大智度論 譬喻品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Parables
譬喻品：佛以五譬明信忍淨心深心欲解捨精進八法雖具，不為般若方便所護則中道衰耗墮二乘——大海船破取浮囊、坏瓶熟瓶盛水、船未莊治載寶、老病人與兩健人扶腋；論主釋菩薩二種與八法次第，逐一配出五譬所表；佛更說以我我所心行六度之失，為須菩提正說何謂無方便、何謂有方便，論主結以福慧二護（經＋論）
本品開卷沒有請問。前品才說完般若之所成辦，佛便逕自設譬：「譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死屍，須菩提！當知是人不到彼岸，沒海中死。」反過來，若肯取，「當知是人終不沒死，安隱無礙，得到彼岸」。船已經壞了，這是前提，不是意外——海難之中能不能到岸，不看船，看手裡抓不抓得住一件浮物。合到法上時，佛把話說得極重：求佛道的人「若但有信樂，不依深般若波羅蜜，不書、不讀、不誦、不正憶念」，乃至不依一切種智，則「當知是善男子中道衰耗，是人未到一切種智，於聲聞、辟支佛地取證」。信樂不是壞事，信樂是好事；壞就壞在只有信樂。本品全篇的著力點，從第一句起就不在呵斥惡人，而在盯住一個已經走在路上的好人。
這個好人有多好，經文列得清清楚楚：「有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進」——八法俱全。五譬一一設下去，譬譬都設在這八法既具之後。第二譬是坏瓶：「譬如男子、女人持坏瓶取水，當知是瓶不久爛壞」，因為「是瓶未熟故，還歸於地」；第三譬是熟瓶，同樣一隻瓶、同樣一瓶水，「是瓶成熟故」，便持水安隱。第四譬是船：「譬如大海邊船未莊治，便持財物著上」，中道壞沒，「船與財物各在一處；是估客無方便力故，亡其重寶」；佛隨即自訓其喻——「大珍寶者，所謂一切種智。衰耗者，墮聲聞、辟支佛地。」第五譬最切身：「譬如有人年百二十歲，年耆根熟，又有風、冷、熱病、若雜病。」佛問須菩提：「是人能從床起不？」答：「不能。」佛再問：「是人或能起者，云何？」答：「是人雖能起，不能遠行若十里、若二十里，以其老病故。」這是全品僅有的一組往復，佛特意留出來讓須菩提自己說出『能起而不能行』六個字。轉到得側，老人並沒有變年輕，只是「有兩健人各扶一腋」，兩人對他說：「莫有所難，隨所欲至，我等二人終不相捨。」
論主接手，第一句就把數目點出來：「此中佛自說五譬喻」，然後逐一配法。「『船』是行者身。『浮囊等物』即是般若、方便。」——船是要壞的，這身本來就是要壞的，所以問題從來不是修船。「『瓶』是菩薩道。般若、方便是火。」這一句翻轉了讀者的慣想：般若方便不是瓶裡盛的水，是燒瓶的火；未經此火，「不能受持六波羅蜜功德水至無上道」。「『不補治船』，是菩薩無方便」，信等功德是寶物，五波羅蜜等善法是船，船寶異處則「與本願乖異，或受人天樂、或墮二乘」。至於老病人，「『老病人』是有信等功德菩薩。不斷六十二邪見故名老；不斷百八等諸煩惱故名病」——老不是年歲，病不是風冷；而所謂從床起，是「從三界床起，我當作佛」。兩健人呢？「二人者，般若及方便。」論主分它們的職守，分得極利落：「般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中。方便將出畢竟空。」一個把人帶進畢竟空，一個把人帶出畢竟空；扶一腋的所以要兩個人，義在此處。
下半品佛改說名。無方便的相不在行得少，在行得自滿：布施時作是念「我是施主，我施是人，我施是物」，乃至「念有是施、是我施，以是施自高」。而六度本身的相是什麼？「檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相」——尸羅、羼提、毘梨耶、禪、般若都一樣，相皆在遠離此彼岸。以分別心去行一個以遠離分別為相的法，於是「是人不知此岸、不知彼岸」，六度俱行而不為六度所護，或墮聲聞、或墮辟支佛，不能到薩婆若。有方便的人不是多修了什麼，只是不作此念：不念我布施、不念我持戒、不念我修智慧，於是「是菩薩摩訶薩知此岸、知彼岸」，疾得無上菩提。論主一句收之：「而分別著行，是為失。」
品末論主還補了一層次第上的細心。上半品五譬所說的其實已經是無方便之義，只是沒有出名字——「上佛雖說無方便義，不說無方便名；欲令是事明了故，命須菩提：『云何有方便、無方便？』」義先而名後，經文之所以分兩段，論主自己交代了。最後給出全品的結穴：「內無我、我所心，外觀一切法空不取相，般若、方便乃至一切種智守護菩薩故，名有方便。守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力——以二因緣故不失道。」所謂守護，原來不是外頭來的一支援軍，是福與慧兩邊自己生出的力。本品讀到這裡，五個譬喻其實只說一件事：八法是水，般若方便是火；水盛得再滿，瓶沒熟過，還是要還歸於地。
This chapter opens with no question asked. The preceding chapter has just finished speaking of what prajñā accomplishes, and the Buddha goes straight on to set a parable: ‘It is like a ship breaking up in the great sea: if the people in it do not take hold of a plank, do not take hold of a vessel, do not take hold of a float, do not take hold of a corpse—Subhūti! know that these people will not reach the further shore; they sink in the sea and die.’ And the other way round, if they will take hold, ‘know that these people will never sink and die; safe and unhindered, they reach the further shore.’ The ship has already broken up; that is the premise, not an accident—in a shipwreck, whether one reaches the shore does not depend on the ship, but on whether the hand can hold on to one floating thing. When it is matched to the Dharma the Buddha speaks very heavily: a seeker of the path of the Buddha, ‘if he has only faith and delight and does not rely on deep prajñāpāramitā, does not write it out, does not read it, does not recite it, does not rightly recollect it’, and so on up to not relying on the omniscience of all kinds, then ‘know that this good man wastes away midway; this person, not having reached the omniscience of all kinds, takes realisation on the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground.’ Faith and delight are not bad things; faith and delight are good things; the harm is in having only faith and delight. From its first sentence the whole weight of this chapter falls not on rebuking evil people but on keeping its eye fixed on a good person who is already on the road.
How good this good person is the sūtra lists in full: ‘he has faith, has acceptance, has a pure mind, has a deep mind, has wish, has understanding, has relinquishment, has vigour’—all eight dharmas complete. The five parables are set one after another, and every one is set after these eight dharmas are already there. The second parable is the unfired pot: ‘It is like a man or woman who carries water in an unfired pot: know that this pot will soon crumble and break’, because ‘this pot is not yet fired, and so it returns to the earth.’ The third is the fired pot: the same pot, the same potful of water, but ‘because this pot is fully fired’ it carries the water safely. The fourth is the ship: ‘It is like a ship at the edge of the great sea not yet fitted out and repaired, on which one loads goods’; midway it breaks up and sinks, ‘and the ship and the goods are each in a different place; because this merchant has no power of skilful means, he loses his heavy treasure’; and the Buddha at once glosses the simile himself—‘the great precious treasure is the omniscience of all kinds. Wasting away is falling to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground.’ The fifth parable comes closest to home: ‘It is like a person a hundred and twenty years old, aged in years and ripe in faculties, who moreover has illnesses of wind, cold, and heat, or mixed illnesses.’ The Buddha asks Subhūti: ‘Can this person get up from his bed?’ The answer: ‘He cannot.’ The Buddha asks again: ‘Suppose this person could get up—what then?’ The answer: ‘Though this person could get up, he could not travel far, ten leagues or twenty, because of his age and illness.’ This is the only exchange in the chapter, and the Buddha deliberately leaves it open so that Subhūti may say for himself the six Chinese characters rendered here as ‘can get up but cannot travel.’ Turning to the side of attainment, the old man has not grown young; it is only that ‘there are two strong men who each support him under one arm’, and the two say to him: ‘Have no fear of difficulty; go wherever you wish; we two will never leave you.’
The treatise-author takes over, and his first sentence points out the number: ‘Here the Buddha himself speaks five parables’, and then he matches them one by one to the Dharma. ‘The ship is the practitioner's body. The float and the other things are prajñā and skilful means.’ The ship is going to break; this body was always going to break; and so the problem was never how to repair the ship. ‘The pot is the bodhisattva path. Prajñā and skilful means are the fire.’ This sentence overturns the reader's habitual thought: prajñā and skilful means are not the water held in the pot; they are the fire that fires the pot; without passing through this fire, ‘one cannot receive and hold the water of the merits of the six perfections up to the unsurpassed path.’ ‘Not fitting out and repairing the ship is the bodhisattva without skilful means’; faith and the other merits are the treasure, the five perfections and the other wholesome dharmas are the ship, and when ship and treasure end up in different places, ‘it goes against the original vow, and one either receives the pleasures of humans and gods or falls into the two vehicles.’ As for the old sick man, ‘the old sick man is the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits. Because he has not cut off the sixty-two wrong views he is called old; because he has not cut off the hundred and eight and the other afflictions he is called sick’—old is not years, sick is not wind and cold; and getting up from the bed is ‘to get up from the bed of the three realms: I shall become a Buddha.’ And the two strong men? ‘The two persons are prajñā and skilful means.’ The treatise-author divides their duties, and divides them with great sharpness: ‘prajñāpāramitā can extinguish all wrong views, afflictions, and idle discourse, and bring one into ultimate emptiness. Skilful means brings one out of ultimate emptiness.’ One brings a person into ultimate emptiness, the other brings him out of it; that it takes two men, one under each arm, has its meaning here.
In the second half of the chapter the Buddha turns to speaking of the name. The mark of being without skilful means lies not in practising little but in practising with self-satisfaction: in giving one thinks, ‘I am the giver, I give to this person, I give this thing’, and so on to ‘thinking that there is this giving, that this is my giving, and by this giving exalting oneself.’ And what is the mark of the six perfections themselves? ‘In dānapāramitā there is no such discrimination; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā’—śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā are all alike, their mark lying in being far from this shore and the further shore. To practise, with a discriminating mind, a dharma whose mark is to be far from discrimination—thus ‘this person does not know this shore and does not know the further shore’; he practises all six perfections and is not guarded by the six perfections, falls to the śrāvaka or to the pratyekabuddha, and cannot reach sarvajñā. The person with skilful means has not practised anything more; he simply does not have this thought: he does not think ‘I give’, does not think ‘I keep the precepts’, does not think ‘I cultivate wisdom’, and so ‘this bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows this shore and knows the further shore’ and swiftly attains unsurpassed awakening. The treatise-author gathers it in one sentence: ‘but to practise with discrimination and clinging is the loss.’
At the end of the chapter the treatise-author adds one more layer of care about sequence. What the five parables of the first half say is in fact already the meaning of being without skilful means, only without giving it the name—‘above, the Buddha, though he spoke the meaning of being without skilful means, did not speak the name of being without skilful means; wishing to make this matter clear, he commanded Subhūti: what is having skilful means, and what is being without skilful means?’ Meaning first and name after—the treatise-author himself accounts for why the sūtra is divided in two passages. Last he gives the chapter's knot: ‘Within, having no mind of I and mine; without, contemplating all dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks; because prajñā and skilful means and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds guard the bodhisattva, this is called having skilful means. As for guarding: on the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom—by these two causes and conditions one does not lose the path.’ What is called guarding, then, is not a relief force arriving from outside; it is the strength that merit and wisdom, on their two sides, generate of themselves. Read to this point, the five parables really say only one thing: the eight dharmas are water, prajñā and skilful means are fire; however full the water is poured, if the pot has never been fired, it still returns to the earth.
卷71 〔T25 0555b10〕
大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一 【經】 佛告須菩提：「譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死屍，須菩提！當知是人不到彼岸，沒海中死。須菩提！若船破時，其中人取木、取器物、浮囊、死屍者，當知是人終不沒死，安隱無礙，得到彼岸。須菩提！求佛道善男子、善女人亦復如是，若但有信樂，不依深般若波羅蜜，不書、不讀、不誦、不正憶念；不依禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜，不書、不讀、不誦、不正憶念；乃至不依一切種智，不書、不讀、不誦、不正憶念。須菩提！當知是善男子中道衰耗，是人未到一切種智，於聲聞、辟支佛地取證。須菩提！若有求佛道善男子、善女人為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提故，有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進，是人依深般若波羅蜜，書、持、讀、誦、說、正憶念；是善男子、善女人為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提故，有諸信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，為深般若波羅蜜所護乃至一切種智所護故，終不〔T25 0555c〕中道衰耗，過聲聞、辟支佛地，能淨佛世界、成就眾生，當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。 「須菩提！譬如男子、女人持坏瓶取水，當知是瓶不久爛壞。何以故？是瓶未熟故，還歸於地。如是，須菩提！善男子、善女人雖有為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進，不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，不為禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜所守護，不為內空乃至無法有法空、四念處乃至八聖道分、佛十力乃至一切種智所守護。須菩提！當知是人中道衰耗，墮聲聞、辟支佛地。 「須菩提！譬如男子女人持熟瓶取水，若河、若井、若池、若泉，當知是瓶持水安隱。何以故？是瓶成熟故。如是，須菩提！善男子、善女人求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，有諸信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護，為禪定、精進、忍、戒、施乃至一切種智所護故。須菩提！當知是人不中道衰耗，過聲聞、辟支佛地，能淨世界、成就眾生，得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 「須菩提！譬如大海邊船未莊治，便持財物著上，須菩提！當知是船中道壞沒，船與財物各在一處；是估客無方便力故，亡其重寶。如是，須菩提！是求佛道善男子、善女人雖有為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，乃至不為一切種智所守護故，當知是人中道衰耗，失大珍寶。大珍寶者，所謂一切種智。衰耗者，墮聲聞、辟支佛地。須菩提！譬如〔T25 0556a〕人有智方便莊治海邊大船，然後推著水中，持財物著上而去，當知是船不中道沒壞，必得安隱到所至處。如是，須菩提！善男子、善女人為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護，為禪、精進、忍、持戒、施乃至一切種智所護故，當知是菩薩得到阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，不中道墮聲聞、辟支佛地。 「須菩提！譬如有人年百二十歲，年耆根熟，又有風、冷、熱病、若雜病。須菩提！於汝意云何？是人能從床起不？」 須菩提言：「不能。」 佛言：「是人或能起者，云何？」 須菩提言：「是人雖能起，不能遠行若十里、若二十里，以其老病故。」 「如是，須菩提！善男子、善女人雖有為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，乃至不為一切種智所守護故，當知是人中道墮聲聞、辟支佛地。何以故？不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護故。須菩提！如向老人百二十歲，年耆根熟，又有風、冷、熱病、若雜病，是人欲起行，有兩健人各扶一腋，語老人言：『莫有所難，隨所欲至，我等二人終不相捨。』如是，須菩提！若善男子、善女人為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護，乃至為一切種智所護，當知是人不中道墮聲聞、辟支佛地，能到是處，所謂阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 【論】 釋曰： 菩薩有二種：一者、得諸法實相；二者、雖未得實相，於佛道中有信、有忍、有〔T25 0556b〕淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進。 「信」者，信罪福業因緣果報，信行六波羅蜜得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。有人雖信佛道，思惟、籌量，心不能忍，是故說「有忍」。有人雖忍，邪疑未斷故心濁不淨，是故說「有淨」。有人雖信、忍、心淨，而有淺、有深，是故說「深心」。四事因緣故，一心欲得無上道，不欲餘事，是故說「有欲」。了了決定知無上道為大、世間餘事為小，是故說「有解」。以欲、解定心故，捨財及捨諸惡心、慳、恚等煩惱，是故說「捨」。為捨故常能「精進」。有如是等諸功德。 若不得般若波羅蜜，若身壞命終時，若惡知識沮壞，則失菩薩道；世間功德故受世間果報，然後墮聲聞、辟支佛地，不能至無上道。 此中佛自說五譬喻： 「船」是行者身。「浮囊等物」即是般若、方便。 「瓶」是菩薩道。般若、方便是火。未與般若、方便和合故，不能受持六波羅蜜功德水至無上道。 「不補治船」，是菩薩無方便。信等功德寶物，是五波羅蜜等諸善法船。寶異處者，與本願乖異，或受人天樂、或墮二乘。大利者，所謂一切智等佛法寶。 「老病人」是有信等功德菩薩。不斷六十二邪見故名老；不斷百八等諸煩惱故名病。從床起者，從三界床起，我當作佛。以邪見煩惱因緣故不能成菩薩道。二人者，般若及方便。般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中。方便將出畢竟空。 【經】 爾時，佛語須菩提言：「善哉！善哉！須菩提！汝為諸菩薩摩訶薩問佛是事。須菩提！若有〔T25 0556c〕求佛道善男子、善女人，從初發意已來，以我我所心布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧；是善男子、善女人布施時作是念：『我是施主，我施是人，我施是物。我持戒，我修忍，我精進，我入禪，我修智慧。』是善男子、善女人念『有是施，是我施』，乃至念『有是慧，是我慧』。何以故？檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相；尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜，般若波羅蜜中無如是分別。何以故？遠離此彼岸是般若波羅蜜相。是人不知此岸、不知彼岸，是人不為檀波羅蜜乃至不為一切種智所護故，墮聲聞、辟支佛地，不能到薩婆若。 「須菩提！云何求佛道人無方便？須菩提！求佛道人從初發心已來無方便行布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、修智慧。是人作如是念：『我布施，施是人，以是物施；我持戒、修忍辱、勤精進、入禪定，修智慧、如是修智慧。』是人念有是施、是我施，以是施自高；念有是戒、是我戒，以是戒自高；念有是忍、是我忍，以是忍自高；念有是精進、是我精進，以是精進自高；念有是禪定、是我禪定，以是禪定自高；念有是慧、是我慧，以是慧自高。何以故？檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是尸羅波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是羼提波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是毘梨耶波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是禪波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是般若波羅蜜相。何以故？般若波羅蜜中無如是憶念分別。是求佛道善男子、善女人不知此岸、不知彼岸，是人不為檀波羅蜜所護，〔T25 0557a〕不為尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜所護故，乃至不為一切種智所護故，或墮聲聞道中、或墮辟支佛道中，不能得到薩婆若。如是，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護故，或墮聲聞地、或墮辟支佛道中。」 「須菩提！云何菩薩摩訶薩為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護故，不墮聲聞、辟支佛道中，疾得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提？須菩提！菩薩從初已來，以方便力布施，無我、我所心布施，乃至無我、我所心修智慧；是人不作是念：『我有是施，是我施。』不以是施自高；乃至般若波羅蜜亦如是。是菩薩不念『我布施』，不念『我施是人，用是物施』；不念『我持戒，有是戒』；不念『我忍辱，有是忍辱』；不念『我精進，有是精進』；不念『我禪定，有是禪定』；不念『我修智慧，有是智慧。』何以故？是檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是尸羅波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是羼提波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是毘梨耶波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是禪波羅蜜相；遠離此彼岸是般若波羅蜜相。何以故？是般若波羅蜜中無如是憶想分別。是菩薩摩訶薩知此岸、知彼岸，是人為檀波羅蜜所護、為尸羅波羅蜜所護、為羼提波羅蜜所護、為毘梨耶波羅蜜所護、為禪波羅蜜所護、為般若波羅蜜所護，乃至為一切種智所護故，不墮聲聞、辟支佛地，得到薩婆若。如是，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護故，不墮聲聞、辟支佛地，疾得阿耨〔T25 0557b〕多羅三藐三菩提。」 【論】 釋曰： 爾時，佛可須菩提意，更說失行因緣：「菩薩雖行信等善法，亦不得無上道，所謂以我、我所心行六波羅蜜故。」是中無分別此岸、彼岸，以遠離相是般若波羅蜜；而分別著行，是為失。 上佛雖說無方便義，不說無方便名；欲令是事明了故，命須菩提：「云何有方便、無方便？」 內無我、我所心，外觀一切法空不取相，般若、方便乃至一切種智守護菩薩故，名有方便。守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力——以二因緣故不失道。
《大智度論》卷71 · T25n1509 0555b10–0557b13
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〈譬喻品〉第五十一，聖者龍樹所造，後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什所譯，在卷七十一。
經①：五譬明八法有護無護——大海船破取浮囊、坏瓶熟瓶、船未莊治、老病人與兩健人
佛告訴須菩提：『譬如大海之中船隻破壞了，船上的人如果不取木頭、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死屍，須菩提！當知這人到不了彼岸，要沉沒在海裡而死。須菩提！若是船破的時候，船上的人取了木頭、取了器物、取了浮囊、取了死屍，當知這人終究不會沉沒而死，安穩無礙，得以到達彼岸。須菩提！求佛道的善男子、善女人也是這樣：若只是有信樂之心，卻不依止深般若波羅蜜，不書寫、不讀、不誦、不正憶念；不依止禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜，不書寫、不讀、不誦、不正憶念；乃至不依止一切種智，不書寫、不讀、不誦、不正憶念。須菩提！當知這位善男子在中途衰耗，這人到不了一切種智，卻在聲聞地、辟支佛地上取證。須菩提！若有求佛道的善男子、善女人，為了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提的緣故，有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進，這人依止深般若波羅蜜，書寫、受持、讀、誦、解說、正憶念；這位善男子、善女人為了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提的緣故，有種種信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，被深般若波羅蜜所護持、乃至被一切種智所護持的緣故，終究不會中途衰耗，越過聲聞地、辟支佛地，能清淨佛世界、成就眾生，當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
須菩提！譬如男子、女人拿著未燒熟的瓶去取水，當知這瓶不久就要爛壞。為什麼呢？因為這瓶未曾燒熟的緣故，終究還歸於泥土。像這樣，須菩提！善男子、善女人雖然有為了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提而發的心，有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進，卻不被般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，不被禪波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀波羅蜜所守護，不被內空乃至無法有法空、四念處乃至八聖道分、佛十力乃至一切種智所守護。須菩提！當知這人中途衰耗，墮在聲聞地、辟支佛地。
須菩提！譬如男子女人拿著燒熟的瓶去取水，或於河、或於井、或於池、或於泉，當知這瓶盛水安穩。為什麼呢？因為這瓶已經燒成熟了的緣故。像這樣，須菩提！善男子、善女人求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，有種種信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，被般若波羅蜜、方便力所護持，被禪定、精進、忍、戒、施乃至一切種智所護持的緣故。須菩提！當知這人不中途衰耗，越過聲聞地、辟支佛地，能清淨世界、成就眾生，得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
須菩提！譬如大海邊的船還沒有整治莊嚴，便把財物裝載到船上，須菩提！當知這船要在中途壞沒，船與財物各自落在一處；這是商人沒有方便力的緣故，喪失了他的貴重珍寶。像這樣，須菩提！這求佛道的善男子、善女人雖然有為了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提而發的心，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，卻不被般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，乃至不被一切種智所守護的緣故，當知這人中途衰耗，喪失大珍寶。所謂大珍寶，就是一切種智。所謂衰耗，就是墮在聲聞地、辟支佛地。須菩提！譬如有人以智慧方便整治莊嚴海邊的大船，然後推入水中，把財物裝載其上而去，當知這船不會在中途沉沒壞敗，必定安穩到達所要去的地方。像這樣，須菩提！善男子、善女人為了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，被般若波羅蜜、方便力所護持，被禪、精進、忍、持戒、施乃至一切種智所護持的緣故，當知這位菩薩得到阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，不會在中途墮於聲聞地、辟支佛地。
須菩提！譬如有人年紀一百二十歲，年老而諸根已熟，又患有風病、冷病、熱病、或種種雜病。須菩提！在你的意思如何？這人能從床上起身嗎？』
須菩提說：『不能。』
佛說：『這人若是也能起身，那又如何呢？』
須菩提說：『這人雖然能起身，卻不能遠行到十里、二十里，因為他年老多病的緣故。』
佛說：『像這樣，須菩提！善男子、善女人雖然有為了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提而發的心，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，卻不被般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，乃至不被一切種智所守護的緣故，當知這人中途墮於聲聞地、辟支佛地。為什麼呢？因為不被般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護的緣故。須菩提！就像前面所說那位一百二十歲的老人，年老而諸根已熟，又患有風病、冷病、熱病、或種種雜病，這人想要起身行走，有兩位健壯的人各扶著他一邊腋下，對老人說：不要有什麼為難，隨你想去哪裡，我們兩人終究不會捨棄你。像這樣，須菩提！若善男子、善女人為了阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，被般若波羅蜜、方便力所護持，乃至被一切種智所護持，當知這人不會在中途墮於聲聞地、辟支佛地，能到達這個地方，就是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。』
論①：菩薩有二種與信等八法之次第釋，佛自說五譬喻逐一配法
論主解釋說：
菩薩有兩種：一種，是已經證得諸法實相的；二種，是雖然還沒有證得實相，而在佛道之中有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進的。
所謂「信」，是信罪福業的因緣果報，信奉行六波羅蜜能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。有人雖然信受佛道，一經思惟、籌量，心裡卻承當不住，所以說「有忍」。有人雖然能忍，但邪疑未斷的緣故，心還混濁不淨，所以說「有淨」。有人雖然信、忍、心也清淨了，可是其中有淺、有深，所以說「深心」。由這四事的因緣，一心想要得無上道，不想要其餘的事，所以說「有欲」。明明白白決定了知無上道為大、世間其餘的事為小，所以說「有解」。因為有欲、有解而心得決定的緣故，捨得出財物，也捨得下種種惡心、慳吝、瞋恚等煩惱，所以說「捨」。為了能捨的緣故，常能「精進」。有像這樣種種的功德。
若是不能得般若波羅蜜，那麼或者在身壞命終的時候，或者被惡知識所沮壞，就失掉了菩薩道；由於所修的是世間功德的緣故，受世間的果報，然後墮在聲聞地、辟支佛地，不能至於無上道。
此中佛自己說了五個譬喻：
「船」是行者的身。「浮囊等物」就是般若、方便。
「瓶」是菩薩道。般若、方便是火。因為還沒有與般若、方便和合的緣故，不能受持六波羅蜜的功德之水而到無上道。
所謂「不補治船」，是菩薩沒有方便。信等種種功德的寶物，是五波羅蜜等諸善法之船。寶物落在別處，是與本願乖違相異，或者受人天之樂、或者墮於二乘。所謂大利，就是一切智等佛法之寶。
「老病人」是有信等功德的菩薩。不斷六十二種邪見的緣故名為老；不斷一百零八等種種煩惱的緣故名為病。所謂從床上起身，是從三界之床起身，發願我當作佛。因為邪見煩惱的因緣，所以不能成就菩薩道。所謂兩人，是般若和方便。般若波羅蜜能滅除種種邪見、煩惱、戲論，將人帶到畢竟空中。方便則將人帶出畢竟空。
經②：以我我所心行六度不知此彼岸，何謂無方便、何謂有方便
那時，佛對須菩提說：『很好！很好！須菩提！你能為諸位菩薩摩訶薩向佛請問這件事。須菩提！若有求佛道的善男子、善女人，從最初發意以來，是以我、我所之心布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、修智慧；這位善男子、善女人布施的時候起這樣的念頭：我是施主，我布施給這個人，我布施的是這樣的財物。我持戒，我修忍，我精進，我入禪，我修智慧。這位善男子、善女人心裡念著有這樣的布施、這是我的布施，乃至念著有這樣的智慧、這是我的智慧。為什麼呢？因為檀波羅蜜之中沒有這樣的分別，遠離此岸彼岸纔是檀波羅蜜之相；尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜也是如此，般若波羅蜜之中沒有這樣的分別。為什麼呢？因為遠離此岸彼岸纔是般若波羅蜜之相。這人不知此岸、不知彼岸，這人不被檀波羅蜜乃至不被一切種智所護持的緣故，墮在聲聞地、辟支佛地，不能到達薩婆若。
須菩提！什麼叫作求佛道的人沒有方便呢？須菩提！求佛道的人從最初發心以來，沒有方便地行布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、修智慧。這人起這樣的念頭：我布施，布施給這個人，用這樣的財物布施；我持戒、我修忍辱、我勤精進、我入禪定，我修智慧、我這樣地修智慧。這人念著有這樣的布施、這是我的布施，便以這布施而自高；念著有這樣的戒、這是我的戒，便以這戒而自高；念著有這樣的忍、這是我的忍，便以這忍而自高；念著有這樣的精進、這是我的精進，便以這精進而自高；念著有這樣的禪定、這是我的禪定，便以這禪定而自高；念著有這樣的慧、這是我的慧，便以這慧而自高。為什麼呢？因為檀波羅蜜之中沒有這樣的分別，遠離此岸彼岸纔是檀波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是尸羅波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是羼提波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是毘梨耶波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是禪波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是般若波羅蜜之相。為什麼呢？因為般若波羅蜜之中沒有這樣的憶念分別。這位求佛道的善男子、善女人不知此岸、不知彼岸，這人不被檀波羅蜜所護持，不被尸羅波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜所護持的緣故，乃至不被一切種智所護持的緣故，或者墮在聲聞道中、或者墮在辟支佛道中，不能得到薩婆若。像這樣，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩因為不被般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護的緣故，或者墮於聲聞地、或者墮在辟支佛道中。
須菩提！什麼叫作菩薩摩訶薩被般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護的緣故，不墮在聲聞道、辟支佛道之中，迅速得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提呢？須菩提！菩薩從最初以來，以方便力布施，用沒有我、我所之心布施，乃至用沒有我、我所之心修智慧；這人不起這樣的念頭：我有這樣的布施，這是我的布施。不因這布施而自高；乃至般若波羅蜜也是這樣。這位菩薩不念著我布施，不念著我布施給這個人、用這樣的財物布施；不念著我持戒、有這樣的戒；不念著我忍辱、有這樣的忍辱；不念著我精進、有這樣的精進；不念著我禪定、有這樣的禪定；不念著我修智慧、有這樣的智慧。為什麼呢？因為這檀波羅蜜之中沒有這樣的分別，遠離此岸彼岸纔是檀波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是尸羅波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是羼提波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是毘梨耶波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是禪波羅蜜之相；遠離此岸彼岸纔是般若波羅蜜之相。為什麼呢？因為這般若波羅蜜之中沒有這樣的憶想分別。這位菩薩摩訶薩知此岸、知彼岸，這人被檀波羅蜜所護持、被尸羅波羅蜜所護持、被羼提波羅蜜所護持、被毘梨耶波羅蜜所護持、被禪波羅蜜所護持、被般若波羅蜜所護持，乃至被一切種智所護持的緣故，不墮於聲聞地、辟支佛地，得以到達薩婆若。像這樣，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩因為被般若波羅蜜、方便力所護持的緣故，不墮於聲聞地、辟支佛地，迅速得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。』
論②：佛更說失行因緣，命須菩提問方便之名，末結福慧二護
論主解釋說：
那時，佛印可須菩提的心意，更進一步說出失掉行法的因緣：菩薩雖然行信等種種善法，也還是得不到無上道，就是因為以我、我所之心行六波羅蜜的緣故。這其中本不分別此岸、彼岸，以遠離為相的纔是般若波羅蜜；而他分別執著地行，這就是所以失掉。
上面佛雖然說了無方便的義，卻沒有說出無方便的名；為了要使這件事明白了然的緣故，便囑命須菩提發問：什麼是有方便、什麼是無方便？
內裡沒有我、我所之心，外面觀一切法空而不取相，般若、方便乃至一切種智守護著菩薩的緣故，名為有方便。所謂守護，是從五波羅蜜那一邊得功德之力，從般若波羅蜜這一邊得智慧之力——由這兩重因緣的緣故，不失掉佛道。
This chapter is titled the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa's commentary on the fifty-first chapter, "Parables", 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 seventy-first fascicle.
Sūtra ①: Five Parables Showing the Eight Dharmas Guarded and Unguarded—Taking Hold of a Float When the Ship Breaks Up in the Great Sea, the Unfired Pot and the Fired Pot, the Ship Not Yet Fitted Out and Repaired, the Old Sick Man and the Two Strong Men
The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘It is like a ship breaking up in the great sea: if the people in the ship do not take hold of a plank, do not take hold of a vessel, do not take hold of a float, do not take hold of a corpse—Subhūti! know that these people will not reach the further shore; they sink in the sea and die. Subhūti! If, when the ship breaks up, the people in the ship take hold of a plank, take hold of a vessel, take hold of a float, take hold of a corpse, know that these people will never sink and die; safe and unhindered, they reach the further shore. Subhūti! The good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha are also like this: if they have only a mind of faith and delight, yet do not rely on deep prajñāpāramitā, do not write it out, do not read it, do not recite it, do not rightly recollect it; do not rely on dhyānapāramitā, vīryapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, śīlapāramitā, and dānapāramitā, do not write them out, do not read them, do not recite them, do not rightly recollect them; and so on up to not relying on the omniscience of all kinds, not writing it out, not reading it, not reciting it, not rightly recollecting it—Subhūti! know that this good man wastes away midway; this person does not reach the omniscience of all kinds, but takes realisation on the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground. Subhūti! If there are good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha and who, for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have faith, have acceptance, have a pure mind, have a deep mind, have wish, have understanding, have relinquishment, have vigour, these people rely on deep prajñāpāramitā, write it out, receive and uphold it, read it, recite it, explain it, and rightly recollect it; because these good men and good women, for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have all kinds of faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, and are protected by deep prajñāpāramitā and so on up to protected by the omniscience of all kinds, they will never waste away midway; they pass beyond the śrāvaka ground and the pratyekabuddha ground, can purify buddha-worlds and bring beings to maturity, and will attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.
‘Subhūti! It is like a man or woman who carries an unfired pot to take up water: know that this pot will soon crumble and break. Why? Because this pot has not yet been fired, it returns in the end to the earth. Just so, Subhūti! Though good men and good women have the mind aroused for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have faith, have acceptance, have a pure mind, have a deep mind, have wish, have understanding, have relinquishment, have vigour, yet they are not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means; are not guarded by dhyānapāramitā, vīryapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, śīlapāramitā, and dānapāramitā; are not guarded by inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, by the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, by the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds. Subhūti! Know that these people waste away midway and fall to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground.
‘Subhūti! It is like a man or woman who carries a fired pot to take up water, whether from a river, or from a well, or from a pond, or from a spring: know that this pot holds the water safely. Why? Because this pot has already been fully fired. Just so, Subhūti! Good men and good women seek anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have all kinds of faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, and are protected by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, and protected by meditation, vigour, patience, morality, giving, and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds. Subhūti! Know that these people do not waste away midway; they pass beyond the śrāvaka ground and the pratyekabuddha ground, can purify worlds and bring beings to maturity, and attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.
‘Subhūti! It is like a ship at the edge of the great sea not yet fitted out and repaired, on which one loads goods: Subhūti! know that this ship will break up and sink midway, and the ship and the goods will each be in a different place; because this merchant has no power of skilful means, he loses his heavy treasure. Just so, Subhūti! Though these good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha have the mind aroused for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, yet because they are not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, and so on up to not guarded by the omniscience of all kinds, know that these people waste away midway and lose the great precious treasure. The great precious treasure is the omniscience of all kinds. Wasting away is falling to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground. Subhūti! It is like a person who, with wisdom and skilful means, fits out and repairs a great ship at the edge of the sea, then pushes it into the water and loads goods on it and sets off: know that this ship will not sink and break up midway, and will surely reach safely the place it is bound for. Just so, Subhūti! Good men and good women, for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, and because they are protected by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, and protected by meditation, vigour, patience, keeping the precepts, giving, and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, know that this bodhisattva attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi and will not fall midway to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground.
‘Subhūti! It is like a person a hundred and twenty years old, aged in years and ripe in faculties, who moreover has illnesses of wind, cold, and heat, or all kinds of mixed illnesses. Subhūti! What do you think? Can this person get up from his bed?’
Subhūti said: ‘He cannot.’
The Buddha said: ‘Suppose this person could also get up—what then?’
Subhūti said: ‘Though this person could get up, he could not travel far, ten leagues or twenty, because he is old and has many illnesses.’
The Buddha said: ‘Just so, Subhūti! Though good men and good women have the mind aroused for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, yet because they are not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, and so on up to not guarded by the omniscience of all kinds, know that these people fall midway to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground. Why? Because they are not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means. Subhūti! It is like the old man of a hundred and twenty spoken of before, aged in years and ripe in faculties, who moreover has illnesses of wind, cold, and heat, or all kinds of mixed illnesses: this person wishes to get up and walk, and there are two strong men who each support him under one arm and say to the old man: Have no fear of difficulty; go wherever you wish; we two will never leave you. Just so, Subhūti! If good men and good women, for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, have faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, and are protected by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, and so on up to protected by the omniscience of all kinds, know that these people will not fall midway to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground, and can reach this place—namely, anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.’
Treatise ①: The Two Kinds of Bodhisattva and the Explanation, in Order, of the Eight Dharmas Beginning with Faith; the Five Parables the Buddha Himself Speaks, Matched One by One to the Dharma
The treatise-author explains:
There are two kinds of bodhisattva: the first kind are those who have already realised the real mark of all dharmas; the second kind are those who, though they have not yet realised the real mark, have, within the path of the Buddha, faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour.
What is called 「信」 tr. "faith" is believing in the causes and conditions of deeds of sin and merit and their fruits of retribution, and believing that by practising the six perfections one can attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Some people, though they believe in and receive the path of the Buddha, cannot bear it in their minds once they consider and reckon it; therefore it says 「有忍」 tr. "has acceptance". Some people, though they can accept, are still turbid and impure in mind because wrong doubt has not been cut off; therefore it says 「有淨」 tr. "has purity". Some people, though they have faith and acceptance and their minds are also pure, are shallow in some things and deep in others; therefore it says 「深心」 tr. "a deep mind". Through the causes and conditions of these four things, they wish single-mindedly to attain the unsurpassed path and wish for nothing else; therefore it says 「有欲」 tr. "has wish". Clearly and decisively they know that the unsurpassed path is great and the other matters of the world are small; therefore it says 「有解」 tr. "has understanding". Because they have wish and understanding and their minds are settled, they can give away wealth and can also let go of all kinds of evil minds—stinginess, ill will, and the other afflictions; therefore it says 「捨」 tr. "relinquishment". Because they can relinquish, they are constantly able to practise 「精進」 tr. "vigour". They have all kinds of merits such as these.
If they cannot attain prajñāpāramitā, then either at the time when the body breaks up and life ends, or when thwarted and ruined by an evil friend, they lose the bodhisattva path; because what they cultivated were worldly merits, they receive worldly fruits of retribution, and then fall to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground and cannot reach the unsurpassed path.
Here the Buddha himself speaks five parables:
「船」 tr. "The ship" is the practitioner's body. 「浮囊等物」 tr. "The float and the other things" are prajñā and skilful means.
「瓶」 tr. "The pot" is the bodhisattva path. Prajñā and skilful means are the fire. Because it has not yet come together with prajñā and skilful means, it cannot receive and hold the water of the merits of the six perfections up to the unsurpassed path.
What is called 「不補治船」 tr. "not fitting out and repairing the ship" is the bodhisattva without skilful means. The treasures of faith and the other merits of all kinds are the ship of the five perfections and the other wholesome dharmas. The treasure ending up in another place is going against the original vow, and either receiving the pleasures of humans and gods or falling into the two vehicles. The great benefit is the treasure of the dharmas of the Buddha, such as omniscience.
「老病人」 tr. "The old sick man" is the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits. Because he has not cut off the sixty-two wrong views he is called old; because he has not cut off the hundred and eight and the other afflictions of all kinds he is called sick. Getting up from the bed is getting up from the bed of the three realms and making the vow: I shall become a Buddha. Because of the causes and conditions of wrong views and afflictions, he cannot accomplish the bodhisattva path. The two persons are prajñā and skilful means. Prajñāpāramitā can extinguish all wrong views, afflictions, and idle discourse, and bring one into ultimate emptiness. Skilful means brings one out of ultimate emptiness.
Sūtra ②: Practising the Six Perfections with a Mind of I and Mine and Not Knowing This Shore and the Further Shore; What Is Being without Skilful Means and What Is Having Skilful Means
At that time the Buddha said to Subhūti: ‘Good, good! Subhūti! You are able to ask the Buddha about this matter for the sake of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. Subhūti! If there are good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha and who, from their first arousing of intent onward, give, keep the precepts, are patient, are vigorous, meditate, and cultivate wisdom with a mind of I and mine; when these good men and good women give, they have this thought: I am the giver, I give to this person, I give this thing. I keep the precepts, I cultivate patience, I am vigorous, I enter meditation, I cultivate wisdom. These good men and good women think in their minds that there is this giving, that this is my giving, and so on up to thinking that there is this wisdom, that this is my wisdom. Why? Because in dānapāramitā there is no such discrimination; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā; śīlapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, vīryapāramitā, and dhyānapāramitā are likewise, and in prajñāpāramitā there is no such discrimination. Why? Because being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of prajñāpāramitā. This person does not know this shore and does not know the further shore; because this person is not protected by dānapāramitā and so on up to not protected by the omniscience of all kinds, he falls to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground and cannot reach sarvajñā.
‘Subhūti! What is meant by a person who seeks the path of the Buddha being without skilful means? Subhūti! A person who seeks the path of the Buddha, from his first arousing of the mind onward, gives, keeps the precepts, is patient, is vigorous, meditates, and cultivates wisdom without skilful means. This person has this thought: I give, I give to this person, I give with this thing; I keep the precepts, I cultivate patience, I strive with vigour, I enter meditation, I cultivate wisdom, I cultivate wisdom in this way. This person thinks that there is this giving, that this is my giving, and by this giving exalts himself; thinks that there are these precepts, that these are my precepts, and by these precepts exalts himself; thinks that there is this patience, that this is my patience, and by this patience exalts himself; thinks that there is this vigour, that this is my vigour, and by this vigour exalts himself; thinks that there is this meditation, that this is my meditation, and by this meditation exalts himself; thinks that there is this wisdom, that this is my wisdom, and by this wisdom exalts himself. Why? Because in dānapāramitā there is no such discrimination; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of śīlapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of kṣāntipāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of vīryapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dhyānapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of prajñāpāramitā. Why? Because in prajñāpāramitā there is no such recollection and discrimination. These good men and good women who seek the path of the Buddha do not know this shore and do not know the further shore; because this person is not protected by dānapāramitā, is not protected by śīlapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, vīryapāramitā, dhyānapāramitā, and prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to because he is not protected by the omniscience of all kinds, he either falls into the path of the śrāvakas or falls into the path of the pratyekabuddhas, and cannot attain sarvajñā. Just so, Subhūti! Because the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, he either falls to the śrāvaka ground or falls into the path of the pratyekabuddhas.
‘Subhūti! What is meant by the bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, because he is guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, does not fall into the path of the śrāvakas or the path of the pratyekabuddhas, and swiftly attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi? Subhūti! The bodhisattva, from the very first onward, gives with the power of skilful means, gives with a mind that has no I and mine, and so on up to cultivating wisdom with a mind that has no I and mine; this person does not have this thought: I have this giving, this is my giving. He does not exalt himself by this giving; and so on up to prajñāpāramitā, which is likewise. This bodhisattva does not think: I give; does not think: I give to this person, I give with this thing; does not think: I keep the precepts, I have these precepts; does not think: I am patient, I have this patience; does not think: I am vigorous, I have this vigour; does not think: I meditate, I have this meditation; does not think: I cultivate wisdom, I have this wisdom. Why? Because in this dānapāramitā there is no such discrimination; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of śīlapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of kṣāntipāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of vīryapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dhyānapāramitā; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of prajñāpāramitā. Why? Because in this prajñāpāramitā there is no such recollection, imagining, and discrimination. This bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows this shore and knows the further shore; because this person is protected by dānapāramitā, protected by śīlapāramitā, protected by kṣāntipāramitā, protected by vīryapāramitā, protected by dhyānapāramitā, protected by prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to protected by the omniscience of all kinds, he does not fall to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground, and is able to reach sarvajñā. Just so, Subhūti! Because the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is protected by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, he does not fall to the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground, and swiftly attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.’
Treatise ②: The Buddha Further Speaks the Causes and Conditions of Losing the Practice, Commands Subhūti to Ask the Name of Skilful Means, and at the End Concludes with the Two Guardings of Merit and Wisdom
The treatise-author explains:
At that time the Buddha approved Subhūti's intent and went further, speaking the causes and conditions of losing the practice: though the bodhisattva practises faith and all the other wholesome dharmas, he still does not attain the unsurpassed path, and it is precisely because he practises the six perfections with a mind of I and mine. Herein there is from the start no discriminating of this shore and the further shore; what has being far as its mark is prajñāpāramitā; but he practises with discrimination and clinging, and this is why he loses it.
Above, the Buddha, though he spoke the meaning of being without skilful means, did not speak the name of being without skilful means; wishing to make this matter clear and plain, he commanded Subhūti to ask: what is having skilful means, and what is being without skilful means?
Within, having no mind of I and mine; without, contemplating all dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks; because prajñā and skilful means and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds guard the bodhisattva, this is called having skilful means. As for guarding: on the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, and on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom—by these two causes and conditions, one does not lose the path of the Buddha.
譬喻品：八法既具何以仍中道衰耗，浮囊死屍何以與木器並取，坏瓶熟瓶之別何在，船未莊治何以喪寶，老病人何以能起而不能遠行，兩健人何以是般若與方便，我我所心行六度何以反成自高，此岸彼岸何以說遠離乃是波羅蜜相，佛既已說無方便之義何以復命須菩提問其名，守護何以分為福慧二力
在問什麼
這一品全篇只有一個問題，而這個問題是修行人最不願面對的一個：發心是真的，信是真的，忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進也都是真的——八樣都有了，為什麼還會半路壞掉？
經文不從理上答，先從事上打了五個比方。大海裡船破了，人若不伸手去取木頭、器物、浮囊、死屍，就沉在海裡；取了，就到彼岸。未燒熟的瓶盛水，水沒運到，瓶先化回泥土；燒熟的瓶盛水，無論河井池泉，盛得安穩。海邊的船還沒整治就裝上財物，船沉在一處、財物沉在另一處，商人喪失重寶；整治好了再下水載寶，必定安穩到岸。最後一個比方最不留情面：一百二十歲的老人，諸根已熟，又兼風冷熱雜病，佛問須菩提，這人能從床上起來嗎？須菩提答不能；佛再追一句，若是他也能起來，那又如何？須菩提答，起得來，卻走不了十里二十里。而同是這位老人，兩個健壯的人一邊一個扶住他的腋下，說隨你要去哪裡，我們兩人終究不捨你——他就能到他要去的地方。
五個比方指的是同一件事：八法是所載之寶，行者身是船，而般若波羅蜜與方便力是浮囊、是火候、是莊治、是扶腋的兩個人。少了這一層，八法不是假的，只是沒有被護持；沒有被護持的功德，在中途就衰耗掉，這人沒有到一切種智，卻先在聲聞地、辟支佛地上取了證。經文用同一個詞說這件事：中道衰耗。
論主接手之後，把問題再往裡推一層。他先分菩薩為二種，一種已得諸法實相，一種未得實相而有信等八法——五譬所說的正是第二種人。再把八法逐一訓出次第：信而後忍，忍而後淨，淨而後有淺深，四事具足而後有欲、有解、有捨、有精進。然後他說出全品的樞紐一句：此中佛自說五譬喻——比方不是譬喻家的巧思，是佛自己開的鎖；論主要做的只是把每一件器物還原到它所表的法上去：船是行者身，浮囊等物是般若方便，瓶是菩薩道，火是般若方便，不補治船是菩薩無方便，老病人是有信等功德的菩薩，二人是般若及方便。
品的後半，佛把同一件事從比方轉入正面。以我、我所之心行六度的人，布施時念著我是施主、我施是人、我施是物，乃至修慧時念著這是我的慧——這人不但不得護持，還要以每一度自高。佛先說其失，繼而自設一問：什麼是無方便？答完了，又設一問：什麼是有方便？答的關鍵處只有一句——六度之相是遠離此岸彼岸，而他偏要分別此岸彼岸，這就是失。論主末後收束成一個乾淨的公式：內裡無我我所心，外面觀一切法空不取相，於是般若、方便乃至一切種智守護著他，名為有方便；而所謂守護，是五波羅蜜那邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜這邊得智慧力——福與慧二力具足，所以不失道。
逐段解明
一、第一譬·大海船破，取與不取。 先看比方本身的講法。船破了，經文沒有說去造一條新船，只說取木、取器物、取浮囊、取死屍。這四件都是破船之後手邊還抓得到的東西，連死屍都算進去——可見所重不在物之貴賤，在它能不能浮得住人。不取，經文說得斬截：不到彼岸，沒海中死；取了，經文也說得斬截：終不沒死，安隱無礙，得到彼岸。合到法上，求佛道的人若只是有信樂，卻不依止深般若波羅蜜而書寫、讀、誦、正憶念，不依止五度乃至一切種智，這人就是不取浮囊的人：他不是沒上船，他是船破時空著手。反過來，為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提而有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，又依止深般若波羅蜜書、持、讀、誦、說、正憶念，被深般若乃至一切種智所護，就終不中道衰耗，過聲聞、辟支佛地，能淨佛世界、成就眾生。這裡要留意經文的次第：有信樂是起點，不是保險；八法是本錢，般若是浮囊。本錢再厚，不浮。
二、第二譬·坏瓶取水，未熟故還歸於地。 經文自己設問自己答：為什麼未燒熟的瓶盛水必爛？因為是瓶未熟故，還歸於地。這一句要慢讀。瓶不是被外力打破的，是它本來的土性沒有經火定住，遇水就回到泥土去——壞的因緣不在水，在瓶自身未成。合法：菩薩雖有菩提心，雖有信等八法，不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，不為六度所守護，不為內空乃至無法有法空、四念處乃至八聖道分、佛十力乃至一切種智所守護，當知這人中道衰耗，墮聲聞、辟支佛地。莫把這一譬讀成外魔來壞：此處連一個外緣都沒有提，壞的機關全在自身未經火煉。這是全品五譬之中唯一從內部說壞的一喻，最切近用功人的實際。
三、第三譬·熟瓶取水，河井池泉皆安隱。 前譬的反面。經文仍自問自答：何以安隱？是瓶成熟故。特別要看那一串河、井、池、泉——境有種種，而瓶是同一個瓶；已成熟的瓶，換到哪一處水邊都盛得住。合法上，有諸信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進，為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護，為禪定、精進、忍、戒、施乃至一切種智所護，於是不中道衰耗，過聲聞、辟支佛地，能淨世界、成就眾生，得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。二三兩譬合看，「熟」字是全品最要緊的一個工夫字：同樣八法、同樣發心，火候到與不到，是兩種結局。而火是什麼，論主後面自會點出。
四、第四譬·船未莊治載寶與莊治載寶。 這一譬比前三譬多出一層：不但人沉，寶也沉，而且沉得分開——船與財物各在一處。經文於此明點病因：是估客無方便力故，亡其重寶。再合到法上，佛自己把兩個關鍵詞訓了出來：大珍寶者，所謂一切種智；衰耗者，墮聲聞、辟支佛地。所以這一譬所重，不在行人自身的死活，在那一船本來要運到彼岸的功德之寶落了空。反面亦然：有智方便莊治海邊大船，然後推著水中，載寶而去，必得安隱到所至處。莊治是下水以前的事——方便不是出事以後的救急手段，是起行以前就該修的工夫。
五、第五譬·老病人設問，能起而不能遠行。 此譬是全品唯一不由佛獨說、而由佛與須菩提往復兩番問答帶出的一喻，故須順著問答讀。佛先設人：年百二十歲，年耆根熟，又有風、冷、熱病、若雜病；然後問須菩提，是人能從床起不。須菩提答得乾脆：不能。佛卻不肯就此放過，追一句：是人或能起者，云何。須菩提於是補足了那半句要緊的話：是人雖能起，不能遠行若十里、若二十里，以其老病故。這一往復把譬喻的鋒刃磨了出來——若只答不能起，喻意便止於全然無力；佛再問一句，逼出的是更貼切的實情：起得來，走不遠。用功的人少有全然起不了床的，多的是起得來而走不遠。這兩番問答不是點綴，是佛自己把喻意校準到毫釐。
六、老病人之合法與兩健人扶腋。 佛以此合法：雖有菩提心與八法，不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護，乃至不為一切種智所守護，當知是人中道墮聲聞、辟支佛地；且把理由重說一遍——何以故，不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護故。接著是全品最溫暖的一轉：同是這位老人，欲起行時有兩健人各扶一腋，對他說莫有所難，隨所欲至，我等二人終不相捨。於是他到得了要去的地方。要看清這一轉的分寸：經文不說先待老病痊癒，只說有了扶持，隨所欲至。般若與方便之於行人，正是如此——扶持先於到達，扶著這副老病之身走到所謂阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
七、論主開釋·菩薩有二種。 到此經文五譬說畢，論主開口解釋。他第一句不是釋喻，是先立分科：菩薩有二種，一者得諸法實相，二者雖未得實相，於佛道中有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進。這一分科解決了讀者最容易生的一個疑：佛既說菩薩，何以說得如此危脆？答：五譬所論者是第二種人。已得實相的，如熟瓶、如莊治之船，本不在此譬的範圍；正在路上而未得實相的，纔是佛憂念之所在。先立此科再釋喻，全品的對象就不會讀錯。
八、信忍淨心深心欲解捨精進之次第。 論主逐字訓八法，而訓得極有次第。信，是信罪福業因緣果報，信行六波羅蜜得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。有人雖信佛道，一思惟籌量，心不能忍——故說有忍。有人雖忍，邪疑未斷故心濁不淨——故說有淨。有人雖信、忍、心淨，而有淺有深——故說深心。四事因緣故一心欲得無上道，不欲餘事——故說有欲。了了決定知無上道為大、世間餘事為小——故說有解。以欲、解定心故，捨財及捨諸惡心、慳、恚等煩惱——故說捨。為捨故常能精進。八法不是八件並列的美德，是一條前後相生的路：信是門，忍是承當得住，淨是疑斷，深是不退於淺，欲是志一，解是量定，捨是實行，精進是持久。讀到這裡再回看五譬，就知道佛所憂的不是行人功德太少，而是這樣一條已然成形的路，仍會因為缺一味而崩。
九、何以八法仍失·不得般若則失菩薩道。 論主在此點出病所：若不得般若波羅蜜，則或於身壞命終時、或被惡知識沮壞，即失菩薩道；所修既是世間功德，便受世間果報，然後墮聲聞、辟支佛地，不能至無上道。這一句把前面五譬的失處都收在一處了。要特別看「世間功德故受世間果報」一句：八法所成的功德不會白費，它照樣結果，只是結在世間——不是消失，是轉向。中道衰耗之所以可畏，正在於它看起來像是有收成的。
十、此中佛自說五譬喻。 論主此句是全品的樞紐：這五個比方的解法，不是後人配的，是佛自己說的。於是以下四段逐一還原，每一段都只做一件事——把器物歸位到法上。此處依論主之文作五，不改其計。
十一、船與浮囊等物。 論主釋得極簡：「船」是行者身。「浮囊等物」即是般若、方便。兩句而已，卻一下把第一譬的重心挪正了。破船之譬，人最容易把船當成所依；論主偏說船就是行者自己這個身——身本來就是要破的，指望它不破是妄想。真正的所依是手裡抓得住的浮囊，就是般若與方便。回頭再看經文為何連死屍都許取：所取者不必貴重，只要浮得住；而於行人，浮得住的只有般若方便這一件。
十二、瓶與火與水。 這一段是四段配法中最密的：「瓶」是菩薩道。般若、方便是火。未與般若、方便和合故，不能受持六波羅蜜功德水至無上道。三樣東西一齊落位——瓶是所行之道，火是般若方便，水是六波羅蜜的功德。於是坏瓶熟瓶之別有了確解：不是功德水有多少的差別，是這條道有沒有經般若方便的火煉過。前面第二三兩譬留下的「熟」字，到此得解。也要順帶排一個誤：火在此不是燒毀之義，是成器之義——般若之火不是來燒掉六度功德的，是使那個能盛功德的器皿立得住。
十三、不補治船與寶異處。 論主於第四譬配得最細，一連四項：「不補治船」，是菩薩無方便；信等功德寶物，是五波羅蜜等諸善法船；寶異處者，與本願乖異，或受人天樂、或墮二乘；大利者，所謂一切智等佛法寶。要看出此處與第一譬的分工：第一譬的船是行者身，此譬的船卻是五波羅蜜等諸善法——同一個「船」字，論主兩處所配不同——一配行者身，一配諸善法——讀者不可混併。而「寶異處」三字尤其要緊：財物並沒有消失，只是落到了別處，論主直接訓為與本願乖異——所修的功德受了人天之樂、或落在二乘，那正是船與財物各在一處的實況。
十四、老病人與二人。 末一段配法最長，論主逐字拆開：「老病人」是有信等功德菩薩；不斷六十二邪見故名老；不斷百八等諸煩惱故名病；從床起者，從三界床起，我當作佛；以邪見煩惱因緣故不能成菩薩道；二人者，般若及方便。最後又補出二人之分工：般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中；方便將出畢竟空。這兩句是全品義理的頂點。老與病既訓為邪見與煩惱，則「從床起」自然不是身之起，是從三界之床起而發我當作佛之願；願雖已發，邪見煩惱在身，故不能成菩薩道——非不肯行，是行不遠。而所扶的兩人分工判然：般若把人帶進畢竟空，方便把人帶出畢竟空。少了前者，行人出不了邪見戲論；少了後者，行人就停在空裡——那正是墮二乘之處。經文說兩人各扶一腋、終不相捨，義理上的分量就在這裡：缺一邊，人一樣走不到。
十五、佛讚須菩提·以我我所心行六度。 經文轉入後半。佛先讚歎：善哉善哉，須菩提，汝為諸菩薩摩訶薩問佛是事——可見以下所說是應前問而起，非另立一事。所說者，是從初發意已來以我我所心行六度的人：布施時作念我是施主、我施是人、我施是物，持戒修忍精進入禪修慧一一皆然，乃至念有是慧、是我慧。佛隨即給出判準，而判準只有一句：檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相；尸羅乃至般若亦然。於是結論來得極自然：是人不知此岸、不知彼岸，不為檀波羅蜜乃至一切種智所護，墮聲聞、辟支佛地，不能到薩婆若。這裡要排一個誤：佛所訶的不是布施持戒本身，是行六度時那個我我所的分別心；分別心一在，六度就只是六事，不成波羅蜜——因為波羅蜜之相正是遠離此彼岸。
十六、云何無方便·六度皆成自高。 佛自設問：云何求佛道人無方便。答語與前段幾乎同文而更進一層——前段說念有是施、是我施，此段在每一度之後都加上三個字：以是施自高、以是戒自高、以是忍自高、以是精進自高、以是禪定自高、以是慧自高。六度逐一，一無倖免。這一層遞進要看清：我我所心是病根，自高是病相；有我則所修之善反過來長我，度愈多我愈高。經文於此又把六度之相重說一遍——遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相，乃至遠離此彼岸是般若波羅蜜相；何以故，般若波羅蜜中無如是憶念分別——然後結成：不知此岸、不知彼岸，不為六度乃至一切種智所護，或墮聲聞道中、或墮辟支佛道中，不能得到薩婆若。末句把它接回全品之主脈：菩薩摩訶薩不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護故，或墮聲聞地、或墮辟支佛道中——與五譬的結語一字不易。
十七、云何有方便·不自高而知此岸彼岸。 正面一段，句法與前段相對而反。菩薩從初已來以方便力布施，無我、我所心布施，乃至無我、我所心修智慧；不作念我有是施、是我施，不以是施自高，乃至般若波羅蜜亦如是。經文接著一連七個「不念」，把布施、與誰施、用何物施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、修智慧逐一否掉——不是不行，是行而不念。理由仍是那一句：是檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相，乃至般若波羅蜜中無如是憶想分別。於是結果全反：是菩薩摩訶薩知此岸、知彼岸，為六度乃至一切種智所護故，不墮聲聞、辟支佛地，得到薩婆若，疾得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。此處有一處極易讀漏：無方便者「不知此岸、不知彼岸」，有方便者「知此岸、知彼岸」——而波羅蜜之相卻是「遠離此彼岸」。可見所謂知，不是把此岸彼岸認作兩個實在的地方去分別，恰恰是知其遠離；不知者所以不知，正因為他把它們當作可分別之物。一「知」一「不知」的對揚，全繫於這一層。
十八、論主釋佛更說失行因緣。 論主開釋後半，先定其位：爾時佛可須菩提意，更說失行因緣。可字要緊——佛是印可了須菩提的問意才續說的，故後半不是新起話頭，是前問之所以得深答處。所說失行因緣即是：菩薩雖行信等善法，亦不得無上道，所謂以我、我所心行六波羅蜜故。論主隨即點出癥結所在：是中無分別此岸、彼岸，以遠離相是般若波羅蜜；而分別著行，是為失。一句話把前半五譬與後半正說接成了一條：五譬所說的『不為般若方便所護』，落到心行上，就是這個分別著行。
十九、說義未說名，故命須菩提問。 論主此段解一個結構上的疑：佛在前段已經把無方便的義說盡了，何以又另起一問云何有方便、無方便？論主答：上佛雖說無方便義，不說無方便名；欲令是事明了故，命須菩提問。義是所指之實，名是可持之目；實已指出而目未立，聽者便無從執持傳誦。故佛不憚重複，向須菩提設此一問，把名字立起來。此處亦見一重教法之方便：經文中問與答皆出佛口，論主謂之命須菩提，是佛以問告當機者——一問一答不為增義，只為使人明了。讀經至此不必疑其重沓。
二十、有方便之正義與福慧二護。 論主末段，是全品的收束，也是最可執持的一段：內無我、我所心，外觀一切法空不取相，般若、方便乃至一切種智守護菩薩故，名有方便。內外兩句對舉——內斷我我所，外觀法空而不取相；缺內則有能修之我，缺外則有所修之相。然後論主再把「守護」二字拆開作結：守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力——以二因緣故不失道。全品至此得一總答：八法既具而仍失者，失在偏得功德力而無智慧力；五波羅蜜是所載之寶，般若是浮囊、是火、是莊治、是扶腋之人。二力並行，纔是那條到得了彼岸的船。
不要讀錯
不要把五譬讀成訶責八法。經文說得明白，這些人有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進，論主又逐一訓其次第、稱為諸功德。八法不但不是病，正是這一品所憂惜的本錢——猶如船上的財物，喪失了才叫可惜。所訶者只是無方便、不為般若所護，不是訶其有信有捨。若讀成信等既不可恃，不如不修，便與經意全反。
不要把「不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護」讀成外護。守護二字，論主末段訓得清楚：五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力——是自身所成的二種力，不是身外另有一位守護者。兩健人扶腋之喻最易被讀成外來的救援，然而論主直說二人者般若及方便，仍是行人自己要修得的法。喻中作人形，是就扶持之相立喻，非謂別有能所。
不要把畢竟空當作終點。論主於二人分工處說得極細：般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中；方便將出畢竟空。入空是般若的事，出空是方便的事，兩事並非一事。少了出空這一邊，行人正可能因為得力於空而止息——那恰恰就是全品反覆說的墮聲聞、辟支佛地。讀般若諸品，於此一句尤當著眼。
不要把「知此岸、知彼岸」與「遠離此彼岸」讀成相違。經文一面說遠離此彼岸是波羅蜜相，一面說有方便的菩薩知此岸、知彼岸，二語看似相扞。實則所知者正是其遠離：不知者把此岸彼岸執作二物而分別之，故雖行六度而不成波羅蜜；知者了其本不可分別，故行而不著。若把「知」讀成多認得了兩個處所，就把全段讀反了。
不要把坏瓶之壞歸咎於外緣。第二譬通篇不曾提到任何外來的打擊，經文自問自答只給一個理由：是瓶未熟故，還歸於地。合到法上，是未與般若、方便和合。用功人遇退轉，總習慣向外尋找壞的緣由；此譬偏不許如此讀——火候不到，無人打破它也要自己化回泥土去。
修行作用
第一件受用，是一張自檢的表。八法可以逐條問自己：信有沒有落到罪福業因緣果報上，忍有沒有承當得住思惟籌量，淨有沒有斷去邪疑，深有沒有過於淺，欲有沒有一心不欲餘事，解有沒有了了決定知大小，捨有沒有從捨財進到捨慳恚，精進有沒有因捨而能持久。這八條答下來都算有，這一品仍要再問一句：這八樣，有沒有被般若與方便護持著。前八問是有無之問，後一問是成敗之問——本品的全部警策，就在這後一問上。
第二件受用，是「熟」字的工夫。坏瓶熟瓶之別不在盛了多少水，在瓶自身經沒經火。日用中若見自己所修之善遇境即散、遇違即退，不必先怪水多水少，先問火候：所行的六度有沒有與般若方便和合過。而火之為火，是成器不是燒器——修空觀不是要把功德修沒了，是要把那個盛功德的器皿定住。
第三件受用，是老病人之喻的安心處。此喻最堪為久修不得力者說。老是六十二邪見未斷，病是百八煩惱未除——論主既如此訓，則今日行人之老病，正是自己的實況，不必諱。而喻中並沒有等老病痊癒才許起行：兩健人來扶的，就是這副老病之身；他們說的是隨所欲至，我等二人終不相捨。所以用功的方向，是把般若與方便這兩位扶持者請到手裡；起行與扶持同時，經文不立先後。起得來而走不遠，是實情；扶著走得到，也是實情。
第四件受用，是自高之勘。本品給了一個極便於日用的診法：行一度之後，看看心裡有沒有添出一句『這是我的』。念有是施、是我施，繼之以自高；戒、忍、精進、禪定、智慧，無一不可自高。六度都會長我慢，而且修得愈勤、可高之處愈多。日課之後回光一照，若覺得比昨日的自己高出一截，此喻正可用：船已載寶，卻還沒有莊治。
第五件受用，是二力並修的取捨。五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力——用功人多半兩邊有所偏。偏於前者，則善事日多而心相日粗，這是坏瓶、是未莊治之船；偏於後者，則見解日高而行持日薄，這是入了畢竟空而出不來。本品的藥方是同時的：內無我我所心，外觀一切法空不取相。內外並用，福慧並得，然後纔說得上不失道。
承衍
本品之骨幹，是兩段經文與兩段論釋。經①佛以五譬明八法之有護無護：大海船破而取與不取浮囊等物，坏瓶取水而未熟還歸於地，熟瓶取水而河井池泉皆安隱，海邊船未莊治而載寶則船與財物各在一處、莊治而載寶則安隱到所至處，末以百二十歲老病人能起而不能遠行、得兩健人扶腋則能至所欲至——五譬皆以『中道衰耗、墮聲聞辟支佛地』與『過二乘地、得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提』兩端對顯。論①先分菩薩為得實相與未得實相二種，次逐字訓信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進之次第，次明不得般若則世間功德受世間果報而墮二乘，然後標「此中佛自說五譬喻」，逐一配法：船是行者身、浮囊等物是般若方便，瓶是菩薩道、火是般若方便、水是六波羅蜜功德，不補治船是菩薩無方便、寶物是信等功德、善法船是五波羅蜜、寶異處是與本願乖異、大利是一切智等佛法寶，老病人是有信等功德菩薩、老是六十二邪見、病是百八煩惱、從床起是從三界床起、二人是般若及方便而般若將至畢竟空中、方便將出畢竟空。經②佛讚須菩提之問，說以我我所心行六度者不知此岸彼岸而不能到薩婆若，次自設云何無方便之問而明六度皆成自高，次自設云何有方便之問而明無我我所心、不自高、知此岸彼岸則疾得無上道。論②釋佛可須菩提意而更說失行因緣，明分別著行是為失；釋佛說義未說名故命須菩提問；末以內無我我所心、外觀法空不取相結有方便之義，並以五波羅蜜邊得功德力、般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力二因緣收全品。
本品與前後諸品之義脈，可見者有二線。其一，本品承前品所說般若與方便並行之義而專以譬喻出之：前此諸品廣明般若之體與行相，本品則轉就行人中途之成敗立論，故全品不別立新法目，八法、六度、二乘地皆是舊目，所新者唯在『有護無護』一判。其二，本品所立之『無方便／有方便』一對，其名至本品之末方由佛向須菩提設問而正式標出——論主明言上佛雖說無方便義、不說無方便名，故本品實為此一名目之立處；其後諸品凡言方便力守護者，皆可溯此。
古德於本品之科判，有一處與論文計數不同，並錄如次，不作判定。本論論①明言「此中佛自說五譬喻」，其下配法之目亦依五；而吉藏《大品經義疏》釋本品則歸為四譬，謂第一譬明依二慧不依二慧故度生死海不度生死海，第二譬明得二慧未得二慧故得諸功德不得功德，第三明得二慧不得二慧故遂本願不遂本願，第四明有二慧無二慧故能至佛道不能至佛。吉藏於此自設問答以通之：若就得失為論應有八譬，得失合論則應四譬，云何五譬？其自答謂論開老人一譬為二，故成五。是則四之與五，繫於得失合論與老人一譬開合之異，非謂經文有二本。今本帙依論主之文作五，吉藏之四譬科及其自通之說，並錄於此，其傳本品題異稱與校勘諸事，詳考據層。
又，吉藏疏於本品之前更立一重品組之科：以本品為其下四品之首，謂此下廣明中下二根人之行相，本品舉法譬而勸其推失修得，其後三品次第明憑善知識、標大果、如如而學。此為古德判釋，誌其說而不判其是非，讀者可合前後諸品觀之。
Parables: Why, the Eight Dharmas Being Complete, One Still Wastes Away Midway; Why the Float and the Corpse Are Taken Together with the Plank and the Vessel; Where the Difference between the Unfired Pot and the Fired Pot Lies; Why the Ship Not Yet Fitted Out and Repaired Loses Its Treasure; Why the Old Sick Man Can Get Up but Cannot Travel Far; Why the Two Strong Men Are Prajñā and Skilful Means; Why Practising the Six Perfections with a Mind of I and Mine Instead Becomes Self-Exaltation; Why Being Far from This Shore and the Further Shore Is Said to Be the Mark of the Perfections; Why, the Buddha Having Already Spoken the Meaning of Being without Skilful Means, He Again Commands Subhūti to Ask Its Name; and Why Guarding Is Divided into the Two Powers of Merit and Wisdom
What Is Being Asked
This whole chapter has only one question, and it is the one question practitioners least wish to face: the resolve is real, the faith is real, and acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour are all real as well—all eight are present; why, then, does one still break down halfway?
The sūtra text does not answer from principle; it first strikes five comparisons from matters of fact. When a ship breaks up in the great sea, if a person does not reach out to take hold of a plank, a vessel, a float, or a corpse, he sinks in the sea; if he takes hold, he reaches the further shore. When water is carried in an unfired pot, before the water has been brought anywhere the pot has already turned back into mud; when water is carried in a fired pot, whether from river, well, pond, or spring, it carries it safely. When a ship at the seashore, not yet fitted out and repaired, is loaded with goods, the ship sinks in one place and the goods sink in another, and the merchant loses his heavy treasure; when it is fitted out and repaired and only then put into the water to carry the treasure, it is sure to reach the shore safely. The last comparison spares no one's face: an old man a hundred and twenty years old, his faculties already ripe, and in addition with illnesses of wind, cold, and heat, or mixed illnesses; the Buddha asks Subhūti, can this man get up from his bed? Subhūti answers that he cannot; the Buddha presses once more: suppose he too could get up—what then? Subhūti answers: he could get up, but he could not walk ten leagues or twenty. And this same old man—when two strong men support him under the arms, one on each side, and say, go wherever you wish, we two will never leave you—is able to reach the place he wishes to go.
The five comparisons point to the same thing: the eight dharmas are the treasure carried, the practitioner's body is the ship, and prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means are the float, the firing, the fitting out, and the two men who support him under the arms. Without this layer, the eight dharmas are not false; they are only unguarded; and merit that is unguarded wastes away midway: this person, not having reached the omniscience of all kinds, first takes realisation on the śrāvaka ground or the pratyekabuddha ground. The sūtra text uses one phrase for this: wasting away midway.
When the treatise-author takes over, he pushes the question one layer further in. He first divides bodhisattvas into two kinds: one kind has already obtained the real mark of all dharmas; the other has not yet obtained the real mark but has faith and the other eight dharmas—and it is exactly this second kind of person that the five parables speak of. Then he glosses the eight dharmas one by one in their sequence: faith, and after it acceptance; acceptance, and after it purity; purity, and after it shallow and deep; when the four matters are complete, then there is wish, there is understanding, there is relinquishment, there is vigour. Then he utters the pivotal sentence of the whole chapter: here the Buddha himself speaks five parables—the comparisons are not the clever invention of a maker of parables; they are a lock the Buddha himself has opened; all the treatise-author has to do is restore each implement to the dharma it stands for: the ship is the practitioner's body, the float and the other things are prajñā and skilful means, the pot is the bodhisattva path, the fire is prajñā and skilful means, not repairing the ship is the bodhisattva without skilful means, the old sick man is the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits, and the two persons are prajñā and skilful means.
In the latter half of the chapter the Buddha turns the same matter from comparison to direct statement. A person who practises the six perfections with a mind of I and mine, when giving, thinks: I am the giver, I give to this person, I give this thing; and so on up to thinking, when cultivating wisdom, this is my wisdom—this person is not only unguarded but will also exalt himself by each perfection. The Buddha first states the loss, and then himself sets a question: what is being without skilful means? Having answered it, he sets another question: what is having skilful means? The crux of the answer is only one sentence—the mark of the six perfections is being far from this shore and the further shore, yet this person insists on discriminating this shore and the further shore, and this is the loss. At the end the treatise-author gathers it into a clean formula: within, no mind of I and mine; without, contemplating all dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks; and so prajñā, skilful means, and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds guard him, and this is called having skilful means; and what is called guarding is this: on the side of the five perfections over there one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā here one obtains the power of wisdom—the two powers of merit and wisdom are complete, and therefore one does not lose the path.
Passage by Passage
1. The first parable—a ship breaks up in the great sea: taking hold and not taking hold. First look at how the comparison itself is told. The ship has broken up; the sūtra text does not say to go and build a new ship, only to take hold of a plank, take hold of a vessel, take hold of a float, take hold of a corpse. These four are all things still within reach after the ship breaks up, and even a corpse is counted among them—clearly what matters is not whether the thing is precious or worthless but whether it can keep a person afloat. Of not taking hold, the sūtra text speaks decisively: they will not reach the further shore; they sink in the sea and die. Of taking hold, it speaks just as decisively: they will never sink and die; safe and unhindered, they reach the further shore. Matched to the Dharma: if a person who seeks the path of the Buddha has only faith and delight, but does not rely on deep prajñāpāramitā to write it out, read it, recite it, and rightly recollect it, and does not rely on the five perfections and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, this person is one who does not take hold of the float: it is not that he never boarded the ship; it is that his hands are empty when the ship breaks up. Conversely, one who for the sake of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi has faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, and further relies on deep prajñāpāramitā to write out, uphold, read, recite, expound, and rightly recollect it, and is guarded by deep prajñā and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, will never waste away midway; he passes beyond the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha grounds and can purify buddha-worlds and bring beings to maturity. Here one should note the sequence of the sūtra text: having faith and delight is the starting point, not an insurance; the eight dharmas are the capital, prajñā is the float. However thick the capital, it does not float.
2. The second parable—water carried in an unfired pot: because it is not yet fired, it returns to the earth. The sūtra text sets its own question and answers it: why does an unfired pot that carries water surely crumble? Because this pot is not yet fired, and so it returns to the earth. This sentence should be read slowly. The pot is not broken by an outside force; its original earthen nature has not been fixed by fire, and on meeting water it goes back to mud—the cause and condition of its ruin lies not in the water but in the pot itself not yet being finished. Matched to the Dharma: though the bodhisattva has the mind of awakening, though he has faith and the other eight dharmas, if he is not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, not guarded by the six perfections, not guarded by inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, by the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, by the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, know that this person wastes away midway and falls to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground. Do not read this parable as an outer Māra coming to ruin him: here not a single outer condition is even mentioned; the whole mechanism of ruin lies in the self not yet having been tempered by fire. Of the five parables of the whole chapter this is the only one that speaks of ruin from within, and it comes closest to the actual situation of one who applies himself.
3. The third parable—water carried in a fired pot: river, well, pond, and spring are all safe. The reverse of the preceding parable. The sūtra text again asks and answers itself: why is it safe? Because this pot is fully fired. Look particularly at that string of river, well, pond, and spring—the settings are of every kind, but the pot is one and the same pot; a pot fully fired can hold water at whatever waterside it is taken to. Matched to the Dharma: one who has faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour, and is guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, guarded by meditative concentration, vigour, patience, morality, giving, and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, does not therefore waste away midway; he passes beyond the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha grounds, can purify worlds and bring beings to maturity, and attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Taking the second and third parables together, the word 「熟」 tr. "fired" is the most important word of practice in the whole chapter: the same eight dharmas, the same resolve—whether the firing has been reached or not makes two different endings. And what the fire is, the treatise-author will point out later of himself.
4. The fourth parable—loading treasure on a ship not yet fitted out and repaired, and on one fitted out and repaired. This parable has one layer more than the first three: not only does the person sink, the treasure sinks too, and they sink apart—ship and goods each in a different place. Here the sūtra text names the cause of the illness plainly: because this merchant has no power of skilful means, he loses his heavy treasure. Matching it to the Dharma, the Buddha himself glosses the two key terms: the great precious treasure is the omniscience of all kinds; wasting away is falling to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground. So what this parable stresses is not whether the practitioner himself lives or dies, but that the treasure of merit the ship was meant to carry to the further shore comes to nothing. The reverse holds as well: one who has wisdom and skilful means fits out and repairs a great ship at the edge of the sea, then pushes it into the water, loads the treasure, and sets off, and is sure to arrive safely where he is going. Fitting out and repairing belongs to the time before the ship goes into the water—skilful means is not an emergency measure after something has gone wrong; it is a practice that should be cultivated before setting out.
5. The fifth parable—the question about the old sick man: he can get up but cannot travel far. This is the only parable in the whole chapter that is not spoken by the Buddha alone but brought out through two rounds of question and answer between the Buddha and Subhūti, and so it must be read following the questions and answers. The Buddha first sets up the person: a hundred and twenty years old, aged in years and ripe in faculties, and moreover having illnesses of wind, cold, and heat, or mixed illnesses; then he asks Subhūti whether this person can get up from his bed. Subhūti answers crisply: he cannot. But the Buddha will not let it rest there, and presses once more: suppose this person could get up—what then? Subhūti thereupon supplies the crucial other half: though this person could get up, he could not travel far, ten leagues or twenty, because of his age and illness. This back-and-forth grinds the edge of the parable sharp—had the answer been only that he cannot get up, the parable's meaning would stop at utter powerlessness; the Buddha's one further question forces out the more exact reality: he can get up but cannot walk far. Few who apply themselves are utterly unable to get out of bed; many can get up but cannot walk far. These two rounds of question and answer are no ornament; the Buddha himself is calibrating the parable's meaning to a hair's breadth.
6. The matching of the old sick man to the Dharma, and the two strong men who support him under the arms. The Buddha matches this to the Dharma: though one has the mind of awakening and the eight dharmas, if one is not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, and so on up to not being guarded by the omniscience of all kinds, know that this person falls midway to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground; and he states the reason once more—why? Because he is not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means. Then comes the warmest turn in the whole chapter: this same old man, when he wishes to get up and go, has two strong men who each support him under one arm and say to him: have no fear of difficulty; go wherever you wish; we two will never leave you. And so he reaches the place he wants to go. The measure of this turn must be seen clearly: the sūtra text does not say he must first wait for his age and illness to be cured; it only says that, having support, he goes wherever he wishes. So it is with prajñā and skilful means for the practitioner—support comes before arrival; supported, this old and sick body walks all the way to what is called anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.
7. The treatise-author's explanation—bodhisattvas are of two kinds. Here the five parables of the sūtra text are finished, and the treatise-author begins to explain. His first sentence does not explain the parables; it first establishes a division: bodhisattvas are of two kinds—first, those who have obtained the real mark of all dharmas; second, those who, though they have not yet obtained the real mark, have within the path of the Buddha faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour. This division resolves the doubt a reader most easily gives rise to: since the Buddha is speaking of bodhisattvas, why does he speak of them as so precarious and fragile? Answer: what the five parables discuss is the second kind of person. Those who have obtained the real mark are like the fired pot, like the ship fitted out and repaired, and lie outside the scope of these parables from the start; it is those who are on the road and have not yet obtained the real mark who are the object of the Buddha's concern. With this division set up first and the parables explained after, the object of the whole chapter will not be misread.
8. The sequence of faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour. The treatise-author glosses the eight dharmas word by word, and glosses them in a most orderly sequence. Faith is faith in sin and merit, karma, causes and conditions, and their fruits and retribution, faith that by practising the six perfections one attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Some, though they have faith in the path of the Buddha, once they consider and reckon, cannot accept it in their minds—hence it speaks of having acceptance. Some, though they accept, have not cut off wrong doubts, so the mind is turbid and impure—hence it speaks of having purity. Some, though they have faith, acceptance, and a pure mind, are shallow or deep—hence it speaks of a deep mind. Because of the causes and conditions of the four matters, with one mind they wish to attain the unsurpassed path and wish for nothing else—hence it speaks of having wish. Clearly and decisively they know that the unsurpassed path is great and the other matters of the world are small—hence it speaks of having understanding. Because wish and understanding fix the mind, they relinquish wealth and relinquish evil minds, miserliness, anger, and the other afflictions—hence it speaks of relinquishment. Because of relinquishing, they can always be vigorous. The eight dharmas are not eight virtues set side by side; they are one road on which each gives rise to the next: faith is the gate, acceptance is being able to bear it, purity is doubt cut off, depth is not retreating into the shallow, wish is resolve made one, understanding is the measure settled, relinquishment is actual practice, vigour is endurance. Reading to here and looking back at the five parables, one knows that what the Buddha is concerned about is not that the practitioner's merits are too few, but that such a road, already taking shape, can still collapse for lack of one ingredient.
9. Why, with the eight dharmas, one still loses—without prajñā one loses the bodhisattva path. Here the treatise-author points out where the illness lies: if one does not obtain prajñāpāramitā, then either when the body breaks up and life ends, or when spoiled and ruined by an evil friend, one loses the bodhisattva path; since what one has cultivated is worldly merit, one receives worldly fruits and retribution, and then falls to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground and cannot reach the unsurpassed path. This one sentence gathers the losses of all five parables above into one place. Look especially at the sentence 「世間功德故受世間果報」 tr. "because of worldly merit one receives worldly fruits and retribution": the merit formed by the eight dharmas does not go to waste; it bears fruit just the same, only the fruit is borne in the world—it does not vanish; it turns aside. What makes wasting away midway so fearsome lies precisely in its looking like a harvest.
10. Here the Buddha himself speaks five parables. This sentence of the treatise-author's is the pivot of the whole chapter: the way these five comparisons are to be understood was not matched to them by later people; the Buddha himself spoke it. And so the four sections below each restore them in turn, and each section does only one thing—returns the implements to their places in the Dharma. Here the count follows the treatise-author's text as five, and his reckoning is not altered.
11. The ship, the float, and the other things. The treatise-author's gloss is extremely brief: 「船」 tr. "the ship" is the practitioner's body. 「浮囊等物」 tr. "the float and the other things" are prajñā and skilful means. Two sentences, no more, yet at a stroke they set the centre of gravity of the first parable right. In the parable of the broken ship, people most easily take the ship as what they rely on; the treatise-author insists that the ship is this very body of the practitioner himself—the body was always going to break, and to count on its not breaking is a false thought. What one truly relies on is the float that the hand can hold, that is, prajñā and skilful means. Looking back once more at why the sūtra text allows even a corpse to be taken hold of: what is taken need not be precious, so long as it floats; and for the practitioner, the one thing that floats is prajñā and skilful means.
12. The pot, the fire, and the water. Of the four sections of matching, this one is the densest: 「瓶」 tr. "the pot" is the bodhisattva path. Prajñā and skilful means are the fire. Because it has not come together with prajñā and skilful means, it cannot receive and hold the water of the merits of the six perfections up to the unsurpassed path. Three things fall into place at once—the pot is the path one walks, the fire is prajñā and skilful means, the water is the merit of the six perfections. And so the difference between the unfired pot and the fired pot receives a sure explanation: it is not a difference in how much water of merit there is, but whether this path has been tempered by the fire of prajñā and skilful means. The word 「熟」 tr. "fired" left over from the second and third parables finds its explanation here. One misreading must also be cleared away in passing: fire here does not mean burning up; it means making into a vessel—the fire of prajñā does not come to burn away the merits of the six perfections; it lets the vessel that can hold merit stand firm.
13. Not repairing the ship, and the treasure in a different place. The treatise-author's matching of the fourth parable is the most detailed, four items in a row: 「不補治船」 tr. "not fitting out and repairing the ship" is the bodhisattva without skilful means; faith and the other merits are the treasure goods, and the five perfections and the other wholesome dharmas are the ship; the treasure in a different place is going against the original vow, either receiving the pleasures of humans and gods or falling into the two vehicles; the great benefit is the treasure of the dharmas of the Buddha, omniscience and the rest. One must see the division of labour between this and the first parable: the ship of the first parable is the practitioner's body, while the ship of this parable is the five perfections and the other wholesome dharmas—the same word 「船」 tr. "ship," which the treatise-author matches differently in the two places—once to the practitioner's body, once to the wholesome dharmas—and the reader must not merge them. And the three Chinese characters 「寶異處」 tr. "the treasure in a different place" are especially important: the goods have not vanished, they have only landed somewhere else, and the treatise-author glosses this directly as going against the original vow—the merit one has cultivated receives the pleasures of humans and gods or ends up in the two vehicles, and that is exactly the actual state of ship and goods each being in a different place.
14. The old sick man and the two persons. The last section of matching is the longest, and the treatise-author takes it apart word by word: 「老病人」 tr. "the old sick man" is the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits; because he has not cut off the sixty-two wrong views he is called old; because he has not cut off the hundred and eight and the other afflictions he is called sick; getting up from the bed is getting up from the bed of the three realms: I shall become a Buddha; because of the causes and conditions of wrong views and afflictions he cannot complete the bodhisattva path; the two persons are prajñā and skilful means. Last he adds the division of labour between the two persons: prajñāpāramitā can extinguish all wrong views, afflictions, and idle discourse, and bring one into ultimate emptiness; skilful means brings one out of ultimate emptiness. These two sentences are the summit of the doctrine of the whole chapter. Since old and sick have been glossed as wrong views and afflictions, then 「從床起」 tr. "getting up from the bed" is naturally not the getting up of the body; it is getting up from the bed of the three realms and making the vow, I shall become a Buddha; though the vow has been made, wrong views and afflictions are still in him, and so he cannot complete the bodhisattva path—not that he is unwilling to go, but that he cannot go far. And the two who support him divide their work clearly: prajñā brings the person into ultimate emptiness, skilful means brings the person out of ultimate emptiness. Without the former, the practitioner cannot get out of wrong views and idle discourse; without the latter, the practitioner stops within emptiness—and that is exactly the place of falling into the two vehicles. The sūtra text says the two men each support him under one arm and will never leave him; the doctrinal weight lies right here: lacking either side, the person still cannot get there.
15. The Buddha praises Subhūti—practising the six perfections with a mind of I and mine. The sūtra text turns to its latter half. The Buddha first praises: Good, good, Subhūti! You have asked the Buddha about this matter for the sake of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas—which shows that what follows arises in response to the earlier question and is not a separate matter. What he speaks of is the person who, from the time of first setting his mind on it, has practised the six perfections with a mind of I and mine: when giving he thinks, I am the giver, I give to this person, I give this thing; in keeping the precepts, cultivating patience, vigour, entering meditation, and cultivating wisdom, it is the same with each, and so on up to thinking, there is this wisdom, this is my wisdom. The Buddha at once gives the criterion, and the criterion is only one sentence: in dānapāramitā there is no such discrimination; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā; śīla and so on up to prajñā are likewise. And so the conclusion comes quite naturally: this person does not know this shore and does not know the further shore; he is not guarded by dānapāramitā and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds; he falls to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground and cannot reach sarvajñā. Here one misreading must be cleared away: what the Buddha rebukes is not giving and keeping the precepts themselves, but the discriminating mind of I and mine present in practising the six perfections; so long as the discriminating mind is there, the six perfections are merely six activities and do not become perfections—because the mark of a perfection is precisely being far from this shore and the further shore.
16. What is being without skilful means—all six perfections become self-exaltation. The Buddha sets his own question: what is it for a person who seeks the path of the Buddha to be without skilful means? The answer is almost identical in wording to the preceding section and goes one layer further—the preceding section said he thinks there is this giving, this is my giving; this section adds three more Chinese characters after every perfection: by this giving exalting oneself, by these precepts exalting oneself, by this patience exalting oneself, by this vigour exalting oneself, by this meditative concentration exalting oneself, by this wisdom exalting oneself. The six perfections one by one—not one escapes. This step forward must be seen clearly: the mind of I and mine is the root of the illness, self-exaltation is its symptom; where there is a self, the good one cultivates turns round and swells the self, and the more perfections, the higher the self. Here the sūtra text states the mark of the six perfections once more—being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā, and so on up to being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of prajñāpāramitā; why? Because in prajñāpāramitā there is no such recollection and discrimination—and then concludes: he does not know this shore and does not know the further shore; he is not guarded by the six perfections and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds; he either falls into the path of the śrāvaka or falls into the path of the pratyekabuddha, and cannot reach sarvajñā. The final sentence joins it back to the main vein of the whole chapter: because the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, he either falls to the śrāvaka ground or falls into the path of the pratyekabuddha—not one word different from the conclusion of the five parables.
17. What is having skilful means—not exalting oneself, and knowing this shore and the further shore. The positive section, its syntax paired with the preceding section and reversed. The bodhisattva from the very beginning gives with the power of skilful means, gives without a mind of I and mine, and so on up to cultivating wisdom without a mind of I and mine; he does not think, I have this giving, this is my giving; he does not exalt himself by this giving; and so on up to prajñāpāramitā, likewise. The sūtra text then sets seven 「不念」 tr. "does not think" in a row, negating one by one giving, to whom one gives, with what thing one gives, keeping the precepts, patience, vigour, meditative concentration, and cultivating wisdom—not that he does not practise, but that he practises without thinking of it. The reason is still that one sentence: in this dānapāramitā there is no such discrimination; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā; and so on up to: in prajñāpāramitā there is no such recollection, imagining, and discrimination. And so the result is wholly reversed: this bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows this shore and knows the further shore; because he is guarded by the six perfections and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, he does not fall to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground, reaches sarvajñā, and swiftly attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Here there is one point extremely easy to miss: the one without skilful means 「不知此岸、不知彼岸」 tr. "does not know this shore and does not know the further shore"; the one with skilful means 「知此岸、知彼岸」 tr. "knows this shore and knows the further shore"—yet the mark of a perfection is 「遠離此彼岸」 tr. "being far from this shore and the further shore." Clearly what is called knowing is not taking this shore and the further shore as two real places and discriminating them; it is precisely knowing that one is far from them; and the one who does not know fails to know precisely because he treats them as things to be discriminated. The contrast of 「知」 tr. "knowing" with 「不知」 tr. "not knowing" rests wholly on this layer.
18. The treatise-author explains the Buddha's further speaking of the causes and conditions of failing in practice. Opening up the latter half, the treatise-author first fixes its place: at that time the Buddha approved Subhūti's intent and spoke further of the causes and conditions of failing in practice. The word approved matters—the Buddha continued only after approving the intent of Subhūti's question, and so the latter half does not open a new topic; it is where the earlier question receives its deep answer. The causes and conditions of failing in practice spoken of are these: though the bodhisattva practises faith and the other wholesome dharmas, he still does not attain the unsurpassed path, namely because he practises the six perfections with a mind of I and mine. The treatise-author at once points out where the knot lies: here there is no discriminating this shore and the further shore, for the mark of being far from them is prajñāpāramitā; but to practise with discrimination and clinging is the loss. One sentence joins the five parables of the first half and the direct teaching of the second half into a single thread: what the five parables call ‘not being guarded by prajñā and skilful means’, when it comes down to the mind's practice, is exactly this practising with discrimination and clinging.
19. The meaning spoken but not the name, and so Subhūti is commanded to ask. In this section the treatise-author resolves a structural doubt: in the preceding section the Buddha has already fully spoken the meaning of being without skilful means; why does he open a separate question, what is having skilful means and what is being without skilful means? The treatise-author answers: above, the Buddha, though he spoke the meaning of being without skilful means, did not speak the name of being without skilful means; wishing to make this matter clear, he commanded Subhūti to ask. The meaning is the reality pointed to; the name is the heading one can hold; when the reality has been pointed out but the heading not yet established, the hearers have nothing by which to hold it and hand it on in recitation. So the Buddha does not shrink from repetition, and sets this question toward Subhūti, establishing the name. Here, too, a layer of the skilful means of teaching can be seen: in the sūtra text both question and answer come from the Buddha's mouth, and the treatise-author calls it commanding Subhūti—the Buddha uses a question to address the listener the occasion is meant for; the question and answer are not to add meaning, only to make people understand clearly. Reading the sūtra to this point, one need not suspect it of redundancy.
20. The true meaning of having skilful means, and the two guardings of merit and wisdom. The treatise-author's final section is the conclusion of the whole chapter and also the section most worth holding on to: within, having no mind of I and mine; without, contemplating all dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks; because prajñā and skilful means and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds guard the bodhisattva, this is called having skilful means. The inner and outer sentences are set against each other—within, cutting off I and mine; without, contemplating dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks; lacking the inner, there is a self that cultivates; lacking the outer, there are marks of what is cultivated. Then the treatise-author takes apart the two Chinese characters 「守護」 tr. "guarding" to conclude: as for guarding, on the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom—by these two causes and conditions one does not lose the path. Here the whole chapter receives its overall answer: why those who have the eight dharmas complete still lose is that they have one-sidedly obtained the power of merit and are without the power of wisdom; the five perfections are the treasure carried, prajñā is the float, the fire, the fitting out, the persons who support one under the arms. Only when the two powers go together is it the ship that can reach the further shore.
Do Not Misread
Do not read the five parables as a rebuke of the eight dharmas. The sūtra text says clearly that these people have faith, have acceptance, have a pure mind, have a deep mind, have wish, have understanding, have relinquishment, have vigour, and the treatise-author further glosses their sequence one by one and calls them merits. Far from being an illness, the eight dharmas are precisely the capital this chapter is anxious to preserve—like the goods on the ship, whose loss alone is what makes it a pity. What is rebuked is only being without skilful means and not being guarded by prajñā; it is not a rebuke of having faith and having relinquishment. If one reads it as: since faith and the rest cannot be relied on, better not to cultivate them—that is the exact opposite of the sūtra's intent.
Do not read 「不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護」 tr. "not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means" as protection from outside. The treatise-author's final section glosses the two characters for guarding clearly: on the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom—these are two kinds of power formed in oneself, not some other guardian outside the body. The simile of the two strong men supporting him under the arms is most easily read as a rescue arriving from outside, yet the treatise-author says straight out that the two persons are prajñā and skilful means, which are still dharmas the practitioner himself must cultivate and attain. That the simile takes human form is to set up the simile on the mark of support; it does not mean there is, apart from him, a supporter and a supported.
Do not take ultimate emptiness as the end point. On the division of labour between the two persons the treatise-author speaks very finely: prajñāpāramitā can extinguish all wrong views, afflictions, and idle discourse, and bring one into ultimate emptiness; skilful means brings one out of ultimate emptiness. Entering emptiness is the work of prajñā, leaving emptiness is the work of skilful means, and the two works are not one work. Lacking the side of leaving emptiness, the practitioner may well come to rest precisely because he has gained strength from emptiness—and that is exactly the falling to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground that the whole chapter repeats again and again. In reading the prajñā chapters, this sentence above all deserves attention.
Do not read 「知此岸、知彼岸」 tr. "knows this shore and knows the further shore" and 「遠離此彼岸」 tr. "being far from this shore and the further shore" as contradicting each other. The sūtra text on the one hand says that being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of a perfection, and on the other says that the bodhisattva with skilful means knows this shore and knows the further shore; the two statements seem to clash. In fact what is known is precisely their being far off: the one who does not know grasps this shore and the further shore as two things and discriminates them, and so, though he practises the six perfections, they do not become perfections; the one who knows understands that they were never to be discriminated, and so practises without clinging. If one reads 「知」 tr. "knowing" as having come to recognise two more places, one has read the whole section backwards.
Do not blame the ruin of the unfired pot on outer conditions. The second parable throughout never mentions any blow from outside; the sūtra text, asking and answering itself, gives only one reason: because this pot is not yet fired, it returns to the earth. Matched to the Dharma, it is not having come together with prajñā and skilful means. When those who apply themselves meet with regression, they habitually look outside for the cause of the ruin; this parable refuses precisely that reading—if the firing has not been reached, even with no one breaking it, it will of itself turn back into mud.
Bearing on Practice
The first use is a checklist for examining oneself. The eight dharmas can be put to oneself item by item: has faith come down to sin and merit, karma, causes and conditions, and their fruits and retribution; can acceptance bear up under considering and reckoning; has purity cut off wrong doubts; has depth gone beyond the shallow; is wish single-minded, wishing for nothing else; does understanding clearly and decisively know the great and the small; has relinquishment advanced from relinquishing wealth to relinquishing miserliness and anger; is vigour, through relinquishment, able to endure. Even if all eight are answered yes, this chapter still asks one more question: are these eight guarded by prajñā and skilful means? The first eight questions ask whether one has them; the last asks whether one succeeds or fails—the chapter's entire admonition lies in this last question.
The second use is the practice of the word 「熟」 tr. "fired." The difference between the unfired pot and the fired pot lies not in how much water it holds but in whether the pot itself has been through the fire. In daily life, if one sees that the good one cultivates scatters on meeting circumstances and retreats on meeting opposition, one need not first blame the water for being more or less; first ask about the firing: have the six perfections one practises ever come together with prajñā and skilful means? And the fire, as fire, makes the vessel rather than burning it—cultivating the contemplation of emptiness is not meant to cultivate the merit away; it is meant to fix firm the vessel that holds the merit.
The third use is the place of ease in the simile of the old sick man. This simile is best told to those who have long practised without gaining strength. Old is the sixty-two wrong views not yet cut off; sick is the hundred and eight afflictions not yet removed—since the treatise-author glosses it so, the age and illness of today's practitioner is just his own actual condition, and there is no need to hide it. And in the simile there is no waiting for age and illness to be cured before he is allowed to get up and go: what the two strong men come to support is this very old and sick body; what they say is, go wherever you wish; we two will never leave you. So the direction of practice is to take these two supporters, prajñā and skilful means, into one's hands; getting up and going and being supported happen together, and the sūtra text sets no before and after. Able to get up but unable to walk far—that is the actual condition; supported, one gets there—that too is the actual condition.
The fourth use is the examination of self-exaltation. This chapter gives a diagnostic most convenient for daily life: after practising one perfection, see whether one's mind has added a sentence, ‘this is mine’. One thinks there is this giving, this is my giving, and follows it with self-exaltation; morality, patience, vigour, meditative concentration, and wisdom—there is not one by which one cannot exalt oneself. All six perfections can swell self-conceit, and the more diligently one cultivates them, the more there is to be exalted by. After the day's practice, turn the light back once: if one feels a notch higher than one's self of yesterday, this simile is just the one to use: the ship has already been loaded with treasure but has not yet been fitted out and repaired.
The fifth use is the weighing of cultivating the two powers together. On the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom—most who apply themselves lean to one side. Leaning to the former, good deeds grow daily more numerous while the marks of the mind grow daily coarser: this is the unfired pot, the ship not yet fitted out and repaired. Leaning to the latter, views grow daily loftier while practice and observance grow daily thinner: this is having entered ultimate emptiness and being unable to come out. This chapter's prescription is simultaneous: within, no mind of I and mine; without, contemplating all dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks. Using inner and outer together, obtaining merit and wisdom together—only then can one speak of not losing the path.
Further Resonances
The backbone of this chapter is two passages of sūtra and two passages of treatise. In Sūtra ① the Buddha, with five parables, makes clear whether the eight dharmas are guarded or unguarded: when a ship breaks up in the great sea, taking hold or not taking hold of the float and the other things; carrying water in an unfired pot, which, not yet fired, returns to the earth; carrying water in a fired pot, safe at river, well, pond, and spring; loading treasure on a ship at the edge of the sea not yet fitted out and repaired, so that ship and goods are each in a different place, and loading treasure on one fitted out and repaired, so that it arrives safely where it is going; and lastly the old sick man of a hundred and twenty, who can get up but cannot travel far, and who, supported under the arms by two strong men, can reach where he wishes to go—all five parables set out, in contrast, the two ends of ‘wasting away midway and falling to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground’ and ‘passing beyond the grounds of the two vehicles and attaining anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi’. Treatise ① first divides bodhisattvas into two kinds, those who have obtained the real mark and those who have not yet obtained it; next glosses word by word the sequence of faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, and vigour; next makes clear that without prajñā worldly merit receives worldly fruits and retribution and one falls into the two vehicles; and then, marking 「此中佛自說五譬喻」 tr. "here the Buddha himself speaks five parables," matches them to the Dharma one by one: the ship is the practitioner's body, the float and the other things are prajñā and skilful means; the pot is the bodhisattva path, the fire is prajñā and skilful means, the water is the merit of the six perfections; not repairing the ship is the bodhisattva without skilful means, the treasure goods are faith and the other merits, the ship of wholesome dharmas is the five perfections, the treasure in a different place is going against the original vow, the great benefit is the treasure of the dharmas of the Buddha, omniscience and the rest; the old sick man is the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits, old is the sixty-two wrong views, sick is the hundred and eight afflictions, getting up from the bed is getting up from the bed of the three realms, and the two persons are prajñā and skilful means, prajñā bringing one into ultimate emptiness and skilful means bringing one out of ultimate emptiness. In Sūtra ② the Buddha praises Subhūti's question and says that one who practises the six perfections with a mind of I and mine does not know this shore or the further shore and cannot reach sarvajñā; next he himself sets the question of what is being without skilful means and makes clear that all six perfections become self-exaltation; next he himself sets the question of what is having skilful means and makes clear that with no mind of I and mine, not exalting oneself, and knowing this shore and the further shore, one swiftly attains the unsurpassed path. Treatise ② explains that the Buddha approved Subhūti's intent and spoke further of the causes and conditions of failing in practice, making clear that to practise with discrimination and clinging is the loss; explains that the Buddha spoke the meaning but not the name, and so commanded Subhūti to ask; and at the end concludes the meaning of having skilful means with within, no mind of I and mine, and without, contemplating dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks, and gathers up the whole chapter with the two causes and conditions of obtaining the power of merit on the side of the five perfections and obtaining the power of wisdom on the side of prajñāpāramitā.
In the vein of meaning linking this chapter with the chapters before and after it, two lines can be seen. First, this chapter carries on the meaning, spoken in the preceding chapter, that prajñā and skilful means go together, and sets it out purely by way of parable: the chapters before this set forth at length the substance of prajñā and the marks of its practice, while this chapter turns to the success or failure of the practitioner midway; hence the whole chapter sets up no new dharma headings—the eight dharmas, the six perfections, the grounds of the two vehicles are all old headings, and what is new lies only in the one judgement of ‘guarded or unguarded’. Second, the pair ‘without skilful means / having skilful means’ set up in this chapter has its name formally marked out only at the end of this chapter, when the Buddha sets the question toward Subhūti—the treatise-author says plainly that above, the Buddha, though he spoke the meaning of being without skilful means, did not speak the name of being without skilful means, and so this chapter is in fact where this heading is established; wherever the later chapters speak of being guarded by the power of skilful means, it can be traced back here.
On the division of this chapter by the ancient masters, there is one place where the count differs from the treatise's text; both are recorded below, without judgement. Treatise ① of this treatise says explicitly 「此中佛自說五譬喻」 tr. "here the Buddha himself speaks five parables," and the headings of the matching beneath it also follow five; but Jizang, explaining this chapter in his Commentary on the Larger Sūtra, groups it into four parables, saying that the first parable makes clear that relying or not relying on the two wisdoms is why one crosses or does not cross the sea of birth and death; the second makes clear that having obtained or not yet obtained the two wisdoms is why one obtains the merits or does not obtain merit; the third makes clear that obtaining or not obtaining the two wisdoms is why one fulfils or does not fulfil the original vow; the fourth makes clear that having or not having the two wisdoms is why one can or cannot reach the path of the Buddha. Jizang here sets his own question and answer to reconcile it: if one discusses it in terms of gain and loss, there should be eight parables; if gain and loss are discussed together, there should be four; how then are there five? His own answer is that the treatise opens the one parable of the old man into two, and so there are five. Thus four and five hinge on the difference in whether gain and loss are discussed together and whether the one parable of the old man is opened or joined; it does not mean that the sūtra text exists in two versions. This edition follows the treatise-author's text in counting five; Jizang's four-parable division and his own reconciling account are recorded here side by side; the variant names of this chapter in the transmitted texts and matters of collation are detailed in the Apparatus.
Further, Jizang's Commentary sets up, before this chapter, one more layer of division by groups of chapters: taking this chapter as the head of the four chapters below it, it says that from here on it sets forth at length the marks of practice of people of middling and lower faculties; this chapter raises dharma and parable to urge them to push away loss and cultivate gain, and the three chapters after it make clear in turn relying on the good friend, marking out the great fruit, and learning in accordance with suchness. This is an ancient master's judgement and interpretation; his account is recorded without judging it right or wrong, and the reader may view it together with the chapters before and after.
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，全在卷七十一，單一單元。品題「大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一」〔T25 0555b10〕居卷七十一之中段——前品〈成辦品第五十〉訖於同卷之內，本品非卷首起題，故品題下無造署、譯署（與品四十六卷首起題、造署譯署全出者異）。本品訖於論②末句「以二因緣故不失道」〔T25 0557b11〕，次品品題「大智度論釋善知識品第五十二」〔T25 0557b13〕緊接其後；卷七十一之卷末題〔T25 0562b05〕遠在品五十二以下，本品範圍內既無卷首題、亦無卷末題。單卷內品一型，與品四十六（卷首起題）、品四十七及品四十八（跨卷續題）三型皆異，如實分記。
全品純漢字二千九百零六（機械重計值·與底稿所載相合），為〈釋餘品〉一段中之小品。品內結構二【經】二【論】交替、單一單元：【經】〔T25 0555b11〕、【論】〔T25 0556a28〕、【經】〔T25 0556b28〕、【論】〔T25 0557b02〕。四標籤皆恰在塊首，無鑲嵌型過渡；四枚之中三枚有校記、一枚無——【經】①〔T25 0555b11〕宋、宮、聖三本無此標，【論】①〔T25 0556a28〕與【論】②〔T25 0557b02〕兩枚共用一注（星號標記，其注在品五十範圍內，屬跨品共用，見第八目），【經】②〔T25 0556b28〕無校記（預期中未見，非漏記，如實分記）。
說者與問答結構：經①自「佛告須菩提」〔T25 0555b11〕起，五譬相續皆佛主動開示，其後四譬各以「須菩提！譬如」承續同一開示，未見換說標記；唯第五譬（老病人譬）之內鑲嵌佛與須菩提兩組小問答——「是人能從床起不」之問（〔T25 0556a09〕一帶）、「須菩提言：『不能。』」〔T25 0556a10〕、「是人或能起者，云何」〔T25 0556a11〕、「是人雖能起，不能遠行若十里、若二十里，以其老病故」〔T25 0556a12〕。經②佛連說三段（讚歎須菩提發問、無方便之失、有方便之得），皆以「須菩提！」延續同一開示，未見須菩提插話。論①、論②皆論主直敘科判與釋義，通篇無「問曰」「答曰」之論式問答，亦無「有人言」異說並陳——本帳逐字回掃本品底本，「問曰」「答曰」「有人言」「復次」四式各零見，問答對數如實記為零，屬本品之體例（規模小、唯五譬科判與方便義一段正說），與品四十七、品四十八多問答型不同，非缺漏。
義理兩軸循經論之分：經①以五譬逐對顯有方便、無方便之得失，論①配五譬所表；經②轉入我我所心行六度與無我我所心行六度之對顯，論②收於福慧二護。
二、術語考
八法（信·忍·淨心·深心·欲·解·捨·精進）。 全品之所繫。經①標其目：「有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進」〔T25 0555b24〕，其後諸譬或全稱、或省作「有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進」。論①逐字訓之：「『信』者，信罪福業因緣果報，信行六波羅蜜得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」〔T25 0556b01〕；「有人雖信佛道，思惟、籌量，心不能忍」〔T25 0556b03〕故說有忍；「有人雖忍，邪疑未斷故心濁不淨」〔T25 0556b04〕故說有淨；信忍心淨而有淺有深，故說深心；「四事因緣故，一心欲得無上道，不欲餘事」〔T25 0556b06〕故說有欲；「了了決定知無上道為大、世間餘事為小」〔T25 0556b08〕故說有解；「以欲、解定心故，捨財及捨諸惡心、慳、恚等煩惱」〔T25 0556b09〕故說捨；為捨故常能精進。八法是有而未足之德——全品之問，正在此八法既具而何以猶墮。
中道衰耗。 本品失處之總名。經①「當知是善男子中道衰耗，是人未到一切種智，於聲聞、辟支佛地取證」〔T25 0555b21〕；第四譬自出其訓：「大珍寶者，所謂一切種智。衰耗者，墮聲聞、辟支佛地」（〔T25 0555c25〕一帶）。衰耗非退失人天之果，是中道不至薩婆若而止於二乘。
般若波羅蜜·方便力所守護。 本品之樞紐語。八法而不為般若、方便所護則衰耗，為所護則能至——經①反覆立此一式：「不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護」〔T25 0555c07〕、「為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護，為禪定、精進、忍、戒、施乃至一切種智所護故」〔T25 0555c17〕。論②收其體：「守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力」〔T25 0557b10〕——守護不是外來之力，是福慧二邊自具之力。
有方便·無方便。 經②之正說。無方便者，「從初發心已來無方便行布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、修智慧」（〔T25 0556c14〕一帶），其相在自高：「念有是施、是我施，以是施自高」〔T25 0556c17〕。有方便者，「內無我、我所心，外觀一切法空不取相，般若、方便乃至一切種智守護菩薩故，名有方便」〔T25 0557b08〕。論②並誌佛先說義而後說名之次第：「上佛雖說無方便義，不說無方便名；欲令是事明了故」〔T25 0557b06〕。
此岸·彼岸。 六度之相由此立。經②：「檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相」〔T25 0556c06〕，尸羅、羼提、毘梨耶、禪、般若六度皆以「遠離此彼岸」為相。失者「是人不知此岸、不知彼岸」〔T25 0556c10〕，得者「是菩薩摩訶薩知此岸、知彼岸」〔T25 0557a22〕。知與不知之別，繫於分別著行之有無——論②：「是中無分別此岸、彼岸，以遠離相是般若波羅蜜；而分別著行，是為失」〔T25 0557b04〕。
坏瓶·熟瓶。 第二、第三譬之對語。坏者未經火，「是瓶未熟故，還歸於地」〔T25 0555c04〕；熟者已成，「是瓶成熟故」〔T25 0555c14〕。論①配之：「『瓶』是菩薩道。般若、方便是火。未與般若、方便和合故，不能受持六波羅蜜功德水至無上道」〔T25 0556b16〕——般若方便非瓶中所盛之水，是燒瓶之火。
浮囊等物。 第一譬之得渡具。經①列木、器物、浮囊、死屍四物，取之則「終不沒死，安隱無礙，得到彼岸」〔T25 0555b15〕。論①配之：「『船』是行者身。『浮囊等物』即是般若、方便」〔T25 0556b15〕。
六十二邪見·百八煩惱。 老病人譬之訓。論①：「『老病人』是有信等功德菩薩。不斷六十二邪見故名老；不斷百八等諸煩惱故名病」〔T25 0556b22〕；起者，「從床起者，從三界床起，我當作佛」〔T25 0556b24〕——老病不在年歲，在見與煩惱之不斷。
二人（般若·方便）。 老病人譬中兩健人之配法。論①：「二人者，般若及方便。般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中」〔T25 0556b25〕，而「方便將出畢竟空」〔T25 0556b27〕——般若將入，方便將出，兩事乃成扶行，此即本品「二人終不相捨」之所配。
三、譬喻與故事
本品題即以譬得名。經①連設五譬，論①逐譬配法；本品無引事，喻皆現造。
其一，大海船破譬（船·浮囊等物）。 「譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死屍」〔T25 0555b11〕，則「不到彼岸，沒海中死」（〔T25 0555b13〕一帶）；取之，則「當知是人終不沒死，安隱無礙，得到彼岸」〔T25 0555b15〕。配法：「『船』是行者身。『浮囊等物』即是般若、方便」〔T25 0556b15〕。
其二，坏瓶譬（失）。 「譬如男子、女人持坏瓶取水，當知是瓶不久爛壞」〔T25 0555c03〕，以「是瓶未熟故，還歸於地」〔T25 0555c04〕；合之於八法具而不為般若方便所護者，「當知是人中道衰耗，墮聲聞、辟支佛地」〔T25 0555c12〕。
其三，熟瓶譬（得）。 「譬如男子女人持熟瓶取水，若河、若井、若池、若泉」〔T25 0555c13〕，當知持水安隱，以「是瓶成熟故」〔T25 0555c14〕；合之於為般若方便所護者，「過聲聞、辟支佛地，能淨佛世界、成就眾生」〔T25 0555c01〕之類辭反覆。坏熟二瓶同配一法——論①總為「『瓶』是菩薩道」〔T25 0556b16〕一喻。
其四，船未莊治譬（失·得兩開）。 失者，「譬如大海邊船未莊治，便持財物著上」〔T25 0555c21〕，則中道壞沒，「船與財物各在一處」〔T25 0555c22〕，「是估客無方便力故，亡其重寶」〔T25 0555c23〕；得者，「人有智方便莊治海邊大船，然後推著水中」〔T25 0556a01〕，則必得安隱到所至處。配法：「『不補治船』，是菩薩無方便。信等功德寶物，是五波羅蜜等諸善法船」〔T25 0556b18〕；又「寶異處者，與本願乖異，或受人天樂、或墮二乘」〔T25 0556b20〕、「大利者，所謂一切智等佛法寶」〔T25 0556b21〕。
其五，老病人譬（含佛與須菩提兩組小問答）。 「譬如有人年百二十歲，年耆根熟，又有風、冷、熱病、若雜病」〔T25 0556a08〕，佛問能從床起否，須菩提言「不能」〔T25 0556a11〕；佛再問「是人或能起者，云何」〔T25 0556a11〕，須菩提答「是人雖能起，不能遠行若十里、若二十里，以其老病故」〔T25 0556a12〕。得者之相在扶：「是人欲起行，有兩健人各扶一腋」〔T25 0556a20〕，二人語老人言「莫有所難，隨所欲至，我等二人終不相捨」〔T25 0556a21〕。配法：「『老病人』是有信等功德菩薩」〔T25 0556b22〕、「二人者，般若及方便」〔T25 0556b25〕。
五譬之總標。 論①於逐譬配法之前，先出其數：「此中佛自說五譬喻」〔T25 0556b15〕——此一句為本品科判之本論自證，其與吉藏疏「有四譬」之計數並錄於第六目。
四、所釋經文
品名網（聖·石 -1 階續存·明本省題）。 本品品題一注四造，逐一據底本誌之：本論底本〔T25 0555b10〕作「大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一」；聖本作「摩訶般若波羅蜜譬喻品第五十」（經題式·品次少一）；石本作「摩訶般若波羅蜜品第五十譬喻品」（經題式·品次少一·「譬喻品」三字後置）；明本則無「大智度論」四字（底本注作〔大智度論〕－【明】）。本品未見異名——聖、石兩本雖經題式改寫且品次少一，其品名仍作「譬喻」，與品四十八聖本別出「報恩品」異名者不同，如實分記。所釋經 T223 品題〔T08 0329c06〕作「摩訶般若波羅蜜經譬喻品第五十一」；吉藏疏 mulu 標題「譬喻品第五十一」〔X24n0451 0301b06〕。
品次 -1 階（品題與品末雙端點對證·續存無斷）。 本論聖本「第五十」、石本「第五十」，皆較底本「第五十一」少一，與品四十四以來聖、石兩本逐品順推同向同幅——-1 階鏈於本品續存。本品之可貴在雙端點皆存：品末一字「道」〔T25 0557b12〕之校記，聖、石兩本作「道釋第五十品竟」——品身收尾處之「第五十」與品題處之「第五十」同幅，兩端相互對證，非單點推定。
T223 目次編碼層（+1 偏移續存·顯文與 n 屬性分記）。 所釋經 T223 側本品之目次條顯文作「51 譬喻品」而其 n 屬性標「52」〔T08 0329c06〕——顯文序號與底本品次相符，n 屬性較顯文多一。前後逐品同款：〈問相品〉顯文「49」而 n 標「50」〔T08 0325b13〕、〈成辦品〉顯文「50」而 n 標「51」〔T08 0328a05〕、次品〈知識品〉顯文「52」而 n 標「53」〔T08 0331b08〕。此 +1 偏移自品四十一以來屢見；品四十七與品四十八兩品之 n 屬性曾同標「48」而一度重出，本品以下已復單調遞增，偏移本身則續存，如實分記，不強解；對位仍以顯文與內容逐字比對為準。又本品 T223 品題內「譬喻」與「品」之間置一星號型錨〔T08 0329c06〕，本帳核其鄰接文字為單字「品」，無對應注文內容、無跨版本異文標記，屬編輯層之段落交叉標記，非異文層之發見，誌錄不展開。
品界與卷界。 所釋經側本品起〔T08 0329c06〕、訖於次品〈知識品〉品題〔T08 0331b08〕前，品界不繫卷界；本論側本品亦在卷七十一之中段，品界不繫卷界（見第一目）——兩傳承於本品皆為卷中起品，與品四十六（本論卷首起品）之形不同，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〈譬喻品〉逐字幾近同文——本論「佛告須菩提：『譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死屍』」〔T25 0555b11〕；T223 同段〔T08 0329c07〕作「佛告須菩提：『譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死尸』」——同一發端、同一場景結構（誰告誰、設何喻、取何物、得何果），差在「死屍」與「死尸」一字之形。其可誌者三處。其一，六度譯名：本論作「不依禪波羅蜜……檀波羅蜜」（〔T25 0555b18〕一帶），T223 作「不依禪那波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀那波羅蜜」〔T08 0329c14〕——所釋經存「禪那」「檀那」全譯，本論用略稱。其二，第四譬之字：本論作「船未莊治」〔T25 0555c21〕、「估客」〔T25 0555c23〕，T223 作「船未裝治」、「賈客」（〔T08 0330a20〕一帶）——而本論「估」字校記，元、明兩本正作「賈」（見第八目〔T25 0555c23〕條），本論古本與所釋經於此一字跨藏相印，如實誌錄。其三，本論「船與財物各在一處」〔T25 0555c22〕，T223 作「人船財物各在一處」，多一「人」字。對照組：「持坏瓶取水」「亡其重寶」「不能遠行若十里」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，非以甲本之詞搜乙本之弱判。判為「同名同品」（品名兩藏同作譬喻，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，本帳未展開（唯品題位置與上列三處逐字補核如上），據實誌其未展開，不以估值充數。
五、般若義眼
本品之眼，在『八法具而猶墮』六字。信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進——皆是善法，皆是菩薩所應有；而本品所設五譬，譬譬皆在此八法既具之後。其義可約為五重。
其一，德非不真，是未經火。坏瓶非不是瓶，是未熟；船非不是船，是未莊治；老人非無起心，是根熟病纏。論①配之最直：「『瓶』是菩薩道。般若、方便是火」〔T25 0556b16〕——火不在瓶外別是一物，是成瓶之事。
其二，所護者非外力。經①反覆之「為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護」〔T25 0555c17〕易作外護想；論②收之為二邊自具之力：「守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力」〔T25 0557b10〕——福自五度來，慧自般若來，二因緣合而道不失。
其三，般若與方便，一入一出。論①訓二人云：「般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中」〔T25 0556b26〕，而「方便將出畢竟空」〔T25 0556b27〕。無般若則不得入，無方便則入而不出——兩健人各扶一腋之所以須二，義在此。
其四，失處在自高，不在行少。經②之無方便者行六度不缺，其病唯在「念有是施、是我施，以是施自高」〔T25 0556c17〕；而六度之相本是「遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相」〔T25 0556c07〕——以分別行遠離相之法，故「不知此岸、不知彼岸」〔T25 0556c10〕。論②一句斷之：「而分別著行，是為失」〔T25 0557b05〕。
其五，衰耗之為衰耗，以其中道。本品所憂非墮惡道，是「於聲聞、辟支佛地取證」〔T25 0555b22〕——取證者即止。故五譬之得側，句句收於「能淨佛世界、成就眾生」〔T25 0555c01〕與薩婆若；失側句句收於二乘地。本品之嚴，不在呵惡，在呵止於善。
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命中；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〈譬喻品〉之逐文疏，起〔X24n0451 0301b06〕（mulu「譬喻品第五十一」，緊接前品疏訖處），迄〔X24n0451 0302a03〕（次 mulu「知識品第五十二」起）前，覆本品經全篇。其可誌者四。
其一，四品一組之科——「譬喻品第五十一此下第二十品，廣明三根人行相，為二：初四品明中下二人行相，從不退至不證品中明上根人行相，大判如此耳」〔X24n0451 0301b06〕；又「四品為四：第一、此品舉法譬勸中下二人推失脩得；第二、知識品觀中下根人憑善知識習妙行；第三、超智品明中下根人者標大果；第四、大女品明中下根人如如而學」〔X24n0451 0301b11〕。吉藏以本品為此四品一組之首，其位在「舉法譬勸中下二人推失脩得」。又其前文自標大段之起：「從譬喻十品領經廣明三根人相」〔X24n0451 0301a13〕。
其二，本品內分二段——「初二，第一借喻以明得失，二者法說廣明有方便義」〔X24n0451 0301b15〕：以喻說、法說二分本品，與本論二【經】二【論】之分（經①五譬、經②方便正說）相值。
其三，「有四譬」與本論「五譬喻」兩計（並錄不判）。 吉藏歸本品喻段為四：「從初段為同云譬喻品，有四譬：第一譬明依二慧不依二慧故，度生死海不度生死海；第二譬明得二慧未得二慧故，得諸功德不得功德譬；第三明得二慧不得二慧，遂本願不遂本願譬；第四明有二慧無二慧，能至佛道不能至佛譬」〔X24n0451 0301b16〕；而本論論①自出其數：「此中佛自說五譬喻」〔T25 0556b15〕。吉藏於其疏中自設一問一答以處此數之落差：「問：此中就得失為論應有八譬，得失合論應四譬，云何五譬？答：論開老人一譬為二段五也」〔X24n0451 0301c12〕。本帳據實並錄兩造之數與吉藏自答之語，並錄不判——本論之『五』與吉藏之『四』各繫其科法，本目誌其兩造，不代定讀。吉藏逐譬之語亦誌之：第一譬「生死為大海，行者身船船壞，是無先至時也」〔X24n0451 0301b21〕；第二譬「第二瓶譬，先作失譬及合。瓶譬菩薩道未得二慧」〔X24n0451 0301c01〕；第四譬「第四者、病人是有二慧無二慧，至佛道不至佛道，具六十二見為老，具百八煩惱為病」〔X24n0451 0301c08〕——第四譬之「具六十二見為老，具百八煩惱為病」〔X24n0451 0301c09〕與本論論①「不斷六十二邪見故名老；不斷百八等諸煩惱故名病」〔T25 0556b22〕逐字義同，兩家於此一訓相合。
其四，福慧二護之語——「又福慧二護，五度邊得福、般若邊得慧，二事圓故不失佛道」〔X24n0451 0301c23〕，與本論論②「守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力」〔T25 0557b10〕相值；又其釋無方便之二義：「無方便二義：一者、內著我；二、外著諸法也」〔X24n0451 0301c21〕，與本論論②「內無我、我所心，外觀一切法空不取相」〔T25 0557b08〕內外兩對相值。又吉藏於八法亦自設問答：「問：信忍等云何是耶？答：有二菩薩，一得深悟，無二未得，但有信忍等也」〔X24n0451 0301c14〕——與本論論①「菩薩有二種：一者、得諸法實相；二者、雖未得實相」〔T25 0556a28〕同綱。
慧影《大智度論疏》（X46n0791）·零命中（如實誌）。 為釋本論之唯一古疏，僅殘卷存世。本品品名及要語「譬喻品」「船破壞」「浮囊」「坏瓶」「老病人」五串於 X46n0791 全檔回搜各零命中；本品所繫論卷七十一不在殘卷覆蓋範圍——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）·二筆非本品（逐字核後排除）。 本品要語回搜於 X46n0784，唯「老病人」一串命中二筆〔X46n0784 0586b12〕〔X46n0784 0586b21〕。本帳逐字核其文：前筆作「城四門外，不識老病人等，車匿示言是沙門等」〔X46n0784 0586b12〕，後筆作「又如瑞應經云：不識城門外老病人，三年乳哺不語。」〔X46n0784 0586b21〕——二筆皆述佛出城見四相之本生故事，與本品「老病人」之喻（有信等功德而無般若方便之菩薩，喻年百二十歲之老病人）誰、對誰、喻何義三者皆異，非本品之覆帶引用。均正於本品無具名引，如實誌錄。
七、互讀與承衍
本品之義脈，前後相承者有三，皆此目所誌，不代定讀。
其一，四品一組之品次承衍（古德自證·繫吉藏疏）。 吉藏以本品為「初四品明中下二人行相」之首，其後依次為知識品、超智品、大女品〔X24n0451 0301b11〕——本品「舉法譬勸中下二人推失脩得」，次品「憑善知識習妙行」。本論側品次亦同其序：本品訖，次品題即「大智度論釋善知識品第五十二」〔T25 0557b13〕。品組之科繫吉藏一家之判，本目誌其迹，不代定讀。
其二，方便義之品內自證。 本品二段之貫，在論②一語：「上佛雖說無方便義，不說無方便名；欲令是事明了故」〔T25 0557b06〕——經①五譬所說者是無方便之義（八法不為般若方便所護而衰耗），經②所說者是無方便之名（云何名有方便、無方便）。義先名後，經①經②之所以為二段，論主自出其故。
其三，天台系「浮囊」「船破壞」之非引（如實誌負結果）。 本帳以本品要語回搜天台四檔，其命中逐筆核之，皆非本品之引。「浮囊」一串：《摩訶止觀》十二見（〔T46 0038a17〕起一段密集，餘見〔T46 0092a27〕）、《止觀輔行傳弘決》二見（〔T46 0257a03〕〔T46 0257a29〕）、《法華玄義》二見（〔T33 0716c25〕〔T33 0760a07〕）、《法華玄義釋籤》（T33n1717）二見（〔T33 0872b06〕〔T33 0872b07〕）——逐筆核其文，全數為《涅槃經》羅剎乞浮囊之持戒犯相譬，如《摩訶止觀》引作「《大經》云：『譬如有人，帶持浮囊，渡於大海。爾時，海中有一羅剎來乞浮囊。初則全乞，乃至微塵，悉皆不與。』」〔T46 0038a17〕，其場景為羅剎索囊以試持戒；本品「浮囊」則為船破時所取之得渡具之一（「不取浮囊」「『浮囊等物』即是般若、方便」）——同一譬喻詞而異源異場景，非本品之逐字引用或義理直涉。又「船破壞」一串於《止觀輔行傳弘決》一見，其文作「失一心如放柁。由此放擲行船破壞。」〔T46 0390c20〕，喻心柁之放失，亦非本品大海船破取物之喻。品題「譬喻品第五十一」與「坏瓶」二串於四檔全數零命中。以上皆候補不登，如實誌錄負結果。
其四，寶庫掛鏈（穩定徵引·軟引）。 本品八法具而衰耗之判、般若入畢竟空與方便出畢竟空之兩扶、福慧二護之訓，為後世論方便波羅蜜、判二乘中道取證之所本，落穩定徵引〔T25n1509 譬喻品·卷七十一〕；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》卷七十一〔T25 0555b10–0557b13〕（品身正文自品題〔T25 0555b10〕起，終於「以二因緣故不失道」〔T25 0557b11〕句迄，次品品題〔T25 0557b13〕前；本品範圍內既無卷首題、亦無卷末題）；所釋經校本為《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》〈譬喻品〉〔T08 0329c06–0331b08〕（訖於次品品題前）；古德疏校本為吉藏《大品經義疏》（X24n0451，覆本品〔X24n0451 0301b06–0302a03〕前）；慧影《大智度論疏》（X46n0791）本品零命中、均正《大乘四論玄義》（X46n0784）本品二筆非引（見第六目）。異讀校記依大正校勘，涉大正底本與宋、元、明、宮、聖、石（石山寺本）諸本及麗藏（K）、CBETA 校之異——本品未見聖乙本入帳（品四十五至品四十八密集入帳之聖乙，於本品範圍內零見），如實分記。
品題校記（品名兩系與 -1 階之底據·專列）。 品題〔T25 0555b10〕一注四造——「大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一【大】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜譬喻品第五十【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第五十譬喻品【石】｜釋譬喻品第五十一【明】」（明本之造，底本注原作〔大智度論〕－【明】，即明本無「大智度論」四字）——此即品次 -1 階與經題式改寫之底據，如實並錄（析論見第四目）。又品末校記〔T25 0557b12〕「道【大】｜道釋第五十品竟【聖】【石】」，聖、石兩本於品末加「釋第五十品竟」六字，與品題處之 -1 階同幅，兩端相互對證。
星號重引五條（其中二條跨品共用·專列）。 本品五條 star-corresp（同一異讀共用一注），逐條核其目標：〔T25 0555c20〕「世界」一條，corresp 指品內〔T25 0555c01〕之注；〔T25 0556b23〕「邪」、〔T25 0556b25〕「邪」二條，corresp 皆指品內〔T25 0556b05〕之注；而〔T25 0556a28〕【論】與〔T25 0557b02〕【論】二條，corresp 皆指〔T25 0554b23〕之注——該注在品五十（成辦品）範圍內，屬跨品共用（與品四十六之二十七條 star 全數品內原生者異，與品四十四之跨品型同款），如實誌錄。其注文為「【論】【大】，〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】」，故本品兩枚【論】標記之異讀讀法與品五十者同。
CBETA 依麗藏校訂一條（lem 為 CBETA 抉擇·專列）。 〔T25 0556c21〕一條，本品唯一之非傳統並陳型：底本之 lem 作「禪定」並附高麗藏頁碼交叉引用（K14n0549_p1204a15），其 rdg 之一為【大】本作「禪」；對應注文作「禪定【CB】【麗-CB】【聖】【石】，禪【大】」——即 CBETA 採麗藏系「禪定」二字而不從【大】本之「禪」。本帳於下之總帳依工作底本原樣傳錄其分造之形，本版讀者面從 CBETA 現行文本讀法，如實誌錄其型。
抽取層瑕二條（lemma 頓號·專列）。 〔T25 0556a06〕與〔T25 0556a09〕二條，工作底本校勘清單之 lemma 欄原作「忍、持」「風、冷」（帶頓號）；本帳逐字回核其原注，原文分別作「忍持【大】，忍辱【元】【明】【聖】，忍【石】」與「風冷【大】，冷風【聖】」——注文之 lemma 本身無頓號，該頓號係正文標點滲入抽取層之瑕，非底本 byte 之異、非義理歧異。下之總帳依原注原樣作「忍持」「風冷」，並於條末標明其與工作底本清單之形差，如實分記。
校勘總帳（三十九條全量對帳·底本原樣）。 下依工作底本原樣傳錄——本品校記合計三十九條 app，與機械重計值 app 39 機械相合。app 條依底本出現序全量列之，內含 star-corresp 重引五條（隨條標明，二條跨品）。異本讀法並列保存，正文仍從現行底本讀法：
app 條（三十九·底本出現序·star-corresp 隨條標明）
- 〔T25 0555b10〕大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一【大】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜譬喻品第五十【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第五十譬喻品【石】｜釋譬喻品第五十一【明】（品題一注四造·聖石經題式改寫＋-1 階·明本省「大智度論」四字·見第四目）
- 〔T25 0555b11〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】（結構標記存否注·宋宮聖無此標·見第一目）
- 〔T25 0555b13〕岸【大】｜圻【聖】
- 〔T25 0555b29〕護【大】｜護為深般若波羅蜜守護故乃至一切種智守護【宋】【元】【明】【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0555c01〕能【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0555c01〕世界【大】＊｜國土【聖】【石】＊｜聖本有傍註世界或本四字（校記附註原樣）
- 〔T25 0555c20〕能淨【大】｜能淨佛【宋】【元】【明】【宮】｜淨佛【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0555c20〕世界【大】＊｜國土【聖】【石】＊｜聖本有傍註世界或本四字（star·corresp→note(0555016)＝品內〔T25 0555c01〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0555c23〕估【大】｜賈【元】【明】（元明本之「賈」與所釋經 T223「賈客」跨藏相印·見第四目）
- 〔T25 0555c24〕是求【大】｜求之【聖】
- 〔T25 0556a01〕人【大】｜有人【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556a06〕忍持【大】｜忍辱【元】【明】【聖】｜忍【石】（底本注文原樣·工作底本清單之 lemma 作「忍、持」係抽取層頓號滲入·見上專列）
- 〔T25 0556a09〕風冷【大】｜冷風【聖】（底本注文原樣·工作底本清單之 lemma 作「風、冷」係抽取層頓號滲入·見上專列）
- 〔T25 0556a11〕或【大】｜或有【宋】【元】【明】【聖】
- 〔T25 0556a27〕提【大】｜提心【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556a28〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】（star·corresp→note(0554008)＝〔T25 0554b23〕注·跨品共用·其注在品五十範圍·見上專列）
- 〔T25 0556b05〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】
- 〔T25 0556b12〕若【大】｜若人【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0556b13〕沮【大】｜爼【宋】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0556b15〕自【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556b17〕火【大】｜水【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556b20〕船【大】｜船船【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556b20〕乖【大】｜永【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0556b23〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】（star·corresp→note(0556006)＝品內〔T25 0556b05〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0556b25〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】（star·corresp→note(0556006)＝品內〔T25 0556b05〕注·品內共用）
- 〔T25 0556b28〕須菩提【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556c04〕我施是物【大】｜我以是物施【聖】｜但有我施是物四字傍註（校記附註原樣）
- 〔T25 0556c16〕辱【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556c21〕禪定（K14n0549_p1204a15）【CB】【麗-CB】｜禪【大】｜禪定【聖】【石】（CBETA 依麗藏校訂型·見上專列）
- 〔T25 0556c21〕定【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556c24〕羅【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a02〕故【大】＊｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊（star·本注為品52〔T25 0558a25〕corresp 之目標·跨品共用·反向）
- 〔T25 0557a07〕守【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a13〕施【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a22〕憶想【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a27〕婆【大】｜波【石】
- 〔T25 0557b02〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】（star·corresp→note(0554008)＝〔T25 0554b23〕注·跨品共用·其注在品五十範圍·見上專列）
- 〔T25 0557b02〕釋曰【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0557b12〕道【大】｜道釋第五十品竟【聖】【石】（品末 -1 階之端點·與品題處同幅·見第四目）
以上三十九條，與工作底本錨點校記之數機械相合，star 之目標已隨條標明。品題一注四造、星號重引五條、CBETA 依麗藏校訂一條與抽取層瑕二條，已於上文分別專列。
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 0329c06〕起至〔T08 0331b08〕前）內之校勘 witness 逐條統計，本帳未展開（唯品題位置與第四目所列三處逐字補核），據實誌其未展開，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 71, as a single unit. The chapter title 「大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first"〔T25 0555b10〕 stands in the middle portion of Fascicle 71—the preceding chapter, "Accomplishing", Chapter 50, ends within the same fascicle, and this chapter does not begin with a title at the head of a fascicle, so below the chapter title there are no signatures of author and translator (unlike Chapter 46, which begins with a title at the head of the fascicle and gives the signatures of author and translator in full). This chapter ends with the last sentence of Treatise ②, 「以二因緣故不失道」 tr. "by these two causes and conditions one does not lose the path"〔T25 0557b11〕, and the title of the next chapter, 「大智度論釋善知識品第五十二」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Good Friend, the Fifty-second"〔T25 0557b13〕, follows immediately after it; the fascicle-end title of Fascicle 71〔T25 0562b05〕 lies far off, below Chapter 52, so within the range of this chapter there is neither a fascicle-head title nor a fascicle-end title. This is the type of a chapter within a single fascicle; the three types all differ—this one, Chapter 46 (title at the head of the fascicle), and Chapters 47 and 48 (title continued across fascicles)—and each is recorded separately as it is.
The whole chapter has two thousand nine hundred and six pure Chinese characters (the mechanically recounted value, agreeing with the figure recorded in the working write out); it is a small chapter within the section of the Commentary on the Remaining Chapters. Within the chapter the structure is two Sūtra 【經】 and two Treatise 【論】 sections in alternation, a single unit: 【經】〔T25 0555b11〕, 【論】〔T25 0556a28〕, 【經】〔T25 0556b28〕, 【論】〔T25 0557b02〕. All four tags fall exactly at the head of their blocks, with no transition of the embedded type; of the four, three have collation notes and one has none—the Song, Palace, and Shōgozō texts lack the tag of Sūtra ①〔T25 0555b11〕; the two tags of Treatise ①〔T25 0556a28〕 and Treatise ②〔T25 0557b02〕 share one note (star marks; their note lies within the range of Chapter 50, and is shared across chapters; see Section VIII); and Sūtra ②〔T25 0556b28〕 has no collation note (expected but not found; not an omission in the record; recorded separately as it is).
The speakers and the structure of question and answer: Sūtra ① begins from 「佛告須菩提」 tr. "The Buddha told Subhūti"〔T25 0555b11〕; the five parables follow one upon another, all of them the Buddha's own unprompted teaching, and the latter four each carry on the same teaching with 「須菩提！譬如」 tr. "Subhūti! It is like", with no marker of a change of speaker; only within the fifth parable (the parable of the old sick man) are two small exchanges of question and answer between the Buddha and Subhūti embedded—the question 「是人能從床起不」 tr. "Can this person get up from his bed?" (around〔T25 0556a09〕), 「須菩提言：『不能。』」 tr. "Subhūti said: ‘He cannot.’"〔T25 0556a10〕, 「是人或能起者，云何」 tr. "Suppose this person could get up—what then?"〔T25 0556a11〕, and 「是人雖能起，不能遠行若十里、若二十里，以其老病故」 tr. "Though this person could get up, he could not travel far, ten leagues or twenty, because of his age and illness"〔T25 0556a12〕. In Sūtra ② the Buddha speaks three passages in a row (praising Subhūti's question, the loss of being without skilful means, the gain of having skilful means), all continuing the same teaching with 「須菩提！」 tr. "Subhūti!", with no interjection by Subhūti. Treatise ① and Treatise ② are both the treatise-author's direct exposition of structure and meaning; throughout there is no formal question and answer with 「問曰」 tr. "Question:" and 「答曰」 tr. "Answer:", nor any setting out of divergent views side by side with 「有人言」 tr. "someone says"—this apparatus swept the base text of this chapter again word for word, and each of the four forms 「問曰」 tr. "Question:", 「答曰」 tr. "Answer:", 「有人言」 tr. "someone says", and 「復次」 tr. "Further" occurs zero times; the number of question-and-answer pairs is recorded as it is as zero. This belongs to the form of this chapter (small in scale, with only the classification of the five parables and one passage of direct teaching on the meaning of skilful means), different from the many-question type of Chapters 47 and 48, and is not an omission.
The two doctrinal axes follow the division of sūtra and treatise: Sūtra ① uses the five parables, pair by pair, to show the gain and the loss of having skilful means and of being without skilful means, and Treatise ① matches what the five parables stand for; Sūtra ② turns to the contrast between practising the six perfections with a mind of I and mine and practising the six perfections without a mind of I and mine, and Treatise ② gathers it into the twofold guarding of merit and wisdom.
II. Terms Examined
The eight dharmas (faith · acceptance · a pure mind · a deep mind · wish · understanding · relinquishment · vigour). What the whole chapter hangs on. Sūtra ① sets out their list: 「有信、有忍、有淨心、有深心、有欲、有解、有捨、有精進」 tr. "he has faith, has acceptance, has a pure mind, has a deep mind, has wish, has understanding, has relinquishment, has vigour"〔T25 0555b24〕; in the parables that follow they are either named in full or abbreviated as 「有信、忍、淨心、深心、欲、解、捨、精進」 tr. "he has faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, vigour". Treatise ① glosses them word by word: 「『信』者，信罪福業因緣果報，信行六波羅蜜得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "‘Faith’ is believing in the causes, conditions, and retributions of the karma of sin and merit, and believing that by practising the six perfections one attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"〔T25 0556b01〕; because 「有人雖信佛道，思惟、籌量，心不能忍」 tr. "there are people who, though they believe in the path of the Buddha, consider and reckon, and their minds cannot accept it"〔T25 0556b03〕, acceptance is spoken of; because 「有人雖忍，邪疑未斷故心濁不淨」 tr. "there are people who, though they accept, have not yet cut off wrong doubt, and so their minds are turbid and impure"〔T25 0556b04〕, purity is spoken of; faith, acceptance, and a pure mind may be shallow or deep, and so a deep mind is spoken of; because 「四事因緣故，一心欲得無上道，不欲餘事」 tr. "because of the causes and conditions of four things, one single-mindedly wishes to attain the unsurpassed path and does not wish for other things"〔T25 0556b06〕, wish is spoken of; because one 「了了決定知無上道為大、世間餘事為小」 tr. "knows clearly and decisively that the unsurpassed path is great and the other things of the world are small"〔T25 0556b08〕, understanding is spoken of; because 「以欲、解定心故，捨財及捨諸惡心、慳、恚等煩惱」 tr. "because wish and understanding settle the mind, one gives up wealth and gives up evil minds, stinginess, anger, and the other afflictions"〔T25 0556b09〕, relinquishment is spoken of; and for the sake of relinquishment one can always be vigorous. The eight dharmas are virtues that are present but not yet sufficient—the question of the whole chapter lies precisely in why, when these eight dharmas are already complete, one still falls.
Wasting away midway. The general name for the place of loss in this chapter. Sūtra ①: 「當知是善男子中道衰耗，是人未到一切種智，於聲聞、辟支佛地取證」 tr. "know that this good man wastes away midway; this person, not having reached the omniscience of all kinds, takes realisation on the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground"〔T25 0555b21〕; the fourth parable gives its own gloss: 「大珍寶者，所謂一切種智。衰耗者，墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "The great precious treasure is the omniscience of all kinds. Wasting away is falling to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground" (around〔T25 0555c25〕). Wasting away is not falling back from the fruits of humans and gods; it is failing, midway, to reach sarvajñā and stopping in the two vehicles.
Guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means. The pivotal phrase of this chapter. One who has the eight dharmas but is not guarded by prajñā and skilful means wastes away; one who is guarded by them can arrive—Sūtra ① sets up this one formula again and again: 「不為般若波羅蜜、方便力所守護」 tr. "not guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means"〔T25 0555c07〕, 「為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護，為禪定、精進、忍、戒、施乃至一切種智所護故」 tr. "because he is guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means, guarded by meditation, vigour, patience, morality, giving, and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds"〔T25 0555c17〕. Treatise ② gathers up its substance: 「守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力」 tr. "As for guarding: on the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom"〔T25 0557b10〕—guarding is not a power that comes from outside; it is the power that the two sides, merit and wisdom, possess of themselves.
Having skilful means · being without skilful means. The direct teaching of Sūtra ②. Being without skilful means is 「從初發心已來無方便行布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、修智慧」 tr. "from the first arousing of the mind onward, practising giving, keeping the precepts, patience, vigour, and meditation, and cultivating wisdom, without skilful means" (around〔T25 0556c14〕), and its mark lies in self-exaltation: 「念有是施、是我施，以是施自高」 tr. "thinking that there is this giving, that this is my giving, and by this giving exalting oneself"〔T25 0556c17〕. Having skilful means is 「內無我、我所心，外觀一切法空不取相，般若、方便乃至一切種智守護菩薩故，名有方便」 tr. "within, having no mind of I and mine; without, contemplating all dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks; because prajñā and skilful means and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds guard the bodhisattva, this is called having skilful means"〔T25 0557b08〕. Treatise ② also records the order in which the Buddha first spoke the meaning and afterwards spoke the name: 「上佛雖說無方便義，不說無方便名；欲令是事明了故」 tr. "above, the Buddha, though he spoke the meaning of being without skilful means, did not speak the name of being without skilful means; because he wished to make this matter clear"〔T25 0557b06〕.
This shore · the further shore. The mark of the six perfections is established from here. Sūtra ②: 「檀波羅蜜中無如是分別，遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相」 tr. "In dānapāramitā there is no such discrimination; being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā"〔T25 0556c06〕; all six perfections, with śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā, take 「遠離此彼岸」 tr. "being far from this shore and the further shore" as their mark. The one who loses: 「是人不知此岸、不知彼岸」 tr. "this person does not know this shore and does not know the further shore"〔T25 0556c10〕; the one who gains: 「是菩薩摩訶薩知此岸、知彼岸」 tr. "this bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows this shore and knows the further shore"〔T25 0557a22〕. The difference between knowing and not knowing hinges on whether or not one practises with discrimination and clinging—Treatise ②: 「是中無分別此岸、彼岸，以遠離相是般若波羅蜜；而分別著行，是為失」 tr. "Here there is no discriminating of this shore and the further shore, because the mark of being far from them is prajñāpāramitā; but to practise with discrimination and clinging is the loss"〔T25 0557b04〕.
The unfired pot · the fired pot. The paired terms of the second and third parables. The unfired pot has not passed through fire: 「是瓶未熟故，還歸於地」 tr. "this pot is not yet fired, and so it returns to the earth"〔T25 0555c04〕; the fired pot is complete: 「是瓶成熟故」 tr. "because this pot is fully fired"〔T25 0555c14〕. Treatise ① matches them: 「『瓶』是菩薩道。般若、方便是火。未與般若、方便和合故，不能受持六波羅蜜功德水至無上道」 tr. "‘The pot’ is the bodhisattva path. Prajñā and skilful means are the fire. Because it has not yet come together with prajñā and skilful means, it cannot receive and hold the water of the merits of the six perfections up to the unsurpassed path"〔T25 0556b16〕—prajñā and skilful means are not the water held in the pot; they are the fire that fires the pot.
The float and the other things. The means of crossing in the first parable. Sūtra ① lists four things—a plank, a vessel, a float, a corpse—and if one takes hold of them, then 「終不沒死，安隱無礙，得到彼岸」 tr. "one will never sink and die; safe and unhindered, one reaches the further shore"〔T25 0555b15〕. Treatise ① matches them: 「『船』是行者身。『浮囊等物』即是般若、方便」 tr. "‘The ship’ is the practitioner's body. ‘The float and the other things’ are prajñā and skilful means"〔T25 0556b15〕.
The sixty-two wrong views · the hundred and eight afflictions. The gloss on the parable of the old sick man. Treatise ①: 「『老病人』是有信等功德菩薩。不斷六十二邪見故名老；不斷百八等諸煩惱故名病」 tr. "‘The old sick man’ is the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits. Because he has not cut off the sixty-two wrong views he is called old; because he has not cut off the hundred and eight and the other afflictions he is called sick"〔T25 0556b22〕; as for getting up, 「從床起者，從三界床起，我當作佛」 tr. "getting up from the bed is getting up from the bed of the three realms: ‘I shall become a Buddha’"〔T25 0556b24〕—old age and sickness lie not in the years, but in views and afflictions not having been cut off.
The two persons (prajñā · skilful means). How the two strong men in the parable of the old sick man are matched. Treatise ①: 「二人者，般若及方便。般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中」 tr. "The two persons are prajñā and skilful means. Prajñāpāramitā can extinguish all wrong views, afflictions, and idle discourse, and bring one into ultimate emptiness"〔T25 0556b25〕, while 「方便將出畢竟空」 tr. "skilful means brings one out of ultimate emptiness"〔T25 0556b27〕—prajñā brings one in and skilful means brings one out; only with both things is the support in walking accomplished, and this is what the chapter's 「二人終不相捨」 tr. "the two will never leave you" is matched to.
III. Similes and Stories
This chapter takes its very title from parables. Sūtra ① sets up five parables in a row, and Treatise ① matches each parable to the Dharma; this chapter cites no event, and the parables are all made on the spot.
First, the parable of the ship breaking up in the great sea (the ship · the float and the other things). 「譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死屍」 tr. "It is like a ship breaking up in the great sea: if the people in it do not take hold of a plank, do not take hold of a vessel, do not take hold of a float, do not take hold of a corpse"〔T25 0555b11〕, then they 「不到彼岸，沒海中死」 tr. "will not reach the further shore; they sink in the sea and die" (around〔T25 0555b13〕); if they take hold of them, then 「當知是人終不沒死，安隱無礙，得到彼岸」 tr. "know that these people will never sink and die; safe and unhindered, they reach the further shore"〔T25 0555b15〕. Matched to the Dharma: 「『船』是行者身。『浮囊等物』即是般若、方便」 tr. "‘The ship’ is the practitioner's body. ‘The float and the other things’ are prajñā and skilful means"〔T25 0556b15〕.
Second, the parable of the unfired pot (loss). 「譬如男子、女人持坏瓶取水，當知是瓶不久爛壞」 tr. "It is like a man or a woman who carries water in an unfired pot: know that this pot will soon crumble and break"〔T25 0555c03〕, because 「是瓶未熟故，還歸於地」 tr. "this pot is not yet fired, and so it returns to the earth"〔T25 0555c04〕; it is applied to the one who has the eight dharmas complete but is not guarded by prajñā and skilful means: 「當知是人中道衰耗，墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "know that this person wastes away midway and falls to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground"〔T25 0555c12〕.
Third, the parable of the fired pot (gain). 「譬如男子女人持熟瓶取水，若河、若井、若池、若泉」 tr. "It is like a man or a woman who carries water in a fired pot, whether from a river, a well, a pond, or a spring"〔T25 0555c13〕; know that it carries the water safely, because 「是瓶成熟故」 tr. "because this pot is fully fired"〔T25 0555c14〕; it is applied to the one guarded by prajñā and skilful means, with phrases of the kind 「過聲聞、辟支佛地，能淨佛世界、成就眾生」 tr. "passes beyond the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha grounds, and can purify buddha-worlds and bring beings to maturity"〔T25 0555c01〕 recurring again and again. The two pots, unfired and fired, are matched together to one Dharma—Treatise ① sums them up as the single figure 「『瓶』是菩薩道」 tr. "‘The pot’ is the bodhisattva path"〔T25 0556b16〕.
Fourth, the parable of the ship not yet fitted out and repaired (opening both loss and gain). The loss: 「譬如大海邊船未莊治，便持財物著上」 tr. "It is like a ship at the edge of the great sea not yet fitted out and repaired, on which one loads goods"〔T25 0555c21〕; then midway it breaks up and sinks, 「船與財物各在一處」 tr. "and the ship and the goods are each in a different place"〔T25 0555c22〕, and 「是估客無方便力故，亡其重寶」 tr. "because this merchant has no power of skilful means, he loses his heavy treasure"〔T25 0555c23〕; the gain: 「人有智方便莊治海邊大船，然後推著水中」 tr. "a person who has wisdom and skilful means fits out and repairs a great ship at the edge of the sea, and only then pushes it into the water"〔T25 0556a01〕, and then it surely arrives safely at the place it is bound for. Matched to the Dharma: 「『不補治船』，是菩薩無方便。信等功德寶物，是五波羅蜜等諸善法船」 tr. "‘Not fitting out and repairing the ship’ is the bodhisattva without skilful means. Faith and the other merits are the treasure; the five perfections and the other wholesome dharmas are the ship"〔T25 0556b18〕; further, 「寶異處者，與本願乖異，或受人天樂、或墮二乘」 tr. "the treasure being in a different place means going against the original vow, and either receiving the pleasures of humans and gods or falling into the two vehicles"〔T25 0556b20〕, and 「大利者，所謂一切智等佛法寶」 tr. "the great profit is the treasure of the Buddha's dharmas, omniscience and the rest"〔T25 0556b21〕.
Fifth, the parable of the old sick man (containing two small exchanges of question and answer between the Buddha and Subhūti). 「譬如有人年百二十歲，年耆根熟，又有風、冷、熱病、若雜病」 tr. "It is like a person a hundred and twenty years old, aged in years and ripe in faculties, who moreover has illnesses of wind, cold, and heat, or mixed illnesses"〔T25 0556a08〕; the Buddha asks whether he can get up from his bed, and Subhūti says 「不能」 tr. "He cannot"〔T25 0556a11〕; the Buddha asks again, 「是人或能起者，云何」 tr. "Suppose this person could get up—what then?"〔T25 0556a11〕, and Subhūti answers 「是人雖能起，不能遠行若十里、若二十里，以其老病故」 tr. "Though this person could get up, he could not travel far, ten leagues or twenty, because of his age and illness"〔T25 0556a12〕. The mark of the one who gains lies in support: 「是人欲起行，有兩健人各扶一腋」 tr. "when this person wishes to get up and walk, there are two strong men who each support him under one arm"〔T25 0556a20〕, and the two say to the old man, 「莫有所難，隨所欲至，我等二人終不相捨」 tr. "Have no fear of difficulty; go wherever you wish; we two will never leave you"〔T25 0556a21〕. Matched to the Dharma: 「『老病人』是有信等功德菩薩」 tr. "‘The old sick man’ is the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits"〔T25 0556b22〕, and 「二人者，般若及方便」 tr. "The two persons are prajñā and skilful means"〔T25 0556b25〕.
The overall heading of the five parables. Before matching the parables one by one to the Dharma, Treatise ① first gives their number: 「此中佛自說五譬喻」 tr. "Here the Buddha himself speaks five parables"〔T25 0556b15〕—this one sentence is the treatise's own proof of the classification of this chapter; its count and the count of Jizang's commentary, 「有四譬」 tr. "there are four parables", are recorded side by side in Section VI.
IV. The Sūtra Passage Explained
The network of chapter names (the Shōgozō and the Ishiyama continue the -1 step · the Ming edition abbreviates the title). The chapter title of this chapter is one note made in four forms, each recorded according to the base text: the base text of this treatise〔T25 0555b10〕 reads 「大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first"; the Shōgozō text reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜譬喻品第五十」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā, Chapter on Parables, the Fiftieth" (sūtra-title form · the chapter number one less); the Ishiyama text reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜品第五十譬喻品」 tr. "Chapter on Mahāprajñāpāramitā, the Fiftieth, Chapter on Parables" (sūtra-title form · the chapter number one less · the three characters 「譬喻品」 tr. "Chapter on Parables" placed after); and the Ming edition lacks the four characters 「大智度論」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa" (the base-text note reads 〔大智度論〕－【明】). No different name is found for this chapter—though the Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts rewrite the title in sūtra-title form and give a chapter number one less, their chapter name still reads 「譬喻」 tr. "Parables", unlike Chapter 48, where the Shōgozō text gives the separate different name 「報恩品」 tr. "Repaying Kindness"; each is recorded separately as it is. The chapter title of this chapter in the sūtra explained, T223〔T08 0329c06〕, reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經譬喻品第五十一」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first"; the mulu heading of Jizang's commentary is 「譬喻品第五十一」 tr. "Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first"〔X24n0451 0301b06〕.
The -1 step in the chapter number (the two end-points, chapter title and chapter end, prove each other · continued without a break). In this treatise the Shōgozō text reads 「第五十」 tr. "the Fiftieth" and the Ishiyama text reads 「第五十」 tr. "the Fiftieth", both one less than the base text's 「第五十一」 tr. "the Fifty-first", in the same direction and by the same amount as the Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts have shifted chapter by chapter since Chapter 44—the chain of the -1 step continues in this chapter. What is valuable in this chapter is that both end-points survive: in the collation note on the last character of the chapter, 「道」 tr. "path"〔T25 0557b12〕, the Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts read 「道釋第五十品竟」 tr. "path. End of the commentary on the fiftieth chapter"—the 「第五十」 tr. "the fiftieth" where the chapter body closes matches in amount the 「第五十」 tr. "the Fiftieth" at the chapter title; the two ends prove each other, and this is not an inference from a single point.
The T223 table-of-contents encoding layer (the +1 offset continues · the displayed text and the n attribute recorded separately). On the T223 side of the sūtra explained, the table-of-contents entry for this chapter has the displayed text 「51 譬喻品」 tr. "51 Chapter on Parables", while its n attribute is marked 「52」 tr. "the number 52"〔T08 0329c06〕—the ordinal of the displayed text agrees with the base text's chapter number, and the n attribute is one more than the displayed text. The same pattern holds chapter by chapter before and after: "Asking about Marks" has the displayed text 「49」 tr. "the number 49" and n marked 「50」 tr. "the number 50"〔T08 0325b13〕, "Accomplishing" has the displayed text 「50」 tr. "the number 50" and n marked 「51」 tr. "the number 51"〔T08 0328a05〕, and the next chapter, "The Friend", has the displayed text 「52」 tr. "the number 52" and n marked 「53」 tr. "the number 53"〔T08 0331b08〕. This +1 offset has appeared repeatedly since Chapter 41; the n attributes of Chapters 47 and 48 were once both marked 「48」 tr. "the number 48" and so repeated once, and from this chapter onward they have returned to a monotonic increase, while the offset itself continues; recorded separately as it is, with no forced explanation; alignment still takes as its standard the word-for-word comparison of the displayed text and the content. Further, within the T223 chapter title of this chapter, a star-type anchor is placed between 「譬喻」 tr. "Parables" and 「品」 tr. "chapter"〔T08 0329c06〕; this apparatus checked that the adjacent text is the single character 「品」 tr. "chapter", with no corresponding note content and no cross-edition variant marking; it belongs to an editorial-layer cross-marking of the passage, not to a finding at the variant layer, and is recorded without being unfolded.
Chapter boundary and fascicle boundary. On the side of the sūtra explained, this chapter begins at〔T08 0329c06〕 and ends before the chapter title of the next chapter, "The Friend"〔T08 0331b08〕, the chapter boundary not tied to a fascicle boundary; on the side of this treatise, too, this chapter lies in the middle portion of Fascicle 71, the chapter boundary not tied to a fascicle boundary (see Section I)—in both transmissions this chapter begins within a fascicle, which differs from the form of Chapter 46 (beginning at the head of a fascicle in this treatise); recorded separately as it is.
Full comparative reading of the sūtra quoted (collated on both sides · the opening checked sentence by sentence · control group). The opening of Sūtra ① in this treatise is almost word for word the same as "Parables" in the sūtra explained—this treatise: 「佛告須菩提：『譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死屍』」 tr. "The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘It is like a ship breaking up in the great sea: if the people in it do not take hold of a plank, do not take hold of a vessel, do not take hold of a float, do not take hold of a corpse’"〔T25 0555b11〕; the same passage in T223〔T08 0329c07〕 reads 「佛告須菩提：『譬如大海中船破壞，其中人若不取木、不取器物、不取浮囊、不取死尸』」 tr. "The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘It is like a ship breaking up in the great sea: if the people in it do not take hold of a plank, do not take hold of a vessel, do not take hold of a float, do not take hold of a corpse’"—the same opening and the same scene-structure (who tells whom, what parable is set up, what things are taken hold of, what result is obtained), differing only in the form of one character, 「死屍」 tr. "corpse" against 「死尸」 tr. "corpse (in the variant graph)". There are three places worth recording. First, the names of the six perfections: this treatise reads 「不依禪波羅蜜……檀波羅蜜」 tr. "does not rely on dhyānapāramitā … dānapāramitā" (around〔T25 0555b18〕), while T223 reads 「不依禪那波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜、檀那波羅蜜」 tr. "does not rely on dhyānapāramitā, vīryapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, śīlapāramitā, dānapāramitā (with dhyāna and dāna in full transliteration)"〔T08 0329c14〕—the sūtra explained keeps the full transliterations 「禪那」 tr. "dhyāna (in full transliteration)" and 「檀那」 tr. "dāna (in full transliteration)", while this treatise uses the abbreviated forms. Second, the characters of the fourth parable: this treatise reads 「船未莊治」 tr. "a ship not yet fitted out and repaired"〔T25 0555c21〕 and 「估客」 tr. "merchant"〔T25 0555c23〕, while T223 reads 「船未裝治」 tr. "a ship not yet fitted out and repaired (with a different graph for ‘fitted out’)" and 「賈客」 tr. "merchant (with a different graph)" (around〔T08 0330a20〕)—and in the collation note on the character 「估」 tr. "trade" in this treatise, the Yuan and Ming editions read precisely 「賈」 tr. "trade (the other graph)" (see the entry〔T25 0555c23〕 in Section VIII): on this one character the old editions of this treatise and the sūtra explained bear each other out across canons; recorded as it is. Third, this treatise's 「船與財物各在一處」 tr. "the ship and the goods are each in a different place"〔T25 0555c22〕 is in T223 「人船財物各在一處」 tr. "the people, the ship, and the goods are each in a different place", with one more character, 「人」 tr. "people". Control group: the three strings of Chinese characters 「持坏瓶取水」 tr. "carries water in an unfired pot", 「亡其重寶」 tr. "loses his heavy treasure", and 「不能遠行若十里」 tr. "could not travel far, ten leagues" each occur only once in the whole of T223 and the whole of T1509 (one place each, both in this chapter); the alignment is unique, with no other chapter to confuse it, and it is 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 reads Parables in both canons, and the chapter body is the same text word for word). The two 【論】 layers of this treatise are a structural expansion belonging to the body of the treatise; the sūtra explained has no such layer, and this is not a variant. The entry-by-entry statistics of the collation witnesses on the T223 side of the sūtra explained within the scope of the comparative reading of this chapter were not unfolded by this apparatus (only the position of the chapter title and the three places listed above were additionally checked word for word); the fact that they were not unfolded is recorded as it is, and no estimate is used to fill the number.
V. The Prajñā Eye
The eye of this chapter lies in the six Chinese characters rendered here as ‘the eight dharmas complete, yet still falling’. Faith, acceptance, a pure mind, a deep mind, wish, understanding, relinquishment, vigour—all are wholesome dharmas, all are what a bodhisattva ought to have; and yet the five parables this chapter sets up are, every one of them, set after these eight dharmas are already complete. Its meaning can be summed up in five layers.
First, the virtues are not untrue; they have not yet passed through fire. The unfired pot is not something other than a pot; it is not yet fired. The ship is not something other than a ship; it is not yet fitted out and repaired. The old man is not without the thought of getting up; his faculties are ripe and he is entangled in illness. Treatise ① matches this most directly: 「『瓶』是菩薩道。般若、方便是火」 tr. "‘The pot’ is the bodhisattva path. Prajñā and skilful means are the fire"〔T25 0556b16〕—the fire is not some separate thing outside the pot; it is what makes the pot a pot.
Second, what guards is not an outside power. The 「為般若波羅蜜、方便力所護」 tr. "guarded by prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means"〔T25 0555c17〕 repeated again and again in Sūtra ① is easily taken as the thought of an outside protection; Treatise ② gathers it into a power that the two sides possess of themselves: 「守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力」 tr. "As for guarding: on the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom"〔T25 0557b10〕—merit comes from the five perfections, wisdom comes from prajñā, and when the two causes and conditions join, the path is not lost.
Third, prajñā and skilful means: one brings in, one brings out. Treatise ① glosses the two persons thus: 「般若波羅蜜能滅諸邪見、煩惱、戲論，將至畢竟空中」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā can extinguish all wrong views, afflictions, and idle discourse, and bring one into ultimate emptiness"〔T25 0556b26〕, and 「方便將出畢竟空」 tr. "skilful means brings one out of ultimate emptiness"〔T25 0556b27〕. Without prajñā one cannot get in; without skilful means one gets in but does not come out—the reason two strong men are needed, each supporting him under one arm, lies in this meaning.
Fourth, the place of loss lies in self-exaltation, not in practising little. The one without skilful means in Sūtra ② practises the six perfections without lack; his sickness lies only in 「念有是施、是我施，以是施自高」 tr. "thinking that there is this giving, that this is my giving, and by this giving exalting oneself"〔T25 0556c17〕; and the mark of the six perfections is in itself 「遠離此彼岸是檀波羅蜜相」 tr. "being far from this shore and the further shore is the mark of dānapāramitā"〔T25 0556c07〕—because he practises with discrimination a dharma whose mark is to be far from it, 「不知此岸、不知彼岸」 tr. "he does not know this shore and does not know the further shore"〔T25 0556c10〕. Treatise ② settles it in one sentence: 「而分別著行，是為失」 tr. "but to practise with discrimination and clinging is the loss"〔T25 0557b05〕.
Fifth, wasting away is wasting away because it happens midway. What this chapter is anxious about is not falling into the evil destinies, but 「於聲聞、辟支佛地取證」 tr. "taking realisation on the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground"〔T25 0555b22〕—to take realisation is to stop. Therefore, on the side of gain of the five parables, every phrase is gathered into 「能淨佛世界、成就眾生」 tr. "can purify buddha-worlds and bring beings to maturity"〔T25 0555c01〕 and into sarvajñā; on the side of loss, every phrase is gathered into the grounds of the two vehicles. The severity of this chapter lies not in rebuking evil, but in rebuking stopping at the good.
VI. Divergent Readings of the Masters
The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa has no tradition of a full commentary following the text passage by passage, and the ancient masters' citations and explanations are, as a matter of fact, partial. For this chapter only one master's rereading exists: Jizang's commentary on the sūtra explained preserves a complete dedicated section; Huiying's commentary on the treatise has zero hits for this chapter; and Junzheng's book contains no citation of this chapter. This section records how what they comment on and cite corresponds to this chapter, without judging the relative merits of the masters' interpretations.
Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451). His passage-by-passage commentary on "Parables" in the sūtra explained begins at〔X24n0451 0301b06〕 (the mulu 「譬喻品第五十一」 tr. "Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first", immediately following where the commentary on the preceding chapter ends) and runs up to just before〔X24n0451 0302a03〕 (where the next mulu, 「知識品第五十二」 tr. "Chapter on the Friend, the Fifty-second", begins), covering the whole sūtra text of this chapter. There are four things worth recording.
First, the classification of four chapters as one group—「譬喻品第五十一此下第二十品，廣明三根人行相，為二：初四品明中下二人行相，從不退至不證品中明上根人行相，大判如此耳」 tr. "Chapter on Parables, the fifty-first: the twenty chapters from here on broadly make clear the marks of the practice of people of the three faculties, in two parts: the first four chapters make clear the marks of the practice of the two, the middling and the lower; from Non-retrogression up to the chapter on Not Realising, the marks of the practice of people of the highest faculties are made clear; such is the broad division"〔X24n0451 0301b06〕; and further, 「四品為四：第一、此品舉法譬勸中下二人推失脩得；第二、知識品觀中下根人憑善知識習妙行；第三、超智品明中下根人者標大果；第四、大女品明中下根人如如而學」 tr. "The four chapters are four: first, this chapter raises Dharma and parable to exhort the two, the middling and the lower, to push away loss and cultivate gain; second, the chapter on the Friend contemplates people of middling and lower faculties relying on the good friend to train in the wondrous practice; third, the chapter on Surpassing Knowledge makes clear the great fruit held up for people of middling and lower faculties; fourth, the chapter on the Great Woman makes clear people of middling and lower faculties training according to suchness"〔X24n0451 0301b11〕. Jizang takes this chapter as the head of this group of four chapters, its position being 「舉法譬勸中下二人推失脩得」 tr. "raising Dharma and parable to exhort the two, the middling and the lower, to push away loss and cultivate gain". Further, in the preceding text he himself marks the beginning of the great section: 「從譬喻十品領經廣明三根人相」 tr. "from Parables on, ten chapters take up the sūtra and broadly make clear the marks of people of the three faculties"〔X24n0451 0301a13〕.
Second, the division of this chapter into two sections—「初二，第一借喻以明得失，二者法說廣明有方便義」 tr. "At first there are two: the first borrows parables to make clear gain and loss; the second is the Dharma-exposition, broadly making clear the meaning of having skilful means"〔X24n0451 0301b15〕: he divides this chapter into two, exposition by parable and exposition by Dharma, which corresponds to this treatise's division into two 【經】 and two 【論】 (Sūtra ①, the five parables; Sūtra ②, the direct teaching on skilful means).
Third, the two counts, 「有四譬」 tr. "there are four parables" and this treatise's 「五譬喻」 tr. "five parables" (recorded side by side without judgement). Jizang gathers the parable section of this chapter into four: 「從初段為同云譬喻品，有四譬：第一譬明依二慧不依二慧故，度生死海不度生死海；第二譬明得二慧未得二慧故，得諸功德不得功德譬；第三明得二慧不得二慧，遂本願不遂本願譬；第四明有二慧無二慧，能至佛道不能至佛譬」 tr. "From the first section it is called, as one, the Chapter on Parables; there are four parables: the first parable makes clear that, because one relies or does not rely on the two wisdoms, one crosses or does not cross the sea of birth and death; the second is the parable making clear that, because one has obtained or has not yet obtained the two wisdoms, one obtains the merits or does not obtain the merits; the third is the parable making clear that, obtaining or not obtaining the two wisdoms, one fulfils or does not fulfil the original vow; the fourth is the parable making clear that, having or lacking the two wisdoms, one can reach the path of the Buddha or cannot reach the Buddha"〔X24n0451 0301b16〕; while Treatise ① of this treatise gives its own number: 「此中佛自說五譬喻」 tr. "Here the Buddha himself speaks five parables"〔T25 0556b15〕. In his commentary Jizang himself sets up one question and one answer to deal with the gap between these numbers: 「問：此中就得失為論應有八譬，得失合論應四譬，云何五譬？答：論開老人一譬為二段五也」 tr. "Question: Here, if one discusses in terms of gain and loss, there should be eight parables; if gain and loss are discussed together, there should be four parables; how are there five parables? Answer: The treatise opens the one parable of the old man into two sections; hence five"〔X24n0451 0301c12〕. This apparatus records side by side, as they are, the numbers of both parties and the words of Jizang's own answer, recorded side by side without judgement—this treatise's ‘five’ and Jizang's ‘four’ each belong to their own method of classification; this section records both parties and does not settle the reading on their behalf. Jizang's words on the individual parables are also recorded: on the first parable, 「生死為大海，行者身船船壞，是無先至時也」 tr. "Birth and death are the great sea; the practitioner's body is the ship; the ship breaking is the time when one has not yet arrived"〔X24n0451 0301b21〕; on the second, 「第二瓶譬，先作失譬及合。瓶譬菩薩道未得二慧」 tr. "The second, the parable of the pot, first makes the parable of loss and its application. The pot stands for the bodhisattva path that has not yet obtained the two wisdoms"〔X24n0451 0301c01〕; on the fourth, 「第四者、病人是有二慧無二慧，至佛道不至佛道，具六十二見為老，具百八煩惱為病」 tr. "The fourth: the sick man is having or lacking the two wisdoms, reaching or not reaching the path of the Buddha; being complete with the sixty-two views is old age, being complete with the hundred and eight afflictions is sickness"〔X24n0451 0301c08〕—the fourth parable's 「具六十二見為老，具百八煩惱為病」 tr. "being complete with the sixty-two views is old age, being complete with the hundred and eight afflictions is sickness"〔X24n0451 0301c09〕 is the same in sense, word for word, as Treatise ① of this treatise, 「不斷六十二邪見故名老；不斷百八等諸煩惱故名病」 tr. "because he has not cut off the sixty-two wrong views he is called old; because he has not cut off the hundred and eight and the other afflictions he is called sick"〔T25 0556b22〕; on this one gloss the two agree.
Fourth, the words on the twofold guarding of merit and wisdom—「又福慧二護，五度邊得福、般若邊得慧，二事圓故不失佛道」 tr. "Further, the twofold guarding of merit and wisdom: on the side of the five perfections one obtains merit, on the side of prajñā one obtains wisdom; because the two things are complete, one does not lose the path of the Buddha"〔X24n0451 0301c23〕, which corresponds to Treatise ② of this treatise, 「守護者，五波羅蜜邊得功德力，般若波羅蜜邊得智慧力」 tr. "As for guarding: on the side of the five perfections one obtains the power of merit, on the side of prajñāpāramitā one obtains the power of wisdom"〔T25 0557b10〕; further, his explanation of the two meanings of being without skilful means, 「無方便二義：一者、內著我；二、外著諸法也」 tr. "Being without skilful means has two meanings: first, within, clinging to the self; second, without, clinging to dharmas"〔X24n0451 0301c21〕, corresponds pair for pair, inner and outer, to Treatise ② of this treatise, 「內無我、我所心，外觀一切法空不取相」 tr. "within, having no mind of I and mine; without, contemplating all dharmas as empty and not grasping at marks"〔T25 0557b08〕. Further, Jizang also sets up his own question and answer on the eight dharmas: 「問：信忍等云何是耶？答：有二菩薩，一得深悟，無二未得，但有信忍等也」 tr. "Question: How are faith, acceptance, and the rest so? Answer: There are two bodhisattvas: one has obtained deep awakening; the second has not yet obtained it, and has only faith, acceptance, and the rest"〔X24n0451 0301c14〕—sharing the same framework as Treatise ① of this treatise, 「菩薩有二種：一者、得諸法實相；二者、雖未得實相」 tr. "Bodhisattvas are of two kinds: first, those who have obtained the real mark of all dharmas; second, those who, though they have not yet obtained the real mark"〔T25 0556a28〕.
Huiying's Commentary on the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa (X46n0791) · zero hits (recorded as it is). It is the only ancient commentary on this treatise, and survives only in fragmentary fascicles. The chapter name and the key words of this chapter—the five strings 「譬喻品」 tr. "Chapter on Parables", 「船破壞」 tr. "ship breaking up", 「浮囊」 tr. "float", 「坏瓶」 tr. "unfired pot", and 「老病人」 tr. "old sick man"—searched back through the whole file of X46n0791, each have zero hits; Fascicle 71 of the treatise, to which this chapter belongs, is not within the range covered by the fragmentary fascicles—the zero coverage belongs to the actual state of the fragments, not to a failure of the search, and the negative result is recorded as it is.
Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) · two passages not of this chapter (excluded after word-for-word checking). Searching the key words of this chapter back through X46n0784, only the string 「老病人」 tr. "old sick man" hits, in two passages〔X46n0784 0586b12〕〔X46n0784 0586b21〕. This apparatus checked their text word for word: the former reads 「城四門外，不識老病人等，車匿示言是沙門等」 tr. "outside the four gates of the city, not recognising the old, the sick, and the rest, Chandaka showed him and said that this was a śramaṇa, and the rest"〔X46n0784 0586b12〕, and the latter reads 「又如瑞應經云：不識城門外老病人，三年乳哺不語。」 tr. "Again, as the Auspicious Response Sūtra says: not recognising the old and sick outside the city gates; nursed for three years, he did not speak."〔X46n0784 0586b21〕—both passages tell the birth-story of the Buddha going out of the city and seeing the four signs, and all three—who, to whom, and what meaning the figure has—differ from this chapter's figure of the 「老病人」 tr. "old sick man" (the bodhisattva who has faith and the other merits but lacks prajñā and skilful means, figured as an old sick man a hundred and twenty years old); they are not a citation carried over from this chapter. Junzheng has no named citation of this chapter; recorded as it is.
VII. Cross-reading and Further Resonances
The lineage of meaning of this chapter has three threads that carry on from before and after, all recorded in this section, without settling the reading.
First, the carrying-on of the chapter order as a group of four (the ancient master's own proof · belonging to Jizang's commentary). Jizang takes this chapter as the head of 「初四品明中下二人行相」 tr. "the first four chapters make clear the marks of the practice of the two, the middling and the lower", followed in order by the chapters on the Friend, on Surpassing Knowledge, and on the Great Woman〔X24n0451 0301b11〕—this chapter 「舉法譬勸中下二人推失脩得」 tr. "raises Dharma and parable to exhort the two, the middling and the lower, to push away loss and cultivate gain", and the next chapter 「憑善知識習妙行」 tr. "relies on the good friend to train in the wondrous practice". On the side of this treatise the chapter order follows the same sequence: this chapter ends, and the next chapter's title is 「大智度論釋善知識品第五十二」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Good Friend, the Fifty-second"〔T25 0557b13〕. The classification of the chapter group belongs to the judgement of Jizang alone; this section records its traces, without settling the reading.
Second, the chapter's own proof of the meaning of skilful means. What runs through the two sections of this chapter lies in one phrase of Treatise ②: 「上佛雖說無方便義，不說無方便名；欲令是事明了故」 tr. "above, the Buddha, though he spoke the meaning of being without skilful means, did not speak the name of being without skilful means; because he wished to make this matter clear"〔T25 0557b06〕—what the five parables of Sūtra ① speak of is the meaning of being without skilful means (the eight dharmas not guarded by prajñā and skilful means, and so wasting away), and what Sūtra ② speaks of is the name of being without skilful means (what is called having skilful means and being without skilful means). Meaning first and name after: the treatise-author himself gives the reason why Sūtra ① and Sūtra ② form two sections.
Third, the non-citation of 「浮囊」 tr. "float" and 「船破壞」 tr. "ship breaking up" in the Tiantai lineage (the negative result recorded as it is). This apparatus searched the key words of this chapter back through four Tiantai texts and checked the hits one by one: none of them is a citation of this chapter. The string 「浮囊」 tr. "float": twelve occurrences in the Great Calming and Contemplation (densely in one passage from〔T46 0038a17〕, the rest at〔T46 0092a27〕), two in the Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation (〔T46 0257a03〕〔T46 0257a29〕), two in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus (〔T33 0716c25〕〔T33 0760a07〕), and two in the Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus (T33n1717) (〔T33 0872b06〕〔T33 0872b07〕)—checking their text one by one, all of them are the Nirvāṇa Sūtra's simile of the rākṣasa begging for the float, a simile of the marks of keeping and breaking the precepts, as the Great Calming and Contemplation cites it: 「《大經》云：『譬如有人，帶持浮囊，渡於大海。爾時，海中有一羅剎來乞浮囊。初則全乞，乃至微塵，悉皆不與。』」 tr. "The Great Sūtra says: ‘It is like a person carrying a float and crossing the great sea. At that time a rākṣasa in the sea came and begged for the float. At first he begged for the whole of it, and so on down to a speck of dust; he gave him none of it at all.’"〔T46 0038a17〕; its scene is a rākṣasa demanding the float to test the keeping of the precepts, whereas this chapter's 「浮囊」 tr. "float" is one of the means of crossing taken hold of when the ship breaks up (「不取浮囊」 tr. "do not take hold of a float", 「『浮囊等物』即是般若、方便」 tr. "‘The float and the other things’ are prajñā and skilful means")—the same simile-word, but of a different source and a different scene; it is not a word-for-word citation of this chapter nor a direct touching of its doctrine. Further, the string 「船破壞」 tr. "ship breaking up" occurs once in the Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation, its text reading 「失一心如放柁。由此放擲行船破壞。」 tr. "Losing the one mind is like letting go of the rudder. Through this letting go, the moving ship breaks up."〔T46 0390c20〕, a figure of letting go of the rudder of the mind; this too is not this chapter's figure of taking hold of things when a ship breaks up in the great sea. The two strings, the chapter title 「譬喻品第五十一」 tr. "Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first" and 「坏瓶」 tr. "unfired pot", have zero hits throughout the four texts. None of the above is registered as a candidate; the negative result is recorded as it is.
Fourth, linking to the treasury (stable citation · soft citation). This chapter's judgement that one who has the eight dharmas complete still wastes away, the twofold support in which prajñā brings one into ultimate emptiness and skilful means brings one out of ultimate emptiness, and the gloss on the twofold guarding of merit and wisdom, are what later generations based themselves on in discussing the perfection of skilful means and in judging the taking of realisation midway in the two vehicles; they are set down as a stable citation〔T25n1509 譬喻品·卷七十一〕; the places where the other collections 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 71 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa〔T25 0555b10–0557b13〕 (the main text of the chapter body begins from the chapter title〔T25 0555b10〕 and ends with the sentence 「以二因緣故不失道」 tr. "by these two causes and conditions one does not lose the path"〔T25 0557b11〕, before the title of the next chapter〔T25 0557b13〕; within the range of this chapter there is neither a fascicle-head title nor a fascicle-end title); the collation text for the sūtra explained is "Parables" in the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra〔T08 0329c06–0331b08〕 (ending before the title of the next chapter); the ancient-master commentary text for collation is Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451, covering this chapter at〔X24n0451 0301b06–0302a03〕, up to just before the end point); Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) has zero hits for this chapter, and Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) has two passages for this chapter that are not citations (see Section VI). The variant collation notes follow the Taishō collation, covering differences between the Taishō base text and the Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō, and Ishiyama texts (the Ishiyama-dera manuscript), as well as the Korean Canon (K) and the CBETA collation—no second Shōgozō manuscript enters the ledger for this chapter (the second Shōgozō, which entered the ledger densely from Chapter 45 to Chapter 48, occurs zero times within the range of this chapter); recorded separately as it is.
Collation note on the chapter title (the evidential basis of the two name-forms and the -1 step · listed separately). The chapter title〔T25 0555b10〕, one note made in four forms—「大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一【大】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜譬喻品第五十【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第五十譬喻品【石】｜釋譬喻品第五十一【明】」 tr. "‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first’ in the Taishō; ‘Mahāprajñāpāramitā, Chapter on Parables, the Fiftieth’ in the Shōgozō; ‘Chapter on Mahāprajñāpāramitā, the Fiftieth, Chapter on Parables’ in the Ishiyama; ‘Commentary on the Chapter on Parables, the Fifty-first’ in the Ming" (for the Ming edition's form, the base-text note originally reads 〔大智度論〕－【明】, that is, the Ming edition lacks the four characters 「大智度論」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa")—this is the evidential basis for the -1 step in the chapter number and for the rewriting in sūtra-title form; it is recorded side by side as it is (for the analysis see Section IV). Further, the collation note at the end of the chapter〔T25 0557b12〕, 「道【大】｜道釋第五十品竟【聖】【石】」 tr. "‘path’ in the Taishō; ‘path. End of the commentary on the fiftieth chapter’ in the Shōgozō and the Ishiyama": the Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts add at the end of the chapter the six characters 「釋第五十品竟」 tr. "end of the commentary on the fiftieth chapter", matching in amount the -1 step at the chapter title; the two ends prove each other.
Five star repeated citations (two of them shared across chapters · listed separately). This chapter has five star-corresp entries (the same variant reading sharing one note), and their targets were checked entry by entry: the entry at〔T25 0555c20〕, 「世界」 tr. "world", has its corresp pointing to the note at〔T25 0555c01〕 within the chapter; the two entries at〔T25 0556b23〕, 「邪」 tr. "wrong", and at〔T25 0556b25〕, 「邪」 tr. "wrong", both have their corresp pointing to the note at〔T25 0556b05〕 within the chapter; and the two entries 【論】 at〔T25 0556a28〕 and 【論】 at〔T25 0557b02〕 both have their corresp pointing to the note at〔T25 0554b23〕—that note lies within the range of Chapter 50 ("Accomplishing"), and is shared across chapters (unlike the twenty-seven star entries of Chapter 46, all native within the chapter, and of the same pattern as the cross-chapter type of Chapter 44); recorded as it is. Its note text is 「【論】【大】，〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】」 tr. "‘treatise’ in the Taishō; absent in the Song, the Palace, and the Shōgozō", so the variant readings of this chapter's two 【論】 markers are the same as those of Chapter 50.
One entry of CBETA emending according to the Korean Canon (the lem is a CBETA choice · listed separately). One entry at〔T25 0556c21〕, the only case in this chapter of the non-traditional type in which readings are not simply set side by side: the base text's lem reads 「禪定」 tr. "meditative concentration" and carries a cross-reference to a page of the Korean Canon (K14n0549_p1204a15), and one of its rdg is the 【大】 text's 「禪」 tr. "meditation"; the corresponding note reads 「禪定【CB】【麗-CB】【聖】【石】，禪【大】」 tr. "‘meditative concentration’ in the CBETA, the Korean Canon as emended by CBETA, the Shōgozō, and the Ishiyama; ‘meditation’ in the Taishō"—that is, CBETA adopts the two characters 「禪定」 tr. "meditative concentration" of the Korean Canon line and does not follow the 【大】 text's 「禪」 tr. "meditation". In the complete ledger below, this apparatus transcribes the form of its separate readings in the original form of the working base text; the reader-facing text of this edition follows the reading of the current CBETA text; its type is recorded as it is.
Two flaws of the extraction layer (enumerating commas in the lemma · listed separately). For the two entries〔T25 0556a06〕 and〔T25 0556a09〕, the lemma column of the working base text's collation list originally reads 「忍、持」 tr. "acceptance, upholding" and 「風、冷」 tr. "wind, cold" (with enumerating commas); this apparatus checked the original notes again word for word, and their original texts read respectively 「忍持【大】，忍辱【元】【明】【聖】，忍【石】」 tr. "‘acceptance and upholding’ in the Taishō; ‘patience’ in the Yuan, the Ming, and the Shōgozō; ‘acceptance’ in the Ishiyama" and 「風冷【大】，冷風【聖】」 tr. "‘wind and cold’ in the Taishō; ‘cold and wind’ in the Shōgozō"—the lemmas of the notes themselves have no enumerating comma; the comma is a flaw of the extraction layer, into which the punctuation of the main text seeped, not a difference in the bytes of the base text and not a doctrinal divergence. The complete ledger below gives 「忍持」 tr. "acceptance and upholding" and 「風冷」 tr. "wind and cold" in the form of the original notes, and at the end of each entry marks the difference of form from the working base text's list; recorded separately as it is.
Complete ledger of collation notes (all thirty-nine 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 thirty-nine app entries, agreeing mechanically with app 39, the mechanically recounted value. The app entries are listed in full in the order of their appearance in the base text, including the five star-corresp repeated citations (marked with each entry; two of them shared across chapters). 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 (thirty-nine · in order of appearance in the base text · star-corresp marked with each entry)
- 〔T25 0555b10〕大智度論釋譬喻品第五十一【大】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜譬喻品第五十【聖】｜摩訶般若波羅蜜品第五十譬喻品【石】｜釋譬喻品第五十一【明】(one note on the chapter title made in four forms · the Shōgozō and the Ishiyama rewrite it in sūtra-title form + the -1 step · the Ming edition omits the four characters 「大智度論」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa" · see Section IV)
- 〔T25 0555b11〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】(note on the presence of the structural marker · the Song, the Palace, and the Shōgozō lack this tag · see Section I)
- 〔T25 0555b13〕岸【大】｜圻【聖】
- 〔T25 0555b29〕護【大】｜護為深般若波羅蜜守護故乃至一切種智守護【宋】【元】【明】【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0555c01〕能【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
- 〔T25 0555c01〕世界【大】＊｜國土【聖】【石】＊｜聖本有傍註世界或本四字(the collation note's appended remark in its original form)
- 〔T25 0555c20〕能淨【大】｜能淨佛【宋】【元】【明】【宮】｜淨佛【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0555c20〕世界【大】＊｜國土【聖】【石】＊｜聖本有傍註世界或本四字(star · corresp → note(0555016) = the note at〔T25 0555c01〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0555c23〕估【大】｜賈【元】【明】(the Yuan and Ming reading 「賈」 tr. "trade (the other graph)" bears out across canons the 「賈客」 tr. "merchant (with the other graph)" of the sūtra explained, T223 · see Section IV)
- 〔T25 0555c24〕是求【大】｜求之【聖】
- 〔T25 0556a01〕人【大】｜有人【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556a06〕忍持【大】｜忍辱【元】【明】【聖】｜忍【石】(the original form of the base-text note · the lemma in the working base text's list reads 「忍、持」 tr. "acceptance, upholding", an enumerating comma having seeped into the extraction layer · see the separate listing above)
- 〔T25 0556a09〕風冷【大】｜冷風【聖】(the original form of the base-text note · the lemma in the working base text's list reads 「風、冷」 tr. "wind, cold", an enumerating comma having seeped into the extraction layer · see the separate listing above)
- 〔T25 0556a11〕或【大】｜或有【宋】【元】【明】【聖】
- 〔T25 0556a27〕提【大】｜提心【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556a28〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】(star · corresp → note(0554008) = the note at〔T25 0554b23〕 · shared across chapters · its note lies within the range of Chapter 50 · see the separate listing above)
- 〔T25 0556b05〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】
- 〔T25 0556b12〕若【大】｜若人【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0556b13〕沮【大】｜爼【宋】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0556b15〕自【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556b17〕火【大】｜水【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556b20〕船【大】｜船船【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556b20〕乖【大】｜永【聖】【石】
- 〔T25 0556b23〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】(star · corresp → note(0556006) = the note at〔T25 0556b05〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0556b25〕邪【大】｜耶【聖】(star · corresp → note(0556006) = the note at〔T25 0556b05〕 within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
- 〔T25 0556b28〕須菩提【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556c04〕我施是物【大】｜我以是物施【聖】｜但有我施是物四字傍註(the collation note's appended remark in its original form)
- 〔T25 0556c16〕辱【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556c21〕禪定（K14n0549_p1204a15）【CB】【麗-CB】｜禪【大】｜禪定【聖】【石】(of the type in which CBETA emends according to the Korean Canon · see the separate listing above)
- 〔T25 0556c21〕定【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0556c24〕羅【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a02〕故【大】＊｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊(star · this note is the target of the corresp at〔T25 0558a25〕 in Chapter 52 · shared across chapters · in the reverse direction)
- 〔T25 0557a07〕守【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a13〕施【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a22〕憶想【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
- 〔T25 0557a27〕婆【大】｜波【石】
- 〔T25 0557b02〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】(star · corresp → note(0554008) = the note at〔T25 0554b23〕 · shared across chapters · its note lies within the range of Chapter 50 · see the separate listing above)
- 〔T25 0557b02〕釋曰【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
- 〔T25 0557b12〕道【大】｜道釋第五十品竟【聖】【石】(the end-point of the -1 step at the end of the chapter · matching in amount the one at the chapter title · see Section IV)
The above thirty-nine entries agree mechanically with the number of anchored collation notes in the working base text, and the targets of the star entries are marked with each entry. The one note on the chapter title made in four forms, the five star repeated citations, the one entry of CBETA emending according to the Korean Canon, and the two flaws of the extraction layer have each been listed separately above.
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 of the sūtra explained within the scope of the comparative reading for this chapter (from〔T08 0329c06〕 to just before〔T08 0331b08〕) were not unfolded by this apparatus (only the position of the chapter title and the three places listed in Section IV were additionally checked word for word); the fact that they were not unfolded is recorded as it is, and no estimate is used to fill the number.