大智度論 七喻品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · The Seven Similes

I. Structural Placement

Within the sequence in which the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa comments on the Larger Sūtra, this chapter belongs to the section of the "Commentary on the Remaining Chapters", and stands at the head of Fascicle 95. Fascicle 95 begins at〔T25 0721c02〕 and ends at〔T25 0728b15〕; its fascicle-head title 「大智度論釋七喻品第八十五」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Seven Similes, the Eighty-fifth"〔T25 0721c02〕 is precisely this chapter's title—one line serving two offices, which is exactly the reverse of the type of Chapter 62, "Training Alike", ‘placed within the fascicle · no fascicle title at the chapter's head, no author's signature and no translator's signature’. Below it, line by line, are tied the author's signature 「龍樹菩薩造」 tr. "Composed by the Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna"〔T25 0721c05〕 and the translator's signature 「後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯」 tr. "Translated by Kumārajīva, Tripiṭaka master of Kucha, in the Later Qin"〔T25 0721c06〕, both of them this chapter's own.

The body of the chapter ends with the sentence 「除諸煩惱，不著顛倒，是名無垢。」 tr. "Removing the afflictions and not clinging to inversion—this is named being without stain."〔T25 0724a06〕, running on to〔T25 0724a07〕, and the title of the next chapter, 「大智度論釋平等品第八十六」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on Equality, the Eighty-sixth"〔T25 0724a08〕, follows right after it; within the range of this chapter there is no fascicle-end title—Fascicle 95 ends only at 「大智度論卷第九十五」 tr. "Fascicle 95 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa ends here."〔T25 0728b15〕, and in between it still holds the whole of the next chapter, "Equality". Hence this chapter is of the type placed at the head of the fascicle · the chapter ending while the fascicle does not: differing from Chapter 62's placement within the fascicle, and differing too from the fascicle-spanning type of Chapter 48, "The Mother of the Buddhas".

The whole chapter has three thousand three hundred and twenty-three pure Chinese characters (as this section obtained by recounting the pure Chinese characters one by one), making it a light chapter among the chapters of the "Commentary on the Remaining Chapters". The structure within the chapter is one 【經】 and one 【論】, a single unit: 【經】〔T25 0721c07〕 and 【論】〔T25 0722c23〕. The collation layers of the two markers are not of the same kind, and are recorded separately as they are: the note on the 【經】 marker is of the point-note type (it has no beg/end pair, and so does not enter the seventy-six entries of the ledger below), its text as it stands reading 「經【大】，〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】，不分卷【石】」 tr. "‘Sūtra’ (Taishō), omitted (Song, Palace, Shōgozō), not divided into fascicles (Ishiyama)"—the three texts Song, Palace, and Shōgozō lack this structural marker, and the Ishiyama text further does not divide the fascicles; the 【論】 marker, by contrast, forms a collation entry of its own (entry forty-one of the ledger below), reading 「【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】」 tr. "‘Treatise’ (Taishō) | omitted (Song, Palace, Shōgozō)", the three texts likewise lacking it. The same group of three texts lacks both, yet one is a point note and the other a collation entry; the difference between the two layers is recorded explicitly and separately.

The speaker structure: the whole of Sūtra ① is a continuous exchange of questions and answers between the Buddha and Subhūti, opening with Subhūti addressing the Buddha〔T25 0721c07〕; the Buddha answers〔T25 0721c24〕, Subhūti states his assent〔T25 0722a04〕, below which questions and answers are set up in succession〔T25 0722a06〕〔T25 0722a07〕; Subhūti asks again〔T25 0722a14〕, the Buddha answers and raises the seven similes〔T25 0722a16〕, the seven similes are asked and answered one by one up to〔T25 0722c15〕, and at the end the Buddha's concluding question and answer〔T25 0722c16〕 closes Sūtra ①. The speakers of the short sentences that omit the subject (of the kind 「不也！世尊！」 tr. "No! World-Honored One!" and 「於汝意云何？」 tr. "What do you think?") can be fixed by the grammar of the context; they are not uncertain. This section recounted character by character: 「於汝意云何」 tr. "What do you think" is seen eighteen times in this chapter, 「不也！世尊」 tr. "No! World-Honored One" sixteen times, and 「若著垢、若得淨不」 tr. "is it either stained or does it obtain purity?" seven times—the last number agrees exactly with the number of the seven similes: each of the seven similes has two questions, ‘the causes and conditions of deeds’ and ‘cultivating the path, stain and purity’, and the second question is this very phrase; this is a mechanical confirmation of the structure of the seven similes.

Treatise ① opens with 「問曰：」 tr. "Question:"〔T25 0722c23〕 and has eight pairs of questions and answers; this section recounted character by character within the range of the treatise section and obtained eight of 「問曰：」 tr. "Question:" and eight of 「答曰：」 tr. "Answer:", the two numbers being equal:〔T25 0722c23〕 / 〔T25 0722c24〕, 〔T25 0723a09〕 / 〔T25 0723a10〕, 〔T25 0723b04〕 / 〔T25 0723b05〕, 〔T25 0723b08〕 / 〔T25 0723b09〕, 〔T25 0723c09〕 / 〔T25 0723c12〕, 〔T25 0723c19〕 / 〔T25 0723c20〕, 〔T25 0723c21〕 / 〔T25 0723c23〕, 〔T25 0723c26〕 / 〔T25 0723c27〕. The form 「有人言」 tr. "someone says" is seen zero times—this chapter's treatise section does not use the form that sets the divergent views of various masters side by side, differing from the five occurrences of Chapter 62; its absence is recorded as it is. 「復次」 tr. "Furthermore" is seen twice (〔T25 0723c16〕〔T25 0724a05〕), both connective words with which the treatise-author himself states the causes and conditions, not questions and answers, and they are not counted among the pairs.

II. Terms Examined

Dharmas without nature · without nature. The root term of this chapter. The sūtra's posed question is set up with it: 「無性法中，無有業用。」 tr. "Within dharmas without nature there is no function of deeds."〔T25 0721c18〕; the Buddha's answer takes up its very words: 「無性法無業無果報。」 tr. "Dharmas without nature have no deeds and no retribution."〔T25 0721c24〕, and extends it, saying 「無性常是無性。」 tr. "What is without nature is always simply without nature."〔T25 0722a01〕. Below it, two posed questions pin down the use of this expression: 「無性法能得無性法不？」 tr. "Can a dharma without nature obtain a dharma without nature?"〔T25 0722a06〕 and 「有性法能得有性法不？」 tr. "Can a dharma with nature obtain a dharma with nature?"〔T25 0722a07〕—both questions are answered 「不也」 tr. "No", from which one knows that 「無性」 tr. "without nature" is not a thing that obtains or is obtained; and so the text below at once continues 「無性法及道，是一切法皆不合不散」 tr. "dharmas without nature and the path—all these dharmas are neither joined nor dispersed"〔T25 0722a08〕. The expression 「無性法無業無果報」 tr. "dharmas without nature have no deeds and no retribution" is seen twice in the whole of this treatise, both in this chapter (〔T25 0721c24〕〔T25 0721c29〕), as obtained by this section's rescan of the stream of Chinese characters.

The list of the seven similes. The seven things this chapter raises are, in the order in which they appear in the sūtra text: dream〔T25 0722a19〕, image in a mirror〔T25 0722a28〕, echo〔T25 0722b08〕, mirage〔T25 0722b14〕, city of the gandharvas〔T25 0722b22〕, illusion〔T25 0722c02〕, and conjured person〔T25 0722c10〕. At the end of the treatise section it gathers them all, saying 「鏡中像、嚮、焰乃至如化亦如是。」 tr. "The image in a mirror, the echo, the mirage, and so on up to being like a conjuration are also like this."〔T25 0723c05〕—summarising them with 「乃至」 tr. "and so on up to", which shows that the seven things are woven on one and the same loom. All seven things are within the ten similes of the "Commentary on the Ten Similes" in Fascicle 5 of this treatise (see Section VII); they are not a list newly set up by this chapter.

Echo. The word for a returning sound, and the character this chapter uses. The sūtra: 「如深澗中有嚮，是嚮有業因緣」 tr. "As in a deep ravine there is an echo, does this echo have the causes and conditions of deeds"〔T25 0722b07〕; Subhūti answers with 「是事空無有實音聲」 tr. "This thing is empty, a sound without reality"〔T25 0722b10〕—the five Chinese characters 「無有實音聲」 tr. "a sound without reality" are its gloss: the echo is the shadow of a sound, not the substance of a sound. Within the range of this chapter this character is seen four times in all (twice at〔T25 0722b08〕 · 〔T25 0722b12〕 · 〔T25 0723c05〕), and all four occurrences have collation notes, the four texts Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace all changing it to 「響」 tr. "echo (in a variant character)" (entries nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, and sixty-four of the ledger below); the base text of the sūtra explained also reads 「響」 tr. "echo (in a variant character)" (see Section IV). The base text uses 「嚮」 tr. "echo" while the various texts use 「響」 tr. "echo (in a variant character)"; this edition follows the reading of the base text, and the difference is recorded side by side as it is.

City of the gandharvas. One of this chapter's seven similes. This treatise has its own gloss of it, not in this chapter but in the "Commentary on the Ten Similes" of Fascicle 5: 「此城但可眼見而無有實，是名揵闥婆城。」 tr. "This city can only be seen by the eye and has no reality; this is named the city of the gandharvas."〔T25 0103b03〕, and again 「揵闥婆城非城，人心想為城」 tr. "The city of the gandharvas is not a city; people's minds imagine it to be a city"〔T25 0103b13〕. This chapter takes from it only the one meaning 「畢竟不可得」 tr. "ultimately unfindable": 「是揵闥婆城畢竟不可得，但誑愚夫眼」 tr. "This city of the gandharvas is ultimately unfindable; it only deceives the eyes of fools"〔T25 0722b26〕. This treatise also makes clear for itself that this simile is used only by the Great Vehicle: 「一切聲聞法中，無揵闥婆城喻」 tr. "In all the dharmas of the śrāvakas there is no simile of the city of the gandharvas"〔T25 0103b20〕—this sentence is in Fascicle 5, not text of this chapter, and its attribution is recorded separately as it is. 「揵闥婆城」 tr. "city of the gandharvas" is seen fifteen times in the whole of this treatise and six times in this chapter (twice at〔T25 0722b22〕 · 〔T25 0722b24〕 · 〔T25 0722b26〕 · 〔T25 0722b28〕 · 〔T25 0722c01〕), as obtained by this section's rescan of the stream of Chinese characters; all six occurrences in this chapter have collation notes, the Ming edition reading 「犍」 tr. "jian (in a variant character)" and the Ishiyama text a variant form (entries twenty-five, twenty-six, thirty, thirty-two, thirty-three, and thirty-four of the ledger below).

The four inversions · the ignorance bound to the three realms. The treatise uses these two names to explain the four Chinese characters 「顛倒愚癡」 tr. "inversion and delusion" of the sūtra text: 「顛倒者，四顛倒；愚癡者，三界繫無明。」 tr. "What is called inversion is the four inversions; what is called delusion is the ignorance bound to the three realms."〔T25 0723a14〕—the sūtra says only inversion and delusion, and the treatise makes them concrete with two names that stand throughout this treatise; this is the treatise-author's gloss, not something the sūtra text itself has, and it is recorded separately as it is. 「四顛倒」 tr. "the four inversions" is seen fifteen times in the whole of this treatise, once in this chapter.

The emptiness of the highest meaning. The key point of the third question and answer of the treatise section: 「是第一義空亦因分別凡夫顛倒故說；若無顛倒，亦無第一義。」 tr. "This emptiness of the highest meaning too is spoken of on account of discriminating the inversions of ordinary people; if there were no inversion, there would be no highest meaning either."〔T25 0723b05〕—this does not take the highest meaning as really existent, but takes it as the name of an antidote; below it the treatise further limits itself, saying 「若凡夫顛倒少多有實，第一義亦應有實。」 tr. "If the inversions of ordinary people had even a little reality, the highest meaning too should have reality."〔T25 0723b07〕. 「第一義空」 tr. "the emptiness of the highest meaning" is seen twenty-nine times in the whole of this treatise, once in this chapter.

Without bondage and without release. The treatise's words refuting 「受垢淨者」 tr. "the one who undergoes stain and purity": 「若眾生法無所屬，亦無作者」 tr. "If the dharmas of beings belong to nothing, there is no maker either"〔T25 0723c12〕, and therefore 「無縛無解」 tr. "without bondage and without release". These four Chinese characters are seen fourteen times in the whole of this treatise, once in this chapter; here in this chapter there is a collation note: the Shōgozō text reads 「無解無縛」 tr. "without release and without bondage", the two Chinese characters exchanging places front and back (entry sixty-seven of the ledger below).

Stain · purity. The balance-beam of the whole chapter. 「垢」 tr. "stain" is seen forty-four times in this chapter and 「淨」 tr. "purity" fifty-two times, as obtained by this section's recount character by character—their density the highest among the words of this chapter, since each of the seven similes asks 「若著垢、若得淨不」 tr. "is it either stained or does it obtain purity?". The final passage gathers them with four sentences: 「又於諸法實相亦不著，是故無垢」 tr. "Further, toward the real mark of all dharmas he also does not cling; therefore he is without stain"〔T25 0724a04〕, 「諸法實相無相可取，是故無淨」 tr. "the real mark of all dharmas has no mark that can be grasped; therefore he is without purity"〔T25 0724a04〕, 「八聖道中不著，是名無淨」 tr. "not clinging within the eightfold noble path—this is named being without purity"〔T25 0724a05〕, and 「除諸煩惱，不著顛倒，是名無垢」 tr. "removing the afflictions and not clinging to inversion—this is named being without stain"〔T25 0724a06〕—being without stain and being without purity each receive two explanations, one in terms of the real mark and one in terms of the factors of the path, recorded separately as they are.

III. Similes and Stories

This chapter has seven key similes, and in addition three similes brought out by the treatise-author himself, all tied to the meaning being explained; none is set up idly.

The seven similes (the sūtra's main similes). The seven similes share one form of question and one form of answer: first it asks whether it 「有業因緣，用是業因緣墮地獄乃至生非有想非無想處不」 tr. "has the causes and conditions of deeds, so that by these causes and conditions of deeds it falls into the hells and so on up to is born in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception", then whether it 「有修道，用是修道，若著垢、若得淨不」 tr. "has the cultivation of the path, so that by this cultivation of the path it is either stained or obtains purity"; Subhūti answers both, and for the six similes from the image in a mirror onward the answers are always 「不也」 tr. "No"; only the first question of the simile of the dream is put differently, 「夢中有五道生死往來不？」 tr. "Within a dream is there the going and coming of birth and death in the five destinies?"〔T25 0722a25〕, and its answer reads 「世尊！無也！」 tr. "World-Honored One! There is not!"〔T25 0722a25〕, while the second answer still reads 「不也」 tr. "No". The intent with which the Buddha sets up these seven similes the sūtra itself states: 「凡夫人所著起業處，無如毛髮許實事，但顛倒故。」 tr. "In the place where ordinary people cling and raise up deeds there is not so much as a hair's breadth of real matter; it is only by reason of inversion."〔T25 0722a16〕, 「今為汝說譬喻，智者以譬喻得解。」 tr. "Now I shall tell you a simile; the wise understand by means of a simile."〔T25 0722a18〕. Each of the seven similes has its own place where the deceiving lies, different simile by simile, and they are listed separately as they are:

• Dream—「夢尚虛妄不可得，何況住夢中受五欲樂！」 tr. "The dream itself is false and unfindable, how much less abiding within a dream and enjoying the pleasures of the five desires!"〔T25 0722a20〕; its verdict lies in 「是夢法無有實事，不可說垢、淨。」 tr. "This dharma of the dream has no real matter; one cannot speak of stain or purity."〔T25 0722a27〕. Among the seven similes only the simile of the dream adds one more question: 「諸法若有漏若無漏、若有為若無為，頗有不如夢者不？」 tr. "Of dharmas, whether with outflows or without outflows, whether conditioned or unconditioned, is there any that is not like a dream?"〔T25 0722a21〕, and the answer is 「無不如夢者。」 tr. "There is none that is not like a dream."〔T25 0722a24〕—this one question and answer is unique among the seven similes, and is in truth the general gathering of all seven similes, and so at the end of the treatise section too the simile of the dream alone is elaborated (see Section V).
• Image in a mirror—the place where it deceives is little children: 「是像無有實事，但誑小兒」 tr. "This image has no real matter; it only deceives little children"〔T25 0722b02〕.
• Echo—the place where it deceives is the ear: 「是事空無有實音聲」 tr. "This thing is empty, a sound without reality"〔T25 0722b10〕.
• Mirage—the place where it deceives is the thirsty eye: 「焰中水畢竟不可得，但誑無智人眼」 tr. "The water in the mirage is ultimately unfindable; it only deceives the eyes of those without wisdom"〔T25 0722b17〕.
• City of the gandharvas—the place where it deceives is the foolish eye: 「是揵闥婆城畢竟不可得，但誑愚夫眼」 tr. "This city of the gandharvas is ultimately unfindable; it only deceives the eyes of fools"〔T25 0722b26〕. The scene of this simile is drawn in the most detail: 「揵闥婆城，如日出時見揵闥婆城，無智人無城有城想、無廬觀有廬觀想、無園有園想」 tr. "The city of the gandharvas: as when, at the time of sunrise, one sees a city of the gandharvas, those without wisdom, where there is no city, have the notion of a city; where there are no houses and towers, have the notion of houses and towers; where there are no gardens, have the notion of gardens"〔T25 0722b22〕—the city, the houses and towers, and the gardens: all three layers are notion piled upon notion.
• Illusion—「是幻法空無實事」 tr. "This dharma of illusion is empty and has no real matter"〔T25 0722c05〕; what is conjured the sūtra also lists: 「幻師幻作種種物，若象、若馬、若牛、若羊、若男、若女」 tr. "A conjurer conjures up all kinds of things—an elephant, or a horse, or an ox, or a sheep, or a man, or a woman"〔T25 0722c02〕.
• Conjured person—「是化人無有實事」 tr. "This conjured person has no real matter"〔T25 0722c12〕. Among the seven similes, only in this one is the maker the Buddha: 「如佛所化人」 tr. "as with a person conjured by the Buddha"〔T25 0722c10〕—when what the Buddha conjures is taken as the simile, what deceives does not come from evil conditions but is the utmost point of emptiness, and so it is placed at the end of the seven similes.

Looking at a jewel with filmed eyes (a simile of the treatise · explaining the clinging mind). The treatise explains why those of dull faculties, hearing emptiness, cling to emptiness: 「如人目瞖，視清淨珠，見其目影，便謂珠不淨。」 tr. "As a person with a film over his eyes looks at a pure jewel, sees the shadow of his own eye, and then says the jewel is impure."〔T25 0723a03〕—the jewel is pure from the first; the impurity that is seen is one's own film. The force of the simile lies in the two Chinese characters 「目影」 tr. "the shadow of the eye": the stain that is seen is precisely the disease of the one who sees. Jizang's commentary has nearly word for word the same text here (see Section VI).

Washing dirt with dirt (a difficulty in the treatise · not set up by the treatise-author himself). The difficulty posed in the fourth question: 「如人手垢還以垢洗，云何得淨？」 tr. "As when a person's hands are dirty and he still washes them with dirt, how can they become clean?"〔T25 0723b08〕—if the inversions of ordinary people and the highest meaning are both unreal, then to refute the unreal with the unreal is no different from washing dirt with dirt. This simile is the questioner's simile, not one set up by the treatise-author, and its attribution is assigned separately as it is; the treatise's answer does not deny this simile but separately sets up difference (see Section V).

Fearing fire and leaving the fire · fearing suffering and leaving the suffering (a simile of the treatise · explaining liberation). The treatise refutes the difficulty ‘if there is no one who undergoes stain and purity, there is no liberation’: 「如人為火所燒，畏而捨離，非火離火；眾生亦如是，畏五眾苦故捨離，非苦離苦。」 tr. "As a person burnt by fire, in fear, relinquishes and leaves it—it is not the fire that leaves the fire; beings too are like this: because they fear the suffering of the five aggregates they relinquish and leave it—it is not the suffering that leaves the suffering."〔T25 0723c14〕—the one who leaves is the person, not the fire; the one who is released is the being, not the suffering. This simile is precisely the pivot of the final passage of the whole chapter: there is no self and yet there is liberation, and the one who can leave is not a real self either; it is only that one does not undergo. The four Chinese characters 「非苦離苦」 tr. "it is not the suffering that leaves the suffering" are seen once in the whole of this treatise, here, as obtained by this section's rescan of the stream of Chinese characters.

IV. The Sūtra Passage Explained

The network of four versions of the chapter name (recorded side by side without judgement). This chapter's name, across the various texts of the two canons, comes to four versions in all, each recorded here according to the collation notes and the ancient masters' general tables of contents.

First, The Seven Similes (yu)—the chapter title of this treatise's base text〔T25 0721c02〕 reads 「大智度論釋七喻品第八十五」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Seven Similes (yu), the Eighty-fifth". Second, The Seven Similes (pi)—this treatise's Palace edition reads 「七譬」 tr. "Seven Similes (pi)" (entry two of the ledger below), the base text of the sūtra explained〔T08 0412b17〕 likewise reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經七譬品第八十五」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on the Seven Similes (pi), the Eighty-fifth", and the chapter title of Jizang's commentary and the general table of contents at the head of his fascicle both read 「七譬品第八十五」 tr. "Chapter on the Seven Similes (pi), the Eighty-fifth"〔X24n0451 0338a14〕〔X24n0451 0195c17〕. Third, The Nature of Dharmas Is without Making—this treatise's Ishiyama text reads 「大智度經第八十四法性無作品」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra, the Eighty-fourth, Chapter on the Nature of Dharmas Being without Making" (entry one of the ledger below). Fourth, The Nature of Dharmas Is Not Made—the Shōgozō text of the sūtra explained reads 「法性非作」 tr. "the nature of dharmas is not made" (its collation note as it stands: 「七譬【大】，七喻【宋】【元】【明】【宮】，法性非作【聖】」 tr. "seven similes, pi (Taishō), seven similes, yu (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace), the nature of dharmas is not made (Shōgozō)"), the interlinear note to the general table of contents at the head of Jizang's fascicle also reads 「亦云性空品，亦云法性非作品」 tr. "also called the Chapter on the Emptiness of Nature, also called the Chapter on the Nature of Dharmas Being Not Made" (within the one line at〔X24n0451 0195c17〕), and the text of Jizang's commentary further explains the reason for itself (see Section VI). Beyond the four versions, Jizang brings out a fifth name, 「性空品」 tr. "Chapter on the Emptiness of Nature", seen only in his commentary and not entering the ledger of the collation notes of the two canons.

The mirror-image double reading ‘seven similes (yu) / seven similes (pi)’ (the first eye of this section). On this treatise's side: the base text reads 「七喻」 tr. "seven similes (yu)", the Palace edition reads 「七譬」 tr. "seven similes (pi)". On the side of the sūtra explained: the base text reads 「七譬」 tr. "seven similes (pi)", and the four texts Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace read 「七喻」 tr. "seven similes (yu)". The collation notes of the two formations are exact mirror images—the reading of this treatise's base text is precisely the reading of the variant texts of the sūtra explained, and the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained is precisely the reading of this treatise's Palace edition. Hence the difference ‘yu / pi’ is not a wandering within one canon, but two readings each preserved side by side in the transmissions of the two canons; they are recorded as they are, without judging which is correct. Further, in the note on this treatise's chapter title, the one version of the Ming edition carries the interlinear note 「經作七喻品」 tr. "the sūtra reads ‘Chapter on the Seven Similes (yu)’" (an interlinear note within the note of entry three of the ledger below); the 「經」 tr. "sūtra" to which the Ming edition's own note points is the sūtra explained, and the reading it records (yu) agrees exactly with the four texts Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace of the sūtra explained; the two formations attest each other, and this is recorded as it is.

The one-character difference ‘the nature of dharmas without making / the nature of dharmas not made’ (the second eye of this section · three formations attesting each other). This treatise's Ishiyama text reads 「法性無作品」 tr. "Chapter on the Nature of Dharmas Being without Making", the Shōgozō text of the sūtra explained reads 「法性非作」 tr. "the nature of dharmas is not made", and the interlinear note of Jizang's general table of contents reads 「法性非作品」 tr. "Chapter on the Nature of Dharmas Being Not Made"—three formations each independently preserve the same variant name, differing only in the one character 「無」 tr. "without" or 「非」 tr. "not": the Ishiyama text reads 「無」 tr. "without", the Shōgozō and Jizang read 「非」 tr. "not", two against one. The source of this name lies in the sentence at the opening of the sūtra text, 「若諸法性無所有，非佛所作」 tr. "If the nature of dharmas is without anything existent, not made by the Buddha"〔T25 0721c07〕; the two expressions ‘without anything existent’ and ‘not made by the Buddha’ stand together within one sentence, and the characters chosen for the variant name may each occupy one of them; their connection is recorded, without judging which came first and without judging which is correct.

The Ishiyama chapter order one step lower (the chapter title and the chapter end attesting each other in two layers). The Ishiyama chapter title reads 「第八十四」 tr. "the Eighty-fourth", one less than the base text's 「第八十五」 tr. "the Eighty-fifth"; at the end of the chapter, the Ishiyama version of the note on the character 「垢」 tr. "stain" reads 「垢釋第八十四品竟」 tr. "stain; end of the commentary on the eighty-fourth chapter" (entry seventy-six of the ledger below)—both layers, the chapter title and the closing record at the chapter end, read 「八十四」 tr. "eighty-four"; it is not a lone witness, and it runs in the same direction and by the same step as the chain of one-step-lower orders that continues chapter by chapter from Chapter 44 onward, and it persists in this chapter.

The Shōgozō's way of recording the fascicle title across chapters (differing in form from the Ishiyama text, yet likewise one less). At this chapter's title the Shōgozō text reads 「大智度經論釋第八十四品訖第八十五品」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, commentary on the eighty-fourth chapter up to the eighty-fifth chapter" (entry one of the ledger below)—this is the fascicle title of Fascicle 95, recording the two chapters this fascicle holds; set against the base text's Fascicle 95, which holds this chapter and the next chapter, "Equality", the chapter numbers the Shōgozō records are each one less than the base text's. At the next chapter's title it reads 「垢釋第八十五品」 tr. "stain; commentary on the eighty-fifth chapter" (entry seventy-six of the ledger below), which, by its count of one less, is the opening mark of the next chapter and not the closing record of this chapter, the chapter number again one less. Hence the Shōgozō's difference appears in its way of recording the fascicle title across chapters, and the Ishiyama's difference in its way of recording the chapter title and the chapter end; the two texts differ in their way of recording and yet are alike one less in chapter order, and they cannot be merged into one matter; they are recorded separately as they are. At the end of the collation notes there is one more sentence summing up the practice: 「釋乃至八十五八字三本俱在經前行」 tr. "the eight characters from ‘commentary’ to ‘eighty-five’ stand, in all three texts, on the line before the sūtra"—this sentence belongs to the explanation of the collation practice of the base text, not to the variant readings, and it is recorded side by side as it is.

The Ishiyama fascicle boundary (a point note · not entered in the ledger below). After the end of the sentence 「是名無垢。」 tr. "this is named being without stain." at the end of the chapter there is another point note, its text as it stands reading 「大智度經卷第九十五終【石】」 tr. "end of Fascicle 95 of the Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra (Ishiyama)", tied to the position〔T25 0724a07〕—the Ishiyama text's Fascicle 95 ends at the end of this chapter, while the base text's Fascicle 95 still has the whole of the next chapter, "Equality", before it ends (see Section I). The two texts have the same fascicle number but hold different contents; this is recorded as it is, without forcing an explanation. This note is a circle-anchored point note without a beg/end pair, and so it does not enter the ledger of seventy-six entries below; it is listed separately here.

The table-of-contents marker of the sūtra explained appearing twice (recorded without judgement). On the side of the sūtra explained, the table-of-contents marker of this chapter is marked eighty-five, and the table-of-contents marker of its preceding chapter, "Difference", Chapter 84〔T08 0411b15〕, is also marked eighty-five—the same marker value appearing twice in two adjacent chapters. This section rescanned independently the sequence of this marker through the whole file of the sūtra explained, and finds the same pattern before and after: Chapter 81 is marked eighty-two, Chapter 83 is marked eighty-four, and Chapters 86 and 87 are both marked eighty-seven—skipped numbers and repeated numbers occur alternately; this is the common pattern of that canon's layer of table-of-contents markers, not a doctrinal divergence; it is recorded as it is, without judgement.

The names of adjacent chapters differing in the two canons (recorded together). This treatise's preceding chapter reads 「大智度論釋四諦品第八十四」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Commentary on the Chapter on the Four Truths, the Eighty-fourth"〔T25 0718b11〕, while the chapter in the same position in the sūtra explained reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜經差別品第八十四」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, Chapter on Difference, the Eighty-fourth"〔T08 0411b15〕—the names of the adjacent chapter also differ between the two canons, which shows that the variant names ‘seven similes (yu) / seven similes (pi)’ of this chapter are not an isolated case, but the general condition of the chapter titles of the two canons in this stretch, each named on its own; their connection is recorded, without judgement.

Full comparative reading of the cited sūtra (collation of the two sides · fourteen variant readings · whether each has a collation note recorded place by place). Sūtra ① of this treatise〔T25 0721c07–0722c22〕 and "The Seven Similes" of the sūtra explained〔T08 0412b18–0413c09〕 were read against each other character by character; the streams of Chinese characters of the two formations number one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine and one thousand six hundred and ninety-seven characters respectively, and they differ in fourteen places, recorded place by place:

• All the bodhisattvas / the bodhisattvas—this treatise reads 「非得果人、非諸菩薩所作」 tr. "not made by those who have obtained the fruit, not made by all the bodhisattvas"〔T25 0721c09〕, the sūtra explained reads 「非得果人、非菩薩所作。」 tr. "not made by those who have obtained the fruit, not made by the bodhisattvas."〔T08 0412b20〕, lacking the one character 「諸」 tr. "all". On this treatise's side there is a note here, 「諸【大】，〔－〕【宋】」 tr. "all (Taishō), omitted (Song)" (entry four of the ledger below)—the Song edition lacks this character 「諸」 tr. "all", and the reading it yields is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there is no collation note.
• Dharmas without nature have no deeds and no retribution / within dharmas without nature there are no deeds and no retribution—this treatise reads 「無性法無業無果報。」 tr. "Dharmas without nature have no deeds and no retribution."〔T25 0721c24〕, the sūtra explained reads 「無性法中無業、無果報。」 tr. "Within dharmas without nature there are no deeds and no retribution."〔T08 0412c07〕. On the side of the sūtra explained there is a note here, 「中【大】，〔－〕【宮】【聖】」 tr. "within (Taishō), omitted (Palace, Shōgozō)" (its Palace and Shōgozō texts lack the character 「中」 tr. "within", and the reading they yield is precisely the reading of this treatise's base text); on this treatise's side this sentence has a separate entry at〔T25 0721c25〕, 「報【大】，無報【石】」 tr. "retribution (Taishō), no retribution (Ishiyama)" (entry eight of the ledger below), while the differing character 「中」 tr. "within" has no collation note.
• If born as humans or gods / either humans or gods—this treatise reads 「若墮地獄、餓鬼、畜生，若生人、天乃至生非有想非無想天」 tr. "some fall into the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals, and some are born as humans or gods and so on up to being born in the Heaven of Neither Perception nor Non-perception"〔T25 0721c19〕, the sūtra explained reads 「若墮地獄、餓鬼、畜生，若人、若天，乃至生非有想」 tr. "some fall into the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animals, either humans or gods, and so on up to being born in neither perception"〔T08 0412c01〕. On the side of the sūtra explained there is a note here, 「人若【大】，生人【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】」 tr. "humans, either (Taishō), born as humans (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō)"—the five texts all read 「生人」 tr. "born as humans", agreeing exactly with this treatise's base text; on this treatise's side there is no collation note here.
• Either a heavenly body / heavenly body—this treatise reads 「若人身，若天身——若四天王天身」 tr. "or a human body, or a heavenly body—either a body in the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings"〔T25 0721c28〕, the sūtra explained reads 「若人身、若天身——四天王天」 tr. "or a human body, or a heavenly body—the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings"〔T08 0412c10〕, lacking one character 「若」 tr. "either". On this treatise's side there is a note here, 「若【大】，〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】」 tr. "either (Taishō), omitted (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō, Ishiyama)" (entry nine of the ledger below)—the six texts all lack this character 「若」 tr. "either", and the reading they yield is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there is no collation note.
• The five aggregates (zhong) / the five aggregates (yin)—this treatise reads 「見眾生以顛倒故著五眾」 tr. "sees that beings, because of inversion, cling to the five aggregates (zhong)"〔T25 0722a11〕, the sūtra explained reads 「見眾生以顛倒故著五陰」 tr. "sees that beings, because of inversion, cling to the five aggregates (yin)"〔T08 0412c22〕. On the side of the sūtra explained there is a note here, 「陰【大】，眾【宮】【聖】」 tr. "aggregate, yin (Taishō), aggregate, zhong (Palace, Shōgozō)"—the Palace and Shōgozō texts read 「眾」 tr. "aggregate (zhong)", agreeing exactly with the translation-word of this treatise's base text; on this treatise's side there is no collation note here. This is one of the variant readings of this passage that bear the most doctrinal weight; each of the two formations has its own lineage, and it is recorded as it is, without judging one formation by the reading of the other.
• Five destinies / six destinies (a difference within the sūtra explained)—the sūtra explained reads 「著故起業，業因緣故五道生死」 tr. "because of clinging they raise up deeds; because of the causes and conditions of deeds there is birth and death in the five destinies"〔T08 0412c27〕 and 「夢中有五道生死往」 tr. "within a dream is there the going of birth and death in the five destinies"〔T08 0413a08〕, both places having the note 「五【大】，六【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】」 tr. "five (Taishō), six (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō)"; this treatise's base text reads 「五道」 tr. "five destinies" in both places (〔T25 0722a15〕〔T25 0722a24〕), agreeing with the base text of the sūtra explained and differing from its five texts. On this treatise's side there is no collation note at these two places.
• Can raise up the causes and conditions of deeds / has real matter? can raise up the causes and conditions of deeds—this treatise reads 「鏡中像有實事能起業因緣」 tr. "the image in a mirror has real matter that can raise up the causes and conditions of deeds"〔T25 0722a28〕, the sūtra explained reads 「鏡中像有實事不？能起業」 tr. "does the image in a mirror have real matter? Can it raise up deeds"〔T08 0413a12〕, with one character more, 「不」 tr. "(the question particle)". On the side of the sūtra explained there is a note here, 「不【大】，〔－〕【聖】」 tr. "the question particle (Taishō), omitted (Shōgozō)"—the Shōgozō text lacks this character 「不」 tr. "(the question particle)", and the reading it yields is precisely the reading of this treatise's base text; on this treatise's side there is no collation note here.
• Deep ravine / deep ravine (variant character) · echo / echo (variant character)—this treatise reads 「如深澗中有嚮，是嚮有業因緣」 tr. "As in a deep ravine there is an echo, does this echo have the causes and conditions of deeds"〔T25 0722b07〕, the sūtra explained reads 「如深㵎中有響，是響有業因緣」 tr. "As in a deep ravine (in a variant character) there is an echo (in a variant character), does this echo have the causes and conditions of deeds"〔T08 0413a21〕. On this treatise's side, the character 「嚮」 tr. "echo" has collation notes at all four occurrences (the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Palace reading 「響」 tr. "echo (in a variant character)", entries nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, and sixty-four of the ledger below), the reading of the various texts agreeing exactly with the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained the two characters 「㵎」 tr. "ravine (in a variant character)" and 「響」 tr. "echo (in a variant character)" both have no collation note.
• This mirage (one written form) / this mirage (the other written form)—this treatise reads 「如焰非水水相，非河河相，是炎頗有業因緣」 tr. "As a mirage is not water and yet has the mark of water, is not a river and yet has the mark of a river, does this mirage have the causes and conditions of deeds"〔T25 0722b14〕, the sūtra explained reads 「如焰非水水相、非河河相，是焰頗有業因緣」 tr. "As a mirage is not water and yet has the mark of water, is not a river and yet has the mark of a river, does this mirage have the causes and conditions of deeds"〔T08 0413a28〕. Within the same sentence this treatise uses the two forms 「焰」 tr. "mirage (one written form)" and 「炎」 tr. "mirage (the other written form)" together, while the sūtra explained reads 「焰」 tr. "mirage (one written form)" in both places; neither formation has a collation note here, and this treatise's use of both is recorded as it is, without standardising on its behalf.
• City of the gandharvas / city of the gandharvas (variant character)—this treatise reads 「揵」 tr. "jian (the base text's character)" in all six occurrences, while the sūtra explained reads 「犍」 tr. "jian (in a variant character)" in its first two occurrences〔T08 0413b07〕 and 「揵」 tr. "jian (the base text's character)" in the latter four〔T08 0413b09〕 onward. On the side of the sūtra explained the character 「犍」 tr. "jian (in a variant character)" has the note 「犍【大】，乾【宋】【元】【明】」 tr. "jian, variant character (Taishō), qian (Song, Yuan, Ming)"; the sūtra explained itself uses both forms within the same chapter, and its collation note reaches only the first two occurrences; this is recorded as it is, without standardising on its behalf. The notes on these six occurrences on this treatise's side form a separate system (the Ming edition reading 「犍」 tr. "jian (in a variant character)" · the Ishiyama text a variant form); the variant texts to which the collation notes of the two formations point are different, and one cannot be inferred from the other.
• Houses and towers / houses and lodges—this treatise reads 「無廬觀有廬觀想」 tr. "where there are no houses and towers, have the notion of houses and towers"〔T25 0722b23〕, the sūtra explained reads 「無廬館有廬館想」 tr. "where there are no houses and lodges, have the notion of houses and lodges"〔T08 0413b08〕. On the side of the sūtra explained both occurrences have the note 「館【大】＊，觀【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】＊」 tr. "lodge (Taishō) star, tower (Song, Yuan, Ming, Palace, Shōgozō) star"—the five texts all read 「觀」 tr. "tower", agreeing exactly with this treatise's base text; on this treatise's side there is no collation note here.
• By means of this illusion / this illusion—this treatise reads 「於汝意云何？用是幻有修道」 tr. "What do you think? By means of this illusion is there the cultivation of the path"〔T25 0722c07〕, the sūtra explained reads 「於汝意云何，是幻有修」 tr. "What do you think, does this illusion have cultivation"〔T08 0413b22〕, lacking one character 「用」 tr. "by means of". Neither formation has a collation note here.
• What is thought / what do you think—this treatise reads 「佛告須菩提：『於意云何？於是空相中……』」 tr. "The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘What is thought? Within this mark of emptiness …’"〔T25 0722c16〕, the sūtra explained reads 「於汝意云何，於是空相中」 tr. "What do you think, within this mark of emptiness"〔T08 0413c03〕. On this treatise's side there is a note here, 「於【大】｜於汝【元】【明】」 tr. "yu (Taishō) | yu ru, with ‘you’ (Yuan, Ming)" (entry thirty-five of the ledger below)—the Yuan and Ming texts add the character 「汝」 tr. "you", and the reading they yield is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there is no collation note. In this passage, the places where this treatise's side has a collation note while the side of the sūtra explained has none number five in all (「諸」 tr. "all" · 「若」 tr. "either" · 「嚮」 tr. "echo" · 「於」 tr. "yu" · 「有」 tr. "you (there is)"), the direction being the reverse of several of the preceding entries; they are recorded separately as they are.
• There is also no stain or purity (with you) / there is also no stain or purity—this treatise reads 「如實見者不垢、不淨，如是亦無有垢、淨。」 tr. "One who sees as it truly is is neither stained nor pure; in this way there is also no stain or purity."〔T25 0722c21〕, the sūtra explained reads 「如實見者不垢不淨，如是亦無垢淨。」 tr. "One who sees as it truly is is neither stained nor pure; in this way there is also no stain or purity."〔T08 0413c08〕, lacking one character 「有」 tr. "you (there is)". On this treatise's side there is a note here, 「有【大】，〔－〕【石】」 tr. "you (Taishō), omitted (Ishiyama)" (entry thirty-nine of the ledger below)—the Ishiyama text lacks this character 「有」 tr. "you (there is)", and the reading it yields is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained; on the side of the sūtra explained there is no collation note.

Control group (seven strings · each seen only once in the whole of this treatise · a unique correspondence of position). To avoid making up numbers by estimate, this section took a further seven strings and rescanned them string by string through the whole of this treatise; each is seen only once, that is, all in this chapter, and they can serve as anchors for locating this chapter: 「智者以譬喻得解」 tr. "the wise understand by means of a simile"〔T25 0722a18〕, 「無如毛髮許」 tr. "not so much as a hair's breadth"〔T25 0722a17〕, 「但誑小兒」 tr. "only deceives little children"〔T25 0722b03〕, 「但誑愚夫眼」 tr. "only deceives the eyes of fools"〔T25 0722b26〕, 「五道生死往來」 tr. "the going and coming of birth and death in the five destinies"〔T25 0722a25〕, 「非苦離苦」 tr. "it is not the suffering that leaves the suffering"〔T25 0723c15〕, and 「於無所有中拔出眾生」 tr. "pulls beings out from within what has nothing existent"〔T25 0722a13〕. Recorded besides are two strings whose count is not one: 「無性法無業無果報」 tr. "dharmas without nature have no deeds and no retribution" is seen twice in the whole of this treatise, both in this chapter (〔T25 0721c24〕〔T25 0721c29〕); 「是化人無有實事」 tr. "this conjured person has no real matter" is seen twice in the whole of this treatise, once in this chapter〔T25 0722c12〕 and the other occurrence outside this chapter〔T25 0728c07〕. Judged as ‘the same chapter under different names’ (the chapter body nearly the same text character by character, the fourteen variant readings as listed above, and the difference of the four versions of the chapter name as above). The 【論】 layer of this treatise is a structural expansion belonging to the body of the treatise; the sūtra explained has no such layer, and it is not a variant reading.

V. The Prajñā Eye

The eye of this chapter lies in bringing the one word 「誑」 tr. "deceive" down to solid ground—it is not saying that the world does not exist; it is saying that the very reason the world can deceive people is that there is nothing in it to hold on to. Its meaning can be summarised in five layers.

First, why the difficulty is a difficulty lies in the mutual obstruction of 「無性」 tr. "without nature" and 「差別」 tr. "difference". Subhūti's question is extremely direct: since the nature of dharmas is 「無所有，非佛所作」 tr. "without anything existent, not made by the Buddha"〔T25 0721c07〕, how can the six destinies, the three vehicles, and the buddhas still be distinguished? 「無性法中，無有業用。」 tr. "Within dharmas without nature there is no function of deeds."〔T25 0721c18〕—without nature there are no deeds, without deeds there is no fruit, without fruit there is no difference. The Buddha's answer does not evade this difficulty, but directly takes up its words, saying 「無性法無業無果報。」 tr. "Dharmas without nature have no deeds and no retribution."〔T25 0721c24〕, and separately brings out where difference comes from: 「凡夫人不入聖法，不知諸法無性相，顛倒愚癡故，起種種業因緣。」 tr. "Ordinary people do not enter the holy Dharma, do not know the mark of dharmas being without nature, and because of inversion and delusion raise up all kinds of causes and conditions of deeds."〔T25 0721c25〕. Difference does not come from the nature of dharmas; it comes from inversion—this sentence is the pillar of the whole chapter.

Second, what the seven similes liken is not ‘nothing’, but ‘without reality and yet able to appear’. The questions of the seven similes all have two layers: first asking about the causes and conditions of deeds, then about cultivating the path, stain and purity; to both layers the answers for the six similes from the image in a mirror onward all read 「不也」 tr. "No", only the first answer of the simile of the dream reading 「無也」 tr. "There is not". And in setting up the similes the sūtra itself states that its intent lies in 「凡夫人所著起業處，無如毛髮許實事，但顛倒故。」 tr. "In the place where ordinary people cling and raise up deeds there is not so much as a hair's breadth of real matter; it is only by reason of inversion."〔T25 0722a16〕—that the place clung to has no real matter does not mean that the place clung to does not appear before one. Dream, image, echo, mirage, city, illusion, conjuration: each of the seven things appears before one, and each can deceive; that it can deceive is precisely the proof that it is without reality, not the proof that it has reality. Hence the general gathering of the seven similes lies in the one question and answer under the simile of the dream: 「諸法若有漏若無漏、若有為若無為，頗有不如夢者不？」 tr. "Of dharmas, whether with outflows or without outflows, whether conditioned or unconditioned, is there any that is not like a dream?"〔T25 0722a21〕, 「無不如夢者。」 tr. "There is none that is not like a dream."〔T25 0722a24〕—with outflows and without outflows, conditioned and unconditioned, all alike are included, and not one dharma lies outside the dream.

Third, asking again is not asking more. The treatise sets itself this difficulty: 「佛已處處答是事，今須菩提何以復問？」 tr. "The Buddha has already answered this matter in place after place; now why does Subhūti ask again?"〔T25 0722c23〕, and answers 「義雖一，所因事異」 tr. "Though the meaning is one, the matters that occasion it differ"〔T25 0722c24〕—the meaning is one and the same meaning; the matter that occasions it differs each time. Below it the explanation is extremely fine: prajñā is 「甚深微妙，難解難量」 tr. "very deep and subtle, hard to understand and hard to measure"〔T25 0722c26〕, so the buddhas and the worthy and the sages 「以種種語言名字、譬喻為說」 tr. "teach it by all kinds of words and names, and similes"〔T25 0722c28〕; and 「利根者解聖人意」 tr. "those of keen faculties understand the sages' intent"〔T25 0722c28〕, while 「鈍根者處處生著，著於語言名字」 tr. "those of dull faculties give rise to clinging everywhere, clinging to the words and names"〔T25 0722c29〕—hearing emptiness they cling to emptiness, hearing that emptiness too is empty they also cling, and even hearing 「一切法寂滅相，語言道斷」 tr. "all dharmas have the mark of quiescence; the way of words is cut off" they still cling. The treatise gathers this with one simile: 「如人目瞖，視清淨珠，見其目影，便謂珠不淨。」 tr. "As a person with a film over his eyes looks at a pure jewel, sees the shadow of his own eye, and then says the jewel is impure."〔T25 0723a03〕. So asking again is not for the Buddha's sake but for the hearers': Subhūti, 「以經將訖，為眾生處處問是事，是故重問。」 tr. "the sūtra being about to end, asks about this matter everywhere for the sake of beings; therefore he asks again."〔T25 0723a07〕.

Fourth, what the Buddha assents to and what he does not assent to must be divided into two halves. The treatise's second question is extremely sharp: Subhūti plainly uses 「有」 tr. "existence" to raise a difficulty against 「空」 tr. "emptiness"; why does the Buddha give him the seal of assent? The answer divides into two halves: what is assented to is 「諸法空常住，有佛、無佛不異」 tr. "dharmas are empty and abide constantly, no different whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha"〔T25 0723a10〕; what is not assented to is 「云何分別有六道等」 tr. "how are the six destinies and the rest distinguished"〔T25 0723a11〕; and the reason lies in 「以其難欲破空故」 tr. "because his difficulty wishes to refute emptiness"〔T25 0723a12〕—within one and the same passage, the Buddha assents to what he has grasped and does not assent to what he objects. Below, the resolution of the difficulty also divides into two roads: the difference of the six destinies is only inversion, 「是故五道皆空，但有假名。」 tr. "For this reason the five destinies are all empty, having only provisional names."〔T25 0723a18〕; the difference of the worthy and the sages is only the different names of severing inversion, and 「顛倒不實故無所斷」 tr. "because inversion is unreal, nothing is severed", hence 「一切賢聖果皆是無所有。」 tr. "the fruits of all the worthy and the sages are all without anything existent."〔T25 0723a22〕, and so on up to 「果即是斷。」 tr. "the fruit is precisely severance."〔T25 0723a23〕. Since all alike are without anything existent, there is nothing to distinguish, and so 「不應難」 tr. "one should not raise this difficulty".

Fifth, both are unreal, and yet within the unreal there is difference—this is the most pressing turn of the whole chapter. The questioner presses step by step: if inversion is unreal, then the 「實」 tr. "real" that stands over against it ought to exist too; the treatise answers 「但顛倒故生著，若無顛倒，云何有相待實法」 tr. "It is only by reason of inversion that clinging arises; if there were no inversion, how could there be a real dharma standing over against it"〔T25 0723b02〕. Pressing again: are not ultimate emptiness and the highest meaning real? The treatise, surprisingly, does not shield the highest meaning: 「是第一義空亦因分別凡夫顛倒故說；若無顛倒，亦無第一義。」 tr. "This emptiness of the highest meaning too is spoken of on account of discriminating the inversions of ordinary people; if there were no inversion, there would be no highest meaning either."〔T25 0723b05〕. Pressing again: both are unreal, so 「如人手垢還以垢洗，云何得淨？」 tr. "As when a person's hands are dirty and he still washes them with dirt, how can they become clean?"〔T25 0723b08〕—the treatise's answer does not set up a real highest meaning, but sets up only something that can refute and cannot be refuted: 「第一義實清淨」 tr. "the highest meaning is in reality pure"〔T25 0723b10〕, the reason it is pure lying in 「不可破壞，不變異故」 tr. "because it cannot be destroyed and does not change"〔T25 0723b11〕. And then it opens it out: 「雖二法皆不實，而不實中有差別。」 tr. "Although both dharmas are unreal, within the unreal there is difference."〔T25 0723b13〕—the ten wholesome and the ten unwholesome are alike conditioned, false and deceptive, and yet killing makes one fall into the evil destinies while not killing brings birth in the heavens; giving and stealing alike grasp at marks with a clinging mind, and yet 「惱眾生有大罪，慈念眾生有大福」 tr. "vexing beings has great sin, kindly thought for beings has great merit"〔T25 0723b19〕; 「如慈能破瞋、施能破慳，雖二事俱是不實，而能相破。」 tr. "As kindness can refute anger and giving can refute stinginess: although both things are unreal, they can refute each other."〔T25 0723b19〕. Within the unreal there is what refutes and what is refuted; this is the whole ground of cultivating the path—it is not that one first finds a real footing and then cultivates, but that within what is alike unreal there is still light and heavy that can be turned.

At the end it returns to its principle in non-self. The Buddha asks back where the one who is stained or pure is, and Subhūti answers with 「一切法中無我」 tr. "in all dharmas there is non-self"〔T25 0723c07〕. A questioner poses a difficulty, saying 「阿毘曇等經中有垢、有淨」 tr. "in the Abhidharma and other scriptures there is stain and there is purity"〔T25 0723c09〕, 「三毒等諸煩惱是垢，三解脫門諸助道法等是淨」 tr. "the three poisons and the other afflictions are stain; the three gates of liberation, the dharmas that aid the path, and the like are purity"〔T25 0723c10〕, only the one who undergoes stain and purity does not exist. The treatise does not deny the items he lists, but denies their standing-place: 「若眾生法無所屬，亦無作者」 tr. "If the dharmas of beings belong to nothing, there is no maker either"〔T25 0723c12〕, and then 「無縛無解」 tr. "without bondage and without release"; and being without bondage and without release does not hinder liberation either—「如人為火所燒，畏而捨離，非火離火；眾生亦如是，畏五眾苦故捨離，非苦離苦。」 tr. "As a person burnt by fire, in fear, relinquishes and leaves it—it is not the fire that leaves the fire; beings too are like this: because they fear the suffering of the five aggregates they relinquish and leave it—it is not the suffering that leaves the suffering."〔T25 0723c14〕. The whole chapter closes on four sentences: 「又於諸法實相亦不著，是故無垢」 tr. "Further, toward the real mark of all dharmas he also does not cling; therefore he is without stain"〔T25 0724a04〕, 「諸法實相無相可取，是故無淨」 tr. "the real mark of all dharmas has no mark that can be grasped; therefore he is without purity"〔T25 0724a04〕, 「八聖道中不著，是名無淨」 tr. "not clinging within the eightfold noble path—this is named being without purity"〔T25 0724a05〕, and 「除諸煩惱，不著顛倒，是名無垢」 tr. "removing the afflictions and not clinging to inversion—this is named being without stain"〔T25 0724a06〕—being without stain and without purity is not the absence of cultivation; it is cultivation reaching the point of not clinging; and the reason the seven similes had to be carried up to 「如佛所化人」 tr. "as with a person conjured by the Buddha" lies precisely here too: even what the Buddha conjures cannot be held to.

VI. Divergent Readings of the Masters

The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa has, from the first, no tradition of a full commentary text by text, and the ancient masters' citations and explanations as a rule lean partially, as the facts show. For this chapter there is only one master's re-reading: Jizang's commentary, which explains the sūtra explained, preserves a complete dedicated section; Huiying's commentary, which explains this treatise, in its surviving range does not reach this chapter; and the books of the Tiantai line and Junzheng's book all have zero hits. This section records what they comment on and cite and its correspondence with this chapter, without judging the relative merit of the various masters' interpretations.

Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451). His text-by-text commentary on "The Seven Similes" of the sūtra explained begins with 「七譬品第八十五」 tr. "Chapter on the Seven Similes (pi), the Eighty-fifth"〔X24n0451 0338a14〕 and ends at〔X24n0451 0338c15〕, before the start of the next chapter, 「平等品第八十六」 tr. "Chapter on Equality, the Eighty-sixth"〔X24n0451 0338c16〕, covering the whole sūtra of this chapter; the general table of contents at the head of his fascicle lists separately 「七譬品第八十五」 tr. "Chapter on the Seven Similes (pi), the Eighty-fifth"〔X24n0451 0195c17〕, with an interlinear note under the title bringing out two variant names (see Section IV). There are five points worth recording.

First, the chapter's position and major divisions, and the reason for the names being set up together—「上明菩薩自他行成故得菩薩果，此譬明本性清淨」 tr. "Above, it made clear that because the bodhisattva's practice for himself and for others is accomplished he obtains the bodhisattva's fruit; these similes make clear that the original nature is pure"〔X24n0451 0338a15〕, 「初品為三」 tr. "first, the chapter is in three parts"〔X24n0451 0338a16〕, and the last of the three divisions is 「第三明雖有見聞而無垢淨也」 tr. "third, it makes clear that although there is seeing and hearing, there is no stain or purity"〔X24n0451 0338a18〕; the chapter name takes the meaning of this third division: 「從第三章舉七譬，明雖見聞而無垢淨，故云七譬品，亦言性空品，亦云法性非作品也。」 tr. "Because from the third section it raises the seven similes, making clear that although there is seeing and hearing there is no stain or purity, it is called the Chapter on the Seven Similes (pi), also called the Chapter on the Emptiness of Nature, and also called the Chapter on the Nature of Dharmas Being Not Made."〔X24n0451 0338a18〕—within one sentence Jizang accounts at once for the reasons of three names: ‘seven similes’ takes the matters raised in the third division, while ‘emptiness of nature’ and ‘the nature of dharmas not made’ take the purport that heads the chapter. This treatise says nothing about the chapter name; what the two emphasise differs, and they are recorded separately as they are.

Second, the reason for asking again—Jizang also sets up this question; his answer points to the same thing as this treatise but is worded differently: 「良由眾生鈍根不性，如聞空著空、聞空空亦著」 tr. "It is truly because beings are of dull faculties and lack the nature for it: as, hearing emptiness, they cling to emptiness, and hearing the emptiness of emptiness, they also cling"〔X24n0451 0338b06〕, corresponding to this treatise's text from 「鈍根者處處生著，著於語言名字」 tr. "those of dull faculties give rise to clinging everywhere, clinging to the words and names"〔T25 0722c29〕 onward. The sentence below it is especially worth recording: 「如人目翳視清淨珠，見其自影便謂珠不淨也。」 tr. "As a person with a film over his eyes looks at a pure jewel, sees his own shadow, and then says the jewel is impure."〔X24n0451 0338b13〕—compared with this treatise's 「如人目瞖，視清淨珠，見其目影，便謂珠不淨。」 tr. "As a person with a film over his eyes looks at a pure jewel, sees the shadow of his own eye, and then says the jewel is impure."〔T25 0723a03〕, it is nearly word for word the same, differing only in the characters used in two places, ‘film (one character) · film (another character)’ and ‘his own shadow · the shadow of his eye’. And in this treatise these two characters each have a collation note: the character 「瞖」 tr. "film" reads 「翳」 tr. "film (another character)" in the Shōgozō text (entry forty-two of the ledger below), and the character 「目」 tr. "eye" reads 「自」 tr. "own" in the Shōgozō and Ishiyama texts (entry forty-three of the ledger below)—the text Jizang relied on agrees, at both characters, with the readings of the Shōgozō line; the two formations attest each other, and this is recorded as it is, without judging which is the original form.

Third, the division of the Buddha's answer—「佛答中為二」 tr. "within the Buddha's answer there are two parts"〔X24n0451 0338b15〕, the second of which is resolving the difficulty, and 「釋難為三」 tr. "resolving the difficulty is in three parts"〔X24n0451 0338b16〕; his judgement on the difficulty of the six destinies says 「明迷故有六道，凡夫入聖法了悟則無六道也」 tr. "it makes clear that because of delusion there are the six destinies; when ordinary people enter the holy Dharma and clearly awaken, there are no six destinies", pointing to the same as this treatise's 「是故五道皆空，但有假名。」 tr. "For this reason the five destinies are all empty, having only provisional names."〔T25 0723a18〕. Only the number differs: Jizang says six destinies, this treatise says five destinies (for the characters this treatise uses, see also the entry in Section IV on the variant reading 「六道」 tr. "six destinies" of the sūtra explained); the two masters each follow what they received, and this is recorded separately as it is, without standardising on their behalf.

Fourth, the passage on the false and the real standing over against each other—「第二、明虗實平等真偽不二也」 tr. "second, it makes clear that the false and the real are equal, and the true and the false are not two"〔X24n0451 0338c02〕; in explaining that both are unreal and yet there is still difference, he brings out a weighing phrase: 「以輕不實於重不實，如十惡十善雖同不實」 tr. "by a light unreality set against a heavy unreality, as the ten evils and the ten wholesome, though alike unreal"〔X24n0451 0338c08〕—setting up difference by light and heavy, corresponding exactly to this treatise's 「雖二法皆不實，而不實中有差別。」 tr. "Although both dharmas are unreal, within the unreal there is difference."〔T25 0723b13〕 and to its example of the ten wholesome and the ten unwholesome below it; yet this treatise does not use the two Chinese characters 「輕重」 tr. "light and heavy", and Jizang's words are his own setting-out of the point, recorded separately as it is. In this passage he further cites the Hundred Treatise as proof, a side support of Jizang's own choosing, which this treatise does not have.

Fifth, the close of the passage on the seven similes—「第三、明雖有見聞而無垢淨」 tr. "third, it makes clear that although there is seeing and hearing there is no stain or purity"〔X24n0451 0338c12〕, 「是故今明如夢等中雖無有二而不妨見聞」 tr. "therefore it now makes clear that within the dream and the rest, though there is no duality, this does not hinder seeing and hearing"〔X24n0451 0338c14〕—closing the seven similes with the four Chinese characters 「不妨見聞」 tr. "does not hinder seeing and hearing", corresponding to this treatise's meaning that the seven similes are 「無實事」 tr. "without real matter" and yet still appear before one; this treatise does not have these four characters, which Jizang brings out himself, and this is recorded separately as it is. Further, in the sectional division of "Like a Conjuration", Chapter 87, Jizang cites in passing another master's judgement: 「有人言：差別品明菩提即智果，謂般若也」 tr. "Someone says: the Chapter on Difference makes clear that awakening is the fruit of knowledge, that is, prajñā"〔X24n0451 0339b20〕, 「七譬品明無垢淨，顯解脫果」 tr. "the Chapter on the Seven Similes (pi) makes clear that there is no stain or purity, revealing the fruit of liberation"〔X24n0451 0339b21〕, 「平等品辨正法等，是法身果，離三德也」 tr. "the Chapter on Equality discerns the equality of the true Dharma; this is the fruit of the Dharma body, distinguished among the three virtues"〔X24n0451 0339b21〕—this is the judgement of 「有人言」 tr. "someone says" cited by Jizang, not Jizang's own judgement, nor the teaching of this treatise; its attribution is recorded separately as it is, and its connection noted without fixing a reading on its behalf.

Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) · lacking an explanation (not zero hits). Huiying's commentary is the only ancient commentary that explains this treatise, and it survives only in fragmentary fascicles. This section independently checked its surviving range: the heading of its last chapter is marked 「釋大方便品第六十九」 tr. "Commentary on the Chapter on the Great Skilful Means, the Sixty-ninth", with the two Chinese characters 「不完」 tr. "incomplete" beneath the title〔X46n0791 0916c15〕, and the whole book stops at〔X46n0791 0917b12〕—the surviving text of the commentary stops at Chapter 69, and incomplete at that, far before this chapter (Chapter 85). Hence this chapter lacks an explanation: it is not that Huiying had nothing to say on this chapter, but that the surviving range of his commentary does not reach here; this is recorded separately as it is, and not treated as zero hits.

Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) · zero hits (recorded as it is). This section independently searched back through the whole file for the four strings ‘seven similes (yu)’, ‘seven similes (pi)’, ‘the nature of dharmas without making’, and ‘the nature of dharmas not made’, all with zero hits. Junzheng's book is arranged by doctrinal topics, not in the genre of chapter-by-chapter sectional division; there is no named citation of this chapter, and the negative result is recorded as it is.

Zhiyi's Great Calming and Contemplation (T46n1911) · Profound Meaning of the Lotus (T33n1716) · Zhanran's Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus (T33n1717) · Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation (T46n1912) · zero hits (false positives excluded one by one). Though the four files have hits for the two strings ‘seven similes (yu)’ and ‘seven similes (pi)’, this section checked the context of each one, and all are false positives, recorded one by one: the Profound Meaning of the Lotus, 「文內從火宅至醫子，凡七譬，悉不明蓮華」 tr. "within the text, from the burning house to the physician's sons, there are seven similes in all, none of which makes the lotus clear"〔T33n1716 0685b13〕 and 「又七喻文多，故以譬標題」 tr. "moreover, the text of the seven similes is extensive, and so a simile is used to mark the title"〔T33n1716 0771c19〕; the Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus, 「七譬者，一火宅、二窮子、三藥草、四化城、五繫珠、六頂珠、七醫子」 tr. "The seven similes are: first, the burning house; second, the poor son; third, the medicinal herbs; fourth, the conjured city; fifth, the jewel tied in the garment; sixth, the jewel in the topknot; seventh, the physician's sons"〔T33n1717 0828b22〕—the ‘seven similes’ of the four files all refer to the seven similes of the Lotus Sūtra (the burning house · the poor son · the medicinal herbs · the conjured city · the jewel tied in the garment · the jewel in the topknot · the physician's sons), wholly different in reference from this chapter's seven similes (dream · image in a mirror · echo · mirage · city of the gandharvas · illusion · conjuration); the one occurrence in the Supporting Practice and Broad Resolution of Calming and Contemplation〔T46n1912 0346c28〕, which says 「以色等六合牙等七。故七喻通不須的對」 tr. "matching the six, form and the rest, with the seven, the sprout and the rest; hence the seven similes are general and need no exact correspondence", is not a matter of this chapter either. One must not take one text's words as identical with another text's; therefore this section separately set up a control group of five strings (‘not so much as a hair's breadth’, ‘only deceives little children’, ‘only deceives the eyes of fools’, ‘the going and coming of birth and death in the five destinies’, ‘it is not the suffering that leaves the suffering’) and searched back through the whole of the four files, all with zero hits; further, the one string ‘the wise understand by means of a simile’ has one occurrence in the Profound Meaning of the Lotus〔T33n1716 0696c23〕, but its context is the simile of the five flavours and the boat, Zhiyi using this set phrase himself, not citing this chapter, and it too is judged a false positive. Conclusion: this chapter has no explicitly named citation in the four Tiantai books or in Junzheng's book, and the negative result is recorded as it is.

VII. Cross-reading and Further Resonances

This chapter's thread of meaning has four links with what precedes and follows, all recorded in this section, without fixing a reading on their behalf.

First, ‘the seven similes come from the ten similes’ (the treatise-author's own proof · a hard link within this treatise itself). Fascicle 5 of this treatise has a separate section, the "Commentary on the Ten Similes", whose quoted sūtra text is 「解了諸法如幻、如焰、如水中月、如虛空、如響、如犍闥婆城、如夢、如影、如鏡中像、如化。」 tr. "understanding that dharmas are like an illusion, like a mirage, like the moon in water, like space, like an echo, like a city of the gandharvas, like a dream, like a shadow, like an image in a mirror, like a conjuration."〔T25 0101c08〕, and the treatise marks its purport, saying 「是十喻，為解空法故。」 tr. "These ten similes are for the sake of understanding the dharma of emptiness."〔T25 0101c10〕. This chapter's seven similes—dream, image in a mirror, echo, mirage, city of the gandharvas, illusion, conjuration—are all seven within these ten things, the only ones missing being the three things, the moon in water, space, and shadow (as obtained by this section's thing-by-thing comparison). Hence this chapter does not newly set up a list of similes, but takes seven from the existing ten similes and re-establishes their use with the two questions ‘causes and conditions of deeds’ and ‘cultivating the path, stain and purity’. The ten similes of Fascicle 5 say ‘why it is empty’; the seven similes of this chapter say ‘being empty, how it can still deceive’—the same list put to different uses; the inheritance is recorded.

Second, the gloss on ‘city of the gandharvas’ comes before, and its use is here. This chapter uses the simile of the city of the gandharvas without glossing its name; its gloss is in Fascicle 5: 「此城但可眼見而無有實，是名揵闥婆城。」 tr. "This city can only be seen by the eye and has no reality; this is named the city of the gandharvas."〔T25 0103b03〕, 「揵闥婆城非城，人心想為城」 tr. "The city of the gandharvas is not a city; people's minds imagine it to be a city"〔T25 0103b13〕; Fascicle 5 also makes clear for itself that 「一切聲聞法中，無揵闥婆城喻」 tr. "in all the dharmas of the śrāvakas there is no simile of the city of the gandharvas"〔T25 0103b20〕. This chapter takes only its 「畢竟不可得」 tr. "ultimately unfindable" and adds one use, 「誑愚夫眼」 tr. "deceives the eyes of fools"—「是揵闥婆城畢竟不可得，但誑愚夫眼」 tr. "This city of the gandharvas is ultimately unfindable; it only deceives the eyes of fools"〔T25 0722b26〕. The earlier section establishes its substance; this chapter uses its working; the inheritance is recorded, without fixing a reading.

Third, the mutual arising of chapter order (preceding chapter · next chapter). The preceding chapter is "The Four Truths", Chapter 84〔T25 0718b11〕, and the next is "Equality", Chapter 86〔T25 0724a08〕. Within this chapter this treatise has no explicit text pointing forward to the next chapter (this section searched within the range of this chapter, character by character, for 「平等品」 tr. "Chapter on Equality", with zero hits), and so the doctrinal mutual arising of the chapter order is not stated by the treatise-author himself. In the sectional division of "Like a Conjuration", Chapter 87, Jizang's commentary cites in passing the assignment of the three fruits by 「有人言」 tr. "someone says" (the Chapter on Difference assigned to the fruit of knowledge, the Chapter on the Seven Similes to the fruit of liberation, the Chapter on Equality to the fruit of the Dharma body; see Section VI)—this is another master's judgement, cited by Jizang, not the teaching of this treatise; its connection is recorded without fixing a reading.

Fourth, linking to the treasury (stable citation · soft citation). This chapter's way of setting up similes in the 「七喻」 tr. "seven similes" (without reality and yet able to deceive · deceiving being precisely the proof of being without reality), its ground of cultivating the path in 「不實中有差別」 tr. "within the unreal there is difference", its simile of liberation ‘it is not the fire that leaves the fire · it is not the suffering that leaves the suffering’, and its close in the four sentences on 「無垢無淨」 tr. "without stain and without purity" are the basis on which later ages discuss emptiness without abandoning practice, and discuss non-self while there is still liberation; a stable citation is set down〔T25n1509 七喻品·卷九十五〕; the places in the various collections that cite this treatise are not yet finalised, so the citation is soft, awaiting word-for-word checking of what is kept there. This belongs to the further resonance of the meaning of prajñā carried down into the gates of practice, recorded without judgement.

VIII. Witnesses and Editions

The base text of this chapter is Fascicle 95 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa〔T25 0721c02–0724a08〕 (the main text of the chapter body begins from the chapter title〔T25 0721c02〕 and ends at the end of the sentence 「是名無垢」 tr. "this is named being without stain"〔T25 0724a07〕, before the next chapter's title〔T25 0724a08〕; within the range of this chapter there is no fascicle-end title); the collation text for the sūtra explained is "The Seven Similes" of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra〔T08 0412b17–0413c09〕; the ancient-master commentary text for collation is Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra (X24n0451, covering the sūtra explained at〔X24n0451 0338a14–0338c15〕); the surviving range of Huiying's Commentary (X46n0791) does not reach this chapter, and Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises (X46n0784) and the four Tiantai books all have zero hits (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, together with CBETA's collation—within this chapter's ledger of seventy-six entries, the Ishiyama text enters forty-two entries, the Ming edition twenty-nine, the Shōgozō twenty-five, the Song, Yuan, and Palace editions twenty-three each, and CBETA's collation one (as this section recounted entry by entry; these numbers include the repeated hangings of the thirteen star entries; counted on the sixty-three entries left after deducting those thirteen: the Ishiyama thirty-six, the Shōgozō twenty-one, the Ming twenty, the Song, Yuan, and Palace nineteen each, and CBETA's collation one).

Two point notes · not entered in the ledger of seventy-six entries (listed separately). Within the range of this chapter there are in addition two circle-anchored point notes, without beg/end pairs, and so they do not enter the ledger below:

• The note on the 【經】 structural marker〔T25 0721c07〕, as it stands reading 「經【大】，〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】，不分卷【石】」 tr. "‘Sūtra’ (Taishō), omitted (Song, Palace, Shōgozō), not divided into fascicles (Ishiyama)"—the three texts Song, Palace, and Shōgozō lack this structural marker, and the Ishiyama text further does not divide the fascicles. The 【論】 marker of the same chapter forms a collation entry of its own (entry forty-one of the ledger below); the difference between the two layers has been recorded explicitly and separately in Section I.
• The note on the fascicle boundary at the end of the chapter〔T25 0724a07〕, as it stands reading 「大智度經卷第九十五終【石】」 tr. "end of Fascicle 95 of the Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra (Ishiyama)"—the evidence for the Ishiyama fascicle boundary; for the analysis see Section IV.

Thirteen star notes · all shared within the chapter itself · none across chapters (listed separately). Within the range of this chapter there are thirteen star notes; this section resolved, one by one, the target of each one's corresponding collation entry and located the chapter it belongs to; the corresponding targets of the thirteen all lie within this chapter, not one across chapters (differing from Chapter 62's type ‘one across chapters’):

• Beg/end anchors at〔T25 0722a12〕 「相」 tr. "mark", 〔T25 0722b15〕 「相」 tr. "mark", and〔T25 0722b15〕 「相」 tr. "mark"—three notes all pointing to the note on the character 「相」 tr. "mark" at〔T25 0722a12〕 in this chapter (entry eleven of the ledger below).
• Beg/end anchor at〔T25 0722a22〕 「若」 tr. "either"—one note pointing to the note on the character 「若」 tr. "either" at〔T25 0722a22〕 in this chapter (entry fourteen of the ledger below).
• Beg/end anchors at〔T25 0722b08〕 「嚮」 tr. "echo", 〔T25 0722b12〕 「嚮」 tr. "echo", and〔T25 0723c05〕 「嚮」 tr. "echo"—three notes all pointing to the note on the character 「嚮」 tr. "echo" at〔T25 0722b08〕 in this chapter (entry nineteen of the ledger below).
• Beg/end anchors at〔T25 0722b22〕 「揵」 tr. "jian", 〔T25 0722b24〕 「揵」 tr. "jian", 〔T25 0722b26〕 「揵」 tr. "jian", 〔T25 0722b28〕 「揵」 tr. "jian", and〔T25 0722c01〕 「揵」 tr. "jian"—five notes all pointing to the note on the character 「揵」 tr. "jian" at〔T25 0722b22〕 in this chapter (entry twenty-five of the ledger below).
• Beg/end anchor at〔T25 0722b23〕 「園」 tr. "garden"—one note pointing to the note on the character 「園」 tr. "garden" at〔T25 0722b23〕 in this chapter (entry twenty-eight of the ledger below).

The five shared targets (mark · either · echo · jian · garden) are all repeated occurrences of one and the same character; the use of the star-note system in this chapter is purely ‘the hanging back of the same variant reading recurring at several places within the same chapter’, not a doctrinal divergence; this is recorded as it is.

One entry of the CBETA emendation layer (listed separately).〔T25 0722b14〕 「汝【CB】｜如【大】」 tr. "you (CBETA) | as (Taishō)" (entry twenty-two of the ledger below)—with no traditional witness marked, that is, CBETA emends the 「如」 tr. "as" of the base text 【大】 to 「汝」 tr. "you" (「於汝意云何」 tr. "What do you think"), which belongs to the modern collation layer; this edition's reader-facing text follows the reading of the current CBETA text.

One interlinear note attached to a collation note · preserved as it stands (listed separately). In the note on the chapter title at〔T25 0721c02〕, the one version of the three texts Song, Yuan, and Palace carries the interlinear note 「訖第八十六品」 tr. "ending at the eighty-sixth chapter", and the one version of the Ming edition carries the interlinear note 「經作七喻品」 tr. "the sūtra reads ‘Chapter on the Seven Similes (yu)’" (entry three of the ledger below)—the meanings of the two interlinear notes differ: the former is a marker of the range of fascicle and chapter (saying that below this title it runs to Chapter 86), the latter a comparative reading of the characters used by the sūtra explained (for the analysis see Section IV); this section preserves them as they stand, deleting nothing.

General collation ledger (a full reckoning of seventy-six entries · the base text as it stands). Below they are listed in full in the order of their appearance in the base text, including the thirteen star entries, each marked with its shared target. 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 (seventy-six · in order of appearance in the base text · stars marked with each entry)

• 〔T25 0721c02〕大智度論釋七喻品第八十五【大】｜大智度經論釋第八十四品訖第八十五品【聖】｜大智度經第八十四法性無作品【石】 (the entry for the full chapter title · the Shōgozō text combining chapters · the Ishiyama text with a different name and one step lower as well · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0721c02〕七喻【大】｜七譬【宮】 (the Palace edition's reading is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained · one end of the mirror-image double reading · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0721c02〕八十五【大】｜八十五（訖第八十六品）【宋】【元】【宮】【明】 (the two types of interlinear note preserved as they stand · the interlinear note of the Ming edition's version reads 「經作七喻品」 tr. "the sūtra reads ‘Chapter on the Seven Similes (yu)’" · see the separate listing above)
• 〔T25 0721c10〕諸【大】｜〔－〕【宋】
• 〔T25 0721c14〕生【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0721c18〕陀【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0721c23〕出【大】｜〔－〕【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0721c25〕報【大】｜無報【石】
• 〔T25 0721c28〕若【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0722a06〕無【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0722a12〕相【大】｜想【聖】 (shared target of star notes · for those sharing it see entries thirteen, twenty-three, and twenty-four below)
• 〔T25 0722a12〕中【大】｜相中【石】
• 〔T25 0722a12〕相【大】｜想【聖】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722a12〕)
• 〔T25 0722a22〕若【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】 (shared target of star notes)
• 〔T25 0722a22〕若【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】 (star note · shares the note at the same position)
• 〔T25 0722a29〕生【大】｜生中【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0722b06〕垢【大】｜垢淨【石】
• 〔T25 0722b06〕淨【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0722b08〕嚮【大】｜響【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 (shared target of star notes · for those sharing it see entries twenty-one and sixty-four below)
• 〔T25 0722b08〕嚮【大】｜響【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 (star note · shares the note at the same position)
• 〔T25 0722b12〕嚮【大】｜響【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722b08〕)
• 〔T25 0722b14〕汝【CB】｜如【大】 (CBETA emendation layer · no traditional witness marked · see the separate listing above)
• 〔T25 0722b15〕相【大】｜想【聖】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722a12〕)
• 〔T25 0722b15〕相【大】｜想【聖】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722a12〕)
• 〔T25 0722b22〕揵【大】｜犍【明】｜𠃵【石】 (shared target of star notes · for those sharing it see entries thirty, thirty-two, thirty-three, and thirty-four below)
• 〔T25 0722b22〕揵【大】｜犍【明】｜𠃵【石】 (star note · shares the note at the same position)
• 〔T25 0722b23〕無【大】｜無有【石】
• 〔T25 0722b23〕園【大】｜薗【石】 (shared target of star notes · for the one sharing it see the next entry)
• 〔T25 0722b23〕園【大】｜薗【石】 (star note · shares the note at the same position)
• 〔T25 0722b24〕揵【大】｜犍【明】｜𠃵【石】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722b22〕)
• 〔T25 0722b25〕生【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0722b26〕揵【大】｜犍【明】｜𠃵【石】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722b22〕)
• 〔T25 0722b28〕揵【大】｜犍【明】｜𠃵【石】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722b22〕)
• 〔T25 0722c01〕揵【大】｜犍【明】｜𠃵【石】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722b22〕)
• 〔T25 0722c16〕於【大】｜於汝【元】【明】 (the Yuan and Ming reading is precisely the reading of the base text of the sūtra explained · see Section IV)
• 〔T25 0722c18〕有【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0722c18〕有【大】｜有得【元】【明】
• 〔T25 0722c19〕有【大】｜有得【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0722c22〕有【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0722c22〕淨【大】｜無淨【石】
• 〔T25 0722c23〕【論】【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【宮】【聖】 (whether the structural marker is present · forming a contrast with the point note on 【經】 · see Section I)
• 〔T25 0723a04〕瞖【大】｜翳【聖】 (the Shōgozō reading agrees exactly with the text on which Jizang's commentary relied · see Section VI)
• 〔T25 0723a04〕目【大】｜自【聖】【石】 (the Shōgozō and Ishiyama reading agrees exactly with the text on which Jizang's commentary relied · see Section VI)
• 〔T25 0723a06〕何【大】｜何有【宋】【元】【明】
• 〔T25 0723a10〕其【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0723a10〕諸【大】｜其諸【石】
• 〔T25 0723a18〕深【大】｜染【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0723a18〕以【大】｜故以【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0723a22〕況【大】｜所【石】
• 〔T25 0723a29〕生【大】｜性【石】
• 〔T25 0723a29〕著【大】｜若【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0723b01〕言【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0723b03〕待【大】｜倒【石】
• 〔T25 0723b04〕畢【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0723b04〕曰【大】｜曰此是【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0723b07〕多【大】｜多許【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0723b10〕義實【大】｜〔－〕【石】｜實【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0723b19〕念【大】｜悲【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】
• 〔T25 0723b20〕雖【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0723b22〕故【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0723b29〕不【大】｜無【石】
• 〔T25 0723c03〕業【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0723c05〕實【大】｜有【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0723c05〕嚮【大】｜響【宋】【元】【明】【宮】 (star note · shares the note at〔T25 0722b08〕)
• 〔T25 0723c12〕若【大】｜若無【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0723c13〕無【大】｜無所【聖】【石】
• 〔T25 0723c14〕無縛無解【大】｜無解無縛【聖】 (in the Shōgozō text the two words exchange places front and back · see Section II)
• 〔T25 0723c19〕我【大】｜身【宋】【宮】
• 〔T25 0723c19〕夫【大】｜〔－〕【宋】【元】【明】【宮】
• 〔T25 0723c23〕我【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0723c25〕緣【大】｜處【元】【明】【石】
• 〔T25 0724a01〕受【大】｜〔－〕【聖】
• 〔T25 0724a02〕是【大】｜是故【石】
• 〔T25 0724a03〕故【大】｜〔－〕【石】
• 〔T25 0724a04〕又【大】｜人【石】
• 〔T25 0724a07〕垢【大】｜垢釋第八十五品【聖】｜垢釋第八十四品竟【石】 (the closing record at the chapter end · the Shōgozō reads eighty-five · the Ishiyama reads eighty-four · the second-end evidence of the one-step-lower order · see Section IV)

The seventy-six entries above agree mechanically with the number of anchored collation notes in the working base text (this section's entry-by-entry recount gives seventy-six), and the shared targets of the thirteen star notes have been marked with each entry. The two point notes, the one entry of the CBETA emendation layer, and the one interlinear note attached to a collation note have been listed separately above; the two point notes do not enter these seventy-six entries, as has been explicitly marked above.

Comparative reading of the collation text of the sūtra explained (fourteen places expanded · the rest not expanded · the gap recorded, awaiting supplement). Within the range of comparative reading of this chapter on the side of the sūtra explained〔T08 0412b17–0413c09〕, this section scanned thirty-two collation entries entry by entry (including four star notes); the fourteen variant readings that attest each other with this treatise, and the mirror-image double reading of the chapter name, have been recorded entry by entry in Section IV. The entry-by-entry side-by-side recording of the remaining entries has not been expanded; that it is not expanded is recorded as the facts are, awaiting later supplementary checking, without making up numbers by estimate.