大智度論 六喻品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · The Six Similes

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 lies wholly within Fascicle 88, as a single unit. Its style is the exact opposite of the 「居卷中·無卷題·無造署譯署」 tr. "placed within the fascicle · no fascicle title · no author's or translator's signature" of Chapter 62, "Training Alike"—this chapter's title is the fascicle title: Fascicle 88 opens at this chapter's title; the chapter title 「大智度論釋六喻品第七十七」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Six Similes, the Seventy-seventh"〔T25 0675a17〕 is precisely the fascicle-head title, and below the title is attached the interlinear note 「卷八十八」 tr. "Fascicle Eighty-eight"〔T25 0675a18〕; only above it, at〔T25 0675a14〕, comes the fascicle-end title of Fascicle 87, 「大智度論卷第八十七」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Eighty-seven" (belonging to the range of the preceding chapter). The author's signature 「聖者龍樹造」 tr. "Composed by the noble Nāgārjuna"〔T25 0675a20〕 and the translator's signature 「後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯」 tr. "Translated by Kumārajīva, Tripiṭaka master of Kucha, in the Later Qin"〔T25 0675a21〕 are both present.

The body of the chapter ends with the sentence 「上以一念中能具諸波羅蜜，此以諸法雖空無相而能具諸波羅蜜為異。」 tr. "Above, it was that within a single thought he can be complete with all the perfections; here, it is that though all dharmas are empty and signless he can be complete with all the perfections—this is the difference."〔T25 0677c24〕, running on to〔T25 0677c25〕, and the title of the next chapter, 「大智度論釋四攝品第七十八」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Four Means of Gathering, the Seventy-eighth"〔T25 0677c26〕, follows directly after it; in the base text Fascicle 88 is not finished where this chapter ends—between them it still holds the next chapter, "The Four Means of Gathering", and what follows—so this chapter is of the type tied to the fascicle-head · not tied to the fascicle-end: different from the fascicle-spanning type of Chapter 48, "The Mother of the Buddhas", different too from the type placed at the end of the fascicle of Chapter 53, "Tending toward Omniscience", and more different still from the type placed within the fascicle of Chapter 62. Only the Ishiyama text has here another set of fascicle numbering of its own (see Sections IV and VIII).

The whole chapter has three thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight pure Chinese characters (a mechanically recounted value · agreeing with what the draft records); it is a short chapter within the Commentary on the Remaining Chapters, and yet its density of doctrine is high. The structure within the chapter is one 【經】 and one 【論】, a single unit: 【經】〔T25 0675a22〕 and 【論】〔T25 0677b16〕. Whether the two markers are present has a collation note in both cases: the note on 【經】 records that the three Song, Palace, and Shōgozō texts lack this structural marker, and also records the Ishiyama text's 「不分卷」 tr. "no division of the fascicle"; the note on 【論】 records that the five Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, and Shōgozō texts lack this structural marker, and this note is moreover the place of definition of a star whose sharer falls outside this chapter (details in Section VIII). Whether a marker is present belongs to the layer of the base text's transmission; the structural count still takes the base text's labels as its standard.

The number of questions and answers and the speaker structure: Sūtra ① is from beginning to end an exchange between Subhūti and the Buddha, with no third person taking a seat. It begins with Subhūti's question〔T25 0675a22〕, and within one passage four questions come out in a row—「云何無相、不可分別、自相空諸法中具足修六波羅蜜」 tr. "how, within dharmas that are signless, indiscriminable, and empty of specific marks, does one completely cultivate the six perfections"〔T25 0675a22〕, 「云何無異法中而分別說異相？」 tr. "How, within dharmas that are without difference, are differing marks spoken of with distinctions?"〔T25 0675a25〕, 「云何般若波羅蜜攝檀、尸、羼、精進、禪？」 tr. "How does prajñāpāramitā gather dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vigour, and dhyāna?"〔T25 0675a26〕, 「云何行異相法，以一相道得果？」 tr. "How does one practise dharmas of differing marks and obtain the fruit by the path of one mark?"〔T25 0675a27〕. Within the range of this chapter 「須菩提白佛言」 tr. "Subhūti said to the Buddha" is seen seven times (〔T25 0675a22〕〔T25 0676a11〕〔T25 0676a15〕〔T25 0676c05〕〔T25 0676c11〕〔T25 0676c29〕〔T25 0677a27〕), 「佛告須菩提」 tr. "the Buddha told Subhūti" four times (〔T25 0675a28〕〔T25 0676a12〕〔T25 0676a17〕〔T25 0676c07〕), and 「復次，須菩提」 tr. "Again, Subhūti" five times (〔T25 0675b28〕〔T25 0675c26〕〔T25 0676a28〕〔T25 0676b18〕〔T25 0676c27〕), all obtained by this ledger locating each one in the character stream. Between them there are in addition four places where the speaker changes without an explicit marker such as 「白佛言」 tr. "said to the Buddha" or 「佛告」 tr. "the Buddha told", seen only from the vocatives and the drift of question and answer—〔T25 0675c29〕 「世尊！云何菩薩摩訶薩具足無相羼提波羅蜜？」 tr. "World-Honored One! How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva make the signless kṣāntipāramitā complete?" and〔T25 0676a01〕 「須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住二忍中」 tr. "Subhūti! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the two kinds of acceptance" as one pair,〔T25 0676b19〕 and〔T25 0676b21〕 as one pair,〔T25 0676c13〕 and〔T25 0676c14〕 as one pair, and one place at〔T25 0676c15〕; the vocative 「世尊」 tr. "World-Honored One" is addressed to the Buddha and the vocative 「須菩提」 tr. "Subhūti" to Subhūti, and the two seen together suffice to settle the speakers; recorded separately, as it is, without raising a further doubt.

Treatise ① has no marker opening the treatise (no 「釋曰：」 tr. "Explanation:"), and begins directly with 「問曰：」 tr. "Question:"〔T25 0677b16〕, on the same line as the 【論】 marker. Question and answer in three groups: question at〔T25 0677b16〕 / answer at〔T25 0677b19〕, question at〔T25 0677c05〕 / answer at〔T25 0677c07〕, question at〔T25 0677c22〕 / answer at〔T25 0677c23〕—this ledger, recounting character by character independently, obtains 「問曰：」 tr. "Question:" three times and 「答曰：」 tr. "Answer:" three times, agreeing with the loci of the three groups located in the character stream. The expression 「有人言」 tr. "someone says" is seen zero times in this chapter (four hundred and seven times in the whole treatise, not once in this chapter), differing from the five occurrences of Chapter 62; recorded separately, as it is. The first question and answer of the treatise section is itself of two layers: in the question the treatise-author first re-quotes the sūtra's question and answer and asks back about their difference〔T25 0677b18〕, and in the answer he restates the sūtra's question and answer in the narrative form 「須菩提問……佛答……」 tr. "Subhūti asks … the Buddha answers …"〔T25 0677b20〕〔T25 0677b21〕—this restatement belongs to the treatise-author's own re-quoting, not to a change of speaker on the spot, and lies in a different layer from the questions and answers of the sūtra section; recorded separately, as it is.

II. Terms Examined

The six similes. The general name of this chapter, and yet these two Chinese characters are seen zero times in the main text of this chapter's sūtra and treatise—「六喻」 tr. "six similes" is seen three times in the whole treatise, and only one of these falls within the range of this chapter, namely the chapter title itself, 「大智度論釋六喻品第七十七」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Six Similes, the Seventy-seventh"〔T25 0675a17〕. The sūtra text and the treatise text from beginning to end list its items one by one without bringing out the general name: 「菩薩摩訶薩住五陰如夢、如響、如影、如焰、如幻、如化」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the five aggregates as like a dream, like an echo, like a shadow, like a mirage, like an illusion, like a conjuration"〔T25 0675a28〕. Thus 「六喻」 tr. "six similes" is a name given in cataloguing, not an expression that the sūtra and the treatise themselves produce; recorded separately, as it is. Its fixed sentence 「如夢、如響、如影、如焰、如幻、如化」 tr. "like a dream, like an echo, like a shadow, like a mirage, like an illusion, like a conjuration" is seen eight times in this chapter (〔T25 0675a28〕〔T25 0675b01〕〔T25 0675b29〕〔T25 0675c27〕〔T25 0676a29〕〔T25 0676b18〕〔T25 0676b20〕〔T25 0677a01〕), ten times in the whole treatise—of the ten occurrences, eight are in this chapter; that it belongs particularly to this chapter is seen in the count of occurrences as well.

One place where the order of the six similes differs of itself. In this chapter〔T25 0676c28〕 reads 「知一切法如夢、如響、如焰、如影、如幻、如化。」 tr. "He knows all dharmas as like a dream, like an echo, like a mirage, like a shadow, like an illusion, like a conjuration."—the two characters for mirage and shadow are interchanged, differing from the order 「影、焰」 tr. "shadow, mirage" of the other eight occurrences; this way of writing is likewise seen only this once in the whole treatise. The sūtra text immediately following returns to the usual order: 「不見影、不見見影者，不見焰、不見見焰者」 tr. "he does not see the shadow, does not see the one who sees the shadow; he does not see the mirage, does not see the one who sees the mirage"〔T25 0677a04〕. The sūtra explained, at the same position, reads 「知一切法如夢、如響、如影、如焰、如幻、如化」 tr. "knows all dharmas as like a dream, like an echo, like a shadow, like a mirage, like an illusion, like a conjuration"〔T08 0391c16〕, using the usual order (see Section IV). On this treatise's side there is no collation note at this place; the difference between the two sides is recorded as it is, without forcing a reconciliation. Further, the sūtra section gathers these six names into a string of six characters: 「是夢、響、影、焰、幻、化皆是凡夫愚人顛倒法故。」 tr. "Because this dream, echo, shadow, mirage, illusion, and conjuration are all the inverted dharmas of ordinary foolish people."〔T25 0677a06〕—this sequence of the six characters 「夢響影焰幻化」 tr. "dream, echo, shadow, mirage, illusion, conjuration" is likewise seen only this once in the whole treatise.

The five names of signless and pāramitā. This chapter sets up names by prefixing 「無相」 tr. "signless" to the six perfections, and the sūtra text brings them out perfection by perfection: 「能具足無相尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "can make complete the signless śīlapāramitā"〔T25 0675b29〕, 「具足無相羼提波羅蜜」 tr. "makes complete the signless kṣāntipāramitā"〔T25 0675c28〕, 「能具足無相精進波羅蜜」 tr. "can make complete the signless pāramitā of vigour"〔T25 0676b04〕, 「能具足無相禪波羅蜜」 tr. "can make complete the signless dhyānapāramitā"〔T25 0676c04〕, and at the end of the treatise section there appears 「行是無相檀波羅蜜」 tr. "practising this signless dānapāramitā"〔T25 0677c20〕. Of the five names, 「無相精進波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless pāramitā of vigour" and 「無相檀波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless dānapāramitā" are each seen in the whole treatise only once, in this chapter; 「無相尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless śīlapāramitā" is seen twice in the whole treatise, both times in this chapter; 「無相羼提波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless kṣāntipāramitā" three times in the whole treatise, all in this chapter; 「無相禪波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless dhyānapāramitā" four times in the whole treatise, three times in this chapter. The name 「無相般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless prajñāpāramitā" does not appear—prajñā does not set up a separate signless name; the sūtra says directly 「以無相法應學般若波羅蜜」 tr. "one should train in prajñāpāramitā by the signless dharma"〔T25 0677b15〕; recorded separately, as it is.

Why the signless is established. The hinge of glossing in this chapter lies in a group of progressive sentences: 「夢無自性，響、影、焰、幻、化皆無自性。」 tr. "A dream has no self-nature; echo, shadow, mirage, illusion, and conjuration all have no self-nature."〔T25 0675b03〕, 「若法無自性，是法無相；若法無相，是法一相，所謂無相。」 tr. "If a dharma has no self-nature, that dharma is signless; if a dharma is signless, that dharma is of one mark, namely the signless."〔T25 0675b04〕—the three names self-nature, signless, and one mark are here linked into one chain. Below this, with 「以是因緣故，須菩提！當知菩薩布施無相、施者無相、受者無相。」 tr. "By reason of these causes and conditions, Subhūti! know that the bodhisattva's giving is signless, the giver is signless, the recipient is signless."〔T25 0675b05〕, it comes down to the three wheels of giving. The four Chinese characters 「夢無自性」 tr. "a dream has no self-nature" are seen only this once in the whole treatise.

The two kinds of acceptance and the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The key item of glossing in the passage on kṣānti. The sūtra brings out the items of the two kinds of acceptance: 「菩薩摩訶薩住二忍中，能具足羼提波羅蜜。何等二忍？生忍、法忍。」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the two kinds of acceptance and can make kṣāntipāramitā complete. Which two kinds of acceptance? The acceptance toward beings and acceptance of dharmas."〔T25 0676a01〕—「二忍」 tr. "the two kinds of acceptance" is seen twice in this chapter (〔T25 0676a01〕〔T25 0676a02〕), nine times in the whole treatise. The reason he can accept, the sūtra itself gives the ground for: 「是菩薩於一切法得無相忍故」 tr. "because this bodhisattva has obtained signless acceptance toward all dharmas"〔T25 0676a08〕. The definition of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is given by the Buddha himself: 「得法忍，乃至不生少許不善法，是故名無生法忍。」 tr. "He obtains acceptance of dharmas, and so on up to not giving rise to even a little unwholesome dharma; therefore it is named the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas."〔T25 0676a12〕, and its two senses of severance and knowledge are further divided and explained: 「一切菩薩所斷煩惱盡，是名斷；用智慧知一切法不生，是名知。」 tr. "That the afflictions severed by all bodhisattvas are exhausted: this is named severance; using wisdom to know that all dharmas are unarisen: this is named knowledge."〔T25 0676a14〕. As to the difference between the bodhisattva's acceptance and the acceptance of the two vehicles, the Buddha answers not in terms of superior and inferior but in terms of inclusion: 「諸須陀洹若智、若斷，是名菩薩忍」 tr. "of all the srota-āpannas, whether knowledge or severance: this is named the bodhisattva's acceptance"〔T25 0676a17〕—the knowledge and severance of the four fruits and the pratyekabuddhas are wholly the bodhisattva's acceptance; his words are recorded as they are. 「無生法忍」 tr. "the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas" is seen six times in this chapter, one hundred and fifty-seven times in the whole treatise.

The bodhisattva's position · not the position · with something to be attained · with nothing to be attained. The key item of glossing in the passage on dhyānapāramitā, and the shortest definition in the whole chapter: 「一切有所得是非菩薩位，一切無所得是菩薩位。」 tr. "All that is with something to be attained is not the bodhisattva's position; all that is with nothing to be attained is the bodhisattva's position."〔T25 0676c13〕—this sentence is seen only this once in the whole treatise. Below this it is further established by the unshowable and the unspeakable: 「菩薩位者，是諸法不可示、不可說。」 tr. "What is called the bodhisattva's position is that these dharmas are unshowable and unspeakable."〔T25 0676c17〕; 「不可示」 tr. "unshowable" and 「不可說」 tr. "unspeakable" in sequence are seen four times in this chapter (〔T25 0676c17〕〔T25 0676c18〕〔T25 0676c19〕〔T25 0676c20〕), six times in the whole treatise—of the six occurrences, four are in this chapter. The name 「菩薩位」 tr. "the bodhisattva's position" is seen eight times in this chapter. At the end of this passage a name appears: 「乃至能轉法輪，所謂不可得法輪。」 tr. "and so on up to being able to turn the wheel of the Dharma, namely the unfindable wheel of the Dharma."〔T25 0676c26〕—「不可得法輪」 tr. "the unfindable wheel of the Dharma" is likewise seen only this once in the whole treatise.

Without outflows obtained as retribution · the eye-faculty obtained as retribution. This chapter shows the sense of 「報得」 tr. "obtained as retribution" twice, by two routes, one in the sūtra and one in the treatise. The sūtra says that after the bodhisattva has made the signless complete, 「是菩薩住是報得無漏法中，飛到東方無量國土」 tr. "this bodhisattva abides in these dharmas without outflows obtained as retribution and flies to the immeasurable lands of the east"〔T25 0675b12〕; the treatise, for its part, glosses 「報得」 tr. "obtained as retribution" itself: 「報得名更不修行，自然而得；譬如報得眼根，自然能見色。」 tr. "Obtained as retribution means obtained of itself without further cultivation; it is as the eye-faculty obtained as retribution can of itself see forms."〔T25 0677c01〕—the treatise-author here gives the definition himself and attaches a simile to it; the four Chinese characters 「報得眼根」 tr. "the eye-faculty obtained as retribution" are seen only this once in the whole treatise. 「報得無漏」 tr. "without outflows obtained as retribution" is seen three times in the whole treatise, all three in this chapter (〔T25 0675b13〕〔T25 0677c01〕〔T25 0677c02〕); the two Chinese characters 「報得」 tr. "obtained as retribution" are seen seven times in this chapter.

The items of the seven kinds of morality. Listed in the passage on śīla; the sūtra itself brings them out: 「所謂名字戒、自然戒、律儀戒、作戒、無作戒、威儀戒、非威儀戒。」 tr. "namely the morality of names, the morality of itself, the morality of restraint, the morality of making, the morality without making, the morality of deportment, and the morality that is not of deportment."〔T25 0675c03〕—of the seven names, 「名字戒」 tr. "the morality of names" is seen only this once in the whole treatise, 「自然戒」 tr. "the morality of itself" three times in the whole treatise and once in this chapter, and 「律儀戒」 tr. "the morality of restraint" eight times in the whole treatise (counted in the character stream with the collation notes removed) and once in this chapter. As to why it is a signless morality, the sūtra first brings out its substance: 「是戒不缺、不破、不雜、不著，聖人所讚無漏戒，入八聖道分」 tr. "this morality is not deficient, not broken, not mixed, not clinging; it is the morality without outflows praised by the sages, and it enters into the eightfold noble path"〔T25 0675c01〕.

Three samādhi with unusual names, three in kind. Among the items of samādhi listed in the passage on dhyāna there are three names that are not commonly seen: 「入如電光三昧，入如金剛三昧，入聖正三昧」 tr. "he enters the like-lightning samādhi, enters the like-vajra samādhi, enters the noble right samādhi"〔T25 0676b24〕—「如電光三昧」 tr. "the like-lightning samādhi" is seen twice in the whole treatise and once in this chapter, 「聖正三昧」 tr. "the noble right samādhi" twice in the whole treatise and once in this chapter, and 「如金剛三昧」 tr. "the like-vajra samādhi" nineteen times in the whole treatise and once in this chapter. The sense of not receiving the flavour and not receiving the fruit the sūtra itself brings out: 「亦不受三昧味，亦不受三昧果。」 tr. "He also does not receive the flavour of the samādhi, nor does he receive the fruit of the samādhi."〔T25 0676b26〕, and with the signless it asks back why they cannot be received: 「當云何於無相法受無相法味、無所有法受無所有法味？」 tr. "How should one receive the flavour of a signless dharma within a signless dharma, or the flavour of a dharma without anything existent within a dharma without anything existent?"〔T25 0676b28〕.

The mark of the signless · the eightfold straight noble path. Two rare expressions of the treatise section. First, 「知諸法實相，所謂無相相，是名正見」 tr. "knowing the real mark of all dharmas, namely the mark of the signless, is named right view"〔T25 0677c10〕—the five Chinese characters 「所謂無相相」 tr. "namely the mark of the signless" are seen only this once in the whole treatise (「無相相」 tr. "the mark of the signless" thirty-six times in the whole treatise). Second, 「於四念處中，亦如八直聖道中，諸聖人為數。」 tr. "Within the four foundations of mindfulness too, as within the eightfold straight noble path, the sages count them for him."〔T25 0677c18〕—the expression 「八直聖道」 tr. "the eightfold straight noble path" is seen only this once in the whole treatise; elsewhere this treatise always reads 「八聖道分」 tr. "the eightfold noble path" (the sūtra section of this chapter itself reads 「入八聖道分」 tr. "enters into the eightfold noble path"〔T25 0675c02〕); within one book the two names are used side by side and this name stands out alone; recorded as it is, without settling the reading on anyone's behalf.

III. Similes and Stories

This chapter has five key similes and one cited story, all tied to the meaning being explained, none set up idly. Among them the six similes themselves are the backbone of the whole chapter; they do not enter this section but Sections II and V, and what this section records is what lies outside the six similes.

A conjured wheel-turning sage king (the first simile for śīla). The sūtra, explaining that though the bodhisattva enters the five destinies the retribution of the deeds of birth and death cannot defile him, brings out a simile: 「譬如化轉輪聖王，雖坐臥行住，不見來處，不見去處，不見住處、坐處、臥處，而能利益眾生，亦不得眾生；菩薩亦如是。」 tr. "It is as a conjured wheel-turning sage king: though he sits, lies, walks, and stands, one does not see where he comes from, does not see where he goes, does not see where he stands, sits, or lies, and yet he can benefit beings, and also does not find beings; the bodhisattva is likewise."〔T25 0675c19〕—the conjured king's walking, standing, sitting, and lying are clearly there, while the places of coming, going, and standing are all unfindable; the force of the simile lies in the four Chinese characters 「不得眾生」 tr. "does not find beings": able to benefit and yet not finding the one benefited. 「化轉輪聖王」 tr. "a conjured wheel-turning sage king" is seen only once in the whole treatise, namely in this chapter.

The Buddha Suśānta (the one cited story · the second simile for śīla). Following on from the above, a further story is brought out: 「譬如須扇多佛，得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，為三乘轉法輪，無有得菩薩記者」 tr. "It is as the Buddha Suśānta, who obtained anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi and turned the wheel of the Dharma for the three vehicles, and there was no one who had obtained a bodhisattva's prediction"〔T25 0675c21〕—below this it says that, having conjured a conjured buddha, he gave up his body and life and entered nirvāṇa without remainder, while the conjured buddha remained. Taking the Buddha's own act of conjuring as a simile for the bodhisattva's practice of conjuring goes one layer further than the preceding simile: the preceding simile likens the bodhisattva to a conjured king, while in this story the Buddha himself leaves behind a conjured body. 「須扇多佛」 tr. "the Buddha Suśānta" is seen three times in the whole treatise and once in this chapter.

Clouds and mist (the simile of the treatise section explaining emptiness and seeing). The treatise-author, explaining why ordinary people, seeing with their eyes the bodhisattva practising the six perfections and becoming a Buddha, doubt its emptiness, brings out a simile: 「譬如雲霧，遠視則見，近之則無所見。」 tr. "It is as with clouds and mist: seen from afar they are seen; drawing near, nothing is seen."〔T25 0677b25〕, and at once applies it to the dharma: 「凡夫亦如是，遠實相故，見諸佛。菩薩近實相故，見皆空」 tr. "Ordinary people too are like this: because they are far from the real mark, they see buddhas. The bodhisattva, because he is near the real mark, sees all as empty"〔T25 0677b26〕. The eye of the simile lies in far and near, not in existence and non-existence: the same clouds and mist are a thing from afar and no thing from near; it is not that the clouds and mist are two, but that the distances of the one who sees are two. 「譬如雲霧」 tr. "it is as with clouds and mist" is seen only this once in the whole treatise.

The eye-faculty obtained as retribution (the simile of the treatise section explaining obtained as retribution). See what is cited in Section II〔T25 0677c01〕. The use of the simile lies in the one sense 「更不修行，自然而得」 tr. "obtained of itself without further cultivation"—the eye's ability to see does not wait for today's training, and the pāramitā without outflows obtained as retribution likewise does not wait for further cultivation.

Similes of the grass-blade and vajra kind do not appear in this chapter. This ledger, searching back character by character within the range of this chapter for 「草芥」 tr. "grass-blade", has zero hits; its absence is recorded as it is, and the similes of other chapters are not used to fill this chapter's ledger.

IV. The Sūtra Passage Explained

The network of the two sides of the chapter name: the Chapter on the Six Similes / the Chapter on Dream and Conjuration and the Six Perfections (recorded side by side without judgement). This chapter's name has two sides, recorded one by one according to the base text. First, the Chapter on the Six Similes—this treatise's base-text chapter title〔T25 0675a17〕, 「大智度論釋六喻品第七十七」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Six Similes, the Seventy-seventh", and the chapter title on the side of T223, the sūtra explained〔T08 0389c29〕, 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經六喻品第七十七」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Six Similes Chapter, the Seventy-seventh"; the base texts of the two canons have the same name. Second, the Chapter on Dream and Conjuration and the Six Perfections—this name is seen only in the interlinear note of the Khitan edition below the chapter title of the sūtra explained〔T08 0389c29〕—this interlinear note is tied within <note place="inline"> (and so is not in the character stream of the main text); the base text as it stands reads it as the six characters 「丹夢化六度品」 tr. "Khitan: Chapter on Dream and Conjuration and the Six Perfections" (the first character, 「丹」 tr. "Khitan", is the mark of the Khitan edition, and only the five characters below it are the chapter name), and its collation note says 「丹夢…品【大】，〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】」 tr. "Khitan: dream … chapter (Taishō), omitted (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō)"—that is, only the Taishō base text has this interlinear note, and the five Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, and Shōgozō texts all lack it. The 「夢化」 tr. "dream and conjuration" answers to this chapter's six similes of dream, echo, shadow, mirage, illusion, and conjuration, and the 「六度」 tr. "six perfections" to this chapter's framework of making the six perfections complete one by one; this name takes both axes, simile and perfection, and is more detailed than the single name 「六喻」 tr. "six similes". The two names are recorded side by side, without judging which is correct. Further, the collation note on this treatise's chapter title records that the two Palace and Shōgozō texts lack the three characters 「六喻品」 tr. "Six Similes Chapter" (see entry two of the ledger below), that is, these two texts on this treatise's side read directly 「大智度論釋第七十七」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Seventy-seventh" without bringing out a chapter name—the presence or absence of the chapter name also makes a side; recorded side by side as it is.

The full ledger of the note on the chapter number (two matters, the -1 step and the continuing title, within one note). The note on the chapter number in the chapter title〔T25 0675a17〕, as the base text stands: 「七十七【大】，七十七訖第七十八品上【宋】【元】，七十七品訖第七十八品上【宮】，七十六品訖第七十七品上【聖】」 tr. "seventy-seven (Taishō), seventy-seven, up to the Seventy-eighth Chapter, First Part (Song, Yuan), the Seventy-seventh Chapter up to the Seventy-eighth Chapter, First Part (Palace), the Seventy-sixth Chapter up to the Seventy-seventh Chapter, First Part (Shōgozō)" (entry three of the ledger below). Within one note there are two matters: first, the three Song, Yuan, and Palace texts all record that this fascicle contains 「訖第七十八品上」 tr. "up to the Seventy-eighth Chapter, First Part"—that is, the three texts take Fascicle 88 as the fascicle of 「七十七品至七十八品上」 tr. "the Seventy-seventh Chapter to the Seventy-eighth Chapter, First Part", matching what the base text's Fascicle 88 contains; second, the Shōgozō text records 「七十六品訖第七十七品上」 tr. "the Seventy-sixth Chapter up to the Seventy-seventh Chapter, First Part", one step less than each of the three texts, in the same direction and by the same amount as the 「聖 -1」 tr. "Shōgozō -1" chain traced chapter by chapter from Chapter 44 onward; it continues in this chapter. In addition, the first note on this treatise's side〔T25 0675a17〕 records 「論【大】，經論【聖】」 tr. "treatise (Taishō), sūtra-treatise (Shōgozō)" (entry one of the ledger below)—the Shōgozō text reads 「大智度經論釋……」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, Commentary …", with one character 「經」 tr. "sūtra" more, a difference in the book name; at〔T25 0675a18〕 「卷【大】，卷第【宮】」 tr. "fascicle (Taishō), fascicle number (Palace)" (entry four of the ledger below) belongs to a difference in the wording of the interlinear note. Within the four notes on this chapter's title the Ishiyama text does not appear; the place where the Ishiyama text first appears in this chapter is the note on the 【經】 structural marker immediately adjacent (see the separate listing in Section VIII), reading 「不分卷」 tr. "no division of the fascicle".

The exceptional case of 「第七十品」 tr. "the Seventieth Chapter" at the end of the chapter (the Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts with the same wording · recorded side by side without judgement). The note on the character 「異」 tr. "difference" at the end of the chapter, as the base text stands: 「異【大】，異釋第七十品【聖】，異釋第七十品竟【石】」 tr. "difference (Taishō), difference; Commentary on the Seventieth Chapter (Shōgozō), difference; the commentary on the Seventieth Chapter is finished (Ishiyama)"〔T25 0677c25〕 (entry fifty-two of the ledger below). The two Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts both record 「第七十品」 tr. "the Seventieth Chapter" at the close of this chapter, whereas, reckoning by the 「聖 -1」 tr. "Shōgozō -1" of the chapter-title layer, this chapter in the Shōgozō text ought to read 「第七十六品」 tr. "the Seventy-sixth Chapter"; here the difference is six steps. This ledger has in addition checked character by character, within the same base text, three ends that can be read against it: first, the note on the fascicle-end title of Fascicle 87 at the close of the preceding chapter〔T25 0675a14〕 records 「（大智…七）九字【大】，大智度經論卷第八十七釋第七十四品下訖第七十五品【聖】，釋第七十五品竟六喻品【石】」 tr. "(Mahā… seven) nine characters (Taishō), Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, Fascicle Eighty-seven, Commentary on the Seventy-fourth Chapter, Last Part, to the Seventy-fifth Chapter (Shōgozō), the commentary on the Seventy-fifth Chapter is finished; Chapter on the Six Similes (Ishiyama)"—at the close of the preceding chapter the Ishiyama text reads 「第七十五品」 tr. "the Seventy-fifth Chapter", which is precisely the -1 of the base text's Chapter 76, and it runs straight on to the name 「六喻品」 tr. "Chapter on the Six Similes" without opening a fascicle; second, the Shōgozō reading of this chapter's chapter-title note, 「七十六品訖第七十七品上」 tr. "the Seventy-sixth Chapter up to the Seventy-seventh Chapter, First Part", is likewise -1; third, the Ishiyama reading of the note on the opening title of the next chapter, "The Four Means of Gathering"〔T25 0677c26〕, is 「摩訶般若波羅蜜品第七十七四攝品八十九」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā, Chapter the Seventy-seventh, Chapter on the Four Means of Gathering, Eighty-nine"—at the base text's Chapter 78 the Ishiyama text reads 「第七十七」 tr. "the Seventy-seventh", likewise -1. All three ends are -1; only the one end at the close of this chapter reads 「第七十」 tr. "the Seventieth". This ledger records the two readings side by side as they are, without forcing a reconciliation, and without judging on anyone's behalf which is right.

The duplication of the mulu n attribute of T223 (continuing the standing practice already recorded). On the side of T223, the sūtra explained, this chapter's <cb:mulu> is marked n="78" while its displayed text marks 「77 六喻品」 tr. "77 The Six Similes"〔T08 0389c29〕, and the mulu of the next chapter, "The Four Means of Gathering", is also marked n="78"〔T08 0392b12〕—the two chapters share one n value. Before it, 「75 三次品」 tr. "75 The Three Sequences"〔T08 0383c12〕 and 「76 一念品」 tr. "76 One Thought"〔T08 0386b09〕 in the same way share n="76". This belongs to an habitual flaw of the XML markup layer of the base text, the n value being duplicated every other chapter; it is not peculiar to this chapter and is not a doctrinal divergence; continuing the standing practice already recorded from Chapter 48 onward, it is not judged again.

The chapter boundary on the T223 side tied to the fascicle-end (forming exactly the two ends with this treatise's side). The note on this chapter's title on the side of the sūtra explained〔T08 0389c29〕 is 「卷第二十六首【宋】【元】【明】【宮】」 tr. "head of Fascicle Twenty-six (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace)"—the four Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace texts take this chapter's title as the head of their Fascicle 26; whereas the base text of T223 closes Fascicle 23 only where this chapter ends〔T08 0392b05〕 (<cb:juan n="023" fun="close">〔T08 0392b06〕, Fascicle 24 opening at〔T08 0392b09〕, and the next chapter's title at〔T08 0392b12〕), that is, the base text of the sūtra explained places this chapter at the end of Fascicle 23. This treatise's side places this chapter at the head of Fascicle 88 (see Section I). The divisions of fascicle and chapter in the two transmissions do not agree at this chapter—one tied to the fascicle-head, one tied to the fascicle-end; and the Ishiyama text further records 「卷第八十八終」 tr. "end of Fascicle Eighty-eight" at the end of this chapter and 「卷第八十九首」 tr. "head of Fascicle Eighty-nine" at the start of the next chapter, forming a third set of its own (see Section VIII). The three sets are seen together; recorded as they are, not drawn together into one matter.

Collation of the full re-quoted sūtra (the two sides compared · nine places of variant wording · recording at each place whether there is a collation note). This treatise's Sūtra ① and the "Six Similes" chapter of the sūtra explained are nearly identical character by character; this ledger, collating character by character in the character stream, finds nine places of difference (the systematic difference of translation names is set out separately; see the next entry):

• Harm / cut—this treatise reads 「罵我者誰？害我者誰？以惡言加我、以瓦石刀杖害我者誰？」 tr. "Who is it that reviles me? Who is it that harms me? Who is it that assails me with evil words and harms me with tiles, stones, knives, and staves?"〔T25 0676a06〕, the sūtra explained reads 「罵我者誰？割我者誰？以惡言加我者誰？以瓦石刀杖害我者誰？」 tr. "Who is it that reviles me? Who is it that cuts me? Who is it that assails me with evil words? Who is it that harms me with tiles, stones, knives, and staves?"〔T08 0390c18〕. On this treatise's side there is a note at this place, 「害【大】，割【宋】【元】【明】【宮】」 tr. "harm (Taishō), cut (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace)" (entry fourteen of the ledger below)—this treatise's four Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace texts read 「割」 tr. "cut", which is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there is no collation note at this place. Further, the sūtra explained has one 「者誰」 tr. "who is it that" more, and those characters have a note, 「者誰【大】，〔－〕【聖】」 tr. "who is it that (Taishō), omitted (Shōgozō)"〔T08 0390c19〕—the Shōgozō text of the sūtra explained deletes these two characters, and the reading so formed is precisely the reading of this treatise's base text; the two sides here are each other's mirror image.
• Liberations / turning away and relinquishing—this treatise reads 「四禪、四無量心、四無色定、八解脫、九次第定」 tr. "the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the eight liberations, the nine successive absorptions"〔T25 0676b08〕, the sūtra explained reads 「八背捨、九次第定」 tr. "the eight liberations, the nine successive absorptions"〔T08 0391a22〕. On this treatise's side there is a note at this place, 「解脫【大】，背捨【石】」 tr. "liberations (Taishō), turning away and relinquishing (Ishiyama)" (entry twenty of the ledger below)—this treatise's Ishiyama text reads 「背捨」 tr. "turning away and relinquishing", which is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there is no collation note at this place. Further, the earlier text of this treatise's sūtra section itself reads 「能具足八背捨、九次第定、五神通、五百陀羅尼門」 tr. "can make complete the eight liberations, the nine successive absorptions, the five supernormal powers, and the five hundred dhāraṇī gates"〔T25 0675b10〕—within one chapter this treatise uses the two names side by side; recorded separately, as it is.
• World / land—this treatise reads 「三千大千世界六種震動，光明遍照三千大千世界」 tr. "the three-thousand great-thousand world quakes in six ways, and the light illumines the three-thousand great-thousand world throughout"〔T25 0676b13〕, the sūtra explained reads 「三千大千國土六種震動」 tr. "the three-thousand great-thousand land quakes in six ways"〔T08 0391a27〕. On this treatise's side there is a note at this place, 「世界【大】下同，國土【石】下同」 tr. "world (Taishō), likewise below; land (Ishiyama), likewise below" (entry twenty-two of the ledger below · the base text as it stands carrying the two characters 「下同」 tr. "likewise below")—this treatise's Ishiyama text reads 「國土」 tr. "land" and likewise below, which is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there are also two notes: 「國土【大】，世界【宋】【元】【明】【宮】，國主【聖】」 tr. "land (Taishō), world (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace), lord of the land (Shōgozō)"〔T08 0391a15〕 and 「國土【大】＊，世界【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊」 tr. "land (Taishō, starred), world (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō, starred)"〔T08 0391a27〕—the Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, and Shōgozō texts of the sūtra explained read 「世界」 tr. "world", which is precisely the reading of this treatise's base text. The collation notes of the two sides form an exact mirror image: the reading of this treatise's base text (world) is precisely the reading of the variant texts of the sūtra explained, and the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained (land) is precisely the reading of this treatise's Ishiyama text; recorded as it is, without judging which is correct.
• Unobstructed in the usual graph / in the variant graph—this treatise reads 「住五百陀羅尼門，得四無礙智」 tr. "abiding in the five hundred dhāraṇī gates, he obtains the four unobstructed knowledges"〔T25 0675c16〕, the sūtra explained reads 「得四無閡智」 tr. "obtains the four unobstructed knowledges (with the variant graph of the character for obstruct)"〔T08 0390b27〕. On the side of the sūtra explained there is a note, 「閡【大】，礙【宋】【元】【明】【宮】」 tr. "obstruct, in the variant graph (Taishō), obstruct, in the usual graph (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace)"—the four Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace texts of the sūtra explained read 「礙」 tr. "obstruct, in the usual graph", agreeing with this treatise's base text; on this treatise's side there is no collation note at this place. A difference of graph, not a difference of doctrine; recorded as it is.
• Lust in one graph / in another graph—this treatise reads 「何況住婬、怒、癡，於中起罪業生！」 tr. "how much less does he abide in lust, anger, and delusion and give rise to sinful deeds within them and so receive birth!"〔T25 0676c22〕, the sūtra explained reads 「何況住淫怒癡於中起罪業生？」 tr. "how much less would he abide in lust, anger, and delusion and give rise to sinful deeds within them and so receive birth?"〔T08 0391c10〕. Neither side has a collation note here; it belongs to a difference in the characters used by the transmissions.
• And dharmas like an illusion / also does not find—this treatise reads 「亦不得眾生及如幻法。」 tr. "and does not find beings or dharmas like an illusion either."〔T25 0676c24〕, the sūtra explained reads 「亦不得眾生，亦不得幻，若無所得。」 tr. "also does not find beings, also does not find illusion, as one with nothing to be attained."〔T08 0391c11〕. On this treatise's side there is a note at this place, 「及如幻法【大】，亦不得【石】」 tr. "and dharmas like an illusion (Taishō), also does not find (Ishiyama)" (entry thirty of the ledger below)—this treatise's Ishiyama text reads 「亦不得」 tr. "also does not find", agreeing with the sentence pattern of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there is no collation note at this place.
• The presence or absence of the sentence on the place of entering dhyāna—this treatise reads 「亦不見是禪，亦不見入禪者，亦不見用法入禪者。」 tr. "he also does not see this dhyāna, does not see the one who enters dhyāna, does not see the one who enters dhyāna by means of some dharma."〔T25 0676c02〕, the sūtra explained reads 「亦不見是禪，亦不見入禪者，亦不見用是法入禪者，不見入禪處」 tr. "he also does not see this dhyāna, does not see the one who enters dhyāna, does not see the one who enters dhyāna by means of this dharma, does not see the place of entering dhyāna"〔T08 0391b17〕—the sūtra explained has one more sentence, 「不見入禪處」 tr. "does not see the place of entering dhyāna", and one more character, 「是」 tr. "this". On the side of the sūtra explained there is a note at this place, 「不見入禪處【大】，即【聖】」 tr. "does not see the place of entering dhyāna (Taishō), thereupon (Shōgozō)"〔T08 0391b18〕; on this treatise's side there is no collation note at this place. The sentence structures of the two sides differ; recorded as it is.
• Thereupon can / at that time the bodhisattva can—this treatise reads 「若不得是法，即能具足無相禪波羅蜜。」 tr. "If he does not find these dharmas, he thereupon can make the signless dhyānapāramitā complete."〔T25 0676c03〕, the sūtra explained reads 「若不得是法。爾時菩薩能具足無相禪那波羅蜜」 tr. "If he does not find these dharmas. At that time the bodhisattva can make the signless dhyānapāramitā complete"〔T08 0391b19〕. On the side of the sūtra explained there are two notes, 「爾時菩薩【大】，〔－〕【聖】」 tr. "at that time the bodhisattva (Taishō), omitted (Shōgozō)" and 「能【大】，即能【宋】【元】【明】【宮】」 tr. "can (Taishō), thereupon can (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace)"〔T08 0391b19〕—the four Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace texts of the sūtra explained read 「即能」 tr. "thereupon can", agreeing with this treatise's base text; on this treatise's side there is no collation note at this place.
• The order of the six similes (mirage and shadow interchanged)—this treatise reads 「知一切法如夢、如響、如焰、如影、如幻、如化。」 tr. "He knows all dharmas as like a dream, like an echo, like a mirage, like a shadow, like an illusion, like a conjuration."〔T25 0676c28〕, the sūtra explained at the same position reads 「知一切法如夢、如響、如影、如焰、如幻、如化」 tr. "knows all dharmas as like a dream, like an echo, like a shadow, like a mirage, like an illusion, like a conjuration"〔T08 0391c16〕. Neither side has a collation note here; in this treatise this way of writing is likewise seen only this once in its whole book (see Section II); it belongs to a difference in the characters used by the transmissions; recorded as it is, without judging the one side by the reading of the other.

Two systems of translation names (a systematic difference · rescanned in both directions · not a chance difference of this chapter). This treatise writes 「檀波羅蜜」 tr. "dānapāramitā (transliterated tan)" and 「禪波羅蜜」 tr. "dhyānapāramitā (transliterated chan)", while the sūtra explained writes 「檀那波羅蜜」 tr. "dānapāramitā (transliterated tanna)" and 「禪那波羅蜜」 tr. "dhyānapāramitā (transliterated channa)"—they are seen at the very head of this chapter's sūtra section: this treatise has 「所謂檀波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "namely dānapāramitā (tan), śīlapāramitā"〔T25 0675a23〕, the sūtra explained 「所謂檀那波羅蜜、尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "namely dānapāramitā (tanna), śīlapāramitā"〔T08 0390a02〕. This ledger rescans the whole of both canons in both directions in the character stream: 「檀那波羅蜜」 tr. "dānapāramitā (tanna)" is seen zero times in T25n1509 and five hundred and one times in T08n0223; 「檀波羅蜜」 tr. "dānapāramitā (tan)" six hundred and ninety-four times in T25n1509 and four times in T08n0223; 「禪那波羅蜜」 tr. "dhyānapāramitā (channa)" once in T25n1509 and two hundred and eighty-seven times in T08n0223; 「禪波羅蜜」 tr. "dhyānapāramitā (chan)" three hundred and sixty-four times in T25n1509 and six times in T08n0223. The translation-name habits of the two canons each form a system of their own; this is not a chance difference at one place in this chapter; neither side has a collation note; recorded as it is, without judging which is correct.

The control group (three strings · the counts of each canon honestly recorded · a unique correspondence). 「夢無自性」 tr. "a dream has no self-nature"〔T25 0675b03〕 /〔T08 0390a12〕; 「一切有所得是非菩薩位」 tr. "all that is with something to be attained is not the bodhisattva's position"〔T25 0676c13〕 /〔T08 0391b29〕; 「是夢、響、影、焰、幻、化皆是凡夫愚人顛倒法故。」 tr. "Because this dream, echo, shadow, mirage, illusion, and conjuration are all the inverted dharmas of ordinary foolish people."〔T25 0677a06〕 /〔T08 0391c23〕. The three strings are each seen once in each canon, with a unique correspondence, and can serve as a counter-proof group for the variant wordings listed above—where there are differences, all nine places have been recorded one by one; the rest match character by character.

V. The Prajñā Eye

The eye of this chapter lies in a statement that is extremely hard to establish: since all dharmas are signless, indiscriminable, and empty of specific marks, how can the differing marks of the six perfections still each be made complete one by one? This is not a theoretical difficulty but a difficulty the practitioner meets every day—if all is empty, does today's giving and keeping of morality still count. The sūtra and the treatise go back and forth over this one question four times, and its meaning can be summed up in six layers.

First, the questions lie in four places, the answer in only one. At the opening of the chapter Subhūti asks four questions in a row: within the signless how does one make the six perfections complete, within what is without difference how are differing marks spoken of, how does prajñā gather the other five perfections, and practising dharmas of differing marks how does one obtain the fruit by one mark—from〔T25 0675a22〕 on. Each of the four questions has its own point, yet the Buddha does not answer question by question but gives only one sentence: 「菩薩摩訶薩住五陰如夢、如響、如影、如焰、如幻、如化，住是中行布施、持戒、修忍辱、勤精進、入禪定、修智慧。」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the five aggregates as like a dream, like an echo, like a shadow, like a mirage, like an illusion, like a conjuration, and abiding in this he practises giving, keeps morality, cultivates patience, is diligent in vigour, enters meditative concentration, and cultivates wisdom."〔T25 0675a28〕—the answer lies not in 「如何調和空與有」 tr. "how to reconcile emptiness and existence", but in 「住在哪裡行」 tr. "where one abides while practising". The six similes are not figures of speech for teaching the Dharma; they are the place abided in; once the abiding-place is settled, the four questions all dissolve.

Second, that the six similes can stand lies in the one sense of having no self-nature. The sūtra does not take the six similes as words of warning but as an argument: 「夢無自性，響、影、焰、幻、化皆無自性。」 tr. "A dream has no self-nature; echo, shadow, mirage, illusion, and conjuration all have no self-nature."〔T25 0675b03〕, 「若法無自性，是法無相；若法無相，是法一相，所謂無相。」 tr. "If a dharma has no self-nature, that dharma is signless; if a dharma is signless, that dharma is of one mark, namely the signless."〔T25 0675b04〕. The unreality of a dream lies not in its being false but in its having no nature of its own; having no self-nature it is signless, and being signless it is of one mark. One mark is not some other mark set apart; it is precisely the signless. So below this it comes straight down to giving: 「當知菩薩布施無相、施者無相、受者無相。」 tr. "know that the bodhisattva's giving is signless, the giver is signless, the recipient is signless."〔T25 0675b06〕—the emptiness of the three wheels is not cultivated into being; it is so from the first, and the practitioner merely knows it so.

Third, the proof of signless morality lies in not making a vow. The passage on śīla is the closest to the practitioner. The sūtra first brings out the body of morality, 「是戒不缺、不破、不雜、不著，聖人所讚無漏戒」 tr. "this morality is not deficient, not broken, not mixed, not clinging, the morality without outflows praised by the sages"〔T25 0675c01〕, and at once with two instances of 「不作是願」 tr. "does not make this vow" settles it as signless: he does not vow by this morality to be born among the great kṣatriya clans and so on up to the gods Sovereign over Others' Transformations, and he does not vow by this morality to obtain the four fruits and the pratyekabuddha path. Whether morality is with marks or signless is proved not by how strictly it is kept, but by whether there is still in the mind a place one wants to go. As to why he makes no vow, the sūtra itself gives the principle: 「無相法不能得無相法，有相法不能得有相法；無相法不能得有相法，有相法不能得無相法。」 tr. "A signless dharma cannot obtain a signless dharma; a dharma with marks cannot obtain a dharma with marks; a signless dharma cannot obtain a dharma with marks; a dharma with marks cannot obtain a signless dharma."〔T25 0675c11〕—the four alternatives are blocked all together, and the road between the one who obtains and what is obtained is wholly cut off; not making a vow is not a low aspiration; it is that the road was never open.

Fourth, the furthest point of patience lies in there being no one to be patient with. The passage on kṣānti is written most concretely: all beings come to revile him with harsh and evil words and to assail him with tiles, stones, knives, and staves, and yet the bodhisattva 「乃至不生一念惡」 tr. "does not give rise to even a single evil thought"〔T25 0676a05〕. That he can be so lies not in a great power of patience but in a single thought that turns back and illumines: 「罵我者誰？害我者誰？」 tr. "Who is it that reviles me? Who is it that harms me?"〔T25 0676a06〕—all three questions are put as 「者誰」 tr. "who is it that"; what is asked about is the person who can revile and can harm; when sought he is unfindable, and then the thought 「是人罵我、害我」 tr. "this person reviles me and harms me" has nowhere to be set up. The sūtra itself gives its ground: 「是菩薩於一切法得無相忍故」 tr. "because this bodhisattva has obtained signless acceptance toward all dharmas"〔T25 0676a08〕. Patience, reaching this point, turns into the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas: 「以是羼提波羅蜜具足故，得無生法忍。」 tr. "Because this kṣāntipāramitā is complete, he obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas."〔T25 0676a10〕. And the definition of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is again most plain: 「得法忍，乃至不生少許不善法」 tr. "he obtains acceptance of dharmas, and so on up to not giving rise to even a little unwholesome dharma"〔T25 0676a12〕—it is not that something has been seen; it is that not even a little of the unwholesome arises any more.

Fifth, the bodhisattva's position has only one sentence as its criterion. At the end of the passage on dhyāna, Subhūti asks what the bodhisattva's position is and what is not the position, and the Buddha answers in only nineteen Chinese characters: 「一切有所得是非菩薩位，一切無所得是菩薩位。」 tr. "All that is with something to be attained is not the bodhisattva's position; all that is with nothing to be attained is the bodhisattva's position."〔T25 0676c13〕. The position is settled not by stages but by something to be attained and nothing to be attained. What counts as something to be attained? The sūtra answers without the least mercy: form is with something to be attained, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are with something to be attained, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds are with something to be attained〔T25 0676c15〕—even the omniscience of all kinds, as soon as the three Chinese characters 「有所得」 tr. "something to be attained" are hung upon it, is not the position. The proving sign after entering the position also lies here: 「是菩薩入位中，一切禪定、三昧具足，尚不隨禪定、三昧力生」 tr. "This bodhisattva who has entered the position is complete with all meditative concentrations and samādhi, and is still not born following the power of meditative concentration and samādhi"〔T25 0676c21〕—the power of concentration is enough for birth among the gods and yet he is not born there, precisely because, with nothing to be attained, there is nowhere to abide.

Sixth, the difference between what ordinary people and the bodhisattva see lies only in far and near. The treatise section gathers the whole chapter with one simile: 「譬如雲霧，遠視則見，近之則無所見。」 tr. "It is as with clouds and mist: seen from afar they are seen; drawing near, nothing is seen."〔T25 0677b25〕, 「凡夫亦如是，遠實相故，見諸佛。菩薩近實相故，見皆空」 tr. "Ordinary people too are like this: because they are far from the real mark, they see buddhas. The bodhisattva, because he is near the real mark, sees all as empty"〔T25 0677b26〕. The same one thing, seen from afar as a thing, seen from near as nothing; it is not that there are two worlds, but that there are two distances. Hence the bodhisattva's emptiness does not hinder his practice—「不妨故，能於檀波羅蜜一念中具足行諸善法。」 tr. "Because it does not hinder, he can, within dānapāramitā, within a single thought, practise all wholesome dharmas to completion."〔T25 0677b27〕. At the end the treatise-author further sets himself a question: how does this differ from the preceding chapter's 「一波羅蜜具諸波羅蜜」 tr. "by one perfection he is complete with all the perfections"〔T25 0677c22〕, and himself answers: 「上以一念中能具諸波羅蜜，此以諸法雖空無相而能具諸波羅蜜為異。」 tr. "Above, it was that within a single thought he can be complete with all the perfections; here, it is that though all dharmas are empty and signless he can be complete with all the perfections—this is the difference."〔T25 0677c24〕—the completeness of the preceding chapter lies in time (a single thought), the completeness of this chapter in essential nature (empty and signless); the one is when one is complete, the other why one can be complete; the whole chapter is gathered in this one distinction.

VI. Divergent Readings of the Masters

The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa has no tradition of a full commentary following its text throughout, and the ancient masters' citations and explanations are, as a matter of fact, unevenly distributed. For this chapter the ancient masters' re-reading comes from only one house: Jizang's commentary, which explains the sūtra explained, preserves a complete chapter devoted to it; Huiying's commentary, which explains this treatise, lacks an explanation of this chapter (its surviving text does not reach this fascicle; see below); Junzheng's book has zero hits, and its zero hits have a cause in its genre; in the four files of the Tiantai line the words of the chapter title have zero hits, and the seven hits of the loose term, checked item by item, are none of them citations of this chapter. This section records the correspondences of what they comment on and cite with this chapter, without judging the relative merit of the masters' interpretations.

Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451). His commentary following the text of the "Six Similes" chapter of the sūtra explained begins at 「六喻品第七十七」 tr. "Six Similes Chapter, the Seventy-seventh"〔X24n0451 0330a08〕 and runs to〔X24n0451 0330b13〕, before the start of the next chapter, 「四攝品第七十八」 tr. "Four Means of Gathering Chapter, the Seventy-eighth"〔X24n0451 0330b14〕, covering the whole of this chapter's sūtra. The chapter-boundary marker of this file is a <cb:mulu> of level="2" whose type attribute reads "other" rather than "chapter" (a technical difference, recorded for later reference). Five points of his can be recorded.

First, the place of the chapter and its succession from the preceding chapter—「此下第二就譬說一心具萬行正意。」 tr. "From here on, the second, by way of simile, speaks of the proper intent of one mind complete with all practices."〔X24n0451 0330a09〕, 「就譬說中明住空無相無作具六度，喻上品第三段也。」 tr. "Within the teaching by simile it makes clear that abiding in emptiness, the signless, and non-action one is complete with the six perfections; it likens the third section of the chapter above."〔X24n0451 0330a09〕: Jizang takes this chapter as the 「譬說」 tr. "teaching by simile" and the preceding chapter, "One Mind Complete with All Practices", as the 「法說」 tr. "teaching by dharma", the two chapters having one meaning while the manner of teaching differs. Below his 「此品來有三義」 tr. "this chapter comes for three reasons"〔X24n0451 0330a10〕, the three reasons are, as the base text stands, marked 「一者」 tr. "first", 「二者」 tr. "second", 「二者」 tr. "second" (the third branch too is marked 「二者」 tr. "second"), which this ledger records as it is without correcting on anyone's behalf: the first reason says that in the preceding chapter the three perfections easily give rise to a clinging mind, 「如此等皆夢幻有也，何有耶？」 tr. "Such things as these are all the existence of dreams and illusions; what existence is there?"〔X24n0451 0330a13〕; the second reason says 「二者明虗寂之中無所不行」 tr. "second, it makes clear that within empty stillness there is nothing that is not practised"〔X24n0451 0330a13〕, and sets up two difficulties of its own—「若畢竟空，云何能具所為？若有所為，云何是畢竟空？」 tr. "If it is ultimate emptiness, how can one complete what is done? If there is something done, how is it ultimate emptiness?"〔X24n0451 0330a14〕, gathered with 「故今明空有無礙者，如故約化事也。」 tr. "Therefore what now makes clear that emptiness and existence do not obstruct each other is, as before, drawn from the matter of conjuring."〔X24n0451 0330a15〕; the third reason says it is taught for people's sake—「今明實見，云何無菩薩耶？故舉六喻曉之眼也。」 tr. "Now it makes clear that one truly sees; how can there be no bodhisattva? Therefore the six similes are raised to enlighten the eye."〔X24n0451 0330a18〕, 「見便言有者，亦見夢幻可言有耶？」 tr. "If, because one sees, one says it exists, then one also sees dreams and illusions—can one say they exist?"〔X24n0451 0330a19〕. That dreams and illusions can be seen and yet cannot be called existent answers the difficulty of 「眼見菩薩行六度作佛」 tr. "seeing with the eye the bodhisattva practising the six perfections and becoming a Buddha"—it points to the same place as this treatise's treatise section, 「凡夫遠實智慧，取相，見菩薩行六波羅蜜作佛，著是空法故難。」 tr. "Ordinary people are far from real wisdom, grasp at marks, and see the bodhisattva practising the six perfections and becoming a Buddha; because they cling to this empty dharma, they raise the objection."〔T25 0677b21〕, while the manner of speaking differs; recorded separately, as it is.

Second, the twofold division and the division of four questions and four answers—「品為二：第一、正舉喻釋上六事；第二、乘釋疑。」 tr. "The chapter is in two: first, properly raising similes to explain the six matters above; second, going on to explain doubts."〔X24n0451 0330a21〕, 「初先作四問，次答四問，還問上第三段中六度各有四義耳。」 tr. "First four questions are put, next the four questions are answered; they ask again about the six perfections in the third section above, each having four meanings."〔X24n0451 0330a21〕: Jizang takes the opening of the sūtra section as four questions, matching in number the four 「云何」 tr. "how" brought out in this treatise's sūtra text (see Section I). Below this he assigns them question by question: 「第一、問上第一六度能明無相不可分別中，而能滿足六度能耶？」 tr. "First, it asks about the first point above on the six perfections: can one, within what makes clear the signless and indiscriminable, still fulfil the six perfections?" 「第二、問上第三外道云何無異中，而能分別益眾生自行化他，故相逐也？」 tr. "Second, it asks about the third point above, the outside paths: how, within what is without difference, can one discriminate so as to benefit beings, practising oneself and transforming others, so that they follow upon one another?" 「第三、問第二攝眾行義，諸法空無相，云何有相攝耶？」 tr. "Third, it asks about the second point, the meaning of gathering the many practices: all dharmas are empty and signless; how is there a gathering by marks?" 「第四、問第四諸法空無相，云何得成佛道？」 tr. "Fourth, it asks about the fourth point: all dharmas are empty and signless; how can one accomplish the Buddha path?"〔X24n0451 0330b02〕, gathered with 「此欲成因果一雙相次也。」 tr. "This is meant to complete cause and fruit as a pair in sequence."〔X24n0451 0330b03〕. This treatise has no question-by-question division of these four questions; it only gathers them as a whole with the first question of the treatise section; what the two houses stress differs; recorded separately, as it is.

Third, the division of the general answer and the separate answers—「佛答中為二：初總答，次得六度別答。」 tr. "Within the Buddha's answer there are two: first the general answer, next the separate answers on obtaining the six perfections."〔X24n0451 0330b04〕, 「雖總別二答，不別答四問，但總答也。」 tr. "Though there are two answers, general and separate, he does not answer the four questions separately, but only answers generally."〔X24n0451 0330b04〕, and he himself marks where the separate answers begin: 「以是因緣故下，別答六度，答異也。」 tr. "From ‘by reason of these causes and conditions’ onward, the six perfections are answered separately, answering the difference."〔X24n0451 0330b07〕—Jizang takes the phrase 「以是因緣故」 tr. "by reason of these causes and conditions"〔T25 0675b05〕 in the sūtra text as the boundary where the general answer turns into the separate answers. This sectional boundary matches the drift of this treatise's sūtra text (only from 「以是因緣故」 tr. "by reason of these causes and conditions" onward does the sūtra speak of each perfection separately), but this treatise does not mark its own sections; this is Jizang's alone. Further, he himself explains why the Buddha does not answer question by question: 「問意云：既空無相，應無四事。佛答：夢幻等四事，何共四事？如夢幻四事，何曾事耶？即是答四問也。」 tr. "The intent of the question says: since it is empty and signless, there ought to be none of the four matters. The Buddha answers: dreams, illusions, and the rest are four matters—how do they share in the four matters? The four matters being like dreams and illusions, when were they ever matters? This is precisely answering the four questions."〔X24n0451 0330b05〕.

Fourth, the establishing of two chapters, teaching by dharma and teaching by simile—「上法說中一一度具四事，今喻說中亦一一度具四事，但法譬不同，故有兩品也。」 tr. "Above, in the teaching by dharma, each perfection is complete with four matters; now, in the teaching by simile, each perfection is likewise complete with four matters; only dharma and simile are not the same, and so there are two chapters."〔X24n0451 0330b07〕: with 「法譬不同」 tr. "dharma and simile are not the same" he explains why the preceding chapter and this chapter are set up separately. The question the treatise-author sets himself at the end of this treatise's treatise section (the chapter above made all the perfections complete by one perfection, this signlessness gathers all dharmas; what difference is there〔T25 0677c22〕) and his own answer (the distinction of a single thought / empty and signless〔T25 0677c24〕) answer a different point from Jizang—the treatise-author's answer lies in why there is completeness, Jizang's in the genre of the teaching; the two houses establish their meanings separately; recorded side by side without judgement.

Fifth, the explanation of the sixth perfection and of the second section—「釋第六度中云不見夢乃主夢者」 tr. "In explaining the sixth perfection it says he does not see the dream and the master of the dream"〔X24n0451 0330b09〕, 「上來借六喻以喻法，法既不可得，六喻亦淨」 tr. "Up to here the six similes have been borrowed to liken the dharma; since the dharma is unfindable, the six similes too are pure"〔X24n0451 0330b10〕, gathered with 「故菩薩耳法不曾虗實也。」 tr. "Therefore the bodhisattva's ear-dharma was never empty or real."〔X24n0451 0330b10〕; he further explains the origin of the passage going on to explain doubts: 「第二段更問者，上來明菩薩所生功德，問於六喻來例萬法，今欲例於萬法，故復問也。」 tr. "As for the further question of the second section: up to here it has made clear the merit produced by the bodhisattva, asking about the six similes so as to apply them to the myriad dharmas; now, wishing to apply them to the myriad dharmas, he therefore asks again."〔X24n0451 0330b11〕—with 「六喻亦淨」 tr. "the six similes too are pure" he gathers the self-refutation of the six similes, matching this treatise's sūtra text 「不見夢、不見見夢者」 tr. "does not see the dream, does not see the one who sees the dream"〔T25 0677a03〕 and the blocking off of simile after simile that follows. Note: the wording of these few lines of this file has been corrupted in transmission (at places such as 「乃主夢者」 tr. "and the master of the dream", 「曉之眼也」 tr. "to enlighten the eye", 「菩薩耳法」 tr. "the bodhisattva's ear-dharma", and 「虗寂」 tr. "empty stillness"); this ledger records them character by character as the base text stands, without correcting on anyone's behalf.

Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) · lacking an explanation (not zero hits). This ledger independently verifies: the surviving text of that commentary begins at〔X46n0791 0794a01〕 and ends at〔X46n0791 0917b12〕, with the fascicle-end title 「大智度論疏卷第二十四」 tr. "Commentary on the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle Twenty-four", and what it explains at its close is still the passage 「云何菩薩摩訶薩知一切法略廣相」 tr. "how does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the brief and extensive marks of all dharmas"—far before Fascicle 88 of this treatise. This chapter certainly falls outside the range of the surviving text of Huiying's commentary, and so it is recorded as 「闕釋」 tr. "lacking an explanation", not as 「零命中」 tr. "zero hits" (consistent with the limit of Huiying's commentary already settled for several chapters from Chapter 44 onward; this chapter lies further beyond it). The words of the chapter title, 「六喻品」 tr. "Six Similes Chapter" and 「夢化六度」 tr. "dream and conjuration, the six perfections", and the loose term 「六喻」 tr. "six similes" likewise have zero hits in the whole text of that file; this zero value is caused by the missing fascicles, not by an omitted citation; recorded separately, as it is.

Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) · zero hits (a necessity of its genre). The words of the chapter title, 「六喻品」 tr. "Six Similes Chapter" and 「夢化六度」 tr. "dream and conjuration, the six perfections", and the loose term 「六喻」 tr. "six similes", searched back through the whole file, all have zero hits. This book is not a commentary following the text chapter by chapter, but belongs to the genre of profound-meaning works that discuss doctrinal themes laterally, not unfolding in the order of this treatise's chapters—chapter-by-chapter coverage cannot, in terms of genre, be established at all, so its zero hits are a necessity of genre, not an omitted citation. This distinction is recorded as it is, so that later re-readers need not argue it all over again each time they meet a zero value.

Zhiyi's Great Calming and Contemplation (T46n1911) · Zhanran's Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation (T46n1912) · the Profound Meaning of the Lotus (T33n1716) · the Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus (T33n1717) · zero citations in the four files (recorded as it is). This ledger independently searched back through the whole of the four files: the words of the chapter title, 「六喻品」 tr. "Six Similes Chapter" and 「夢化六度」 tr. "dream and conjuration, the six perfections", have zero hits in all four files; this chapter's fixed sentence of the six similes, 「如夢、如響、如影、如焰、如幻、如化」 tr. "like a dream, like an echo, like a shadow, like a mirage, like an illusion, like a conjuration", has zero hits in all four files; the loose term 「六喻」 tr. "six similes" gives one, one, one, and four hits in the four files respectively, seven in all, and this ledger, checking the context of each item, finds that all seven are other groups of six similes, and not one cites this chapter:

• Great Calming and Contemplation, one hit, whose words read 「近已藏開，盡取用之。合六喻可解」 tr. "Near, the treasury is already opened; take and use all of it. Put together with the six similes, it can be understood"〔T46n1911 0010c24〕 (the two characters 「云云」 tr. "and so on" below it are tied within an interlinear note and do not enter the character-by-character quotation)—the text above is the passage of a house with a treasury that no one knows of, a good friend showing it, and the weeds being cleared away and it dug out; what it puts together is the six similes of the treasury series, which have nothing to do with this chapter's dream, echo, shadow, mirage, illusion, and conjuration.
• Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation, one hit, whose words read 「次假觀中文舉六喻。三夢一寶一骨一像。」 tr. "Next, the text on the contemplation of the provisional raises six similes: three dreams, one treasure, one skeleton, one image."〔T46n1912 0186c25〕—the six it lists itself are three dreams, one treasure, one skeleton, and one image, entirely different from this chapter's six.
• Profound Meaning of the Lotus, one hit〔T33n1716 0681c22〕, 「本迹六喻者，敘用也。」 tr. "The six similes of origin and trace set out the function."—these are the six similes of the gates of origin and trace of the Lotus, words setting out the structure of the sūtra text.
• Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus, four hits:〔T33n1717 0818c26〕 「六喻敘用」 tr. "the six similes set out the function" continues the item above; 「經中耆婆為闍王說，總有六喻」 tr. "In the sūtra Jīvaka speaks for King Ajātaśatru; in all there are six similes"〔T33n1717 0889c28〕—these are the six similes spoken by Jīvaka for King Ajātaśatru, whose items it brings out one by one: 「初喻善心開敷」 tr. "the first simile: the wholesome mind opening out"〔T33n1717 0889c29〕, the second simile the practitioner's mind rejoicing, the third and fourth similes roots of goodness increasing and afflictions decreasing, the fifth simile removing greed, the sixth simile love and delight; this string is seen twice in this file, running across lines, and in the expression 「六喻愛樂」 tr. "the sixth simile: love and delight" the 「六」 tr. "six" is in fact an ordinal;〔T33n1717 0927c28〕 「先對六喻，次以十如結成。」 tr. "First matched against the six similes, next concluded with the ten suchnesses." continues the item on the six similes of origin and trace. Thus this chapter certainly has no trace of being cited in the two Tiantai works on calming and contemplation or in the commentaries and records on the Lotus; the negative result is recorded as it is, and hits on the surface of words are not used to stand in for a relation of citation.

VII. Cross-reading and Further Resonances

The veins of meaning of this chapter that carry on from before and after are four, all recorded in this section, without settling the reading on anyone's behalf.

First, the carrying on in chapter order of ‘one mind complete with all practices’ (the treatise-author's own testimony · a hard link within this treatise itself). The question the treatise-author sets himself at the end of the treatise section points directly to the preceding chapter: 「上品中以一波羅蜜具諸波羅蜜，此無相攝一切法，有何差別？」 tr. "In the chapter above, by one perfection he is complete with all the perfections; this signlessness gathers all dharmas; what difference is there?"〔T25 0677c22〕—what it points to is Chapter 76, "One Mind Complete with All Practices" (its chapter title at〔T25 0670b24〕). The treatise-author's answer itself brings out the division of the two chapters: 「上以一念中能具諸波羅蜜，此以諸法雖空無相而能具諸波羅蜜為異。」 tr. "Above, it was that within a single thought he can be complete with all the perfections; here, it is that though all dharmas are empty and signless he can be complete with all the perfections—this is the difference."〔T25 0677c24〕. The completeness of the preceding chapter is tied to a single thought, the completeness of this chapter to emptiness and the signless; the one asks about time, the other about essence; the chapters arise from one another in order, and the carrying on is recorded. Jizang has here a different pairing (teaching by dharma / teaching by simile; see Section VI), different from the treatise-author's pairing; recorded side by side without judgement.

Second, the forward pointing in chapter order of ‘the four means of gathering’ (no explicit text within this chapter of this treatise). Below the last words of this chapter, 「為異」 tr. "this is the difference"〔T25 0677c25〕, the next chapter is "The Four Means of Gathering", the Seventy-eighth〔T25 0677c26〕. Within the range of this chapter this treatise has no explicit text pointing forward to the next chapter (this ledger, searching back character by character within this chapter for 「四攝」 tr. "the four means of gathering", has zero hits), so the succession of the two chapters is seen only in their order and not in the treatise-author's own statement; recorded separately, as it is. Jizang's 「第二段更問者……今欲例於萬法，故復問也。」 tr. "As for the further question of the second section … now, wishing to apply them to the myriad dharmas, he therefore asks again."〔X24n0451 0330b11〕, explained at the end of this chapter, also stops within this chapter and does not point forward to the next.

Third, the tie of the name ‘dream and conjuration, the six perfections’ to the sūtra text (one side only · recorded without judgement). The variant chapter name 「夢化六度品」 tr. "Chapter on Dream and Conjuration and the Six Perfections" has its basis in the two axes of the sūtra text, the six similes and the six perfections—「菩薩摩訶薩住五陰如夢、如響、如影、如焰、如幻、如化」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the five aggregates as like a dream, like an echo, like a shadow, like a mirage, like an illusion, like a conjuration"〔T25 0675a28〕 and the perfection-by-perfection 「能具足無相尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "can make complete the signless śīlapāramitā"〔T25 0675b29〕 and what follows. This ledger rescans in both directions: the character stream of 「夢化六度」 tr. "dream and conjuration, the six perfections" is seen zero times in the whole treatise T25n1509 and zero times in the whole sūtra T08n0223—this name does not come from the main text of either canon, but only from the Khitan edition's interlinear note below the chapter title of the sūtra explained〔T08 0389c29〕. Hence, as a chapter name, its choice lies in summarising the purport of the section, not in being grounded in the wording; the two names are recorded side by side, without judging which came first.

Fourth, linking to the treasury (stable citation · soft citation). This chapter's chain from 「夢無自性」 tr. "a dream has no self-nature" onward, in which having no self-nature is precisely being signless and being signless is precisely one mark, its gloss of the three wheels, 「布施無相、施者無相、受者無相」 tr. "the giving is signless, the giver is signless, the recipient is signless", its dharma of patience, 「罵我者誰？害我者誰？」 tr. "Who is it that reviles me? Who is it that harms me?", its judgement of position, 「一切有所得是非菩薩位，一切無所得是菩薩位」 tr. "all that is with something to be attained is not the bodhisattva's position; all that is with nothing to be attained is the bodhisattva's position", and its simile of seeing, 「譬如雲霧，遠視則見，近之則無所見」 tr. "it is as with clouds and mist: seen from afar they are seen; drawing near, nothing is seen"—these are the basis on which later ages discussed signless practice, the emptiness of the three wheels, and the bodhisattva's position; they rest on a stable citation〔T25n1509 六喻品·卷八十八〕; since the places in the various volumes that cite this treatise are not yet in final form, the citation is soft, awaiting their character-by-character verification. This belongs to the further resonances of the meaning of prajñā running down into the gates of practice; recorded without judgement.

VIII. Witnesses and Editions

The base text of this chapter is Fascicle 88 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa〔T25 0675a17–0677c26〕 (the main text of the chapter body begins from the chapter title〔T25 0675a17〕 and ends with the sentence closing in 「為異」 tr. "this is the difference", running on to〔T25 0677c25〕, before the title of the next chapter〔T25 0677c26〕; this chapter's title is the fascicle-head title of Fascicle 88, and within the range of this chapter the base text has no fascicle-end title); the collation text for the sūtra explained is the "Six Similes" chapter of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra〔T08 0389c29–0392b05〕; the ancient-master commentary text for collation is Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451, covering the sūtra explained at〔X24n0451 0330a08–0330b13〕); Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) lacks an explanation of this chapter, Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) has zero hits, and Zhiyi's two books and the Annotations have zero 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 (the Ishiyama-dera manuscript) texts—within this chapter's ledger of fifty-two entries no entry of the Shōgozō B is seen, nor any entry of the Korean edition or of the CBETA emendation layer; the number of entries in which each text appears (a mechanically recounted value · one entry may involve several texts): Song twenty-four, Palace twenty-seven, Shōgozō twenty, Ming nineteen, Ishiyama nineteen, Yuan eighteen.

Two notes on structural markers · of the point-anchor type · not entered in the ledger of fifty-two entries (listed separately). Within the range of this chapter there are two notes of the <anchor type="circle"/> point-anchor type (without a beg/end pair, so they generate no app and do not enter the ledger):

• The note on the 【經】 structural marker〔T25 0675a22〕, the full text of the base text as it stands: 「經【大】，〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】，不分卷【石】」 tr. "sūtra (Taishō), omitted (Song, Palace, Shōgozō), no division of the fascicle (Ishiyama)"—the three Song, Palace, and Shōgozō texts lack this structural marker 【經】, and the Ishiyama text, further, does not divide the fascicle. This is the place where the Ishiyama text first appears within the range of this chapter (there is no Ishiyama text among the four notes on the chapter title; see Section IV).
• The note on the record at the fascicle's end at the close of the chapter〔T25 0677c25〕, the full text of the base text as it stands: 「卷第八十八終【石】」 tr. "end of Fascicle Eighty-eight (Ishiyama)"—the Ishiyama text takes the end of this chapter as the end of its Fascicle 88; paired with the 「卷第八十九首【石】」 tr. "head of Fascicle Eighty-nine (Ishiyama)" of the note on the opening title of the next chapter〔T25 0677c26〕, the two notes together form the Ishiyama text's boundary between Fascicles 88 and 89. And since the 【經】 note records the Ishiyama text's 「不分卷」 tr. "no division of the fascicle", and the note at the close of the preceding chapter〔T25 0675a13〕 also records 「不分卷【石】」 tr. "no division of the fascicle (Ishiyama)"—the Ishiyama text does not open a fascicle at the head of this chapter but closes one at its end, exactly one chapter out of step with the base text's 「於本品之首起卷」 tr. "opening the fascicle at the head of this chapter". The three records stand together; recorded as they are, without forcing a reconciliation.

Four stars · all shared within the chapter itself (listed separately). Within the range of this chapter there are four star anchors; this ledger resolves one by one the target of each one's collation entry and locates the chapter to which it belongs:

• 〔T25 0676a07〕 「杖」 tr. "staff"—corresp→note(0676001), that is, the note at〔T25 0676a04〕 in this chapter (entry thirteen of the ledger below), shared within the chapter itself.
• 〔T25 0676b23〕 「入」 tr. "enter"—corresp→note(0676010), that is, the note at〔T25 0676b22〕 in this chapter (entry twenty-three of the ledger below), shared within the chapter itself.
• 〔T25 0677b02〕 「是」 tr. "this"—corresp→note(0677008), that is, the note at〔T25 0677b01〕 in this chapter (entry thirty-nine of the ledger below), shared within the chapter itself.
• 〔T25 0677b26〕 「夫」 tr. "fu"—corresp→note(0677013), that is, the note at〔T25 0677b21〕 in this chapter (entry forty-five of the ledger below), shared within the chapter itself. The corresp targets of the four being settled, the distribution of the stars is all four within the chapter, none borrowed in from across chapters (differing from Chapter 62, which has one borrowed in from across chapters). The note text of a star's target carries in the base text the mark 「＊」 tr. "star", which this ledger keeps following the base text as it stands (entries thirteen, fifteen, twenty-three, twenty-four, thirty-nine, forty, forty-five, and forty-nine of the ledger below).

This chapter as the place of definition of stars at two places, lent out beyond the chapter (listed separately). Within the range of this chapter there are in addition two notes carrying the mark 「＊」 tr. "star" whose shared star falls outside this chapter:

• 〔T25 0677a17〕 「相【大】＊，相三昧【石】＊」 tr. "mark (Taishō, starred), mark samādhi (Ishiyama, starred)" (entry thirty-five of the ledger below)—its shared star is at〔T25 0678c02〕, belonging to the range of the next chapter, "The Four Means of Gathering".
• 〔T25 0677b16〕 「【論】【大】＊，〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊」 tr. "[treatise] (Taishō, starred), omitted (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō, starred)" (entry forty-three of the ledger below)—its shared star is at〔T25 0681b01〕, in the range from the next chapter onward. That is, this chapter borrows nothing in from outside, but lends out two places; of the 「＊」 tr. "star" marks in this chapter, the resolution of one kind lies within the chapter and of the other outside it; the two kinds stand together; recorded separately, as it is, so that one does not infer from the carrying of the mark that the sharer must be within the chapter.

One difference between the list of the working base text and the base text (listed separately · this ledger follows the base text). Entry twenty-two of the ledger below〔T25 0676b14〕: the base text's note as it stands reads 「世界【大】下同，國土【石】下同」 tr. "world (Taishō), likewise below; land (Ishiyama), likewise below"; the list at the end of the working base-text file reads 「世界【大】｜國土【石】」 tr. "world (Taishō) | land (Ishiyama)", omitting in two places the two characters 「下同」 tr. "likewise below". The two characters 「下同」 tr. "likewise below" settle that the variant reading extends to the text below (within the range of this chapter the three occurrences of 「三千大千世界」 tr. "the three-thousand great-thousand world" all lie below it); they are not words that can be omitted, and this ledger restores them following the base text and marks this difference explicitly. The other fifty-one entries of the list of the working base text agree with the base text.

The general collation ledger (a full reckoning of fifty-two entries · the base text as it stands). Below they are listed in full in the order of their appearance in the base text, including the four star entries, with their corresp targets and the chapters to which they belong marked with each entry. 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 (fifty-two · in order of appearance in the base text · star-corresp marked with each entry)

• 〔T25 0675a17〕論【大】｜經論【聖】 (a difference in the book name of the chapter title · the Shōgozō text reads 「大智度經論釋」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, Commentary" · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0675a17〕六喻品【大】｜〔－〕【宮】【聖】 (the Palace and Shōgozō texts have no chapter name in the chapter title · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0675a17〕七十七【大】｜七十七訖第七十八品上【宋】【元】｜七十七品訖第七十八品上【宮】｜七十六品訖第七十七品上【聖】 (the Shōgozō text a -1 step · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0675a18〕卷【大】｜卷第【宮】 (the wording of the interlinear note 「卷八十八」 tr. "Fascicle Eighty-eight" below the chapter title)
• 〔T25 0675a24〕梨【大】｜黎【明】
• 〔T25 0675b06〕施者無相【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0675b10〕相【大】｜相三昧【石】
• 〔T25 0675b27〕知【大】｜知知【聖】
• 〔T25 0675c18〕染【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0675c23〕化【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0675c24〕身【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0675c26〕取【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0676a04〕杖【大】＊｜仗【宋】＊ (place of definition of a star · note(0676001) · for the one that shares it see entry fifteen below)
• 〔T25 0676a06〕害【大】｜割【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 (the reading of the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace texts is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0676a07〕杖【大】＊｜仗【宋】＊ (star · corresp→note(0676001) = the note at〔T25 0676a04〕 in this chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0676a13〕法【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0676a22〕如【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0676a24〕及空【大】｜乃至【石】
• 〔T25 0676b02〕教【大】｜故【宮】
• 〔T25 0676b09〕解脫【大】｜背捨【石】 (the Ishiyama text's reading is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0676b10〕是【大】｜是中【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0676b14〕世界【大】下同｜國土【石】下同 (the base text as it stands contains the two characters 「下同」 tr. "likewise below" · omitted in the list of the working base text · see the separate listing above; the Ishiyama text's reading is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0676b22〕入【大】＊｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊ (place of definition of a star · note(0676010) · for the one that shares it see entry twenty-four below)
• 〔T25 0676b23〕入【大】＊｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊ (star · corresp→note(0676010) = the note at〔T25 0676b22〕 in this chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0676b24〕相【大】｜相三昧【石】 (the same group of variant readings as entry seven〔T25 0675b10〕 and entry thirty-five〔T25 0677a17〕 · at all three places the Ishiyama text, below 「無相」 tr. "signless", adds the two characters 「三昧」 tr. "samādhi" · recorded side by side as it is)
• 〔T25 0676c04〕蜜【大】｜蜜菩薩【石】
• 〔T25 0676c07〕提【大】｜提是【石】
• 〔T25 0676c07〕薩【大】｜薩摩訶薩【石】
• 〔T25 0676c18〕不【大】｜亦不【宮】
• 〔T25 0676c24〕及如幻法【大】｜亦不得【石】 (the Ishiyama text's sentence pattern agrees with the sūtra explained · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0676c27〕法【大】｜法法【石】
• 〔T25 0677a09〕夢【大】｜夢亦【石】
• 〔T25 0677a13〕法【大】｜生以【聖】
• 〔T25 0677a14〕修【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0677a17〕相【大】＊｜相三昧【石】＊ (place of definition of a star · note(0677004) · the one that shares it is outside this chapter〔T25 0678c02〕 · see the separate listing above)
• 〔T25 0677a24〕見【大】｜不見【元】【明】【石】
• 〔T25 0677a27〕無相【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0677a29〕於【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0677b01〕是【大】＊｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】＊ (place of definition of a star · note(0677008) · for the one that shares it see entry forty below)
• 〔T25 0677b02〕是【大】＊｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】＊ (star · corresp→note(0677008) = the note at〔T25 0677b01〕 in this chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0677b05〕定【大】｜空【聖】
• 〔T25 0677b11〕故【大】｜〔－〕【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0677b16〕【論】【大】＊｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊ (a note on the presence of a structural marker · place of definition of a star · note(0677011) · the one that shares it is outside this chapter〔T25 0681b01〕 · see the separate listing above)
• 〔T25 0677b20〕今【大】｜令【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0677b21〕夫【大】＊｜人【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】＊ (place of definition of a star · note(0677013) · for the one that shares it see entry forty-nine below)
• 〔T25 0677b23〕住【大】｜在【明】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0677b24〕六【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0677b25〕雲【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0677b26〕夫【大】＊｜人【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】＊ (star · corresp→note(0677013) = the note at〔T25 0677b21〕 in this chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0677c03〕一【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0677c21〕尸【大】｜尸羅【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【石】
• 〔T25 0677c25〕異【大】｜異釋第七十品【聖】｜異釋第七十品竟【石】 (the appended remark of the collation note 〔side note〕 kept as it stands · the closing records of the Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts at the end of the chapter · the exceptional case of 「第七十品」 tr. "the Seventieth Chapter" · see Section IV)

The fifty-two entries above agree mechanically with the number of anchored collation notes of the working base text (fifty-two entries in the list at the end of the working base-text file · forty-eight notes of the base text with paired anchors + four app entries of the star type = fifty-two · a mechanically recounted value), and the targets of the stars have been marked with each entry. The two notes on structural markers, the four stars and the two places lent out beyond the chapter, and the one difference of the working base text have been listed separately above; the two point-anchor notes do not enter this ledger of fifty-two entries, as marked explicitly above.

Witness collation of the sūtra explained (nine places expanded · the rest not expanded · the gap recorded, to be supplied). Within the range of collation for this chapter on the side of the sūtra explained, T223〔T08 0389c29–0392b05〕, this ledger scans item by item fifty-five numbered notes and four star anchors; the nine places of variant wording that bear on this treatise (harm / cut · liberations / turning away and relinquishing · world / land · the two graphs of unobstructed · the two graphs of lust · and dharmas like an illusion / also does not find · the presence or absence of the sentence on the place of entering dhyāna · thereupon can / at that time the bodhisattva can · the order of the six similes) and the one side formed by the Khitan edition's interlinear note on the chapter title have been recorded item by item in Section IV; the counts in both directions of the two systems of translation names have also been recorded. The item-by-item side-by-side listing of the remaining entries has not been expanded; that it has not been expanded is recorded as it is, awaiting a later supplementary check, and estimates are not made to pass for counts. Further, at the head and at the end of this chapter on the side of the sūtra explained there is one note each added by the modern editorial layer (around〔T08 0386b09〕 one records that its coverage extends to the end of this chapter, and at〔T08 0392b05〕 one records its close, with the name of a parallel Sanskrit passage attached), which belong to modern additions of the CBETA editorial layer, not to what the ancient masters transmitted; following the practice, this ledger records their existence and position, and does not cite their text as a ground for the doctrine or the Sanskrit source of this chapter; the same note also records 「不分卷【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】」 tr. "no division of the fascicle (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō)", a record of fascicle numbering on the side of the sūtra explained, which is recorded along with it.