sometimes one does not. Whoever applies effort and feels himself advancing at times and retreating at times, setting his mind on it when hearing the Dharma and forgetting it as soon as he leaves his seat—this simile shines exactly on that mark. The name of the sickness the treatise-author gives is not laziness; it is 「雖解義而不能行」 tr. "though one understands the meaning, one cannot practise"—and so the cure lies not in hearing more but in putting into practice the portion one has already understood.

The third use is the positive pattern that the simile of the new-born calf gives. The mark of the person of the highest grade the sūtra text lists concretely: does not sink, does not shrink back, finds no difficulty, has no doubt, has no regret, gladly delights in hearing, having heard recollects it, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down never sets it aside or forgets it, constantly follows the teacher of the Dharma. The calf's not leaving its mother is not propped up by any principle; it is a natural closeness. The practitioner can measure himself by this: toward the deep Dharma, am I drawing near by force, or naturally not leaving? And the cause the Buddha gives is very concrete—in a former life writing out, upholding, revering, honouring, praising, making offerings. The sense of intimacy in this life can be accumulated beginning from today's writing out, upholding, and reverence.

The fourth use is that the simile of the great king counters the mind that is ‘tired of hearing it’. To hear the same Dharma over and over and grow weary of it is common among those who apply effort; the treatise-author's diagnosis is quite blunt—「凡人不知，謂為重說」 tr. "ordinary people do not know this and call it repetition." The king heard the report ten times and rejoiced ten times because the matter reported hit squarely on his long-held wish. So the line between weariness and non-weariness lies not in the speaker's repeating, but in whether that matter in the hearer's mind is his own true wish. If it feels repetitive, one might turn back and ask: this matter that prajñā speaks of—is it what I truly want?

The fifth use is that 「初染曰取，生愛曰著」 tr. "the first staining is called grasping; the arising of love is called clinging" can serve as a graduated scale for contemplating the mind. Grasping and clinging are two stages: grasping is at the moment of first staining, clinging after love arises. In daily life, when an object appears, if one waits until one is already clinging before thinking to let go, it already takes effort; this gloss gives an earlier moment—the instant the mind has just been stained. And the root cure the sūtra text gives lies earlier still: 「不見故不取」 tr. "because one does not see, one does not grasp"—first apply effort where one sees, and grasping naturally lessens; putting force only where one grasps, one often presses down the gourd only for the ladle to bob up.

The sixth use is that the simile of the water's force gathering and quickening is a warning against tending toward quiescence. The treatise-author says that persons who practise in faith and the rest 「無方便力，不能於涅槃自反」 tr. "have no power of skilful means and cannot turn themselves back from nirvāṇa," with the simile of the force of the water entering the sea. When one's effort has begun to gain some strength, the pleasure of stillness very easily becomes a new resting place; what this simile reminds is: prepare great compassion and skilful means while one can still turn round, and do not wait until the force has already gathered and quickened. Read the two similes—the great minister not reaching the crown prince, and the first gates of the Small and Great Vehicles—together, and what they urge is the same thing: the direction at the time of first setting the mind decides where one ends more than the measure of achievement along the way.

Further Resonances

The backbone of this chapter is one passage of sūtra and one passage of treatise explanation. Sūtra ① begins from Subhūti's praise of prajñā as arising in five ways for the sake of matters; the Buddha answers that it contains and receives the five perfections and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, and sets out the simile of the consecrated king who entrusts affairs to his great minister; again he gives, as a second meaning, that because it does not grasp and does not cling it can accomplish; Subhūti presses, the Buddha asks counter-questions and Subhūti answers ‘No’; the Buddha praises ‘Good’ and states of himself that because he does not see he does not grasp, because he does not grasp he does not cling, and so on up to the dharmas of the buddhas, the dharmas of the Tathāgata, the dharmas of the one who is so of himself, and the dharmas of the omniscient one, none of which should be grasped or clung to. Next the gods of the desire and form realms praise prajñā as very deep, set up the comparison that the knowledge and severance of the worthy and holy do not equal a bodhisattva's practising deep prajñā for a single day, and make plain that their knowledge and severance are precisely the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; the Buddha confirms it, and adds that those who write out and uphold prajñā surpass those seeking the two vehicles who stay far from prajñā and practise other sūtras; the gods again praise the five names, make plain that prajñā neither increases nor decreases, bow their heads, circle the Buddha, and depart. Next Subhūti asks where those who believe and understand at once come from; the Buddha answers that they come from among humans to be born again among humans, that they come from making offerings to the buddhas in world-systems of other quarters, and that they come from hearing it in the presence of the bodhisattva Maitreya, and sets out the simile of the new-born calf that does not leave its mother; turning, he tells that those who in a former life heard prajñā, heard the five perfections, heard the emptinesses, heard the limbs of the path, and did not ask about what was in them are in this life doubtful and regretful and hard to awaken, and that those who heard but did not practise have minds like a light feather following the wind, falling away after one day up to five, until in the end they do not write out and do not uphold, are not guarded by prajñā, and of the two grounds will fall into one. Treatise ① first answers why the very deep is spoken of again, setting out the simile of the great king whose long wish for a son is fulfilled, who hears the report ten times over and delights in hearing it without end, to make plain that there is benefit in the words and they are not repetition; next it makes plain that deep and shallow are not fixed and that there is no fixed mark of being very deep; next it restates the five kinds of arising and the causes and conditions of containing and receiving told by the Buddha himself, answers how the five perfections, each with a distinct mark, can be said to be contained and received, matches the king and the minister in the simile of the consecrated king, and adds the simile of throwing fire to clear away firewood; next it gives the gloss 「初染曰取，生愛曰著」 tr. "the first staining is called grasping; the arising of love is called clinging," restates the scene of the answer by counter-question in the sūtra text, and glosses the ten knowledges and the two severances; next it answers why, if the knowledge and severance of the worthy and holy are precisely the acceptance of non-arising, it is said that they do not equal it, giving the three similes of the water's force gathering and quickening, the great minister not reaching the crown prince, and the first gates of the Small and Great Vehicles, and again answers how the knowledge and severance of the two vehicles are precisely the acceptance of non-arising, concluding that the object is the same while keenness and dullness, compassion and vow, differ; at the end it gathers up with the highest, middle, and lowest grades of those who practise prajñā, judges that the middle and lower two kinds will fall into the two vehicles, and announces the parable of the ship breaking up in the great sea in the following chapter.

Among the ancient masters' structural divisions of this chapter, one thread may be recorded. Jizang, explaining this chapter in his Commentary on the Larger Sūtra, gives the chapter title as 「成辦品第五十」 tr. "Chapter Fifty, Accomplishing," and at its opening says: 「第二、歎般若成辦因行故以目品。」 tr. "Second: because it praises prajñā as accomplishing the causal practices, the chapter is named by this."—that is, he glosses the chapter name by the meaning of ‘accomplishing’, saying that what this chapter praises is prajñā's power to accomplish the bodhisattva's causal practices. He divides this chapter into two: 「此章二：先、須菩五歎；二、佛述。」 tr. "This section has two parts: first, Subhūti's five praises; second, the Buddha's declaration."—which accords in a single line with this chapter's sūtra text, Subhūti's five praises and the Buddha taking them up to declare and confirm. Jizang also sets a question himself, on the same axis as the question at the opening of Treatise ①: 「問：以五歎，今何更以作五歎？答：般若甚深故重歎無過，如王聞身子，喻聞聞無厭足也。」 tr. "Question: the five praises having already been made, why are the five praises made again now? Answer: because prajñā is very deep, praising it again is no fault; it is like the king hearing of the son of his body—a simile for hearing and hearing again without satiety."—explaining the faultlessness of repeated praise by the joy of hearing without weariness, woven on the same loom as this treatise's simile of the great king who heard the report ten times over and delighted in hearing it without end. Of the two rounds of praise, earlier and later, he says: 「今五歎歎般若能成自行，以重利益故重歎也。」 tr. "The present five praises praise prajñā as able to accomplish one's own practice; because its benefit is weighty, it is praised again." This division by 「成辦」 tr. "accomplishing" corresponds to the variant name 「成辦品」 tr. "Accomplishing" under which one line of the transmitted texts titles this chapter; this exposition records them side by side and does not judge which is correct; the full account of the variant forms of the chapter title and of the two sides among the texts is detailed in the Apparatus.

In the vein of meaning linking this chapter with the chapters before and after it, three lines can be seen. First, the five praises at the opening of this chapter follow from the preceding chapter's praise of the virtues of prajñā, but what is asked turns from ‘what virtues prajñā has’ to ‘for the sake of what prajñā arises’—praising the virtues and asking about the arising are two ways of asking about one matter; the treatise-author's plain statement that the meaning of the great matter and the rest is 「如先說」 tr. "as explained before" shows precisely this continuity. Second, the latter half of this chapter's discussion of whether people can or cannot receive it stands as inside and outside with the meaning, told in the chapters before this one, of writing out, upholding, reading, and reciting and of being guarded by prajñā: the plainer the virtues of prajñā become, the more the fitness or unfitness of those who receive the Dharma must be distinguished; the three-grade judgement interlocking one to one with the three kinds of mark in the sūtra text is precisely the conclusion of this distinction. Third, the meaning left unfinished in this chapter lies in the next chapter: the treatise-author's last sentence announces that the Buddha in the following chapter makes the parable of the ship breaking up in the great sea, to make plain that crossing or not crossing depends on whether there is something to hold on to; the reader may view the preceding and following chapters together, to see the single continuity of the teaching of ‘arising for the sake of the great matter’ and the teaching of ‘one who gets something to hold on to can cross’ (the examination of the chapter's variant names, of the two sides among the transmitted texts, and of later citations is detailed in the Apparatus).