大智度論 畢定品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Certainty

I. Structural Placement

Within the sequence in which the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa comments on the Larger Sūtra, this chapter belongs to a section of the "Commentary on the Remaining Chapters", spanning Fascicles 93 and 94. The chapter title, 「大智度論釋畢定品第八十三」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Certainty, the Eighty-third"〔T25 0712c19〕, lies within Fascicle 93 (it is not a title raised at the head of a fascicle); where the preceding chapter, "Purifying the Buddha-land", Chapter 82, ends is precisely where this chapter begins. At the end-title of Fascicle 93, 「大智度論卷第九十三」 tr. "Fascicle 93 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa ends here."〔T25 0715a12〕, this chapter is not yet finished; Fascicle 94 opens again with the continuing title 「大智度論釋畢定品第八十三之餘」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Certainty, the Eighty-third, Remainder"〔T25 0715a15〕, and repeats the author's signature and the translator's signature (「龍樹菩薩造」 tr. "Composed by Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna" and 「後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯」 tr. "Translated by Kumārajīva, Tripiṭaka master of Kucha, in the Later Qin", 0715a18／0715a19)—the continuing title reads 「之餘」 tr. "Remainder" and not 「之下」 tr. "Last Part", the same type as the fascicle-spanning 「之餘」 tr. "Remainder" of Chapters 40, 41, 43, 45, and 47; recorded as it is. Fascicle 93 closes at 0715a12 (the fascicle-end marker) and Fascicle 94 opens at 0715a15 (the fascicle-head marker); between them the two lines 0715a13 and 0715a14 have no characters (structural markers only), so the point of division between the two units falls on these two lines, with zero drift in the stream of Chinese characters. This chapter ends at the close of the passage 「無所分別心，能行布施等，是名真菩薩道」 tr. "With a mind that discriminates nothing he can practise giving and the rest: this is named the true bodhisattva path"〔T25 0718b09〕, and the next chapter, "The Four Truths", Chapter 84, begins at 0718b11.

The whole chapter has seven thousand seven hundred and forty-five pure Chinese characters (a mechanically recounted value · this section takes it as the preferred reference value); this chapter is divided into two units by the fascicle boundary, and for the First Part (the Fascicle 93 portion) and the Last Part (the Fascicle 94 portion) this section's character-by-character recount gives three thousand one hundred and forty-seven and four thousand six hundred and fifteen respectively, whose sum, seven thousand seven hundred and sixty-two, differs from the value above by seventeen characters—judged to be a difference of structural text such as fascicle titles and the author's and translator's signatures, and of the basis of counting (the two unit values include the unit-heading and fascicle-title lines; recounted without these structural lines they are three thousand one hundred and thirty-six and four thousand six hundred and nine, whose sum is exactly seven thousand seven hundred and forty-five), of the same type as the like differences that appear consistently in the ledgers of Chapters 38 to 47; recorded as it is, not an estimate. The two units stand at about one to one point four seven, more even than Chapter 47's one to two point seven.

The structure within the chapter is two 【經】 and two 【論】 alternating, divided into two units by the fascicle boundary. The First Part holds Sūtra ① and Treatise ①, range〔0712c19–0715a12〕: 【經】〔T25 0712c20〕 and 【論】〔T25 0713b15〕. The Last Part holds Sūtra ② and Treatise ②, range〔0715a13–0718b11〕: 【經】〔T25 0715a20〕 and 【論】〔T25 0716b19〕. All four labels fall exactly at the head of their blocks, with no embedded type of transition; the point of division is tied to the fascicle boundary and falls between Treatise ① and Sūtra ②—the fascicle boundary is precisely the boundary of sūtra and treatise, and there is no division cutting across a sūtra or treatise section. The only thing to be recorded: on the side of the sūtra explained, T223, the sūtra text here is originally one continuous question—「世尊！菩薩摩訶薩大方便力，得聖無漏智慧，而隨所應度眾生身而作種種形，以度眾生。世尊！菩薩摩訶薩住何等白淨法，能作如是方便而不受染污？」 tr. "World-Honored One! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the power of great skilful means, obtains the noble wisdom without outflows, and yet takes all kinds of forms according to the bodies of the beings he should deliver, so as to deliver beings. World-Honored One! Abiding in what white and pure dharmas can the bodhisattva-mahāsattva make such skilful means and not be stained?"〔T08 0410a08〕 runs on in one breath; this treatise sets the whole of Treatise ① between them, so that Subhūti's praise and his question fall into two fascicles. The sūtra text is unbroken while the treatise separates it; this is the normal way of a commentarial treatise, not a variant reading (for details see Section IV).

As for the number of questions and answers, the top level of this chapter has fifteen pairs in all (in the main text of the two units and in a back-search of the base text, 「問曰」 tr. "Question" and 「答曰」 tr. "Answer" each occur fifteen times, all within the treatise sections): Treatise ① has nine pairs〔0713b15／0713c09／0713c17／0714a02／0714a09／0714a15／0714b11／0714c01／0715a06〕, and Treatise ② six pairs〔0716c23／0717a13／0717c08／0717c15／0717c25／0717c28〕. 「復次」 tr. "Again" is seen twelve times (four in Treatise ①, one in Sūtra ②〔0716a25〕, seven in Treatise ②), 「釋曰」 tr. "The explanation says" once〔0716b19〕, and 「有人言」 tr. "someone says" zero times in the whole chapter—in this chapter the treatise-author writes wholly by posing his own questions and answering them himself, without citing the mouth of any other party; recorded as it is.

The speaker structure: Sūtra ① is a close back-and-forth between Subhūti and the Buddha, 「須菩提白佛言」 tr. "Subhūti said to the Buddha" being seen five times〔0712c20／0712c25／0713a17／0713a23／0713b11〕 and 「佛告須菩提」 tr. "the Buddha told Subhūti" five times〔0712c21／0713a11／0713a19／0713a25／0713b02〕, with four short answers of 「須菩提言」 tr. "Subhūti said" in between〔0713a26／0713a29／0713b03／0713b08〕, and the section closes with Subhūti's praise; Sūtra ② carries on the questioning across the fascicle from the preceding section, with no new speaker marker, and the Buddha answers with a long passage teaching the perfection of the supernormal powers and the teaching of the Dharma according to capacity, with Subhūti pressing his question three times in its course〔0715b05／0716a28／0716b02〕. Treatise ② has a form all its own: at 0716b19 it begins with 「釋曰：」 tr. "The explanation says:", and first restates the gist of Sūtra ② in prose simulated question and answer such as 「須菩提問」 tr. "Subhūti asks", 「佛答」 tr. "the Buddha answers", and 「復問」 tr. "asks again", turning only at 0716c23 to the standard form of 「問曰」 tr. "Question" and 「答曰」 tr. "Answer"—the treatise-author's own simulated question and answer re-quoting the sūtra text and the formal questions and answers are tied apart, and on the reader-facing side 「佛答」 tr. "the Buddha answers" must not be mistaken for a speaker of the sūtra text.

The two doctrinal axes divide along the two units: the First Part makes clear the meaning of assurance (what assurance is · in which path one is assured · which persons are assured · whether the assured fall into the evil destinies) and the skilful means of manifesting as an animal; the Last Part turns to the emptiness of the unfindable, the perfection of the supernormal powers, and sporting in the pure land, closing on the faults of giving with a clinging mind and the true bodhisattva path that discriminates nothing.

II. Terms Examined

Assurance. The backbone of the whole chapter, and also the chapter's name. The very first question of the sūtra sets the form: 「菩薩摩訶薩畢定，非不畢定」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is assured, not unassured"〔T25 0712c21〕. Its meaning is not a loose word for being decided; the treatise-author tightens it layer by layer: first he fixes its place—「菩薩摩訶薩非聲聞、辟支佛道中畢定，是佛道中畢定」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is not assured in the path of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha; he is assured in the path of the Buddha"〔T25 0712c23〕; next he fixes its persons—「初發意菩薩亦畢定，阿鞞跋致菩薩亦畢定，最後身菩薩亦畢定」 tr. "The bodhisattva who has first aroused intent is also assured, the avaivartika bodhisattva is also assured, the bodhisattva in his last body is also assured"〔T25 0712c26〕; last he fixes its reality—the treatise-author explains it all in one sentence: 「畢定者，必當作佛。」 tr. "The assured will surely become a Buddha."〔T25 0713c08〕 And further down he makes an equation himself: 「畢定者，即是阿鞞跋致；阿鞞跋致者，不墮三惡趣」 tr. "The assured is precisely the avaivartika; the avaivartika does not fall into the three evil courses"〔T25 0714a28〕. Hence assurance = surely becoming a Buddha within the Buddha path, with not falling into the evil courses as its verifying mark.

Speaking through different gates of approach (assurance and avaivartika). At the very opening of Treatise ① the treatise-author raises an objection himself: since the chapter "Avaivartika" has already spoken of the marks of non-retreat, 「阿鞞跋致即是畢定，須菩提今何以更問？」 tr. "Avaivartika is precisely assurance; why does Subhūti now ask again?"〔T25 0713b16〕 The answer sets up an important general rule: 「是般若波羅蜜有種種門、有種種道。阿鞞跋致是一門中說；今問畢定，更問異門」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā has all kinds of gates and all kinds of paths. Avaivartika was spoken of within one gate; now the question is about assurance, and asks through a different gate of approach"〔T25 0713b17〕—one and the same matter spoken of through different gates of approach is not a contradiction; it is the many gates of prajñā. The coexistence later in this chapter of 「有說『諸菩薩退而不畢定』，有處說『菩薩畢定不退』」 tr. "some say ‘bodhisattvas retreat and are not assured’, and in some places it is said ‘bodhisattvas are assured and do not retreat’" is wholly tied to this one general rule.

Assured in the Buddha's mind · unassured because human knowledge does not reach. Why there are two teachings on assurance the treatise-author refers to a difference in the one who knows: 「佛心中一切眾生、一切法皆畢定；人以智不及故，名為不畢定」 tr. "In the Buddha's mind all beings and all dharmas are all assured; because human knowledge does not reach so far, they are named unassured"〔T25 0713b19〕—the Buddha knows 「雖無量阿僧祇劫積大功德，必退作小乘者」 tr. "those who, though they accumulate great merit through immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas, must yet retreat and become of the Small Vehicle", and also knows that 「微細蜫虫雖未有善心，過爾所劫發心，後當作佛」 tr. "a tiny worm, though it has as yet no wholesome mind, after passing through so many kalpas will arouse the mind and will later become a Buddha". Assurance is not a mark that beings feel in themselves; it is a mark seen by the Buddha's knowledge; and being unassured is not that dharmas are without fixity—it is that human knowledge does not reach.

Both matters are real · differing teachings according to the occasion. Of the two teachings, retreat and non-retreat, which is real? The treatise-author does not judge for one of them: 「二事皆實。佛口所說無不實者」 tr. "Both matters are real. What the Buddha's mouth speaks is never unreal"〔T25 0713c17〕; he separates the capacities they address—「為初發心者說『諸法有』，為久學人著善法者說『諸法空無所有』」 tr. "For those who have first aroused the mind he says ‘dharmas exist’; for those long in training who cling to wholesome dharmas he says ‘dharmas are empty and without anything existent’"〔T25 0713c19〕. To 「懈怠於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提不牢固者」 tr. "those who are slack and not firm in anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi" he says 「發心如恒河沙，得阿鞞跋致者若一、若二」 tr. "those who arouse the mind are like the sands of the Ganges, and those who obtain avaivartika are one or two", to spur their courage; to those of whom 「有人堪任得佛而大悲心薄、自愛身重」 tr. "there are people who are fit to obtain Buddhahood, yet whose mind of great compassion is thin and whose love of their own body is heavy"〔T25 0713c26〕, he then 「說一切菩薩乃至初發心皆畢定，如《法華經》中說」 tr. "says that all bodhisattvas, down to those at the first arousing of the mind, are assured, as is said in the Lotus Sūtra"〔T25 0714a01〕, to set their minds at rest. Each of the two teachings has its medicine, and so both teachings are real.

A roundabout way · lingering. This chapter's words of judgement on the two vehicles. Since it is said that bodhisattvas are all assured, why does the Buddha still rebuke the two vehicles? The treatise-author answers: those who take realisation of a small share of the nature of dharmas and then rest 「捨佛道、不度眾生」 tr. "relinquish the Buddha path and do not deliver beings", and so the buddhas and bodhisattvas rebuke them, saying: 「汝欲捨去，會不得離，得阿羅漢證時，不求諸菩薩深三昧，又不廣化眾生，是則迂迴，於佛道稽留」 tr. "You wish to leave and go, yet in the end you will not be able to part from it; when you obtain the realisation of the arhat, you do not seek the deep samādhis of the bodhisattvas, nor do you widely transform beings—this is a roundabout way, a lingering on the Buddha path"〔T25 0714a06〕. A roundabout way and lingering are not failing to arrive; they are going the long way round and being late; these four Chinese characters fix the measure of this chapter toward the two vehicles—it does not cut off their share, it speaks only of their lateness.

The Dharma-nature body · the pure Buddha-land. Where do arhats whose outflows are exhausted become buddhas after their bodies have perished? The treatise-author gives the place: 「有淨佛土，出於三界，乃至無煩惱之名，於是國土佛所，聞《法華經》，具足佛道」 tr. "There is a pure Buddha-land, beyond the three realms, where there is not even the name of the afflictions; in that land, in the presence of the Buddha, they hear the Lotus Sūtra and make the Buddha path complete"〔T25 0714a11〕, and cites the sūtra as proof: 「有羅漢，若不聞《法華經》，自謂得滅度；我於餘國為說是事，汝皆當作佛」 tr. "There are arhats who, if they do not hear the Lotus Sūtra, think of themselves as having passed into extinction; in another land I shall speak of this matter to them: you shall all become buddhas"〔T25 0714a14〕. Yet although they are born in the pure land and receive the Dharma-nature body, they are still not equal to the bodhisattvas who go straight on, the reason being that 「是人著小乘因緣，捨眾生、捨佛道，又復虛言得道」 tr. "these people, through the causes and conditions of clinging to the Small Vehicle, relinquished beings and relinquished the Buddha path, and moreover falsely said they had obtained the path"〔T25 0714a17〕, and so their faculties are dull compared with the bodhisattvas.

The five inconceivables · one should not make idle discourse. Here the treatise-author himself draws the boundary of discussion: 「佛法於五不可思議中最第一」 tr. "the Buddha-dharma is the foremost of the five inconceivables"〔T25 0714a21〕; 「漏盡阿羅漢還作佛」 tr. "arhats whose outflows are exhausted will again become buddhas" only a Buddha can know; 「論議者正可論，其事不能測知，是故不應戲論」 tr. "those who discuss may rightly discuss it, but the matter itself cannot be fathomed; therefore one should not make idle discourse"〔T25 0714a22〕—it can be discussed but cannot be fathomed, and so one discusses without contending; this is the chapter's one sentence on method.

The eight difficulties · the heavens of long life · border lands · families of evil wrong views · the view of no-doing. The sūtra text lists the places in which the assured bodhisattva is not born—the evil destinies, the heavens of long life, places where one cannot cultivate wholesome dharmas, border lands, families of evil wrong views, and families of the view that nothing is to be done〔T25 0713a02〕—and the treatise-author gives their causes and conditions item by item. He does not fall into the three evil destinies because 「是菩薩從初發心已來，修習布施、持戒等諸善法，斷諸殺生等十不善道」 tr. "this bodhisattva, from the first arousing of the mind onward, has cultivated giving, morality, and the other wholesome dharmas, and has severed the ten unwholesome paths such as killing"〔T25 0714b06〕, and 「不善道有上、中、下：上者墮地獄，中者墮畜生，下者墮餓鬼」 tr. "the unwholesome paths are upper, middle, and lower: the upper fall into the hells, the middle fall among animals, the lower fall among hungry ghosts"〔T25 0714b09〕; all three kinds being exhausted, he does not fall. He is not born among the heavens of long life because 「不著禪味，命欲終盡，念欲界法故退禪道」 tr. "not clinging to the flavour of dhyāna, when his life is about to end he thinks of the dharmas of the realm of desire and so retreats from the path of dhyāna"〔T25 0714b14〕, since there, with no suffering or vexation, it is hard to be delivered. He is not born in a border land because 「是菩薩拔出悋法根本；悋法因緣故，生邊國不知法處」 tr. "this bodhisattva has pulled out the root of stinginess with the Dharma; through the causes and conditions of stinginess with the Dharma one is born in a border land, a place where the Dharma is not known"〔T25 0714b18〕, and again because he 「常好中道、捨離二邊」 tr. "always loves the middle way and relinquishes the two extremes"; and the treatise-author gives separately a definition of the border land, not judged by geography—「邊國者，無三寶之名，不識七眾，但貴今世現事不貴福德道法」 tr. "a border land is where there is no name of the Three Jewels, where the seven assemblies are not known, where only the present matters of this life are valued and merit and the dharma of the path are not valued"〔T25 0714b20〕, and so 「雖生閻浮提外，不名為邊」 tr. "though one is born outside Jambudvīpa, it is not named a border". He is not born in a family of evil wrong views or a family of the view that nothing is to be done because life after life he himself practises right view and teaches others right view. At the end he sums it up: 「是菩薩斷一切不善法、修集一切善法故，不生八難處，常得八好處」 tr. "Because this bodhisattva severs all unwholesome dharmas and cultivates and gathers all wholesome dharmas, he is not born in the eight places of difficulty and always obtains the eight good places"〔T25 0714c17〕.

The view of no-doing. The heaviest of the sixty-two wrong views, singled out specially in this chapter: 「雖六十二種皆是邪見，無作最重」 tr. "though all sixty-two kinds are wrong views, that of no-doing is the heaviest"〔T25 0714c08〕; the reason it is the heaviest lies in this: 「無作言不應作功德、求涅槃」 tr. "no-doing says that one should not make merit or seek nirvāṇa"〔T25 0714c09〕—the view that heaven makes things and the view of the world's beginning, though wrong, 「而不遮作福德」 tr. "yet do not block the making of merit", while no-doing cuts off the road of making merit, and so it alone is marked as the great evil.

A bodhisattva of great power · a bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind. Being of great merit and wisdom, why does he not enter border lands and wrong views to transform them? The treatise-author divides bodhisattvas into two: 「大菩薩為眾生隨所應度受身，不避邊地、邪見；新發意菩薩若生是處，既不能度人，又自敗壞，是故不生」 tr. "The great bodhisattva, for the sake of beings, takes a body according to those he should deliver, and does not avoid border lands or wrong views; a bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, if born in such a place, cannot deliver people and is moreover himself ruined; therefore he is not born there"〔T25 0714c04〕—and ties a simile to it: 「譬如真金在泥，終不敗壞；銅鐵則壞」 tr. "It is like true gold in the mud, which in the end is not spoiled; copper and iron are spoiled"〔T25 0714c07〕. Wherever this chapter speaks of ‘assured, he does not fall’, it must be read together with this division into two.

The white and pure dharmas without outflows. The pivot of what Sūtra ② asks. At the end of Sūtra ① Subhūti had already asked 「云何菩薩摩訶薩成就如是白淨無漏法，而生惡道畜生中」 tr. "How is it that the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, having accomplished such white and pure dharmas without outflows, is born in the evil destinies, among animals?"〔T25 0713a24〕, and the Buddha answered with three similes—the Buddha himself conjuring up the body of an animal, the transformation body of an arhat, and the conjurer conjuring up elephants and horses—concluding: 「菩薩摩訶薩白淨無漏法成就，現作種種身以示眾生故，以是身饒益一切，亦不受眾苦」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, the white and pure dharmas without outflows being accomplished, manifests all kinds of bodies to show beings, and with this body enriches all, and also does not undergo the many sufferings"〔T25 0713b09〕. Fascicle 94 continues the question, 「住何等白淨法，能作如是方便力而不受染污」 tr. "abiding in what white and pure dharmas can he make such a power of skilful means and not be stained", and the Buddha then points straight to prajñā—the reality of the white and pure dharmas without outflows is precisely prajñāpāramitā.

The three dharmas unfindable · the emptiness of the unfindable. The eye of Sūtra ②: 「著者、著法、著處，是三法皆不可得，自性空故」 tr. "The one who clings, the dharma clung to, and the place of clinging—these three dharmas are all unfindable, because they are empty of self-nature"〔T25 0715a24〕; going one layer further it says 「空不著空，空中無著者，亦無著處」 tr. "emptiness does not cling to emptiness; in emptiness there is no one who clings, nor any place of clinging"〔T25 0715a25〕, and concludes with the name: 「是名不可得空。菩薩住是空中，能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "This is named the emptiness of the unfindable. The bodhisattva abiding in this emptiness can obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"〔T25 0715a26〕. Treatise ② matches these three dharmas with the matters of this chapter: 「一者、是菩薩身，二者、所作鹿、馬，三者、所用法」 tr. "first, this bodhisattva's body; second, the deer and horse he makes himself into; third, the dharma he uses"〔T25 0716b27〕—the one who takes the body, the body taken, and the dharma used are empty in all three places, and so he takes the body of an animal without being stained.

Emptiness would be partial. The steepest words on emptiness in this chapter. Sūtra ② says: if the lands of the ten directions were empty and the buddhas not empty, then 「空為有偏」 tr. "emptiness would be partial"; 「若十方國土及諸佛性不空者，空為有偏；以空不偏故，一切法、一切法相空」 tr. "If the nature of the lands of the ten directions and of the buddhas were not empty, then emptiness would be partial; because emptiness is not partial, all dharmas and the marks of all dharmas are empty"〔T25 0715b13〕—if emptiness had something it did not pervade, it would not be emptiness. Treatise ② sets up a question here: 「若國土空，佛亦應空，何以別說？」 tr. "If the lands are empty, the buddhas too should be empty; why are they spoken of separately?" The answer says: 「佛以無量阿僧祇實功德得是身，能以一足指動十方如恒河沙國土」 tr. "The Buddha obtained this body by immeasurable asaṃkhyeya real merits, and can with one toe move lands of the ten directions as many as the sands of the Ganges"〔T25 0716c24〕, and moreover bodhisattvas life after life deeply love and revere the Buddha and cannot quickly contemplate him so as to make him empty, 「是故不共國土合說」 tr. "therefore he is not spoken of together with the lands"〔T25 0716c27〕—the meaning of emptiness is not partial, yet the sequence of teaching the Dharma is partial; this measure most needs to be discerned.

The perfection of the supernormal powers. Sūtra ② sets it up as the path of awakening, not as a marvel: 「是菩薩摩訶薩神通波羅蜜，是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提道」 tr. "this bodhisattva-mahāsattva's perfection of the supernormal powers is the path of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"〔T25 0715b20〕; it sets up the reverse as well: 「若菩薩遠離神通波羅蜜，不能得饒益眾生，亦不能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "If the bodhisattva is far from the perfection of the supernormal powers, he cannot enrich beings, nor can he obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"〔T25 0715b18〕. Its items are the divine eye, the divine ear, the power of going at will, the knowledge of others' minds, and the knowledge of former lives, ending with the realisation of the knowledge of the supernormal power of the exhaustion of the outflows; all six come from Sūtra ② itself; their use lies in 「用是天眼自見諸善法，亦教他人令得諸善法，於善法亦不著，諸善法自性空故」 tr. "with this divine eye he himself sees the wholesome dharmas, and also teaches others so that they obtain the wholesome dharmas, and he does not cling to the wholesome dharmas either, because the wholesome dharmas are empty of self-nature"〔T25 0715b22〕, and their guard lies in 「空無所著，若著則受味，是空中無有味」 tr. "emptiness clings to nothing; if one clings, one takes the taste, and in this emptiness there is no taste"〔T25 0715b23〕. Treatise ② also gives how the divine eye arises: 「方便力者，令他界四大來在身中」 tr. "The power of skilful means is to make the four elements of other realms come into the body"〔T25 0717a05〕.

Sport. Treatise ② sets up a question itself: the power of the supernormal powers has something it does; why is it named sport? The answer divides into two meanings: first, 「戲名如幻師種種現變；菩薩神通種種現化，名之為戲」 tr. "What is called sport is like a conjurer's manifesting all kinds of transformations; the bodhisattva's supernormal powers manifest all kinds of transformations, and so they are called sport"〔T25 0717c09〕; second, among the three samādhis emptiness is named the upper practice, and 「諸餘行法，皆名為下下，如小兒」 tr. "the other practices are all named the lowest of the low, like a little child", and so the supernormal powers, set against emptiness, are like child's play. At the end it returns to their use: 「是故說神通力名為遊戲，於成就眾生、淨佛土中，最為要用」 tr. "For this reason it is said that the power of the supernormal powers is called sport, and in bringing beings to accomplishment and purifying buddha-lands it is the most essential of uses"〔T25 0717c13〕—named as play and yet allowed to be the essential use, one demotion and one commendation, which must be read together.

The causes and conditions complete · all wholesome dharmas. The answer of the last passage of Sūtra ②. If one does not purify buddha-lands and does not bring beings to accomplishment, one does not obtain awakening—why? Because the causes and conditions are not complete. What are the causes and conditions? 「一切善法是菩薩阿耨多羅三藐三菩提因緣」 tr. "All wholesome dharmas are the causes and conditions of the bodhisattva's anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"〔T25 0716b01〕, from dānapāramitā through the six perfections, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the four foundations of mindfulness, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. And that wholesome dharmas become causes and conditions hangs wholly on one non-discrimination: 「是中無分別是施者、是受者，性空故」 tr. "herein there is no discriminating ‘this is the giver, this is the receiver’, because they are empty of nature"〔T25 0716b05〕; 「是諸善法皆是菩薩摩訶薩阿耨多羅三藐三菩提因緣」 tr. "these wholesome dharmas are all the causes and conditions of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"〔T25 0716b07〕, and at the end it gathers them up in sequence: 「菩薩摩訶薩具足是善法已，當得一切種智；得一切種智已，當轉法輪；轉法輪已，當度眾生」 tr. "Having made these wholesome dharmas complete, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva will obtain the omniscience of all kinds; having obtained the omniscience of all kinds, he will turn the wheel of the Dharma; having turned the wheel of the Dharma, he will deliver beings"〔T25 0716b16〕.

The clinging mind · losing two kinds of dharma. The theme of the latter half of Treatise ②. Giving with a clinging mind, though it has a small benefit, has a great fault: 「若著心布施，有不稱意事，則生恚怒；若受者不感其恩，即成怨嫌」 tr. "If one gives with a clinging mind, then when something does not accord with one's wishes, one gives rise to anger; if the recipient does not feel the kindness, it becomes resentment"〔T25 0717c29〕; craving and clinging to wealth, 「若有侵奪，則便加害」 tr. "if anyone seizes it, he then does them harm", and through the heavy sin he undergoes the suffering of the three evil destinies; giving while grasping at false and deceiving marks, then 「果報少而不淨」 tr. "the retribution is small and impure". The deeper fault lies after hearing of emptiness: 「是人則失二種法：失先善法，而墮邪見」 tr. "this person then loses two kinds of dharma: he loses his former wholesome dharmas, and falls into wrong view"〔T25 0718a22〕—one who clings to wholesome dharmas, as soon as he hears of ultimate emptiness, relinquishes the dharmas he practised and clings to the mark of emptiness, losing at both ends; the treatise-author settles it with a simile: 「譬如重病之人，雖有眾藥，療之無損，藥復作病」 tr. "Just as with a person gravely ill, though there are many medicines, treating him does no good, and the medicine in turn becomes the disease"〔T25 0718a23〕. In sum: 「著心行諸功德，有如是等過罪」 tr. "practising merits with a clinging mind has faults and sins such as these"〔T25 0718a24〕.

Suchness · the nature of dharmas · the limit of reality · the truth of the highest meaning. The positive side with which this chapter closes: 「菩薩捨於著心，不取空相；如如、法性、實際，於布施等法亦如是見」 tr. "The bodhisattva relinquishes the clinging mind and does not grasp at the mark of emptiness; as he sees suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, so too does he see giving and the other dharmas"〔T25 0718a25〕; at the end it returns to pure wisdom—「以清淨智慧知之，則皆作第一義諦」 tr. "knowing them with pure wisdom, he makes them all the truth of the highest meaning"〔T25 0718b07〕, and entering the truth of the highest meaning, the false and the real are no different. The last sentence of the chapter sets up the chapter's principle: 「無所分別心，能行布施等，是名真菩薩道」 tr. "With a mind that discriminates nothing he can practise giving and the rest: this is named the true bodhisattva path"〔T25 0718b09〕.

III. Similes and Stories

This chapter's key similes fall into two layers: the First Part makes clear by the similes of transformation bodies ‘accomplishing the white and pure dharmas without outflows and yet taking the body of an animal’, closing on the jātaka of the six-tusked white elephant; the Last Part makes clear by the similes of the supernormal powers and of the clinging mind ‘empty and yet able to use, using and yet surely not clinging’.

The Buddha himself conjuring up the body of an animal (a question set by the sūtra · carrying on the meaning ‘a transformation body is not real’). The Buddha questions Subhūti in return: 「若佛自化作畜生身，作佛事，度眾生，實是畜生不？」 tr. "If the Buddha himself conjured up the body of an animal, did the Buddha's work, and delivered beings, would it really be an animal or not?" Subhūti answers 「不也」 tr. "No"〔T25 0713a27〕—taking the Buddha's transformation body as the measure, the bodhisattva's taking the body of an animal is a case of the same kind.

The transformation body of an arhat (a question set by the sūtra · carrying on the meaning ‘transformation can benefit’). 「如阿羅漢作變化身，能使眾生歡喜不？」 tr. "When an arhat makes a transformation body, can it make beings rejoice or not?" The answer is 「能」 tr. "It can"〔T25 0713b02〕—if even the transformation of the Small Vehicle can make beings rejoice, how much more the white and pure dharmas without outflows of the bodhisattva.

The simile of the conjurer conjuring up elephants, horses, men, and women (a simile of the sūtra · the close of this passage). 「是象、馬、牛、羊、男、女等有實不？」 tr. "Are these elephants, horses, oxen, sheep, men, women, and so forth real or not?" The answer is 「不實也」 tr. "They are not real"〔T25 0713b08〕; the Buddha then concludes: 「菩薩摩訶薩白淨無漏法成就，現作種種身以示眾生故，以是身饒益一切，亦不受眾苦」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, the white and pure dharmas without outflows being accomplished, manifests all kinds of bodies to show beings, and with this body enriches all, and also does not undergo the many sufferings"〔T25 0713b09〕. The three similes pass on from one to the next layer by layer: the Buddha's conjuring, the arhat's transformation, the conjurer's conjuring, all showing ‘manifesting without being real, using without undergoing’.

The simile of true gold in the mud (carrying on the meaning ‘one newly aroused is not born in a border land’). 「譬如真金在泥，終不敗壞；銅鐵則壞」 tr. "It is like true gold in the mud, which in the end is not spoiled; copper and iron are spoiled"〔T25 0714c07〕—the great bodhisattva is like true gold, entering the mud without being spoiled; the one newly aroused is like copper and iron, entering the mud and then spoiled. The meaning of dividing bodhisattvas into two is made clear by this one simile.

The jātaka of the six-tusked white elephant (an origin story · the longest simile of the whole chapter). A hunter shot him in the chest with a poisoned arrow, and the bodhisattva elephant, on the contrary, embraced the hunter with his trunk and did not let the other elephants harm him, saying to the female elephant: 「獵師是煩惱罪，非人過也！我得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，當滅除其煩惱罪」 tr. "The hunter is the sin of the afflictions, not the fault of the person! When I obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, I shall extinguish the sin of his afflictions"〔T25 0714c28〕; and a simile within the simile is tied to it—「譬如鬼著人，呪師來但治鬼而不瞋人」 tr. "Just as when a ghost possesses a person, the master of spells comes and only treats the ghost and is not angry at the person"〔T25 0714c29〕; at the end, 「象即就石罅，拔牙與之，血肉俱出，不以為痛；供給糧食，示語道徑」 tr. "the elephant then went to a cleft in the rock, pulled out his tusks and gave them to him, blood and flesh coming out together, and did not take it as pain; he supplied him with provisions and showed and told him the way"〔T25 0715a03〕. The treatise-author uses this to prove that 「菩薩在畜生中慈愍怨賊，阿羅漢、辟支佛所無有」 tr. "the bodhisattva, among animals, has kindness and pity toward enemies and thieves, which the arhat and the pratyekabuddha do not have"〔T25 0714c22〕, and gathers up his own conclusion: 「如是好心，云何受畜生身？當知是變化，度於眾生」 tr. "With a good mind like this, how could he take the body of an animal? Know that this was transformation, to deliver beings"〔T25 0715a05〕.

Seeing the body of an animal and on the contrary giving rise to faith and delight (carrying on the meaning ‘why not teach the Dharma in a human body’). The treatise-author answers why the Dharma is not taught in a human body: 「有時眾生見人身則不信受，見畜生身說法則生信樂，受其教化」 tr. "There are times when beings see a human body and do not believe or accept, but see an animal's body teaching the Dharma and give rise to faith and delight, and accept its teaching"〔T25 0715a08〕—the form manifested is set according to capacity, not judged by high and low.

The simile of the bird without wings (a simile of the sūtra · carrying on the meaning ‘the supernormal powers are essential’). 「譬如鳥無翅不能高翔；菩薩無神通，不能隨意教化眾生」 tr. "It is like a bird without wings, which cannot soar high; a bodhisattva without the supernormal powers cannot teach and transform beings at will"〔T25 0715c29〕. Treatise ② raises this simile twice again; it is a simile shared by the sūtra and the treatise of this chapter.

The simile of the fly that does not stick to a flame (carrying on the meaning ‘prajñā cannot be clung to’). 「譬如蠅無處不著，唯不著火焰」 tr. "Just as a fly sticks everywhere, only not to a flame"〔T25 0717a19〕—beings cling to everything, wholesome and unwholesome dharmas and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, 「唯不能著般若波羅蜜性空火」 tr. "only they cannot cling to the fire of the emptiness of nature of prajñāpāramitā"〔T25 0717a22〕; the reason is that prajñā is empty of nature, being empty it is without taste, and being without taste there is nothing to cling to.

The simile of the white egret taking a fish (carrying on the meaning ‘by the supernormal powers he measures beings’). 「譬如白鷺欲取魚時，籌量進止，不失期會，知其可得，即便取之，終不空也」 tr. "It is like a white egret about to take a fish: it measures its advance and halt, does not miss the moment, and knowing the fish can be had, takes it at once, and in the end does not come away empty"〔T25 0717b20〕—the bodhisattva by the supernormal powers contemplates the roots and branches of beings, the causes and conditions of their being delivered, and their lands and seasons, and only then teaches the Dharma, and so he does not act in vain. This simile is set against the simile of the bird without wings: one makes clear that without the powers one cannot fly, the other that with the powers one does not act in vain.

The simile of fine food mixed with poison (carrying on the meaning ‘giving with a clinging mind has a small benefit and a great fault’). 「雖有小利而有大過；如美食雜毒，雖有美利而自喪命」 tr. "though it has a small benefit, it has a great fault; like fine food mixed with poison, though it has the benefit of being fine, one loses one's own life"〔T25 0717c27〕—giving with a clinging mind is not without merit; within the merit there is poison.

The simile of using a great deal of seed (carrying on the meaning ‘giving while grasping at marks has small retribution’). 「譬如人欲求多收故，大用穀子」 tr. "It is like a person who, wishing to reap a large harvest, uses a great deal of seed"〔T25 0718a14〕—grasping at false and deceiving marks and expecting great retribution is just like sowing much seed to seek a large harvest; the treatise-author rules that its 「果報少而不淨，終歸於盡」 tr. "retribution is small and impure, and in the end returns to exhaustion".

The simile of the medicine in turn becoming the disease (carrying on the meaning ‘losing two kinds of dharma’ · the simile with which the whole chapter closes its brush). 「譬如重病之人，雖有眾藥，療之無損，藥復作病」 tr. "Just as with a person gravely ill, though there are many medicines, treating him does no good, and the medicine in turn becomes the disease"〔T25 0718a23〕—emptiness is the medicine, and clinging to emptiness is the medicine becoming the disease. This chapter first uses emptiness to break clinging, and then uses this simile to guard against the backlash of 「著空」 tr. "clinging to emptiness", one opening and one closing, coming to rest in 「不取空相」 tr. "not grasping at the mark of emptiness".

IV. The Sūtra Passage Explained

The full ledger of the notes on the chapter title (the base text 「畢定品第八十三」 tr. "the Chapter on Certainty, the Eighty-third" · the Ishiyama manuscript one step lower, with the fascicle moved · the Ming edition without the title). The notes on the chapter title〔T25 0712c19〕 are three in all, recorded here in a full ledger character by character. The first (0712021, one note, four readings)—the base text (the Taishō) reads 「大智度論釋畢定品第八十三」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Certainty, the Eighty-third"; the Ming edition lacks this title entirely (「〔－〕【明】」 tr. "omitted (Ming)"); the Ishiyama manuscript (the Ishiyama-dera manuscript) marks here 「卷第九十四首」 tr. "head of Fascicle 94", that is, the Ishiyama manuscript takes the beginning of this chapter as the head of its Fascicle 94, its fascicle boundary differing from the Taishō's; further, the Ishiyama manuscript has the sixteen characters 「（（大智度經品第八十二畢定品卷九十四））」 tr. "((Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra, Chapter the Eighty-second, Chapter on Certainty, Fascicle 94))" in place of the base text's twelve characters 「（（大智…三））」 tr. "((Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa … Third))"—the Ishiyama manuscript gives the chapter's order as 「第八十二」 tr. "the Eighty-second", one less than the base text's 「第八十三」 tr. "the Eighty-third"; and at the end of the note it also records 「石山本無造號譯號」 tr. "the Ishiyama text has no author's mark and no translator's mark". This general note belongs to the layer of notes on the chapter title, and the working base text's list of one hundred and forty-nine collation entries does not include it (the list takes the collation entries as its standard); therefore a full ledger of it is listed separately in this section and in Section VIII. The second (0712022)—the character 「畢」 tr. "bi (assured)" the Yuan and Ming editions read as 「必」 tr. "bi (surely)". The third (0712023)—the character 「三」 tr. "three" the Ming edition reads as 「三之上」 tr. "three, First Part".

The fascicle-end and fascicle-head titles and the record at the chapter's end (the Shōgozō and Ishiyama manuscripts both one step lower · in the Shōgozō manuscript it shows in the fascicle titles' way of recording a span of chapters · in the Ishiyama manuscript in the chapter title and at the chapter's end). The note on the head-title of Fascicle 93〔T25 0709b15〕 (where the remainder of the preceding chapter, "Purifying the Buddha-land", lies): the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「大智度經論卷第九十三釋八十一品下訖第八十二品上」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, Fascicle 93, explaining from the last part of Chapter Eighty-one to the first part of the Eighty-second Chapter"; the end-title of Fascicle 93〔T25 0715a12〕, one note with two readings—the base text's nine characters 「大智度論卷第九十三」 tr. "Fascicle 93 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa ends here.", the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「大智度經論卷第九十三釋第八十一品下訖第八十二品上」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, Fascicle 93, explaining from the last part of the Eighty-first Chapter to the first part of the Eighty-second Chapter"; the head-title of Fascicle 94〔T25 0715a15〕—the base text's nineteen characters 「大智度論釋畢定品第八十三之餘（卷第九十四）」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Certainty, the Eighty-third, Remainder (Fascicle 94)", the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「大智度經論卷第九十四釋第八十二品下訖第八十三品」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, Fascicle 94, explaining from the last part of the Eighty-second Chapter to the Eighty-third Chapter". All three entries record, by ‘explaining from the last part of Chapter so-and-so to Chapter so-and-so’, the span of chapters one fascicle holds; this is the Shōgozō manuscript's way of recording its fascicle titles. Aligning them with what the base text's two fascicles hold: Fascicle 93 holds the remainder of Chapter 82〔T25 0709b15〕 and the First Part of Chapter 83〔T25 0712c19〕, and the Shōgozō manuscript records 「八十一品下訖第八十二品上」 tr. "from the last part of Chapter Eighty-one to the first part of the Eighty-second Chapter"—eighty-one plus one is eighty-two, eighty-two plus one is eighty-three; Fascicle 94 holds the Last Part of Chapter 83〔T25 0715a15〕 and Chapter 84〔T25 0718b11〕, and the Shōgozō manuscript records 「第八十二品下訖第八十三品」 tr. "from the last part of the Eighty-second Chapter to the Eighty-third Chapter"—eighty-two plus one is eighty-three, eighty-three plus one is eighty-four. The numbers the Shōgozō manuscript records are always one less than the base text's; that is, the chapter numbers the Shōgozō manuscript ties to its fascicles are one step lower. The note on the character 「四」 tr. "four" in the end-title of Fascicle 94〔T25 0721b27〕 may be set against this: the Song and Yuan editions, at the same place, have the interlinear note 「釋第八十三品下訖第八十四品」 tr. "explaining from the last part of the Eighty-third Chapter to the Eighty-fourth Chapter", agreeing with the base text; the Shōgozō manuscript at the same place still reads 「釋第八十二品下訖第八十三品」 tr. "explaining from the last part of the Eighty-second Chapter to the Eighty-third Chapter". The continuing characters of the chapter title〔T25 0715a16〕, 「之餘」 tr. "Remainder", the Song, Yuan, and Palace editions read as 「下」 tr. "Last", and the Ming edition as 「之下」 tr. "Last Part"—the fascicle-spanning continuing title chooses its characters differently in each text, with the same meaning. The note on the character 「道」 tr. "path" at the chapter's end〔T25 0718b10〕—the Ishiyama manuscript reads 「道釋八十二品竟大智度經卷第九十四」 tr. "path. The explanation of Chapter Eighty-two is finished. Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra, Fascicle 94" (it has the character 「竟」 tr. "finished", and is the closing record of this chapter; the Ishiyama manuscript takes this chapter as Chapter 82, one step lower, answering from head to tail its chapter title that reads 「第八十二」 tr. "the Eighty-second", and it records the fascicle number as ninety-four); below it there is in addition the Ishiyama manuscript's record 「卷第九十四終」 tr. "end of Fascicle 94" (the base text's note number 0718015). The Shōgozō manuscript at the same place reads 「道釋八十三品」 tr. "path. Explanation of Chapter Eighty-three", without the character 「竟」 tr. "finished", its position being at the meeting of the character 「道」 tr. "path" that closes this chapter and the title of the next chapter〔T25 0718b11〕; by the numbers the Shōgozō manuscript's fascicle titles record, the Shōgozō manuscript's Chapter Eighty-three is the base text's Chapter 84 (eighty-three plus one is eighty-four), and these six characters are the Shōgozō manuscript's opening mark for the next chapter, not a closing record of this chapter, answering its fascicle titles being one step lower. The Shōgozō and Ishiyama lines are both one step lower, yet the layers in which it shows differ: in the Shōgozō manuscript it shows in the fascicle titles' way of recording a span of chapters, in the Ishiyama manuscript in the chapter title and at the chapter's end; they are recorded separately as they are, and their cause is not forced into an explanation.

The text shown at the T223 table-of-contents markers and the attribute of chapter order (the chapter names of the two canons the same in name and order · an offset in the attribute layer recorded specially). On the side of the sūtra explained, T223, the text shown at the table-of-contents marker corresponding to this chapter reads 「83 畢定品」 tr. "83 Certainty"〔T08 0409b13〕, entirely the same in name and order as this treatise's chapter name and chapter number; its table-of-contents chapter-order attribute is marked 「84」 tr. "84", and for the next chapter, 「84 差別品」 tr. "84 Difference"〔T08 0411b15〕, the table-of-contents chapter-order attribute is marked 「85」 tr. "85"—the +1 offset seen repeatedly since Chapter 41 still continues here. For the preceding chapter, 「82 淨土品」 tr. "82 Pure Land"〔T08 0407b09〕, the table-of-contents chapter-order attribute is marked 「82」 tr. "82", with no offset, and so the starting point of the +1 offset falls exactly at this chapter. By contrast, on this treatise's T25n1509 side the table-of-contents marker's chapter-order attribute is marked 「83」 tr. "83" and the text shown reads 「83 畢定品」 tr. "83 Certainty", the two agreeing, with no offset. This is a difference between the chapter-order markers of the two canons' tables of contents in CBETA, belonging to a flaw in the base text's marker layer, not a doctrinal divergence; it is recorded as it is, without forced explanation; the alignment takes the text shown and a character-by-character comparison of the content as its standard.

A full reading of the re-quoted sūtra against the sūtra (a collation of the two sides · the opening checked sentence by sentence · a control group of six strings). The opening of this treatise's Sūtra ① and the "Certainty" chapter of the sūtra explained are almost the same text character by character—this treatise's 「須菩提白佛言：『世尊！是菩薩摩訶薩為畢定？為不畢定？』」 tr. "Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! Is this bodhisattva-mahāsattva assured? Or is he not assured?’"〔T25 0712c20〕, and the same passage of T223 reads 「須菩提白佛言：『世尊！是菩薩摩訶薩為畢定？為不畢定？』」 tr. "Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! Is this bodhisattva-mahāsattva assured? Or is he not assured?’"〔T08 0409b14〕, the same structure of scene (who asks, what is asked, how the Buddha answers). Its differences worth recording are two: first, the names of the three kinds of bodhisattva—this treatise's 「初發意菩薩亦畢定，阿鞞跋致菩薩亦畢定，最後身菩薩亦畢定」 tr. "The bodhisattva who has first aroused intent is also assured, the avaivartika bodhisattva is also assured, the bodhisattva in his last body is also assured"〔T25 0712c26〕, where T223 reads 「初發意菩薩亦畢定，阿惟越致菩薩亦畢定，後身菩薩亦畢定」 tr. "The bodhisattva who has first aroused intent is also assured, the avaivartika bodhisattva is also assured, the bodhisattva in his later body is also assured"〔T08 0409b20〕; 「阿鞞跋致／阿惟越致」 tr. "avaivartika (one transliteration) / avaivartika (another transliteration)" are two transliterations of the same Sanskrit word, and 「最後身／後身」 tr. "the last body / the later body" is an addition or abridgement; second, the passage on giving up the body—this treatise's 「以無上忍辱、無上慈悲心捨身，不惱怨賊」 tr. "with unsurpassed patience and an unsurpassed mind of kindness and compassion he gives up his body and does not vex enemies and thieves"〔T25 0713a14〕, where T223 reads 「以是無上忍辱、無上慈悲心捨身，不惱惡賊」 tr. "with this unsurpassed patience and an unsurpassed mind of kindness and compassion he gives up his body and does not vex evil thieves"〔T08 0409c08〕, the difference of 「怨賊／惡賊」 tr. "enemies and thieves / evil thieves". Both places are differences of the layer of transmission by copying, not doctrinal divergences. The control group: the six strings of Chinese characters 「畢定菩薩墮惡道中生不」 tr. "is the assured bodhisattva born falling into the evil destinies or not", 「無作見家」 tr. "a family of the view that nothing is to be done", 「若怨賊欲來殺害」 tr. "if enemies and thieves wish to come and kill", 「住何等白淨法」 tr. "abiding in what white and pure dharmas", 「空為有偏」 tr. "emptiness would be partial", and 「如鳥無翅」 tr. "like a bird without wings" are each seen only once in the whole of T223, and their hits in the whole of T1509 also all fall within the range of this chapter (「住何等白淨法」 tr. "abiding in what white and pure dharmas" twice, 「空為有偏」 tr. "emptiness would be partial" twice, 「如鳥無翅」 tr. "like a bird without wings" three times, all being this chapter's sūtra text and Treatise ②'s re-quotation of the sūtra); the alignment is unique, with no other chapter to confuse it, and it is not the weak judgement of searching one text with another text's words. It is judged to be the same chapter under the same name (chapter name, chapter number, and chapter body all the same character by character). This treatise's two 【論】 layers are a structural expansion belonging to the form of a treatise, which the sūtra explained does not have; they are not variant readings; further, that this treatise's fascicle boundary falls in the middle of one continuous question of the sūtra text (see Section I for details) is likewise a trace of the treatise's division into fascicles, not a break in the sūtra text. The entry-by-entry statistics of the collation witnesses on the side of the sūtra explained, T223, within the range of this chapter's collation (from〔T08 0409b13〕 up to before the next chapter) have not been worked out in this section (only the two table-of-contents markers and the three passages of the opening, the three bodhisattvas, and the giving up of the body have been checked character by character); the fact that they have not been worked out is recorded as it is, and no estimate is made to fill up the number.

V. The Prajñā Eye

The eye of this chapter lies in bringing 「必當作佛」 tr. "will surely become a Buddha" down from a sentence of comfort into a set of marks that can be verified, and then gathering this set of marks into ultimate emptiness. Its meaning can be summed up in five layers.

First, assurance is what the Buddha's knowledge sees, not what beings feel in themselves. 「佛心中一切眾生、一切法皆畢定；人以智不及故，名為不畢定」 tr. "In the Buddha's mind all beings and all dharmas are all assured; because human knowledge does not reach so far, they are named unassured"〔T25 0713b19〕—retreat and non-retreat are not two marks in dharmas; they are two measures in the one who knows. So this chapter need not deny the teaching of retreat of the chapter "Avaivartika": 「是般若波羅蜜有種種門、有種種道」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā has all kinds of gates and all kinds of paths"〔T25 0713b17〕; one gate speaks of retreat to spur the slack, one gate speaks of assurance to set the timid at rest, and 「二事皆實。佛口所說無不實者」 tr. "Both matters are real. What the Buddha's mouth speaks is never unreal"〔T25 0713c17〕.

Second, assurance has verifying marks, and the verifying marks are the severing of evil, not the obtaining of a prediction. The sūtra text does not take receiving the prediction as the mark of assurance, but takes as its marks not falling into the evil destinies, not being born among the heavens of long life, not being born in a border land, and not being born in a family of evil wrong views or a family of the view that nothing is to be done〔T25 0713a02〕; the treatise-author traces their causes and conditions item by item, and all come back to what one has severed oneself: because the causes and conditions of the three evil destinies are exhausted, he does not fall; because he does not cling to the flavour of dhyāna, he is not born among the heavens of long life; because he has pulled out the root of stinginess with the Dharma, he is not born in a border land; because life after life he practises right view, he is not born in a family of wrong views. Why assurance can be spoken of lies in 「是菩薩斷一切不善法、修集一切善法故，不生八難處，常得八好處」 tr. "Because this bodhisattva severs all unwholesome dharmas and cultivates and gathers all wholesome dharmas, he is not born in the eight places of difficulty and always obtains the eight good places"〔T25 0714c17〕—it is not that something is promised him; it is that he has already accomplished it himself.

Third, assurance does not allow taking realisation midway. Since all are assured, why does the Buddha still rebuke the two vehicles? 「汝欲捨去，會不得離，得阿羅漢證時，不求諸菩薩深三昧，又不廣化眾生，是則迂迴，於佛道稽留」 tr. "You wish to leave and go, yet in the end you will not be able to part from it; when you obtain the realisation of the arhat, you do not seek the deep samādhis of the bodhisattvas, nor do you widely transform beings—this is a roundabout way, a lingering on the Buddha path"〔T25 0714a06〕—the four Chinese characters for ‘in the end you will not be able to part from it’ are the steepest: in the end one cannot leave the Buddha path; one has only taken the long way round. Yet here the treatise-author sets a boundary he does not cross: the one matter of arhats whose outflows are exhausted again becoming buddhas 「唯佛能知」 tr. "only a Buddha can know", and 「論議者正可論，其事不能測知，是故不應戲論」 tr. "those who discuss may rightly discuss it, but the matter itself cannot be fathomed; therefore one should not make idle discourse"〔T25 0714a22〕. What can be said is said to the end, and where one cannot know one stops: this is the measure of this chapter.

Fourth, emptiness must not be partial; if partial, it is not emptiness. 「若十方國土及諸佛性不空者，空為有偏；以空不偏故，一切法、一切法相空」 tr. "If the nature of the lands of the ten directions and of the buddhas were not empty, then emptiness would be partial; because emptiness is not partial, all dharmas and the marks of all dharmas are empty"〔T25 0715b13〕—emptiness cannot keep back for the Buddha one plot that is not empty. Yet the sequence of teaching the Dharma still has a before and after: bodhisattvas deeply love and revere the Buddha and cannot quickly contemplate him so as to make him empty, 「是故不共國土合說」 tr. "therefore he is not spoken of together with the lands"〔T25 0716c27〕. The meaning is not partial while the teaching has its sequence; the two sentences must be read together, so as not to fall into the objection ‘since emptiness is not partial, why must he be spoken of separately’.

Fifth, after emptiness one can use, and in using one surely does not cling. Ultimate emptiness is not not acting; it is acting while the three dharmas are unfindable—「著者、著法、著處，是三法皆不可得，自性空故」 tr. "The one who clings, the dharma clung to, and the place of clinging—these three dharmas are all unfindable, because they are empty of self-nature"〔T25 0715a24〕; precisely because they are unfindable, the supernormal powers can become the path, 「是菩薩摩訶薩神通波羅蜜，是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提道」 tr. "this bodhisattva-mahāsattva's perfection of the supernormal powers is the path of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"〔T25 0715b20〕, and they are named sport. Giving with a clinging mind still has a great fault: 「若著心布施，有不稱意事，則生恚怒」 tr. "If one gives with a clinging mind, then when something does not accord with one's wishes, one gives rise to anger"〔T25 0717c29〕; hearing of emptiness and then clinging to emptiness in turn, one further 「失二種法：失先善法，而墮邪見」 tr. "loses two kinds of dharma: he loses his former wholesome dharmas, and falls into wrong view"〔T25 0718a22〕—the one simile 「藥復作病」 tr. "the medicine in turn becomes the disease"〔T25 0718a24〕 puts the very medicine that breaks clinging inside the range of what is broken. So the closing words of this chapter do not speak of emptiness; they speak of non-discrimination: 「無所分別心，能行布施等，是名真菩薩道」 tr. "With a mind that discriminates nothing he can practise giving and the rest: this is named the true bodhisattva path"〔T25 0718b09〕. Assurance begins with 「必當作佛」 tr. "will surely become a Buddha" and ends with 「無所分別」 tr. "discriminating nothing"; what can become a Buddha is precisely that mind which does not discriminate itself as becoming a Buddha.

VI. Divergent Readings of the Masters

The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa has no tradition of a full commentary following the text throughout, and the ancient masters' citations and explanations are, as a matter of fact, uneven. The ancient masters reading this chapter again are four in all: the commentary of Jizang, explaining the sūtra explained, keeps a complete dedicated section, covering the whole of the two units; Huiying's commentary, explaining the treatise, lacks a sentence-by-sentence explanation of this chapter, keeping only one forward-looking mention; the word 「畢定」 tr. "assured" in Junzheng's book is tied to another chapter; the two Tiantai lines cite this chapter explicitly, and take it as evidence for the classification of the teachings by the five periods, of whom Zhanran's Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus cites this chapter's sūtra text word for word, and his Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation cites this chapter's treatise text in summary. This section records what each commented on and cited and how it corresponds to this chapter, without judging the merits of the masters' interpretations.

Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451). His commentary following the text of the "Certainty" chapter of the sūtra explained begins at〔X24n0451 0336a23〕 (the table-of-contents marker 「畢定品第八十三」 tr. "the Chapter on Certainty, the Eighty-third", directly following where the commentary on Chapter 82, "Pure Land", ends) and ends at〔X24n0451 0337b09〕 (the next table-of-contents marker, 「差別品第八十四」 tr. "the Chapter on Difference, the Eighty-fourth", begins at 0337b10; this section determines it by the continuous sequence of table-of-contents markers), covering both units of the whole sūtra text of this chapter. Five things in it are worth recording. First, the overall judgement of the chapter's position—「此下第二大段，明自他行成位階不退」 tr. "From here on is the second great section, making clear that, the practice for self and others being accomplished, the stages do not retreat"〔X24n0451 0336a24〕, and he divides it as 「第一明自德成；第二明化他德成」 tr. "First, making clear the accomplishment of one's own virtue; second, making clear the accomplishment of the virtue of transforming others". Second, the three meanings by which the treatise arises—Jizang restates this treatise item by item: 「一者上不退品已明不退，今更以異門明菩薩相，故云畢定也」 tr. "First, the Non-retreat chapter above has already made non-retreat clear; now, through a different gate of approach, the marks of the bodhisattva are made clear again, and therefore it speaks of being assured"〔X24n0451 0336b07〕; 「二者佛三達洞照已知其畢定，但於餘人智身未及，故云不畢定耳」 tr. "Second, the Buddha, with the three penetrations illuminating thoroughly, already knows that they are assured; it is only that the wisdom-body of other people does not reach it, and therefore it is said they are unassured"〔X24n0451 0336b08〕; third, Subhūti heard in the Lotus that whatever merit is done all become buddhas, and also heard that in the Non-retreat chapter there is retreat and non-retreat, and so doubt arose and he asked—entirely aligned with the three passages of 「復次」 tr. "Again" in this treatise's Treatise ①; this is an example of an ancient master dividing this treatise item by item. Third, the division of the three questions—「佛答上中下三人皆畢定也」 tr. "The Buddha answers that the upper, the middle, and the lower, all three persons, are assured"〔X24n0451 0336b14〕, and he makes it pass through to the Buddha-nature: 「此即證一切眾生皆有佛性，無有二乘性」 tr. "This proves that all beings have the Buddha-nature, and that there is no nature of the two vehicles"〔X24n0451 0336b16〕; on the objection from what the chapter "Great Brightness" says, that of those who seek the Great Vehicle those who obtain non-retreat are one or two and the rest all retreat, Jizang explains it by late and quick—「以遲得故名退也，終無有退」 tr. "it is because of obtaining late that it is named retreat; in the end there is no retreat"〔X24n0451 0336b18〕. Fourth, the division of the eight difficulties—「第二、明畢定菩薩不生八難」 tr. "Second, making clear that the assured bodhisattva is not born in the eight difficulties"〔X24n0451 0336c10〕, and on the view of no-doing he brings out its heaviness separately: 「但無作見最重，不作一切善以求涅槃名無作」 tr. "but the view of no-doing is the heaviest; not doing any good in order to seek nirvāṇa is named no-doing"〔X24n0451 0336c14〕. Fifth, the division of the Fascicle 94 portion—Jizang divides at 「白佛：云何起神通下」 tr. "From ‘He addressed the Buddha: how does one give rise to the supernormal powers’ on" as 「第二、明方便起神通」 tr. "second, making clear the giving rise to the supernormal powers by skilful means"〔X24n0451 0337a10〕, and restates this treatise's three dharmas: 「論云：一者、菩薩身，二者、所作鹿馬，三者、所用法，此三皆性空」 tr. "The treatise says: first, the bodhisattva's body; second, the deer and horse he makes himself into; third, the dharma he uses—these three are all empty of nature"〔X24n0451 0337a07〕; at the end, after the four faults of giving with a clinging mind, he concludes 「是故菩薩忘三事行施，具足菩薩行故得佛」 tr. "Therefore the bodhisattva forgets the three matters in practising giving, and because he makes the bodhisattva's practice complete he obtains Buddhahood"〔X24n0451 0337b08〕—Jizang's matching of 「忘三事」 tr. "forgets the three matters" with this treatise's 「無分別是施者、是受者」 tr. "there is no discriminating ‘this is the giver, this is the receiver’" is the ancient master's own wording, recorded without judgement.

Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) · lacking a sentence-by-sentence explanation of this chapter (recorded as it is). It is the only ancient commentary explaining this treatise; only fragmentary fascicles survive, the extant text stopping at Fascicle 24 (where the fascicle-end marker of the base text stops), and Fascicles 93 and 94, to which Chapter 83 is tied, lie far outside it. In the whole file 「畢定」 tr. "assured" is seen once—〔X46n0791 0897b13〕 「故畢定品中乃大作三分明畢定位：一者謂初發心菩薩；二者無生忍菩薩；三者最後身菩薩也」 tr. "Therefore in the Chapter on Certainty a threefold division is made at length to make clear the stages of assurance: first, the bodhisattva at the first arousing of the mind; second, the bodhisattva of the acceptance of non-arising; third, the bodhisattva in his last body"—this is Huiying, at the place where he explains, in an earlier chapter, Maitreya's being given the prediction of non-retreat, mentioning in advance the threefold division this chapter is to have, not a sentence-by-sentence commentary on this chapter. One thing is worth recording: Huiying lists the second stage as 「無生忍菩薩」 tr. "the bodhisattva of the acceptance of non-arising", while this treatise's sūtra text reads 「阿鞞跋致菩薩亦畢定」 tr. "the avaivartika bodhisattva is also assured"〔T25 0712c27〕—the ancient master substitutes the acceptance of non-arising for the name avaivartika; the two names are recorded side by side, recorded without judgement. It is recorded as ‘lacking a sentence-by-sentence explanation’, not as ‘zero hits’.

Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) · tied to another chapter (recorded as it is). In the whole file 「畢定」 tr. "assured" is seen once—〔X46n0784 0564c21〕 「畢定眾中干慧地，不取安故起期望」 tr. "in the assembly of the assured, at the ground of dry wisdom, because one does not take rest, hope arises", and the text above it marks what it cites as the chapter "Adornment" of the Larger Sūtra, not the chapter "Certainty". Checking character by character: the two terms 「畢定眾」 tr. "the assembly of the assured" and 「干慧地」 tr. "the ground of dry wisdom" are wholly absent from Sūtra ① and ② of this chapter, whose words are 「畢定」 tr. "assured" and 「阿鞞跋致」 tr. "avaivartika". Judgement: it borrows the word assurance for discussion in the context of another chapter, and is not a direct citation of this chapter; recorded as it is, not entered among the further resonances.

Zhiyi's Profound Meaning of the Lotus (T33n1716) · explicitly citing this chapter (evidence for the classification of the teachings). Zhiyi, discussing the order of prajñā and the Lotus, directly cites as his ground the question of this chapter of this treatise: 「《釋論》云：須菩提何故更問菩薩畢定不畢定」 tr. "The Expository Treatise says: why does Subhūti ask again whether the bodhisattva is assured or unassured"〔T33n1716 0808b05〕, continuing the answer, 「須菩提於《法華》中，聞諸菩薩受記作佛，今於《般若》中，更問畢定不畢定」 tr. "in the Lotus, Subhūti heard that the bodhisattvas receive the prediction of becoming buddhas; now, in the Prajñā, he asks again whether they are assured or unassured"〔T33n1716 0808b06〕, and so concludes 「當知《法華》之後，更明般若也」 tr. "It should be known that after the Lotus, prajñā is made clear again"〔T33n1716 0808b08〕. Elsewhere in the same book he raises it again: 「又《釋論》云：『須菩提問畢定不畢定』，當知般若亦至後」 tr. "Again the Expository Treatise says: ‘Subhūti asks whether they are assured or unassured’; it should be known that prajñā too reaches to the later period"〔T33n1716 0810a02〕. What Zhiyi takes is precisely the sense of the passage of this treatise's Treatise ① 「復次，須菩提聞《法華經》中說…」 tr. "Further, Subhūti heard it said in the Lotus Sūtra …"〔T25 0713b25〕; but that passage of this treatise explains why Subhūti came to doubt, while Zhiyi takes it to fix the order in time of the two sūtras' teaching—the judgement and interpretation of an ancient master, recorded without judgement.

Zhanran's Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus (T33n1717) · citing this chapter's sūtra text word for word. Explaining the preceding entry of the Profound Meaning, Zhanran directly raises the original text of this treatise: 「《大論》九十三先舉經云」 tr. "fascicle ninety-three of the Great Treatise first cites the sūtra, saying"〔T33n1717 0959a06〕, and below it cites word for word the passage from 「須菩提白佛言：世尊！菩薩摩訶薩為畢定，為不畢定」 tr. "Subhūti said to the Buddha: World-Honored One! Is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva assured, or is he unassured"〔T33n1717 0959a07〕 onward, stopping at 「佛言：初心及跋致，皆悉畢定」 tr. "The Buddha said: The first mind and the avaivartika are all without exception assured"〔T33n1717 0959a11〕, and following it with his own words: 「須菩提於《法華》中，已聞諸菩薩得記，故已畢定」 tr. "In the Lotus, Subhūti has already heard that the bodhisattvas obtained the prediction, and so they are already assured"〔T33n1717 0959a12〕, 「今復更問，故知須菩提更為未入者問，故知《法華》之後更說般若明矣」 tr. "now he asks once again, so it is known that Subhūti asks again for the sake of those who have not yet entered, and so it is clear that after the Lotus prajñā is taught again"〔T33n1717 0959a13〕. Two things are worth recording: first, Zhanran marks the fascicle number as 「九十三」 tr. "ninety-three", agreeing with the fascicle in which this chapter's Sūtra ① lies; second, his citation is an abridged citation and not wholly word for word—this treatise's 「非聲聞、辟支佛道中畢定」 tr. "not assured in the path of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha" Zhanran abridges as 「非二乘道中」 tr. "not in the path of the two vehicles", and this treatise's 「初發意菩薩亦畢定，阿鞞跋致菩薩亦畢定，最後身菩薩亦畢定」 tr. "The bodhisattva who has first aroused intent is also assured, the avaivartika bodhisattva is also assured, the bodhisattva in his last body is also assured" Zhanran combines as 「初心及跋致，皆悉畢定」 tr. "the first mind and the avaivartika are all without exception assured". The differences of abridged citation are recorded as they are, and are not taken as a variant text.

Zhanran's Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation (T46n1912) · citing this chapter's treatise text in summary (the difference between the fascicle marked and the actual fascicle recorded specially). Explaining 「遊戲神通淨佛國土」 tr. "sporting in the supernormal powers and purifying buddha-lands", Zhanran cites: 「大論九十三問云。神通所作何名遊戲」 tr. "Fascicle ninety-three of the Great Treatise asks: what the supernormal powers do, why is it named sport"〔T46n1912 0322a28〕, the answer reading 「答。猶如幻師種種變現。菩薩亦爾。故名為戲」 tr. "Answer. Just as a conjurer transforms and manifests in all kinds of ways. The bodhisattva is likewise. Therefore it is named sport"〔T46n1912 0322a29〕, and he further raises 「復次三三昧中空名為上。諸餘行法皆名為下。下如兒戲」 tr. "Again, among the three samādhis emptiness is named the upper. The other practices are all named the lower. The lower are like children's play"〔T46n1912 0322b01〕. Checking what he cites character by character: the words Zhanran explains, 「菩薩應如是遊戲神通，成就眾生、淨佛國土」 tr. "the bodhisattva should thus sport in the supernormal powers, bringing beings to accomplishment and purifying buddha-lands", have their word-for-word source in this treatise's Treatise ②〔T25 0717c07〕, and the question and answer he cites lie in 「問曰：菩薩神通力有所作，何以名遊戲？」 tr. "Question: the power of the bodhisattva's supernormal powers has something it does; why is it named sport?"〔T25 0717c08〕 and 「戲名如幻師種種現變；菩薩神通種種現化，名之為戲」 tr. "What is called sport is like a conjurer's manifesting all kinds of transformations; the bodhisattva's supernormal powers manifest all kinds of transformations, and so they are called sport"〔T25 0717c09〕 and the passage on the three samādhis below it; two things are worth recording: first, Zhanran marks 「九十三」 tr. "ninety-three" while the text he cites actually lies in Fascicle 94 (the Last Part of this chapter), the fascicle marked and the actual fascicle differing by one, recorded as it is without forced explanation; second, the wording is a summary citation, not word for word (「猶如幻師種種變現」 tr. "just as a conjurer transforms and manifests in all kinds of ways" / this treatise's 「戲名如幻師種種現變」 tr. "what is called sport is like a conjurer's manifesting all kinds of transformations"; 「下如兒戲」 tr. "the lower are like children's play" / this treatise's 「皆名為下下，如小兒」 tr. "are all named the lowest of the low, like a little child"). Elsewhere in the same file 「大論九十三」 tr. "fascicle ninety-three of the Great Treatise" is seen twice more—〔T46n1912 0179b29〕 the passage 「有慧無多聞」 tr. "having wisdom without much learning" (actually in Fascicle 11 of this treatise, 0101b10, not this chapter) and〔T46n1912 0374c22〕 the passage 「瞋者本無一切皆虛妄事」 tr. "anger is originally non-existent; all are false matters" (no word-for-word correspondence in the whole T25n1509 file)—neither is this chapter; recorded to keep later readers from tying them here by mistake.

Zhiyi's Great Calming and Contemplation (T46n1911) · zero hits (recorded as it is). In the whole file 「畢定」 tr. "assured" is seen zero times, and 「大論九十三」 tr. "fascicle ninety-three of the Great Treatise" zero times. Zhiyi's Explanation of the Graded Dharma-Gates of Dhyānapāramitā (T46n1916) is the same—zero hits are also a ledger entry, and are not filled with examples of citations from other chapters.

VII. Cross-reading and Further Resonances

The veins of meaning of this chapter that carry on before and after are five; all are recorded in this section, and they do not stand in for a settled reading.

First, the continuation through a different gate of approach of the chapter on non-retreat (the chapter "Avaivartika" → this chapter · a hard link within this treatise itself). At the opening of Treatise ① the treatise-author himself points to the earlier chapter: 「上〈阿鞞跋致品〉中說：『如是相是阿鞞跋致，如是相非阿鞞跋致。』」 tr. "In the chapter "Avaivartika" above it is said: ‘Such marks are avaivartika; such marks are not avaivartika.’"〔T25 0713b15〕, and by ‘speaking through different gates of approach’ sets up this chapter's position; further down he again points to a nearby chapter: 「如上品中說『佛以佛眼見十方菩薩，求佛如恒河沙，得阿鞞跋致者若一、若二』」 tr. "As is said in the chapter above: ‘The Buddha with the Buddha-eye sees the bodhisattvas of the ten directions; those seeking Buddhahood are like the sands of the Ganges, and those who obtain avaivartika are one or two’"〔T25 0713c09〕—one chapter speaks of how few obtain non-retreat, one chapter speaks of all three kinds being assured; the treatise-author does not let the later cover the earlier, but keeps both with 「二事皆實」 tr. "Both matters are real". Jizang's division of this chapter also carries on this momentum: 「一者上不退品已明不退，今更以異門明菩薩相」 tr. "First, the Non-retreat chapter above has already made non-retreat clear; now, through a different gate of approach, the marks of the bodhisattva are made clear again" (see Section VI).

Second, the three citations of the Lotus Sūtra (this treatise fixing the meaning of this chapter by another sūtra). This chapter's Treatise ① cites the Lotus three times: first, 「於佛所作少功德，乃至戲笑一稱南無佛，漸漸必當作佛」 tr. "whoever does a little merit toward the Buddha, even to the point of saying namo Buddha once in jest, will little by little surely become a Buddha"〔T25 0713b26〕, the reason Subhūti came to doubt; second, 「說一切菩薩乃至初發心皆畢定，如《法華經》中說」 tr. "he says that all bodhisattvas, down to those at the first arousing of the mind, are assured, as is said in the Lotus Sūtra"〔T25 0714a01〕, spoken to set at rest those whose mind of great compassion is thin; third, 「有羅漢，若不聞《法華經》，自謂得滅度；我於餘國為說是事，汝皆當作佛」 tr. "There are arhats who, if they do not hear the Lotus Sūtra, think of themselves as having passed into extinction; in another land I shall speak of this matter to them: you shall all become buddhas"〔T25 0714a14〕, the sūtra ground for arhats whose outflows are exhausted again becoming buddhas. The sūtra ground for this chapter's meaning ‘all are assured’ lies in the Lotus and not in the Larger Sūtra itself—this is the key to this chapter's doctrinal structure, and also the source from which later Tiantai judged the order of the two sūtras (see the fourth).

Third, the re-quotation and the expansion in the two layers of sūtra and treatise (a special record of the form of Treatise ② that begins with 「釋曰」 tr. "The explanation says"). Treatise ② does not begin with 「問曰」 tr. "Question" but with 「釋曰：」 tr. "The explanation says:"〔T25 0716b19〕, first restating Sūtra ② in prose simulated question and answer: 「爾時，須菩提問……佛答……」 tr. "At that time Subhūti asked … the Buddha answered …", 「須菩提問：『菩薩住六波羅蜜乃至十八不共法，今何以但說住無所得般若波羅蜜中得？』」 tr. "Subhūti asks: ‘The bodhisattva abides in the six perfections and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas; why now is it said only that he obtains it abiding in prajñāpāramitā with nothing to be attained?’", 「爾時，須菩提心伏受解」 tr. "At that time Subhūti's mind submitted and he received the understanding"〔T25 0716c15〕—the treatise-author retells the questions and answers in the sūtra in his own words, turning only at 0716c23 to formal Question and Answer. This form is not seen here for the first time in this text, but this chapter's passage of simulated question and answer is especially long, and on the reader-facing side ‘the treatise-author's simulated question and answer re-quoting the sūtra’ and ‘the speakers of the sūtra text’ must be strictly kept apart as two layers, not tied together confusedly. Treatise ② also brings out explanatory words of its own that the sūtra does not have, such as 「善根者，諸陀羅尼、三昧門、無礙解脫之根本」 tr. "Roots of goodness are the root of the dhāraṇīs, the gates of samādhi, and unobstructed liberation"〔T25 0716c18〕 and 「方便力者，令他界四大來在身中」 tr. "The power of skilful means is to make the four elements of other realms come into the body"〔T25 0717a05〕—the expansion of the treatise's explanation, recorded as it is.

Fourth, later citations (the two Tiantai lines · this chapter as textual evidence for the classification of the teachings by the five periods). This chapter's greatest echo in later times lies not in the transmission of the meaning of assurance, but in its being taken as textual evidence that 「《法華》之後更說般若」 tr. "after the Lotus, prajñā is taught again": Zhiyi's Profound Meaning of the Lotus twice cites the question of this chapter of this treatise〔T33n1716 0808b05〕〔T33n1716 0810a02〕, and Zhanran's Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus cites this chapter's Sūtra ① word for word〔T33n1717 0959a06 起〕 and extends its meaning, both proving, from Subhūti's having 「已聞諸菩薩得記」 tr. "already heard that the bodhisattvas obtained the prediction" and yet 「今復更問」 tr. "now asking once again", that the teaching of prajñā comes after the Lotus. In addition, Zhanran's Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation cites the question and answer on sporting in the supernormal powers from this chapter's Treatise ②〔T46n1912 0322a28〕 to explain the words 「菩薩應如是遊戲神通，成就眾生、淨佛國土」 tr. "the bodhisattva should thus sport in the supernormal powers, bringing beings to accomplishment and purifying buddha-lands"〔T25 0717c07〕, the fascicle marked and the actual fascicle differing by one and the text being a summary citation (see Section VI for details). This chapter's density of witnesses is very thin on the side of the ancient masters' sentence-by-sentence commentary (Huiying lacking an explanation, Junzheng not tied directly), and on the contrary thick on the side of later citation—recorded by layers, not letting one side stand for the whole chapter.

Fifth, links into the treasury (stable citation · soft citation). This chapter's meaning of non-retreat in ‘the bodhisattva is assured in the Buddha path · he will surely become a Buddha’, its judgement that ‘assurance takes the severing of evil as its verifying mark and not receiving the prediction as its mark’, the meaning of all-pervading emptiness in 「空為有偏」 tr. "emptiness would be partial", the emptiness of the unfindable of the three dharmas being unfindable, the teaching that the perfection of the supernormal powers is the path of awakening and is sport, the faults of giving with a clinging mind and the guard against 「失二種法」 tr. "losing two kinds of dharma", and the closing sentence 「無所分別心，能行布施等，是名真菩薩道」 tr. "With a mind that discriminates nothing he can practise giving and the rest: this is named the true bodhisattva path" are what the treatise collection rests on for the meaning of the non-retreating practice of prajñā and of emptiness and use containing one another, and fall into stable citation〔T25n1509 畢定品·卷九十三–九十四〕; the places where the volumes of the Heart Sūtra, the Diamond Sūtra, and Consciousness-Only cite this treatise are not yet finally drafted, and so they are soft citations, awaiting their word-for-word check. This belongs to the further resonances of the meaning of prajñā running down through the sūtras, recorded without judgement.

VIII. Witnesses and Editions

The base text of this chapter is Fascicles 93 to 94 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa〔T25 0712c19–0718b11〕 (the main text of the chapter body begins from the chapter title〔T25 0712c19〕; the First Part ends at the fascicle-end title 「大智度論卷第九十三」 tr. "Fascicle 93 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa ends here."〔T25 0715a12〕, and the Last Part begins from the continuing title 「大智度論釋畢定品第八十三之餘」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Certainty, the Eighty-third, Remainder"〔T25 0715a15〕 and ends at the close of the passage 「無所分別心，能行布施等，是名真菩薩道」 tr. "With a mind that discriminates nothing he can practise giving and the rest: this is named the true bodhisattva path"〔T25 0718b09〕, the next chapter, "The Four Truths", Chapter 84, beginning at 0718b11); the collation text for the sūtra explained is the "Certainty" chapter of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra〔T08 0409b13 起〕; the ancient-master commentary text for collation is Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451, covering this chapter at〔X24n0451 0336a23–0337b09〕); Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) lacks a sentence-by-sentence explanation of this chapter, Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) is tied to another chapter, and the two Tiantai lines cite it explicitly (see Section VI). The variant collation notes follow the Taishō collation, covering the differences between the Taishō base text and the Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō, and Ishiyama (the Ishiyama-dera manuscript) texts.

The layer of witnesses (seven readings · the Ishiyama manuscript the densest · no Shōgozō B · no CB emendation type). This chapter has one hundred and forty-nine collation entries; recounting the collation-text marks entry by entry: 【大】 one hundred and forty-nine, 【石】 seventy-seven, 【宮】 sixty, 【宋】 fifty-five, 【聖】 fifty-four, 【明】 fifty, 【元】 forty-seven. The Ishiyama manuscript is this chapter's densest variant text, differing from the type of Chapters 45 to 47, ‘the Shōgozō B dense’; in the whole of this chapter there is not a single entry of 【聖乙】, and no entry of the CBETA type emended according to the Korean Canon (【CB】【麗-CB】); the negative result is recorded as it is. The bulk of the Ishiyama manuscript's readings is the systematic variant name 「國土／世界」 tr. "lands / worlds" (nine entries, see below) and differences of single characters similar in form.

The group of variant names 「國土／世界」 tr. "lands / worlds" (the Ishiyama manuscript · nine entries · eight star entries sharing one note). Sūtra ② and Treatise ② of this chapter speak repeatedly of the lands of the ten directions, and the Ishiyama manuscript reads 「世界」 tr. "worlds" throughout, nine times in all:〔T25 0715a23〕〔T25 0715b08〕〔T25 0715b11〕〔T25 0715b12〕〔T25 0715b13〕〔T25 0715c02〕〔T25 0716a04〕〔T25 0716a05〕〔T25 0716a17〕. The first occurrence,〔0715a23〕, is the original note, and the other eight entries are all star re-citations, sharing one and the same note (see below). This is not a doctrinal divergence but a consistent replacement in the Ishiyama manuscript's system of translated names, recorded without judgement; the main text follows the base text's reading.

Twelve star entries (eleven within the chapter · one across chapters · their type listed specially). This chapter's star re-citation entries (the same variant reading recurring in the text and sharing one note) number twelve in all; checking entry by entry the note each corresponds to: the targets of eleven entries fall within the range of this chapter—the note on the character 「深」 tr. "deep" at〔T25 0714c15〕 (target: the base text's note number 0714022 = the note at〔T25 0714c12〕 · within the chapter), the eight notes on 「國土」 tr. "lands" at〔T25 0715b08〕〔T25 0715b11〕〔T25 0715b12〕〔T25 0715b13〕〔T25 0715c02〕〔T25 0716a04〕〔T25 0716a05〕〔T25 0716a17〕 (the targets all the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕 · within the chapter), and the two notes on the character 「說」 tr. "teach" at〔T25 0716a07〕〔T25 0716a19〕 (the targets both the base text's note number 0716001 = the note at〔T25 0716a06〕 · within the chapter); the target of one entry falls within the range of Chapter 82—the note on the character 【論】 at〔T25 0713b15〕 (target: the base text's note number 0710007 = the note at〔T25 0710a25〕 · shared across chapters), whose note text reads 「【論】【大】＊，〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】＊」 tr. "treatise marker (Taishō) star; omitted (Song, Palace, Shōgozō) star". The same type as Chapter 43 (one entry across chapters), Chapter 44 (four entries across chapters), and Chapter 47 (three entries across chapters), and a different type from Chapter 45 (all within the chapter); recorded as it is. This chapter has no corresponding note anchor across texts—the stars are all CBETA's internal mechanism for hanging a correct reading on an anchor.

Four collation entries on structural markers (【經】【論】 · recorded specially). Within the one hundred and forty-nine entries, there are four whose correct reading is a structural marker and not a character of the main text: 【經】 at〔T25 0712c20〕, 【論】 at〔T25 0713b15〕, 【經】 at〔T25 0715a20〕, and 【論】 at〔T25 0716b19〕, the variant column of each reading 「〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】」 tr. "omitted (Song, Palace, Shōgozō)"—the three texts Song, Palace, and Shōgozō do not give the 【經】【論】 section markers; this is the general practice of these three texts, not peculiar to this chapter. The four entries are listed along with the full list, each marked with its entry.

General collation ledger (a full reckoning of all one hundred and forty-nine entries · the base text as it stands). Below, transcribed as the working base text has it—this chapter's collation notes total one hundred and forty-nine, agreeing with the working base text's mechanically recounted value of 149. The collation entries are listed in full in the order of their appearance in the base text, including twelve star re-citation entries (each marked with its target note number and where the target lies) and four structural-marker entries. The general note on the chapter title (the base text's note number 0712021 · a full ledger of its four readings) belongs to the layer of notes on the chapter title and is not within the list of collation notes; it has already been listed separately in Section IV. The readings of the variant texts are preserved side by side, while the main text still follows the reading of the current base text:

Collation entries (one hundred and forty-nine · in order of appearance in the base text · stars marked with each entry)

• 〔T25 0712c19〕畢【大】｜必【元】【明】 (the second note on the chapter title · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0712c19〕三【大】｜三之上【明】 (the third note on the chapter title · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0712c20〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】 (collation entry on a structural marker · head of Sūtra ①)
• 〔T25 0712c26〕定【大】｜定耶【元】【明】【聖】
• 〔T25 0712c27〕最【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0713a06〕僧【大】｜眾【宮】【石】
• 〔T25 0713a13〕是【大】｜大【元】【明】
• 〔T25 0713a15〕是力【大】｜是力不須菩提言無也【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0713a16〕悲【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0713a19〕菩【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0713a22〕發【大】｜業【石】
• 〔T25 0713a26〕淨【大】｜淨法【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0713b05〕所【大】｜應【元】【明】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0713b06〕苦【大】｜苦痛【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【石】
• 〔T25 0713b11〕眾【大】｜眾生【石】
• 〔T25 0713b15〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】 (collation entry on a structural marker · head of Treatise ① · star · shares the base text's note number 0710007 = the note of Chapter 82 at〔T25 0710a25〕, across chapters · shared across chapters)
• 〔T25 0713b21〕知【大】｜智【宋】【元】【明】
• 〔T25 0713b22〕蜫【大】｜昆【石】
• 〔T25 0713b27〕佛【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0713c04〕非【大】｜不【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0713c07〕住【大】｜安立【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】｜安住【石】
• 〔T25 0713c09〕佛以【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0713c13〕阿鞞跋致【大】｜大如【石】
• 〔T25 0713c14〕佛【大】｜舍利弗【石】
• 〔T25 0713c16〕何以【大】｜〔－〕【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0713c27〕心【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0713c28〕或【大】｜或以【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714a03〕乘【大】｜乘人【明】
• 〔T25 0714a04〕故【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0714a06〕責【大】｜債【石】
• 〔T25 0714a08〕化【大】｜教化【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0714a12〕土【大】｜國土【石】
• 〔T25 0714a12〕至【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0714a14〕羅【大】｜阿羅【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714a16〕往【大】｜住【石】
• 〔T25 0714a17〕得疾【大】｜疾得【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0714a23〕若【大】｜苦【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714a24〕不【大】｜未【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0714a25〕墮【大】｜隨【石】
• 〔T25 0714b01〕人【大】｜人聖人【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714b17〕障【大】｜遮【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714b21〕者【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714b27〕人【大】｜又【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0714b27〕國【大】｜國中【聖】
• 〔T25 0714b29〕歎【大】｜嘆【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0714b29〕見【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0714c06〕既【大】｜即【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714c07〕敗壞【大】｜壞敗【聖】
• 〔T25 0714c12〕深【大】｜染【元】【明】
• 〔T25 0714c15〕深【大】｜染【元】【明】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0714022 = the note at〔T25 0714c12〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0714c21〕益【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714c23〕阿【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0714c28〕師【大】｜者【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0715a01〕呪【大】｜祝【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715a02〕言【大】｜曰【石】
• 〔T25 0715a03〕罅【大】｜𮀽【宮】【石】
• 〔T25 0715a04〕示【大】｜視【石】
• 〔T25 0715a07〕獸【大】｜畜生【石】
• 〔T25 0715a12〕大智度論卷第九十三【大】｜大智度經論卷第九十三釋第八十一品下訖第八十二品上【聖】 (end-title of Fascicle 93 · the Shōgozō manuscript's fascicle-title way of recording a span of chapters · the chapter numbers tied one step lower · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0715a15〕大智度論釋畢定品第八十三之餘（卷第九十四）【大】｜大智度經論卷第九十四釋第八十二品下訖第八十三品【聖】 (head-title of Fascicle 94 · the Shōgozō manuscript's fascicle-title way of recording a span of chapters · the chapter numbers tied one step lower · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0715a15〕畢【大】｜必【元】【明】
• 〔T25 0715a16〕之餘【大】｜下【宋】【元】【宮】｜之下【明】 (the fascicle-spanning continuing title · the choice of characters in four texts · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0715a20〕【經】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】 (collation entry on a structural marker · head of Sūtra ②)
• 〔T25 0715a21〕力【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0715a21〕菩薩【大】｜菩薩摩訶薩【石】
• 〔T25 0715a23〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (first occurrence of the variant-name group lands / worlds · the eight star entries below share this entry's note)
• 〔T25 0715a27〕空【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715b08〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0715b11〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0715b12〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0715b13〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0715b18〕智【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715b18〕智【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715b18〕若【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0715b21〕菩提【大】｜菩提利益【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715b26〕眼【大】｜天眼【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715b27〕為【大】｜不為【石】
• 〔T25 0715b28〕如是【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0715b28〕用【大】｜用如是【石】
• 〔T25 0715c01〕通【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715c02〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0715c06〕如是說【大】｜說如是【元】【明】【石】
• 〔T25 0715c09〕勤【大】｜懃【石】
• 〔T25 0715c14〕能【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0715c14〕等【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715c20〕者【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0715c21〕者【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0715c27〕善說【大】｜說善【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0716a04〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0716a05〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0716a06〕說【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】 (first occurrence of the note on the character 「說」 tr. "teach" · the two star entries below share this entry's note)
• 〔T25 0716a07〕說【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0716001 = the note at〔T25 0716a06〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0716a07〕或【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0716a08〕用【大】｜若用【聖】
• 〔T25 0716a10〕或【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0716a15〕信【大】｜生信【石】
• 〔T25 0716a17〕國土【大】｜世界【石】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0715014 = the note at〔T25 0715a23〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0716a19〕說【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】 (star · shares the base text's note number 0716001 = the note at〔T25 0716a06〕, within the chapter · shared within the chapter)
• 〔T25 0716a20〕乃至【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0716a21〕諸【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0716a24〕時【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0716b05〕是施者【大】｜是布施【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0716b07〕從生死拔出，令得涅盤【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0716b07〕盤【大】｜槃【元】【明】【聖】
• 〔T25 0716b14〕所【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0716b19〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】 (collation entry on a structural marker · head of Treatise ②)
• 〔T25 0716b19〕住【大】｜作【宋】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0716b23〕身【大】｜生身【聖】
• 〔T25 0716b24〕佛【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0716b28〕所【大】｜所說【石】
• 〔T25 0716c01〕著【大】｜者【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0716c23〕河【大】｜伽【聖】
• 〔T25 0716c25〕祇【大】｜祇劫【元】【明】【石】
• 〔T25 0717a03〕通【大】｜〔－〕【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717a03〕障【大】｜障外【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717a03〕見【大】｜見內【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717a06〕智【大】｜智知【聖】
• 〔T25 0717a07〕知【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717a11〕道【大】｜道是【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717a17〕久【大】｜亦【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717a17〕見【大】｜見色【聖】
• 〔T25 0717a17〕空【大】｜空故【聖】
• 〔T25 0717a21〕著故【大】｜故著【聖】
• 〔T25 0717b04〕不【大】｜無【石】
• 〔T25 0717b20〕鷺【大】｜鶴【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【石】
• 〔T25 0717b21〕期【大】｜其【宋】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717b24〕增【大】｜猛【元】【明】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717b26〕神【大】｜神通【聖】
• 〔T25 0717b29〕污【大】｜得【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0717c01〕子【大】｜母【明】
• 〔T25 0717c06〕愛【大】｜愛心【元】【明】【石】
• 〔T25 0717c06〕瞋【大】｜瞋心【元】【明】【石】
• 〔T25 0717c12〕為【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0717c16〕國【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0717c16〕土【大】｜〔－〕【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0718a01〕怒【大】｜如【石】
• 〔T25 0718a02〕無【大】｜不【元】【明】【石】
• 〔T25 0718a04〕深【大】｜染【石】
• 〔T25 0718a04〕則【大】｜即【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0718a05〕何【大】｜何以【石】
• 〔T25 0718a06〕作【大】｜能【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0718a07〕染【大】｜深【宋】【元】【明】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0718a11〕後必【大】｜必後【石】
• 〔T25 0718a16〕憂【大】｜苦【石】
• 〔T25 0718a17〕相【大】｜想【聖】
• 〔T25 0718a22〕誑【大】｜妄【石】
• 〔T25 0718b05〕有【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0718b06〕諸法【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0718b10〕道【大】｜道釋八十三品【聖】｜道釋八十二品竟大智度經卷第九十四【石】 (record at the chapter's end · the Ishiyama manuscript's closing record, one step lower · what the Shōgozō manuscript records is the opening mark of its next chapter · also one step lower · see Section IV)

The above one hundred and forty-nine entries agree mechanically with the number of anchored collation notes in the working base text; the targets of the stars have been marked with each entry (the one entry across chapters has been listed separately in the text above). The several places that bear on the chapter name and the fascicle titles (the two notes on the chapter title〔0712c19〕, the end-title of Fascicle 93〔0715a12〕, the head-title of Fascicle 94〔0715a15〕, the continuing title〔0715a16〕, and the record at the chapter's end〔0718b10〕) have been listed separately in the text above, and collated both ways against the sūtra explained and the ancient-master commentary (Section IV, Section VI).

Statistics of the witnesses of the sūtra explained (not worked out · the gap recorded, awaiting supplement). The entry-by-entry statistics of the collation witnesses on the side of the sūtra explained, T223, within the range of this chapter's collation (from〔T08 0409b13〕 up to before the next chapter) have not been worked out in this section (only the two entries of the table-of-contents marker layer and the three passages of the opening, the names of the three bodhisattvas, and the giving up of the body have been checked character by character; see Section IV); the fact that they have not been worked out is recorded as it is, and no estimate is made to fill up the number.