大智度論 曇無竭品卷一百Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Dharmodgata, Part 3 of 3

Dharmodgata, Fascicle 100: The Item-by-Item Paired Declaration of the Marks of Prajñāpāramitā, the Six Million Samādhi Gates, and the Buddha's Concluding Exhortation to Subhūti

What Is Being Asked

What Fascicle 99 resolved was a doubt: ‘where does the Buddha come from, and where does he go?’ Sadāprarudita had travelled far to seek the Dharma, had seen a Buddha in the sky, and the Buddha had suddenly vanished, and this doubt arose in his mind; Dharmodgata then broke it with five similes—the mirage, the illusion, the dream, the jewels in the ocean, and the sound of the konghou—saying 「諸佛無所從來，去亦無所至」 tr. "the buddhas come from nowhere, and in going reach nowhere"; the treatise-author then explained it in detail through questions and answers, set up the division of the two truths, worldly truth and the highest meaning, refuted the reckonings that the five aggregates are the Buddha and that apart from the five aggregates there is a Buddha, and also spoke of the two kinds of Buddha-body, the Dharma body and the form body. What that passage answered was the side of 「佛」 tr. "the Buddha".

What Fascicle 100 answers is the other side. Once the doubt had been cut off, what Sadāprarudita sought was no longer to resolve a difficulty, but to hear the Dharma face to face. So the first sentence of this fascicle is the charge Dharmodgata gives once he is seated: 「善男子！諦聽！諦受！今當為汝說般若波羅蜜相」 tr. "Good man! Listen well! Receive well! Now I shall proclaim to you the marks of prajñāpāramitā". The treatise-author puts it with the greatest clarity here: 「上疑諸佛來去，已斷；今但欲聞甚深般若波羅蜜，是故為說『般若波羅蜜相』。」 tr. "The doubt above about the buddhas' coming and going has already been cut off; now he wishes only to hear the very deep prajñāpāramitā, and for this reason ‘the marks of prajñāpāramitā’ were proclaimed to him." Everything said in the whole fascicle after this grows out of this one sentence.

As for the 「相」 tr. "marks" that are taught, the sūtra text uses an extremely regular sentence pattern: ‘Because dharmas are such-and-such, know that prajñāpāramitā too is such-and-such.’ Equal, apart, unmoving, without thought, without fear, of one flavour, boundless, non-arising, non-ceasing—these are spoken of the marks of dharmas themselves; space boundless, the water of the great ocean boundless, Mount Sumeru adorned, space without discrimination—these are spoken by way of simile; form and the four aggregates boundless, the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space boundless—these are spoken by way of the numbered categories of dharmas; equal like the vajra, dharmas without discrimination, the nature of dharmas unfindable, dharmas without anything existent and equal, dharmas without making, dharmas inconceivable—these are spoken as the gathering-up at the ultimate place. Not one sentence says how prajñā itself is; each says only how dharmas are—this is the turn of the brush in this fascicle that most needs to be seen clearly. The mark of prajñā is not a further mark set up on its own; it is the real mark of dharmas; so in speaking of prajñā, from beginning to end it speaks only of dharmas.

When Sadāprarudita had heard it, right there on his seat he obtained six million samādhi gates, and the names of the samādhis are each set up facing the marks spoken above. At the end the sūtra text changes speaker: the Buddha tells Subhūti, and gathers this jātaka (birth-story) back onto the hearers: Sadāprarudita, having obtained samādhi, saw the buddhas of the ten directions teaching prajñā likewise, and from then on his learning and wisdom were inconceivable, he was never apart from the buddhas, and he was reborn according to his vow; therefore the causes and conditions of prajñā can bring to accomplishment all the merits of the bodhisattva and obtain the omniscience of all kinds, and so one should receive and uphold it, read and recite it, write it out and make offerings to it—prajñā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions.

The treatise section first fills in a matter the sūtra text did not give in detail: Dharmodgata comes out of concentration and takes his seat, Sadāprarudita bows his head to his feet, and the treatise-author in passing explains the difference between the three kinds of bowing. After this it explains, item by item, the paired declaration above. There is a thread to follow in the way it explains: at the three marks of apart, one flavour, and boundless, the treatise-author himself sets up the question ‘this has already been spoken of above; why speak of it further?’, and then answers ‘because if the previous mark is grasped as something to cling to, the next mark is needed to dispel it’. So after equal comes apart, after apart unmoving, after unmoving without thought, after without thought without fear, after without fear one flavour, after one flavour boundless—not nine matters set side by side, but a sequence of dispelling clinging all along the way.

At the end the treatise-author sets himself a question that gathers the whole fascicle into its most intimate place: Sadāprarudita already knew the empty mark of dharmas; after seven years of toil he saw Dharmodgata—what benefit, after all, did he obtain? The answer is that earlier, when he saw the buddhas and obtained the samādhis, he 「貴重般若波羅蜜生著相」 tr. "valued prajñāpāramitā highly and gave rise to clinging to marks", and the Dharma that Dharmodgata now taught was precisely to break this portion of his clinging mind. Thereupon the wisdom in a scattered mind turned into samādhi, and the six million samādhi gates were formed from this. Where all the marks taught in the whole fascicle land is this one sentence.

Passage by Passage

1. Dharmodgata, seated and settled, tells them to listen well. The sūtra text opens: 「爾時，薩陀波崙菩薩摩訶薩及長者女并五百侍女到曇無竭菩薩摩訶薩所，散天曼陀羅華，頭面禮畢，退坐一面。」 tr. "At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Sadāprarudita, together with the elder's daughter and the five hundred attendant maidens, came to where the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Dharmodgata was, scattered heavenly māndārava flowers, and, having finished bowing with their heads and faces, withdrew and sat down to one side." First ask a question: the flowers and the bowing have all been fully narrated in Fascicle 99; why are they narrated again here? Because this is the ground where the Dharma is taught, and offering and reverent bowing are the rite of entering the Dharma; it is not a repetition. When Dharmodgata sees that they are seated, what he tells them carries the weight of only two Chinese characters—「諦聽！諦受！」 tr. "Listen well! Receive well!" Here the reader first sets up a preparation: to listen without receiving, the Dharma does not enter the mind; to receive without care, what enters is one's own thinking.

2. Nine paired declarations: equal, apart, unmoving, without thought, without fear, of one flavour, boundless, non-arising, non-ceasing. 「諸法等故，當知般若波羅蜜亦等。」 tr. "Because dharmas are equal, know that prajñāpāramitā too is equal." The eight sentences that follow have exactly the same pattern. These nine sentences should be read together, not taken apart: equal dispels the view of the unequal, apart dispels clinging to grasping at the equal, unmoving dispels wavering, without thought dispels thought, without fear dispels fear, one flavour dispels difference, boundless dispels edges, non-arising and non-ceasing dispel arising and ceasing. Here one must guard against a misreading: it is not that prajñā has nine kinds of marks; it is that what is dispelled is ninefold, and once what is dispelled is exhausted, the mark of prajñā appears of itself. Brought down to use: in reading this passage there is no need to remember nine headings; one need only see that every sentence is taking back something that has been seized.

3. Four declarations by simile: space boundless, the water of the great ocean boundless, Mount Sumeru adorned, space without discrimination. 「虛空無邊故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無邊。大海水無邊故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無邊。須彌山莊嚴故，當知般若波羅蜜亦莊嚴。虛空無分別故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無分別。」 tr. "Because space is boundless, know that prajñāpāramitā too is boundless. Because the water of the great ocean is boundless, know that prajñāpāramitā too is boundless. Because Mount Sumeru is adorned, know that prajñāpāramitā too is adorned. Because space is without discrimination, know that prajñāpāramitā too is without discrimination." The previous passage speaks by way of dharmas; this passage speaks by way of simile. First a question: since it has already been said that dharmas are boundless, why take space and the great ocean again as similes? Because words about the marks of dharmas are hard for people to enter, while a simile lets one see it right in the matter. In the text below the treatise-author himself divides what has been spoken of from what has not: space being boundless points to a place already spoken of earlier, and no further question is set up; the two matters of the water of the great ocean being boundless and Mount Sumeru being adorned were not spoken of earlier, so he sets up a question for each and explains it briefly—see sections 39 to 45.

4. The boundlessness of the five aggregates and the six elements. 「色無邊故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無邊；受、想、行、識無邊故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無邊。地種無邊故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無邊；水種、火種、風種無邊故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無邊；空種無邊故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無邊。」 tr. "Because form is boundless, know that prajñāpāramitā too is boundless; because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are boundless, know that prajñāpāramitā too is boundless. Because the earth element is boundless, know that prajñāpāramitā too is boundless; because the water element, the fire element, and the wind element are boundless, know that prajñāpāramitā too is boundless; because the space element is boundless, know that prajñāpāramitā too is boundless." What is listed here are all categories this treatise itself has, now explained in present-day words: the five aggregates are the five classes of dharmas gathered together—form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness. Since the sūtra text has already said in general that dharmas are boundless, here it says it again, heading by heading, of the five aggregates and the six elements, bringing the general mark down to the nearest place in a person's body and mind—what is called boundless is not somewhere far away; it is right in one's own form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness.

5. Equal like the vajra, dharmas without discrimination, the nature of dharmas unfindable. 「如金剛等故，當知般若波羅蜜亦等。諸法無分別故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無分別。諸法性不可得故，當知般若波羅蜜性亦不可得。」 tr. "Because, like the vajra, there is equality, know that prajñāpāramitā too is equal. Because dharmas are without discrimination, know that prajñāpāramitā too is without discrimination. Because the nature of dharmas is unfindable, know that the nature of prajñāpāramitā too is unfindable." The three sentences draw tighter and tighter all the way: the vajra speaks of equality by way of the function of severing the defilements; without discrimination speaks by way of the movement of the mind; nature unfindable speaks by way of the substance of dharmas. Here one must guard against a misreading: 「性亦不可得」 tr. "the nature too is unfindable" does not say that prajñā does not exist; it says that prajñā and dharmas are alike unfindable, and that there is not some further findable prajñā standing outside dharmas.

6. Without anything existent and equal, without making, inconceivable. 「諸法無所有等故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無所有等。諸法無作故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無作。諸法不可思議故，當知般若波羅蜜亦不可思議。」 tr. "Because dharmas are without anything existent and equal, know that prajñāpāramitā too is without anything existent and equal. Because dharmas are without making, know that prajñāpāramitā too is without making. Because dharmas are inconceivable, know that prajñāpāramitā too is inconceivable." Three sentences make the conclusion. The sentence about the inconceivable is the end of the whole passage, and what comes to an end is the road of words—having spoken to this point, to speak further would be falsehood. Brought down to use: when reading prajñā one feels one has already explained it clearly—that is precisely the place this sentence blocks.

7. Right there on his seat he obtains six million samādhi gates. 「是時，薩陀波崙菩薩摩訶薩即於座上得諸三昧，所謂諸法等三昧，諸法離三昧，諸法無畏三昧」 tr. "At this time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Sadāprarudita, right there on his seat, obtained the samādhis, namely: the samādhi of the equality of dharmas, the samādhi of dharmas being apart, the samādhi of dharmas being without fear"; it runs through the names of the marks and ends by saying 「如是等，得六百萬諸三昧門」 tr. "such as these, and so on: he obtained six million samādhi gates". The names of the samādhis are each set up facing the marks spoken before, so it can be seen that what he obtained is not some separate dharma; it is precisely the Dharma he heard, entering concentration and becoming formed. First ask a question: why does hearing the Dharma at once obtain samādhi? The treatise-author has his own answer in sections 59 and 60; here the reader need only first remember this correspondence: as many marks as are taught, so many samādhis are obtained.

8. The Buddha tells Subhūti, to conclude its fruit. 「爾時，佛告須菩提」 tr. "At that time the Buddha told Subhūti"—here the speaker turns from Dharmodgata to the Buddha; these are words from another scene. What is told has three layers: first, that Sadāprarudita in samādhi saw the buddhas of the ten directions teaching prajñā just as I now teach it; second, that from then on his learning and wisdom were inconceivable, he was never apart from the buddhas, even in dreams he saw the Buddha, and he was reborn according to his vow; third, the concluding exhortation—「當知是般若波羅蜜因緣，能成就菩薩摩訶薩一切功德，得一切種智」 tr. "know that the causes and conditions of this prajñāpāramitā can bring to accomplishment all the merits of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva and obtain the omniscience of all kinds"—so one should receive and uphold it, recite and read it, rightly recollect it, teach it widely to others, write it out and make offerings to it. At the end it concludes with one sentence: 「般若波羅蜜是過去、未來、現在十方諸佛母……」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the mother of the buddhas of the ten directions in the past, future, and present……" Only when the jātaka has been told to this point is the intent of telling it seen—it is not narrating a story of ascetic toil; it is setting up a model of seeking the Dharma.

9. Dharmodgata comes out of concentration and takes his seat. The treatise section opens: 「曇無竭既出，至法座所，遍觀無勝己者，於是而坐。」 tr. "Dharmodgata, having come out, went to where the Dharma seat was, looked all round, and, there being no one who surpassed him, sat down there." First ask a question: why must the one who teaches the Dharma look all round? The phrase 「遍觀無勝己者」 tr. "looked all round, and there was no one who surpassed him" is not self-pride; it is the decorum of teaching the Dharma—the order of seats is from the first set according to the height of virtue; only when there is no one who surpasses him does he then sit. In reading this sentence one must guard against a misreading: no one surpassing him is said of the assembly at this one gathering, not that no one under heaven surpasses him.

10. Bowing the head to his feet, and the three kinds of bowing. 「爾時，薩陀波崙菩薩知坐已定，到曇無竭所，頭面禮足，一面坐。」 tr. "At that time the bodhisattva Sadāprarudita, knowing that he was seated and settled, came to where Dharmodgata was, bowed his head to his feet, and sat down to one side." The treatise-author at once explains the three grades of bowing: 「禮有三種：一者、口禮；二者、屈膝，頭不至地；三者、頭至地，是為上禮。」 tr. "Bowing is of three kinds: first, bowing by mouth; second, bending the knees with the head not reaching the ground; third, the head reaching the ground: this is the highest bow." Why is the head reaching the ground the highest? The treatise-author explains it himself: 「人之一身，頭為最上，足為最下，以頭禮足，恭敬之至。」 tr. "Of a person's whole body, the head is the highest and the feet are the lowest; to bow the head to the feet is reverence at its utmost." This uses the height and lowness of the body to show the bending and straightening of the mind; it is not mere ceremony. Brought down to use: the weight of a bow lies from the first in the mind; yet what the body does can also lead the mind, so one may not give it up on the grounds that ‘it is enough if the mind is there’.

11. Knowing that he does not spare body or life for the Dharma, he tells him to listen well. The treatise-author fills in the circumstances before and after: 「初相見時，日垂欲沒，少時聞法」 tr. "when they first met, the sun was about to set, and there was only a little time for hearing the Dharma", so Dharmodgata 「以日沒故，起入宮中」 tr. "because the sun had gone down, rose and went into his palace"; and now 「七歲渴仰，不生異心；垂欲出時，以血灑地」 tr. "for seven years he had thirsted and yearned without giving rise to any other mind; when the teacher was about to come out, he sprinkled the ground with his blood". So 「知其為法不惜身命，其心不退，決定無疑，堪受教化」 tr. "it was known that he did not spare body or life for the Dharma, that his mind did not retreat, that he was definitely without doubt, and that he was fit to receive teaching". Here one should see the treatise-author's intent: the charge to listen well is not an empty courtesy; it is a seal of approval—seven years of practice already sufficed to make him a vessel for hearing the Dharma, and only then did he tell him.

12. The doubt above has been cut off; now the marks of prajñā are taught. 「上疑諸佛來去，已斷；今但欲聞甚深般若波羅蜜，是故為說『般若波羅蜜相』。」 tr. "The doubt above about the buddhas' coming and going has already been cut off; now he wishes only to hear the very deep prajñāpāramitā, and for this reason ‘the marks of prajñāpāramitā’ were proclaimed to him." This one sentence is the pivot of the whole fascicle. First ask a question: what does the cutting off of doubt have to do with teaching the Dharma? Because while doubt remains, all that is heard becomes material for objections; only when doubt is cut off is what is heard the Dharma. The reader can turn the light on himself here: when one listens to the Dharma with an unresolved doubt lying across the mind, what one listens for is mostly the answer to that doubt, not the receiving of the Dharma.

13. The marks are as was said earlier in the meaning of the equality of dharmas. 「『般若波羅蜜相』者，如先諸法平等義中說。」 tr. "What is called ‘the marks of prajñāpāramitā’ is as was said earlier in the meaning of the equality of dharmas." The treatise-author does not set up a new meaning; he points back to the earlier text. This is a stroke this treatise uses throughout: whatever has been said before, he only points to its place and does not repeat it. The reader should know here: the 「相」 tr. "marks" spoken of in this fascicle are not a newly emerging meaning; they are the meaning of equality spoken before, brought up again.

14. Or someone says: by the power of prajñā one contemplates dharmas as equal. 「或有人言：般若波羅蜜力故，觀諸法皆平等；非諸法性性自平等。」 tr. "Or someone says: because of the power of prajñāpāramitā, one contemplates dharmas as all equal; it is not that the nature of dharmas is of itself equal." This is a different view recorded side by side; the treatise-author records it without judging. What that person relies on is the likeness of cause and fruit: 「初觀諸法平等是因，決定心得般若波羅蜜是為果。」 tr. "First contemplating the equality of dharmas is the cause; the settled mind obtaining prajñāpāramitā—this is the fruit." Here one must guard against a misreading: recording side by side does not mean the treatise-author adopts this view; in the next passage the treatise-author at once sets up a question against it, so it can be seen to be a meaning still awaiting decision.

15. Question: contemplating equality is precisely prajñā; why divide cause and fruit? 「觀諸法平等即是般若、般若即是平等，何以分別為因、果？」 tr. "Contemplating the equality of dharmas is precisely prajñā, and prajñā is precisely equality; why discriminate them as cause and as fruit?" The question is extremely precise: if the two are one, the division of cause and fruit has nowhere to rest. The reader should see here the treatise-author's way of setting up questions—he does not refute what is set up; he first takes what is set up and pushes it onward.

16. Answer: at the first contemplation it is the cause; when the contemplation is finished it is named the fruit. 「般若及諸法雖一相、無二無別，行者初觀時是因，觀竟名為果。」 tr. "Although prajñā and dharmas are of one mark, without duality and without difference, yet when the practitioner first contemplates, it is the cause, and when the contemplation is finished it is named the fruit." What is divided lies not in the dharma but in the practitioner's position. The treatise-author further takes two similes: 「如須陀洹道得、向」 tr. "as the path of the srota-āpanna has the attainment and the approach"—it is the same path of the srota-āpanna: before it is realised it is named the approach, once realised it is named the attainment; 「又如有漏五眾，因時名集，果時名苦」 tr. "and again like the five aggregates with outflows: at the time of the cause they are named origination; at the time of the fruit they are named suffering"—they are the same five aggregates: by what they can bring about they are named origination, by what is received they are named suffering. Here one must guard against a misreading: the division of cause and fruit is said with respect to practice; it is not that prajñā itself has a before and after. Brought down to use: when first contemplating equality and not yet gaining strength, there is no need to doubt that what one contemplates is not true; it is one and the same dharma, and positions are raw or ripe.

17. The equality of form and all dharmas is precisely the equality of prajñā. 「色等一切法平等，即是般若波羅蜜平等。」 tr. "The equality of form and all dharmas is precisely the equality of prajñāpāramitā." This one sentence gathers up the text above. What is called the equality of prajñā is not set up separately outside dharmas; it is precisely the equality of all dharmas such as form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness. The reader can test himself here: leaving the forms, sounds, smells, and tastes before his eyes to go looking elsewhere for an equality, what he finds will surely be imagination.

18. Question: one ought to speak of the marks of prajñā; why speak of equality? 「應說『般若波羅蜜相』，今何以說平等？因不平故有平等，因平故有不平。於般若中亦不一相、亦不異相，汝何以故欲取一相？」 tr. "One ought to speak of ‘the marks of prajñāpāramitā’; why now speak of equality? It is because there is the unequal that there is equality; it is because there is the equal that there is the unequal. Within prajñā there is neither one mark nor a different mark; why do you wish to grasp at one mark?" This question is very sharp: the word equality is from the first set up against the unequal; since it exists in mutual dependence, it is not fit to be the mark of prajñā; moreover prajñā is neither one nor different, and to speak of equality is to grasp at one mark.

19. Answer: if it is not taught by skilful means, there is no one who understands. 「般若波羅蜜甚深微妙，不以方便說則無解者……」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā is very deep and subtle; if it is not taught by skilful means, there is no one who can understand it……" This is the whole of the answer. So speaking of equality is not setting up a mark; it is the speech of skilful means. The treatise-author at once tells the fault of not speaking thus: 「是故若分別不等，則生諸煩惱，三毒增長，所謂憎怨，愛親；愛善，憎不善。」 tr. "For this reason, if one discriminates things as not equal, the afflictions arise and the three poisons grow, namely hating enemies, loving kin; loving the good, hating the not good." It can be seen that what speaking of equality counteracts is the love and hatred that arise from discriminating the unequal.

20. Abiding in the two kinds of equality, he contemplates all dharmas as equal. 「菩薩住是二等中，觀一切法皆平等……」 tr. "The bodhisattva abides in these two kinds of equality and contemplates all dharmas as all equal……" The two kinds of equality are the equality of beings and the equality of dharmas. Abiding in the equality of beings, 「怨親、憎愛皆悉平等，開福德門，閉諸惡趣」 tr. "enemy and kin, hatred and love, are all equal; he opens the gate of merit and shuts the evil courses"; abiding in the equality of dharmas, 「於一切法中憶想分別、著心取相皆除滅，但見諸法空，空即是平等」 tr. "within all dharmas recollection, imagining, and discrimination, the clinging mind and the grasping at marks, are all removed and extinguished; he only sees that dharmas are empty, and emptiness is precisely equality". Here one should see the sequence of the two kinds of equality: first being equal toward people, then being equal toward dharmas; to talk first of the emptiness of dharmas while still unequal toward people mostly turns into talk by mouth.

21. To obtain the emptiness of equality without idle discourse is true equality. 「有人得是諸法平等空，直趣菩薩道，於空不戲論；有人雖得平等而生戲論：『若觀都空，有如是失！』如是人於平等即是不等。」 tr. "There are people who, having obtained this emptiness of the equality of dharmas, tend straight toward the bodhisattva path and do not make idle discourse about emptiness; there are people who, although they have obtained equality, give rise to idle discourse: ‘If one contemplates everything as empty, there is such a fault!’ For people like this, equality is precisely inequality." Both obtain equality, yet the two part ways, and where they part is idle discourse. So the treatise-author concludes: 「是故此中為『真平等』故說『般若波羅蜜等』，非是戲論。」 tr. "For this reason, here, for the sake of ‘true equality’, it is said that ‘prajñāpāramitā is equal’; it is not idle discourse." Brought down to use: one who studies emptiness and likes to argue with others over the gains and losses of emptiness—his mind is already within inequality.

22. To be apart from the two extremes of equal and unequal is the mark of prajñā. 「離平等、不平等二邊，是般若波羅蜜相。」 tr. "To be apart from the two extremes of equal and unequal: this is the mark of prajñāpāramitā." This sentence answers the objection above, 「亦不一相、亦不異相」 tr. "neither one mark nor a different mark". First equality is set up to dispel the unequal, then one is apart from equality to dispel what was set up—this treatise's breaking of clinging has always been twofold like this.

23. Question: equality is already complete; why speak further of apart? 「平等者，於般若波羅蜜相已具足，何以故更說『離等是般若波羅蜜相』？」 tr. "Equality is already complete as the mark of prajñāpāramitā; why say further ‘apart from equality is the mark of prajñāpāramitā’?" The questioner takes what was said before to be enough. In this question one should see where the sickness lies: to think that one sentence can say it all is precisely the beginning of grasping at marks.

24. Answer: for fear of grasping at the mark of equality and giving rise to clinging. 「經中但說『諸法等故般若等』，行者取是平等相而生著，是故說：『般若波羅蜜平等相自性離，色等諸法自相離故。』」 tr. "The sūtra only says ‘because dharmas are equal, prajñā is equal’; the practitioner grasps at this mark of equality and gives rise to clinging; for this reason it says: ‘The mark of equality of prajñāpāramitā is apart in its self-nature, because form and the other dharmas are apart in their own marks.’" Apart is spoken of in order to dispel the clinging that grasps at the equal; and apart can dispel it because the mark of equality is from the first of itself apart, not by adding a further apart. Here one must guard against a misreading: apart is not leaving equality to have some other dharma; it is that equality itself is apart.

25. The meaning of apart is as is said in the chapter "Marks and the Signless". 「離義，如〈相無相品〉中說。」 tr. "The meaning of apart is as is said in the chapter ‘Marks and the Signless’." The treatise-author once again points back to the earlier text and does not repeat it. The reader can note here a form this treatise keeps: wherever it says ‘as is said in such-and-such a chapter’, it is meaning already spoken, not something left out and unsaid.

26. Having obtained equality and again being apart from equality, he securely abides in emptiness and is unmoving. 「得此諸法平等，又於平等離，安住空中，空中則不動——戲論不能動，諸煩惱山亦不能動，無常時亦不能動。」 tr. "Having obtained this equality of dharmas, and again being apart from equality, he securely abides in emptiness, and within emptiness he is unmoving—idle discourse cannot move him, the mountains of the afflictions cannot move him, the time of impermanence cannot move him either." The three unmovings each face something: idle discourse moves one's views, the afflictions move one's feelings, impermanence moves what one relies on. Why one can be unmoving the treatise-author explains himself: 「所以者何？於一切法得實相故。」 tr. "Why? Because he has obtained the real mark in all dharmas." At the end he concludes: 「菩薩住是二空，得不動般若波羅蜜，是則究竟。」 tr. "The bodhisattva abides in these two kinds of emptiness and obtains the unmoving prajñāpāramitā: this is the ultimate." The two kinds of emptiness are the emptiness of equality and the emptiness of being apart.

27. The meaning of without thought. 「若有念，即是有相著處；是故說：『諸法無念故，當知般若波羅蜜亦無念。』」 tr. "If there is thought, that is a place where marks are clung to; for this reason it says: ‘Because dharmas are without thought, know that prajñāpāramitā too is without thought.’" Why is having thought a place of clinging? Because thought always has something thought of; what is thought of is a mark, and a mark is the ground that is clung to. The treatise-author further explains: 「無動相是般若波羅蜜，般若波羅蜜諸相滅故。」 tr. "The mark of non-moving is prajñāpāramitā, because in prajñāpāramitā all marks are extinguished." Here one must guard against a misreading: without thought is not the not-knowing of wood and stone; it is that because all marks are extinguished there is nothing to think of—not forcibly making oneself not think.

28. Where being without fear comes from. 「若不念是般若，或迷悶無所趣向，有戲論者，在大眾中則生怖畏；或於涅槃中不了故，亦生怖畏。」 tr. "If one does not think of this prajñā, one may be bewildered and have nowhere to tend toward; those who have idle discourse give rise to fear in the midst of the great assembly; or, because they are not clear about nirvāṇa, they too give rise to fear." Fear has two places: one is toward people, amid the objections and debates of the great assembly; the other is toward the Dharma, not being clear about nirvāṇa and fearing that it is annihilation. 「是故說『無怖畏相是般若波羅蜜』」 tr. "For this reason it says ‘the mark of being without fear is prajñāpāramitā’"—being without fear is not boldness; it is that there is no place to fear.

29. Because he has entered deeply into the nature of dharmas, he has nothing to fear in the great assembly. 「是人雖不決定取諸法相，而深入法性故，於大眾中有難論諸相者，心無所畏，於諸法得無相故。」 tr. "Although this person does not definitely grasp at the marks of dharmas, because he has entered deeply into the nature of dharmas, when in the midst of the great assembly there are people who raise difficulties and debate the marks, there is nothing in his mind to fear, because he has obtained the signless in all dharmas." To be without fear while not grasping at marks is precisely the crux of this passage: worldly people's fearlessness mostly comes from how firmly they hold on; the fearlessness here comes from holding on to nothing. The treatise-author speaks of one more layer: 「又入無生法忍時，知一切法不可得，於是中亦無所畏。」 tr. "Again, at the time of entering the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, he knows that all dharmas are unfindable, and in this too there is nothing to fear." At the end he concludes the reason: 「是菩薩善通達一切法故。」 tr. "Because this bodhisattva thoroughly penetrates all dharmas."

30. Because all dharmas are of one mark, prajñā is of one flavour. 「復次，一切法一相，所謂性空；是故般若波羅蜜隨一切法故，亦性空一味。」 tr. "Further, all dharmas are of one mark, namely emptiness of nature; for this reason, because prajñāpāramitā accords with all dharmas, it too is of the one flavour of emptiness of nature." This sentence is the general heading of one flavour. What is called one flavour is not that dharmas are blended into one flavour; it is that dharmas from the first share the one mark of emptiness of nature, and prajñā accords with them and so is also of one flavour.

31. Question: equality has already been spoken of above; why speak further of one flavour? 「上已說諸法平等，今何以更說一味？」 tr. "The equality of dharmas has already been spoken of above; why now speak further of one flavour?" It is the same way of asking as section 23—since there is equality, what use is one flavour? The reader should see here the treatise-author's method of teaching: each time he sets up a mark, he always sets himself this question, to show what this mark dispels.

32. Answer: emptiness sometimes has flavour and sometimes has none. 「空，或時有味，或時無味。」 tr. "Emptiness sometimes has flavour and sometimes has no flavour." Having flavour is when, after 「行者為諸見取相分別好醜籌量」 tr. "the practitioner, drawn along by the views, grasps at marks, discriminates fair and ugly, and weighs and calculates", he suddenly obtains the emptiness of equality and 「大歡喜故名為味」 tr. "because his mind greatly rejoices it is named flavour"; the treatise-author takes a simile: 「如人為熱渴所逼，得清冷水，以為真味無比，隨時用故名味。」 tr. "It is as when a person pressed by heat and thirst obtains clear cool water and takes it for a true flavour without compare: according to its use at that time it is named flavour." And 「真實畢竟空，則無味、不味」 tr. "in real ultimate emptiness there is neither flavour nor non-flavour". Here one must guard against a misreading: saying that emptiness has flavour is not praise; it points out that the joy at first obtaining emptiness is still a flavour that exists in mutual dependence; within ultimate emptiness neither flavour nor non-flavour can be established.

33. Further, one flavour means that what is taken as object and what is contemplated all become of one flavour. 「復次，一味者，菩薩行般若波羅蜜時，所緣、所觀皆為一味；空智力大故，餘法皆隨而為空。」 tr. "Further, what is called one flavour means that when the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā, what he takes as object and what he contemplates all become of one flavour; because the power of the knowledge of emptiness is great, the other dharmas all follow it and become empty." The treatise-author takes two similes: 「譬如煮石蜜欲熟時，雖異物和合，皆為石蜜」 tr. "It is just as when boiling rock sugar is about to be done: although different things come together in it, all become rock sugar"—this simile is of different things entering and becoming the same; 「又如大海，百川歸之，皆為一味，所謂畢竟空味」 tr. "And again it is like the great ocean: the hundred rivers return to it, and all become of one flavour, namely the flavour of ultimate emptiness"—this simile is of the many streams returning and sharing one flavour. So 「色等諸法亦如是，凡夫心中各各別異；入般若波羅蜜中，皆為一味」 tr. "form and the other dharmas are also thus: in the mind of ordinary people each is distinct and different; once they enter prajñāpāramitā, all become of one flavour". At the end the treatise-author turns from this to the meaning of boundless: 「邊名為相，若有、若無。實觀色等諸法非有非無故無相，無相即是無邊……」 tr. "An edge is named a mark, whether existence or non-existence. Observing truly, because form and the other dharmas are neither existent nor non-existent, they are signless; the signless is precisely the boundless……" It can be seen that one flavour and boundless are two ways of speaking of one matter.

34. Someone says: edges are of two kinds. 「復次，有人言：邊有二種：常邊、斷邊，世間邊、涅槃邊，惡邊、善邊等。」 tr. "Further, someone says: edges are of two kinds: the edge of permanence and the edge of annihilation, the edge of the world and the edge of nirvāṇa, the edge of evil and the edge of good, and so on." Three pairs, six edges, all two ends set up in mutual dependence. 「此中無如是等諸邊故，名為無邊般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "Because within it there are no edges such as these, it is named the boundless prajñāpāramitā." This is one view recorded side by side; the treatise-author records it without judging.

35. Someone says: edges are named the prior limit and the later limit. 「復次，有人言：邊名前際、後際。世間無始故無前際，入無餘涅槃故有前際；不復更出故無後際。」 tr. "Further, someone says: edges are named the prior limit and the later limit. Because the world is without beginning, there is no prior limit; because one enters nirvāṇa without remainder, there is a prior limit; because one does not come out again, there is no later limit." This is yet another view, setting up edges at the two ends of time. The treatise-author points out its sickness: 「如是等分別諸邊，著世間故畏涅槃。」 tr. "Discriminating edges in such ways, because they cling to the world they fear nirvāṇa." And within prajñā there are none of all these edges; 「但聞諸法實相無入無出」 tr. "one only hears that the real mark of all dharmas is without entering and without leaving". Here one must guard against a misreading: without entering and without leaving does not say that nirvāṇa is unfindable; it says that the pair of words, entering and leaving, has nothing to apply to in the real mark.

36. Question: equality and apart are both boundless; why speak of it separately again? 「諸法平等、諸法離皆是無邊，何以復別說？」 tr. "The equality of dharmas and dharmas being apart are both boundless; why speak of it separately again?" Again the same way of asking. This time the questioner can already cite the two previous marks as grounds, so it can be seen that the nine sentences of the sūtra text are, under the treatise-author's brush, one continuous line, not a scattered list.

37. Answer: boundless is taught for those who grasp at marks and cling to one flavour. 「有人知諸法平等、知諸法離，則不須說；若有人取相，著是一味，故說無邊。」 tr. "For someone who knows the equality of dharmas and knows that dharmas are apart, there is no need to say more; if someone grasps at marks and clings to this one flavour, therefore boundless is taught." So it is said further only to counteract; if not to counteract, all saying would be surplus words. Brought down to use: when, reading a sūtra, one feels that a certain sentence is of no use to oneself, it is not necessarily that the sentence is useless; mostly it is that this sickness has not yet arisen.

38. Dharmodgata does not teach only for Sadāprarudita. 「曇無竭非但為薩陀波崙故說，薩陀波崙亦不但自為故問，但為眾生有種種心、種種行故，於般若波羅蜜相中略說。」 tr. "Dharmodgata does not teach only for the sake of Sadāprarudita, and Sadāprarudita does not ask only for his own sake; it is only because beings have all kinds of minds and all kinds of practices that it is taught briefly within the marks of prajñāpāramitā." This passage explains what is public and what is private in the one question and one answer: the asker does not ask for himself, the teacher does not teach for one person. The reader can know here why the marks in this fascicle have many gates—the many gates come from the many minds and practices, not from the Dharma being of many kinds.

39. For what has been spoken of he points to its place; what has not been spoken of is now spoken of briefly. 「無生、無滅，如先種種因緣『破生滅』中說。虛空無邊，如摩訶衍虛空譬喻中說。大海水無邊、須彌莊嚴，先未說故，今當略說。」 tr. "Non-arising and non-ceasing are as was said earlier, by all kinds of causes and conditions, in ‘refuting arising and ceasing’. Space being boundless is as is said in the simile of the Mahāyāna being like space. The water of the great ocean being boundless and Mount Sumeru being adorned have not been spoken of before, so now they should be spoken of briefly." Here the treatise-author divides the nine sentences and the four similes of the sūtra text into two classes: for what has been spoken of he points to its place; what has not been spoken of he then explains. Sections 40 to 45 below are precisely the explanation of these two matters not yet spoken of.

40. Question: the great ocean has a measure in yojanas; why is it said to be boundless? 「虛空，無為、常法故無得其邊者，可言無邊。大海水在四天中，繞須彌山，有由旬數量，有人能渡，何以言無邊？」 tr. "Space, because it is unconditioned and a constant dharma, has no edge that anyone can find, so it can be said to be boundless. The water of the great ocean lies within the four continents and surrounds Mount Sumeru; it has a measure in yojanas, and there are people who can cross it; why is it said to be boundless?" This question is very concrete: space is unconditioned, and to say it is boundless is acceptable; the great ocean has a measure and can be crossed—how can it share the name? The reader should see here that what the questioner holds is that 「無邊」 tr. "boundless" has only one meaning.

41. Answer: the boundless is of two kinds, and the ocean too is of two kinds. 「無邊有二種：一者、實無邊，二者、人不能到故無邊。」 tr. "The boundless is of two kinds: first, really boundless; second, boundless because people cannot reach it." The ocean too is of two kinds: 「一者、可渡；二者、繞須彌山在九寶山裏，廣八萬二千由旬，世間人不能得邊，故言無邊。」 tr. "first, that which can be crossed; second, that which surrounds Mount Sumeru, within the nine jewel mountains, eighty-two thousand yojanas wide, whose edge the people of the world cannot find, so it is said to be boundless." The treatise-author further uses the simile of the ship to separate what can and what cannot: 「如小海，船力可渡；大海水，船力不可渡，唯有神通者能度。」 tr. "It is like a small sea, which the power of a ship can cross; the water of the great ocean the power of a ship cannot cross; only those who have supernormal powers can cross it." And he matches it with concentration and wisdom: 「如外道凡夫能生禪定船，度欲界、色界海；無色界如大海，深廣則不能渡，以不能破我心故。諸賢聖人智慧、禪定翅力，破諸法邪相、得實相，故能度……」 tr. "It is like those of the outside paths and ordinary people, who can raise the ship of meditative concentration and cross the oceans of the desire realm and the form realm; the formless realm is like the great ocean, deep and wide, and they cannot cross it, because they cannot break the mind of self. The worthies and noble ones, by the power of the wings of wisdom and meditative concentration, break the wrong marks of dharmas and obtain the real mark, so they can cross……" The realms divided here are all categories this treatise itself has: the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm are the three realms; the meditative concentration of those of the outside paths and ordinary people can go out of the first two and cannot go out of the last, and what obstructs lies in the one phrase 「不能破我心」 tr. "cannot break the mind of self". Brought down to use: the power of concentration can move a person beyond coarse objects, but cannot of itself break the view of self; what breaks the view of self is wisdom.

42. Question: Mount Sumeru is of one colour; why is it said to be adorned? 「須彌山一色，何以言莊嚴？」 tr. "Mount Sumeru is of one colour; why is it said to be adorned?" What the questioner relies on is the account of the outside books. Adornment must come from many ornaments, and one colour has nothing to be ornamented—this question too arises from common sense.

43. Answer: the marks of the adornment of Mount Sumeru. The treatise-author first records the outside books: 「外書說須彌山一色，純是黃金。」 tr. "The outside books say Mount Sumeru is of one colour, pure yellow gold." Next he cites the treatise of his own tradition: 「六足阿毘曇中說：須彌山四邊，各以一寶成，金、銀、頗梨、琉璃莊嚴。若諸鳥隨所至方，各同其色。」 tr. "In the six-part abhidharma it is said: each of the four sides of Mount Sumeru is made of one jewel, adorned with gold, silver, sphaṭika, and beryl. Birds, according to the side they reach, each become the same as its colour." Below this he narrates its adornments one by one: the nāga-king brothers 「以身圍繞七匝」 tr. "coil their bodies round it seven times"; the palaces of the Heaven of the Thirty-three on the summit of the mountain, 「其城七重，名為憙見，九百九十九門，一一門邊皆有十六青衣大力鬼神守護」 tr. "its city has seven walls and is named Joyful-to-See; it has nine hundred and ninety-nine gates, and beside each gate there are sixteen blue-robed spirits of great strength who guard it"; 「城中高處作殿，名曰最勝，四邊有四大園」 tr. "in a high place within the city a hall is built, named Most Excellent, and on its four sides there are four great gardens"; the Youqiantuo mountains where the Four Heavenly Kings dwell, 「各高四萬二千由旬」 tr. "each forty-two thousand yojanas high"; and so on to 「四大海水，諸阿修羅宮及諸龍王宮殿」 tr. "the waters of the four great oceans, the palaces of the asuras and the palaces of the nāga kings" and 「日月、五星、二十八宿及諸餘星圍繞莊嚴」 tr. "the sun, the moon, the five planets, the twenty-eight lunar mansions, and the other stars circle round and adorn it". At the end he concludes: 「如是等種種雜飾以為莊嚴，視之無厭。」 tr. "With all kinds of varied ornaments such as these it is adorned, and one looks at it without ever tiring." Here one must guard against a misreading: the treatise-author's narrating these features is not to describe the structure of the world; it is to gather material for the simile of the next passage—adornment is adornment in that its many virtues support one another.

44. The adornment of prajñā too has two times, not yet complete and complete. 「六波羅蜜果報故，作轉輪王、梵、釋天王、淨居天王、大自在天——如是等果報，行般若波羅蜜未具足時，受此果報莊嚴。般若波羅蜜具足時，則有須陀洹果、斯陀含果、阿那含果、阿羅漢果、辟支佛道、阿毘跋致菩薩、諸佛道果莊嚴。」 tr. "Because of the retribution of the six perfections, one becomes a wheel-turning king, the Brahmā king, the heavenly king Śakra, a king of the Pure Abodes, or the Great Sovereign Heaven—retributions such as these are the adornments of retribution received when the practice of prajñāpāramitā is not yet complete. When prajñāpāramitā is complete, there are the adornments of the fruit of srota-āpanna, the fruit of sakṛdāgāmin, the fruit of anāgāmin, the fruit of arhat, the path of the pratyekabuddha, the avaivartika bodhisattva, and the fruit of the path of the buddhas." The ornaments of the two times differ: what is received when it is not yet complete is the honoured positions of the world; what one has when it is complete is the fruits of the paths that transcend the world. Here one must guard against a misreading: the former is not a wrong road; it is the retribution of practising prajñā while it is not yet full; yet the practitioner may not make it what he hopes for.

45. Adorned above and below, and taking also the three meanings of the forming of the mountain, its being unmoved, and its four gardens. 「如須彌山，上、下皆有莊嚴。般若波羅蜜莊嚴亦爾……」 tr. "Just as Mount Sumeru has adornments both above and below, so too are the adornments of prajñāpāramitā……" The treatise-author further takes three meanings from Sumeru: first, the cause of the mountain's forming—「劫初立時，四邊大風吹，聚地之精味，積為須彌山；更有風吹，令堅而成寶」 tr. "at the beginning of the kalpa, when it was being formed, great winds blew on the four sides, gathered the essences and flavours of the earth, and piled them up to become Mount Sumeru; and again wind blew, making it firm so that it became jewel", a simile for prajñā being 「一切善法中第一堅實牢固和合以為般若」 tr. "among all wholesome dharmas the foremost, solid, firm, and strong, coming together to make prajñā"; second, being unmoved—「四邊大風吹、大海水波所不能動」 tr. "it cannot be moved by the great winds blowing on its four sides or by the waves of the great ocean", a simile for prajñā, which 「邪見、外道、戲論及諸魔民所不能動」 tr. "wrong views, the outside paths, idle discourse, and Māra's people cannot move"; third, receiving happiness on the summit—「須彌山頂四園，諸天到者，受種種樂」 tr. "in the four gardens on the summit of Mount Sumeru, the gods who go there receive all kinds of happiness", a simile for 「行者能登般若頂，到四禪等諸定園中，受種種樂」 tr. "the practitioner can climb to the summit of prajñā, come into the gardens of the concentrations, the four dhyānas and the others, and receive all kinds of happiness". Brought down to use: wholesome dharmas must accumulate for a long time before they become firm; once firm they are not moved by outer conditions; once unmoved, the happiness of concentration can be obtained; the three matters are a sequence along one road.

46. Someone says: the many birds becoming one colour is a simile for dharmas sharing one mark. 「復次，有人言：須彌山，眾鳥到者皆同一色；般若波羅蜜亦如是，諸法入中皆同一相，所謂無相。」 tr. "Further, someone says: at Mount Sumeru, the birds that reach it all become of one colour; prajñāpāramitā too is thus: dharmas that enter it all become of one mark, namely the signless." This is one view recorded side by side. What this simile takes lies in the character 「同」 tr. "same": birds are from the first of different colours, and at the mountain become the same; dharmas are from the first of different marks, and entering prajñā become the same in the signless.

47. Space without discrimination. 「如虛空無分別者，虛空無分別是內是外、是遠是近、是長是短、是淨是不淨等；般若波羅蜜亦如是，諸法入般若中，亦無內外、善不善等分別。」 tr. "What is called being like space, without discrimination, means that space does not discriminate: this is inner, this is outer, this is far, this is near, this is long, this is short, this is pure, this is impure, and so on; prajñāpāramitā too is thus: when dharmas enter prajñā, there is also no discrimination of inner and outer, wholesome and unwholesome, and so on." Here one must guard against a misreading: saying that within prajñā there is no discrimination of wholesome and unwholesome does not say that the practitioner need not choose between good and evil; what is absent is the discrimination that grasps at marks, not the choosing of cause and fruit being abolished. Below, in section 51, the treatise-author himself explains why discrimination arises; the two can be read together.

48. The five aggregates boundless. 「如五眾無邊者，五眾常遍滿世間；般若波羅蜜亦如是，不遠離於五眾，五眾實相即是般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "What is called being like the five aggregates, boundless, means that the five aggregates always pervade the world; prajñāpāramitā too is thus: it is not far from the five aggregates; the real mark of the five aggregates is precisely prajñāpāramitā." What matters most in this passage is its last sentence. Those who seek prajñā often wish to seek it apart from the five aggregates; the treatise-author pointedly says 「不遠離於五眾」 tr. "it is not far from the five aggregates"—what is left behind is the marks of the five aggregates; what it is one with is the real mark of the five aggregates.

49. Form analysed down to atoms has no spatial parts, and so is boundless. 「復次，如色等法，分析破裂，乃至微塵則無方，無方故無邊；無色法，無形故無此彼，無此彼故無邊。」 tr. "Further, dharmas such as form, analysed and broken apart, and so on until they reach atoms, have no spatial parts, and because they have no spatial parts they are boundless; formless dharmas, because they have no shape, have no this and that, and because they have no this and that they are boundless." Dharmas that have form, analysed to the utmost, have no spatial location; formless dharmas from the first have no shape and so have no that and this; both return to the boundless. The treatise-author further says it in terms of the practitioner: 「般若波羅蜜亦如是，於一切法，分別色乃至微塵、分別無色法乃至一念中，不見決定有常、樂、我、淨。」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā too is thus: in all dharmas, discriminating form down to atoms and discriminating formless dharmas down to a single thought, it does not see definitely existent permanence, bliss, self, or purity." Here one should see the intent of analysing dharmas: analysis is not for the sake of destroying, but to show that within them there is no definite thing that can be relied on. What are called permanence, bliss, self, and purity are the four kinds of inversion that beings reckon upon dharmas.

50. Equal like the vajra. 「乃至虛空六種，亦如是。如金剛等者，如天王所執金剛，無憎無愛，隨所用處，無不摧碎……」 tr. "And so on up to the six kinds such as space: it is likewise. What is called equal like the vajra means: like the vajra held by the heavenly king, which is without hatred and without love, and wherever it is used there is nothing it does not shatter……" The virtue of the vajra lies in two matters: without hatred and without love, so it does not pick what it breaks; there is nothing it does not shatter, so there is nothing it does not break. It is used as a simile for 「諸佛一切智前心，此心中三昧能斷一切結使煩惱顛倒及習皆滅，故名為如金剛」 tr. "the mind just before the omniscience of the buddhas—the samādhi in this mind can sever all fetters, afflictions, and inversions, together with the habitual residues, so that all are extinguished; therefore it is named like the vajra". The treatise-author further makes its sequence clear: 「如金剛三昧相應智慧觀一切法皆平等，般若波羅蜜觀諸法平等亦如是。何以故？般若先觀諸法平等，然後得是三昧。」 tr. "As the wisdom associated with the like-vajra samādhi contemplates all dharmas as all equal, prajñāpāramitā contemplating dharmas as equal is also thus. Why? Because prajñā first contemplates the equality of dharmas, and afterward obtains this samādhi." It can be seen that prajñā is before and samādhi after, agreeing with the sequence seen in section 7.

51. Dharmas without discrimination. 「世間凡夫煩惱力故，種種分別諸法；得諸法實相，則皆破壞、變異。是故聖人得般若波羅蜜，不隨憶想分別諸法，入空、無相、無作三昧中……」 tr. "Worldly ordinary people, because of the power of the afflictions, discriminate dharmas in all kinds of ways; when the real mark of dharmas is obtained, these are all destroyed and changed. For this reason the noble ones obtain prajñāpāramitā, do not follow recollection, imagining, and discrimination of dharmas, and enter the emptiness, signless, and non-action samādhis……" The arising of discrimination comes from the first from the power of the afflictions; once the afflictions are removed, what was discriminated breaks down of itself. The treatise-author further speaks of its proof: 「若得諸法變異時，則不憂愁，以先來不分別取諸法相故。」 tr. "If they meet the time when dharmas change, they do not sorrow, because all along they have not discriminated and grasped at the marks of dharmas." This one sentence is where the whole passage lands—the proof of not discriminating lies not in words, but in whether the mind moves or not at the time circumstances change.

52. The nature of dharmas unfindable. 「一切法皆從因緣和合生，無有無因緣、若少因緣而起者；若從因緣生，則無自性。」 tr. "All dharmas are born from the coming together of causes and conditions; nothing arises without causes and conditions, or from scant causes and conditions; if it is born from causes and conditions, it has no self-nature." The treatise-author at once fixes the meaning of 「性」 tr. "nature": 「性者，名本有決定實事。」 tr. "What is called nature is named a definitely real matter that exists from the first." Since it exists from the first and is definite, it runs against being born of causes and conditions, so he infers: 「若性從因緣和合邊生，當知未和合時則無；若先無今從因緣和合有者，則知無性。」 tr. "If a nature were born from the side of the coming together of causes and conditions, know that before they came together it did not exist; if it did not exist before and now exists from the coming together of causes and conditions, one can know that it is without nature." He goes a layer further: 「若從因緣而生性者，性即是作法。性名不相待、不相因，常應獨有；如是有為法則無。」 tr. "If a nature is born from causes and conditions, the nature is precisely a made dharma. Nature means not depending on another and not caused by another; it should always exist alone; thus conditioned dharmas have none." So he concludes: 「是故言『一切諸法性不可得，般若波羅蜜性亦爾』。」 tr. "For this reason it says: ‘The nature of all dharmas is unfindable, and the nature of prajñāpāramitā is also thus.’" Here one must guard against a misreading: refuting self-nature is not refuting dharmas born from causes and conditions; it is precisely by way of their being born from causes and conditions that their lack of self-nature is shown.

53. Dharmas without anything existent and equal. 「諸法性不可得故，眾因緣亦不可得；眾因緣亦不可得故，皆是無所有；入無所有中故，則皆平等。」 tr. "Because the nature of dharmas is unfindable, the many causes and conditions are also unfindable; because the many causes and conditions are also unfindable, all are without anything existent; because they enter into being without anything existent, all are equal." Nature and causes and conditions, depending on each other, are dispelled together; when the dispelling is complete there is equality. The treatise-author explains why himself: 「有，故有分別；無，故無分別。」 tr. "Because there is existence, there is discrimination; because there is non-existence, there is no discrimination." He further takes a simile: 「如草香、栴檀香，燒時有分別，滅時無分別。」 tr. "It is like the fragrance of grass incense and the fragrance of sandalwood: when burning there is discrimination; when extinguished there is no discrimination." The point of the simile lies in the arising and ceasing of discrimination at the boundary of existence and non-existence, not in which fragrance is better or worse.

54. Dharmas without making. 「眾生空、法空故，則皆無作。」 tr. "Because beings are empty and dharmas are empty, all are without making." The treatise-author first lists the two classes of what is made: 「眾生所作者，所謂十善、十不善等。法作者，所謂火然、水流、風動、識能識，智能知——如是法，各各自有力。」 tr. "What beings make is, namely, the ten wholesome paths, the ten unwholesome paths, and so on. What dharmas make is, namely, fire burning, water flowing, wind moving, consciousness being able to cognise, knowledge being able to know—dharmas such as these each have their own power." Next he decides it by what has already been refuted earlier: 「無眾生乃至無知者、見者，無色等乃至一切種智，先已破。破眾生故無作者，破法故無所作……」 tr. "There are no beings, and so on up to no knower and no seer, no form and so on up to no omniscience of all kinds—this has already been refuted earlier. Because beings are refuted, there is no maker; because dharmas are refuted, there is nothing made……" At the end he points to the view of ordinary people: 「但凡夫人顛倒覆故言：『我有所作。』」 tr. "It is only because ordinary people are covered by inversion that they say: ‘I have something I make.’" Here one must guard against a misreading: without making is said with respect to the self-nature of the maker and of what is made; it does not say that things need not be done. The ten wholesome and the ten unwholesome are the ten paths of deeds—three of body, four of speech, three of mind; in accord with them it is wholesome, against them it is unwholesome.

55. Dharmas inconceivable. 「色等一切法不得決定——若常、若無常，若苦、若樂，若實、若空，若我、若無我，若生滅、若不生滅，若寂滅、若不寂滅，若離、若不離，若有、若無等種種門分別，亦如是不可得思議。」 tr. "Form and all dharmas cannot be determined—whether permanent or impermanent, whether suffering or bliss, whether real or empty, whether self or non-self, whether arising and ceasing or not arising and ceasing, whether quiescent or not quiescent, whether apart or not apart, whether existent or non-existent, and so on: discriminations through all kinds of gates such as these likewise cannot be conceived or discussed." The headings of the eight pairs are all set up in mutual dependence. The treatise-author explains the reason himself: 「是法皆從心中憶想分別生，亦不可決定；一切法實性，皆過心、心數法、出名字語言道。」 tr. "These dharmas are all born from recollection, imagining, and discrimination within the mind, and also cannot be determined; the real nature of all dharmas passes beyond mind and mental-factor dharmas, and goes out beyond the way of names and words." He further cites the text of a previous chapter as proof: 「如前品說：『一切諸法平等，一切賢聖不能行、不能到。』」 tr. "As is said in a previous chapter: ‘All dharmas are equal; all the worthies and noble ones cannot practise it and cannot reach it.’" At the end he concludes: 「般若波羅蜜亦爾，觀是法故生。」 tr. "Prajñāpāramitā too is thus, because it is born from contemplating this dharma."

56. Right there on his seat Sadāprarudita obtains the samādhis. 「是時，薩陀波崙即於坐上得諸三昧。」 tr. "At this time Sadāprarudita, right there on his seat, obtained the samādhis." Here the treatise section takes up the result the sūtra text narrates. The one question and one answer below are precisely to explain this one sentence.

57. Question: what benefit did seven years of toil and seeing Dharmodgata obtain? 「薩陀波崙先已知諸法空相，今種種勤苦，住立七歲，見曇無竭得何等利益？」 tr. "Sadāprarudita already knew earlier the empty mark of dharmas; now, through all kinds of toil and hardship, standing for seven years, and seeing Dharmodgata, what benefit did he obtain?" This question is asked on the reader's behalf: since he already knew emptiness, why this round of hardship? It is asked very close to home—whoever has practised for a long time and doubts whether what he practises has been in vain doubts precisely this question.

58. Answer: to break his clinging mind that valued prajñā highly. 「薩陀波崙先見諸佛，得諸三昧，貴重般若波羅蜜生著相；今曇無竭七歲從定起，為說般若破其著心，一切法性自空，非般若波羅蜜令其空。」 tr. "Earlier, when Sadāprarudita saw the buddhas and obtained the samādhis, he valued prajñāpāramitā highly and gave rise to clinging to marks. Now Dharmodgata, after seven years, rose from concentration and proclaimed prajñā to him to break his clinging mind: the nature of all dharmas is from the first of itself empty; it is not that prajñāpāramitā makes it empty." What the long string of paired marks above was taught for lies here. The treatise-author further speaks of its twofold not letting: 「不令輕賤餘法、貴重般若」 tr. "not to let him despise the other dharmas and value prajñā highly", 「不令因般若故更生垢著」 tr. "not to let him, because of prajñā, give rise further to defiled clinging". He takes a simile: 「般若波羅蜜雖畢竟清淨，多所饒益，復不可取相而生著心；如熱金雖好，不可手捉。」 tr. "Although prajñāpāramitā is ultimate purity and of much benefit, still one may not grasp at its mark and give rise to a clinging mind; just as hot gold, though it is fine, cannot be held in the hand." At the end he concludes what was obtained: 「薩陀波崙得是教化，斷般若中著心，即得諸法等諸三昧。」 tr. "Having received this teaching, Sadāprarudita severed the clinging mind toward prajñā, and then obtained the samādhis, the equality of dharmas and the others." This passage is the pivot of the whole fascicle; only here does the reader know what the marks listed in sections 2 to 6 were for.

59. In a scattered mind there is only wisdom, and it is not named samādhi. 「句句解說，散亂心中，但有智慧，不名三昧；今從師聞已，一心思惟，名為三昧，攝心不散，智慧變成三昧。」 tr. "Explaining phrase by phrase: in a scattered mind there is only wisdom, and it is not named samādhi; now, having heard it from the teacher, he reflects with one mind, and it is named samādhi: gathering the mind so that it does not scatter, wisdom turns into samādhi." The difference between wisdom and samādhi lies in the mind being scattered or gathered, not in how much is known. The treatise-author takes a simile: 「如風中燈不能照明，在靜室閉門，明乃遍照。」 tr. "As a lamp in the wind cannot give light, while in a quiet room with the door shut its light then shines everywhere." Here one must guard against a misreading: it is not obtaining some samādhi besides wisdom; it is the same wisdom, within the gathered mind, that is named samādhi.

60. Because the mind of the desire realm is scattered, the power of wisdom is not yet accomplished. 「先已欲界心散亂故，智慧力未成就；今入攝心中，所聞諸法皆名三昧，能破諸煩惱等及魔人民。」 tr. "Earlier, because the mind of the desire realm was scattered, the power of wisdom was not yet accomplished; now, having entered the gathering of the mind, the dharmas he has heard are all named samādhi, and can break the afflictions and so on, as well as Māra's people." The treatise-author further takes a simile: 「如水，寒風未至，未成為氷，則無堅用；若成凍氷，能有所蹈。」 tr. "It is like water: before the cold wind has come, it has not become ice and has no firm use; once it has become frozen ice, it can be walked upon." Water and ice are the same water; scattered and gathered are the same mind; the difference lies in whether it can bear a load. Brought down to use: if the Dharma one has learned cannot be put to strength, it is not necessarily that the Dharma is untrue; mostly the mind has not yet set.

61. The meaning of obtaining six million samādhi gates. 「薩陀波崙得聞曇無竭所說法，得諸法中大智慧明，所謂種種諸法實相門。諸法平等——平等是智慧，入薩陀波崙禪定心中，變為三昧。」 tr. "Sadāprarudita, having been able to hear the Dharma taught by Dharmodgata, obtained the light of great wisdom within dharmas, namely all kinds of gates of the real mark of all dharmas. The equality of dharmas—equality is wisdom; it entered Sadāprarudita's mind of meditative concentration and turned into samādhi." The number six million is not elsewhere; it lies precisely in the many gates of the real mark of all dharmas he heard: gate by gate entering concentration, gate by gate becoming samādhi. The correspondence seen in section 7 finds its explanation here.

62. The retribution in the present life and in later lives. 「今欲說三昧、智慧今世後世果報故，爾時，佛告須菩提……」 tr. "Now, because he wishes to speak of the retribution of samādhi and wisdom in the present life and in later lives, at that time the Buddha told Subhūti……" The treatise-author first marks the intent of the Buddha's words, then takes up the sūtra text and explains it. The present-life retribution: 「深愛樂法故，多集諸經，廣誦多聞」 tr. "because he deeply loves and delights in the Dharma, he gathers many sūtras, recites widely, and hears much", like Ānanda's being able to keep what the Buddha taught, and so 「多聞、智慧不可思議，如大海水。即於是世常不離佛」 tr. "his learning and wisdom are inconceivable, like the water of the great ocean. In this very life he is never apart from the Buddha". The later-life retribution: 「捨身常生有佛國中，好修行念佛三昧故，乃至夢中初不離見佛」 tr. "having cast off this body, he is always born in lands where there is a Buddha; because he has cultivated well the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha, even in dreams he has never been apart from seeing the Buddha", 「地獄等諸難皆已永絕，隨意往生諸佛國土」 tr. "the difficulties such as the hells are all cut off for ever, and according to his intent he is reborn in the buddha-lands". And as to why he can be so, the treatise-author returns it to one sentence: 「以其深入般若波羅蜜、集無量功德故，不隨業生。」 tr. "Because he has entered deeply into prajñāpāramitā and gathered immeasurable merits, he is not born according to his deeds." At the end he takes a simile and concludes with an exhortation: 「薩陀波崙從一佛土至一佛土，供養諸佛，度脫眾生，集無量功德；譬如豪貴長者，從一會至一會，乃至今在大雷音佛所，淨修梵行。若有欲求般若波羅蜜者，當如薩陀波崙菩薩，堅正一心，不可傾動！」 tr. "Sadāprarudita goes from one buddha-land to another buddha-land, making offerings to the buddhas, delivering beings, and gathering immeasurable merits; it is like a wealthy and noble elder going from one assembly to another, and so on until now, in the presence of the Buddha Great Thunder-Sound, he purely cultivates pure conduct. If there are those who wish to seek prajñāpāramitā, they should be like the bodhisattva Sadāprarudita, firm and upright with one mind, not to be shaken!"

63. Because of the causes and conditions of prajñā, all merits are accomplished. 「諸菩薩等得般若者，貪欲瞋恚等在家罪垢、邪疑戲論等出家罪垢，皆悉除滅，得心清淨；心清淨故，得一切功德成就。」 tr. "Those, such as the bodhisattvas, who have obtained prajñā have the sinful stains of the householder, such as greed and hatred, and the sinful stains of the one who has gone forth, such as wrong doubts and idle discourse, all entirely removed and extinguished, and obtain purity of mind; because the mind is pure, they obtain the accomplishment of all merits." Householders and those who have gone forth each have their own stains; what is cited differs, but alike it is removed. The treatise-author further explains two phrases: 「得一切種智者，所謂得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "obtaining the omniscience of all kinds is what is called obtaining anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"; 「六波羅蜜者，從初地乃至七地得無生忍法；八地、九地、十地，是深入佛智慧，得一切種智，成就作佛。」 tr. "As for the six perfections: from the first ground and so on up to the seventh ground one obtains the dharma of the acceptance of non-arising; the eighth ground, the ninth ground, and the tenth ground—this is entering deeply into the wisdom of the Buddha, obtaining the omniscience of all kinds, and accomplishing Buddhahood." The grounds and positions listed here are categories this treatise itself has: the first ground to the seventh ground are the positions of obtaining the acceptance of non-arising; the eighth ground and above are the positions of entering deeply into the wisdom of the Buddha.

64. Those who attain sovereignty in all dharmas should receive and uphold it and make offerings to it. 「於一切法得自在者，皆應受持，乃至華香、妓樂。」 tr. "Those who attain sovereignty in all dharmas should all receive and uphold it, and so on up to flowers, incense, and music." The treatise-author gathers up the concluding exhortation of the sūtra text in one sentence. What is called attaining sovereignty in all dharmas does not mean having already accomplished it; it says that all who take this as what they hope for should receive and uphold it.

65. It should not be entrusted to Subhūti. 「須菩提雖常樂空行，佛共說般若，又得無諍三昧，故不應囑累。」 tr. "Though Subhūti always delights in the practice of emptiness, and the Buddha taught prajñā together with him, and he has moreover obtained the samādhi of non-contention, therefore it should not be entrusted to him." The three matters are cited together and concluded with 「不應囑累」 tr. "it should not be entrusted to him"—not belittling him, but there is no need. The samādhi of non-contention: one who abides in this concentration can keep beings from giving rise to minds of contention.

66. Ānanda is entrusted at length. 「阿難得聞持陀羅尼，又常親近世尊，故廣囑累。」 tr. "Ānanda has obtained the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining, and moreover is always close to the World-Honored One, therefore it is entrusted to him at length." Two matters are the grounds: the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining is the power to hear and keep without forgetting; always being close to the World-Honored One is the condition of attending on him. That the charge of the entrustment goes to Ānanda is decided by his virtue and his position, not by partiality. The chapter ends here.

Do Not Misread

Do not read ‘Because dharmas are such-and-such, know that prajñāpāramitā too is such-and-such’ as a comparison between two things. What the sūtra text sets up is not that prajñā resembles dharmas; it is that prajñā is precisely the real mark of dharmas; so every sentence speaks only of how dharmas are, and the mark of prajñā shows of itself. If it is read as two things compared, then prajñā becomes a second thing outside dharmas—precisely what this fascicle dispels.

Do not read the nine paired declarations as nine kinds of merit. At the three marks of apart, one flavour, and boundless, the treatise-author himself sets up the question ‘such-and-such has already been spoken of above; why now speak further of such-and-such?’, so it can be seen that the nine sentences are a sequence of dispelling clinging all along the way, not headings set side by side. Equal dispels the unequal, apart dispels grasping at the equal, unmoving dispels what is moved, without thought dispels thought, without fear dispels fear, one flavour dispels difference, boundless dispels edges—what each later sentence dispels is precisely the sickness that arises when the previous sentence is grasped as a mark.

Do not read 「或有人言」 tr. "or someone says" as the treatise-author's settled teaching. 「或有人言：般若波羅蜜力故，觀諸法皆平等；非諸法性性自平等」 tr. "Or someone says: because of the power of prajñāpāramitā, one contemplates dharmas as all equal; it is not that the nature of dharmas is of itself equal" is a different view recorded side by side, and right below it the treatise-author sets up a question against it; the three places 「復次，有人言：邊有二種」 tr. "further, someone says: edges are of two kinds", 「復次，有人言：邊名前際、後際」 tr. "further, someone says: edges are named the prior limit and the later limit", and 「復次，有人言：須彌山，眾鳥到者皆同一色」 tr. "further, someone says: at Mount Sumeru, the birds that reach it all become of one colour" are the same. This treatise records the various views side by side without judging, and the reader may not take one of them and say that the treatise-author says so.

Do not read 「初觀時是因，觀竟名為果」 tr. "when he first contemplates, it is the cause; when the contemplation is finished it is named the fruit" as prajñā being two. The treatise-author says plainly 「般若及諸法雖一相、無二無別」 tr. "although prajñā and dharmas are of one mark, without duality and without difference"; what is divided is the practitioner's position, not the substance of the dharma. If it is read as the prajñā of the causal position and the prajñā of the fruition position being two, then the sentence below, 「色等一切法平等，即是般若波羅蜜平等」 tr. "the equality of form and all dharmas is precisely the equality of prajñāpāramitā", has nowhere to rest.

Do not read 「離」 tr. "apart" as leaving equality. The treatise-author's words are 「般若波羅蜜平等相自性離，色等諸法自相離故」 tr. "the mark of equality of prajñāpāramitā is apart in its self-nature, because form and the other dharmas are apart in their own marks"—apart is the self-nature of equality as it is of itself, not taking some further dharma outside equality. If one seeks an apart separately, what one obtains is still one mark, exactly what the sūtra text dispels.

Do not read 「無念」 tr. "without thought" as not being allowed to give rise to thoughts. The reason the treatise-author himself gives is 「般若波羅蜜諸相滅故」 tr. "because in prajñāpāramitā all marks are extinguished"; what is absent is marks that can be thought of, not the pressing down of thoughts. If forcibly holding back thoughts is taken as without thought, the mind that holds them back is precisely a mind that has thought.

Do not read 「空，或時有味」 tr. "emptiness sometimes has flavour" as ultimate emptiness having flavour. What this saying of the treatise-author points to is the great joy of the practitioner when he first obtains the emptiness of equality, named flavour according to the time; right below it he says 「真實畢竟空，則無味、不味」 tr. "in real ultimate emptiness there is neither flavour nor non-flavour". If the joy of first obtaining is taken as the ultimate flavour, then the 「貴重般若波羅蜜生著相」 tr. "valued prajñāpāramitā highly and gave rise to clinging to marks" refuted in section 58 lies right within it.

Do not read 「五眾實相即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the real mark of the five aggregates is precisely prajñāpāramitā" as the five aggregates being prajñā. What it is one with is the real mark, not the marks of the five aggregates; the treatise-author says plainly 「般若波羅蜜亦如是，不遠離於五眾」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā too is thus: it is not far from the five aggregates". To seek prajñā separately apart from the five aggregates is certainly wrong; to take the five aggregates as prajñā is wrong too.

Do not read 「諸法無分別」 tr. "dharmas without discrimination" as not telling good from evil. The discrimination the treatise-author speaks of is the discrimination of 「世間凡夫煩惱力故，種種分別諸法」 tr. "worldly ordinary people, because of the power of the afflictions, discriminate dharmas in all kinds of ways", and its proof lies in 「若得諸法變異時，則不憂愁」 tr. "if they meet the time when dharmas change, they do not sorrow"; what is removed is recollection, imagining, and grasping at marks, not the choosing of cause and fruit. The sūtra text also has the refutation 「無色等乃至一切種智」 tr. "no form and so on up to no omniscience of all kinds", and it too is all said with respect to self-nature.

Do not read 「性不可得」 tr. "the nature unfindable" as there being no cause and no fruit. The treatise-author's inference argues precisely from causes and conditions: 「一切法皆從因緣和合生，無有無因緣、若少因緣而起者；若從因緣生，則無自性。」 tr. "All dharmas are born from the coming together of causes and conditions; nothing arises without causes and conditions, or from scant causes and conditions; if it is born from causes and conditions, it has no self-nature." What is refuted is a nature that is 「本有決定實事」 tr. "a definitely real matter that exists from the first", not dharmas born of causes and conditions. If, because the nature is unfindable, one says there is no cause and fruit, then the grounds, positions, and retributions spoken of in section 63 all have nothing to hang on.

Do not read 「無作」 tr. "without making" as there being no need to do anything. The treatise-author first cites what beings make, the ten wholesome and ten unwholesome, and what dharmas make, fire burning and water flowing, making clear that they 「各各自有力」 tr. "each have their own power", and only then refutes them with respect to the self-nature of the maker and of what is made; in the last sentence, 「但凡夫人顛倒覆故言：『我有所作。』」 tr. "it is only because ordinary people are covered by inversion that they say: ‘I have something I make’", what is refuted is the 「我」 tr. "I", not the 「作」 tr. "making".

Do not read the seven years of toil as labour in vain. The treatise-author sets up his question precisely for this doubt, and answers that what was obtained lies in 「破其著心」 tr. "breaking his clinging mind". Without these seven years, his thirsting and yearning when he saw Dharmodgata would not have been deep, and what he heard could not have entered concentration and become samādhi; the difference between the scattered mind and the gathered mind spoken of in sections 59 and 60 is precisely what these seven years brought about.

Bearing on Practice

Take 「諸法等故，當知般若波羅蜜亦等」 tr. "because dharmas are equal, know that prajñāpāramitā too is equal" as a ruler for how you look at the Dharma. Whenever you hear a teaching and feel that it is higher than the matters before your eyes, you can turn back and ask: is it somewhere else, apart from this form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness before your eyes? Every sentence of this fascicle speaks only of dharmas, precisely so that people take the place they seek back to what is present.

Take the sequence of the nine sentences and examine where you dwell. Having obtained equality, one dwells in equality; having obtained apart, one dwells in apart; having obtained one flavour, one dwells in one flavour—this is precisely what the question the treatise-author sets up in each passage means to dispel. The proof of practice lies not in which mark one has obtained, but in whether, having obtained it, one is still willing to put it down.

Take 「初觀時是因，觀竟名為果」 tr. "when he first contemplates, it is the cause; when the contemplation is finished it is named the fruit" to settle how raw or ripe you are. When at the start of learning to contemplate equality it feels stiff and unreal, there is no need on that account to doubt that what you practise is not the Dharma; it is one and the same dharma, and in the causal position this is simply how it looks. What is needed is to go on contemplating, not to change to a dharma that looks more like the fruit.

Take 「住眾生等中，怨親、憎愛皆悉平等」 tr. "abiding in the equality of beings, enemy and kin, hatred and love, are all equal" as the order of the two kinds of equality. Equality in dharmas is hard to see; equality toward people can be checked: within one day, toward the close and the distant, toward those who respect you and those who slight you, how far apart is the warmth or coldness of your mind? If you are unequal here and talk first of the emptiness of all dharmas, what you talk of is mostly talk by mouth.

Take 「有人雖得平等而生戲論」 tr. "although they have obtained equality, give rise to idle discourse" as a warning to yourself about the deeds of speech after studying emptiness. The more thoroughly emptiness is studied, the easier it becomes to argue with others over the gains and losses of emptiness; when the argument heats up, the mind is already within inequality. The test is very simple: when you speak of emptiness, has your mind grown softer or harder?

Take 「於一切法得實相故」 tr. "because he has obtained the real mark in all dharmas" and look at the three kinds of being unmoved. When idle discourse comes, see whether you move or not; when afflictions arise, see whether you move or not; when impermanence arrives, see whether you move or not—the three places are three ways of testing one mind. Being unmoved is not holding on; it is there being no place where one can be moved.

Take 「如人為熱渴所逼，得清冷水」 tr. "as when a person pressed by heat and thirst obtains clear cool water" and turn the light on the joy of first attainment. When in practice one first tastes a little lightness and clarity, that joy is real, yet it is a flavour that exists according to the time. Knowing it is a flavour, you will not take it as something to rely on; not knowing, you will chase it your whole life.

Take 「以不能破我心故」 tr. "because they cannot break the mind of self" to tell concentration from wisdom apart. The mind growing quiet and the states becoming subtle is the power of concentration; whether the view of self has grown a little thinner is the proof of wisdom. The meditative concentration of those of the outside paths and ordinary people can cross the oceans of the desire and form realms but cannot cross the formless realm, and what obstructs lies only in this one phrase.

Take 「聚地之精味，積為須彌山；更有風吹，令堅而成寶」 tr. "gathered the essences and flavours of the earth, and piled them up to become Mount Sumeru; and again wind blew, making it firm so that it became jewel" and look at how wholesome dharmas accumulate and become firm. When wholesome dharmas are first done they are loose and scattered; only after long accumulation are they formed; once formed they must still pass through wind and sun before they are not moved by outer conditions. So there is no need to seek a moment's fierceness; what must be sought is continuity.

Take 「若得諸法變異時，則不憂愁」 tr. "if they meet the time when dharmas change, they do not sorrow" as an experiment in not discriminating. To say one does not grasp at marks is easy on ordinary days; only when circumstances change is the true and false seen: when the people and matters one leans on suddenly change, when the work one has accomplished suddenly falls apart—at that time, however much the mind moves, that is how much one grasps at marks.

Take 「如熱金雖好，不可手捉」 tr. "just as hot gold, though it is fine, cannot be held in the hand" and examine your own greed and clinging toward the Dharma. The finer the Dharma, the easier it is to cling to it, because when clinging to it one feels oneself in the right. Whenever toward some Dharma-gate there arises the mind ‘this alone is supreme, the rest are all inadequate’, that is hot gold in the hand, and the first one burnt is oneself.

Take 「如風中燈不能照明，在靜室閉門，明乃遍照」 tr. "as a lamp in the wind cannot give light, while in a quiet room with the door shut its light then shines everywhere" to arrange the order of your practice. When the meaning you have learned is plainly understood yet cannot be put to strength, it is mostly not that the meaning is untrue, but that the mind is too scattered. Rather than adding new meanings, it is better first to shut the door and sit quietly, and reflect one sentence you already know through to the end.

Take 「如水，寒風未至，未成為氷，則無堅用」 tr. "it is like water: before the cold wind has come, it has not become ice and has no firm use" and regard the long feeling that nothing is working. Water before it becomes ice looks no different from before, yet it is already changing. What is hardest in practice is this stretch when no proof can be seen; knowing it is a stretch that must be passed through, you will not retreat at this time.

Take 「當如薩陀波崙菩薩，堅正一心，不可傾動」 tr. "they should be like the bodhisattva Sadāprarudita, firm and upright with one mind, not to be shaken" to gather up the whole fascicle. The reason the jātaka is told in such detail is not to have people imitate the outward deeds of selling his body and piercing it to draw blood, but to have them take up his resolve of a single mind that cannot be shaken; once this resolve is set up, the hard places of daily life all become ground for practice.

Further Resonances

At the continuing heading at the start of this fascicle, what the various editions hand down is not uniform; they are recorded side by side below without forcing a judgement. The base text heads it 「大智度論釋曇無竭品第八十九」 tr. "The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa's explanation of the chapter ‘Dharmodgata’, the eighty-ninth", and under the heading has the interlinear note 「卷第一百」 tr. "Fascicle One Hundred"; the Song and Yuan editions read 「大智度論卷第一百釋曇無竭品第八十九下」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle One Hundred, explanation of the chapter ‘Dharmodgata’, the eighty-ninth, last part", the Ming edition reads 「大智度論卷第一百釋曇無竭品第八十九之下」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle One Hundred, explanation of the chapter ‘Dharmodgata’, the eighty-ninth, the last part", and the Palace edition changes the chapter name and reads 「大智度論卷第一百釋說般若相品第八十九下」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, Fascicle One Hundred, explanation of the chapter ‘Teaching the Marks of Prajñā’, the eighty-ninth, last part". The Palace edition's different name especially deserves notice—at the heading at the start of Fascicle 99 the Palace edition likewise changes the chapter name to Teaching the Marks of Prajñā; since what this fascicle teaches is precisely 「般若波羅蜜相」 tr. "the marks of prajñāpāramitā", it can be known that the chapter name of the Palace line is set up after the Dharma that is taught, while the base text's 「曇無竭品」 tr. "the chapter ‘Dharmodgata’" is set up after the person who teaches the Dharma. The two forms stand side by side, one naming by person, one naming by Dharma; choosing between them belongs to the translator. The Shōgozō manuscript reads 「大智度經論卷第一百釋第八十八品下訖第八十八品」 tr. "Great Wisdom-Crossing Sūtra-Treatise, Fascicle One Hundred, explanation of the eighty-eighth chapter, last part, ending the eighty-eighth chapter", and the Ishiyama-dera manuscript reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜品第八十八之二，一百」 tr. "the Mahāprajñāpāramitā chapter, the eighty-eighth, second part, one hundred"—both manuscripts call it 「第八十八」 tr. "the eighty-eighth", one step lower than the base text, consistent with the pattern ‘the Shōgozō and Ishiyama manuscripts are one step lower’ seen in this work since chapter 44. At the boundary at the end of the chapter, the Ishiyama manuscript adds below 「故廣囑累」 tr. "therefore it is entrusted to him at length" the six Chinese characters 「釋八十八品竟」 tr. "the explanation of the eighty-eighth chapter ends", the Shōgozō manuscript reads 「釋八十九品」 tr. "explanation of the eighty-ninth chapter" where the next chapter's heading begins, and the Ishiyama manuscript reads 「摩訶般若波羅蜜品第八十九後囑累」 tr. "the Mahāprajñāpāramitā chapter, the eighty-ninth, followed by Entrustment"—the pattern of one step lower runs through consistently at both ends of this chapter, head and tail, without exception.

Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra, explaining this passage, follows for its chapter divisions not this treatise but the sūtra it explains. In the sūtra this chapter is headed 「法尚品第八十九」 tr. "the chapter ‘Dharma-Esteeming’, the eighty-ninth", and Jizang's commentary too sets up a division 「法尚品第八十九」 tr. "the chapter ‘Dharma-Esteeming’, the eighty-ninth" as a separate section, whose preceding division is 「常啼品第八十八」 tr. "the chapter ‘Ever Weeping’, the eighty-eighth"—it can be known that the chapter boundaries Jizang relies on differ from this treatise's: this treatise divides it into two chapters, Sadāprarudita and Dharmodgata, while his commentary takes the one chapter Ever Weeping to cover the whole course of the seeking of the Dharma, and separately the one chapter Dharma-Esteeming to cover the hearing of the Dharma. He explains the chapter name thus: 「若曇無竭，此云法尚，以其弘於大法而物宜欽。」 tr. "As for Dharmodgata, here it is called Dharma-Esteeming, because he spreads the great Dharma and beings rightly revere him." He also divides this chapter as a whole thus: 「品初是第二彼具足聞法。就中為二：第一為疑斷，第二正說般若。」 tr. "The beginning of the chapter is the second part, his hearing the Dharma in full. Within it there are two: first, the doubt cut off; second, properly teaching prajñā." The former 「為疑斷」 tr. "the doubt cut off" corresponds exactly to the sūtra and treatise segments of Fascicle 99 of this treatise; the latter 「正說般若」 tr. "properly teaching prajñā" corresponds to this fascicle.

His division of the sūtra text of this fascicle corresponds precisely to the four classes in the sūtra: the nine sentences, the four similes, the numbered categories of dharmas, and the ultimate. Below 「諸法等故」 tr. "because dharmas are equal" Jizang says: 「諸法等故下，第二、正為說般若。」 tr. "From ‘because dharmas are equal’ onward is the second: properly teaching prajñā for him." And he divides it into seven intents, the first two of which say: 「初、八門，就諸法異相以顯般若，般若諸法實相也；第二、三門，就譬喻歎般若無德不備……」 tr. "First, eight gates, which disclose prajñā by way of the different marks of dharmas—prajñā is the real mark of all dharmas; second, three gates, which praise prajñā by way of similes as lacking no virtue……" At 「如虛空」 tr. "like space" and what follows he further marks: 「如虗空下，第二、喻說。」 tr. "From ‘like space’ onward is the second: teaching by simile." He divides teaching by simile from teaching by dharma into two sections, sharing the same intent as the treatise-author's division 「先未說故，今當略說」 tr. "have not been spoken of before, so now they should be spoken of briefly".

On the sentence 「諸法等故般若等」 tr. "because dharmas are equal, prajñā is equal", what Jizang discusses is precisely the same difficult point contended over in the treatise-author's passage on 「或有人言」 tr. "or someone says". His words are: 「諸法等故般若等者，諸法非等不等，不知何以目之？為破眾生不等病，故歎以為等也。」 tr. "As for ‘because dharmas are equal, prajñā is equal’: dharmas are neither equal nor unequal, and one does not know what to call them; it is to break beings' sickness of inequality that they are praised as equal." He also says: 「不言般若等故諸法等者，恐惑者言諸法萬化不等，以般若力故。」 tr. "That it does not say ‘because prajñā is equal, dharmas are equal’ is for fear that the deluded would say that dharmas in their myriad transformations are unequal, and that it is because of the power of prajñā." And he settles his account with 「今言良由諸法實性本來平等，故後若觀平等耳」 tr. "now it is said so truly because the real nature of dharmas is from the first equal, and therefore afterwards, if one contemplates, there is equality, that is all"—that is, he takes ‘the nature of dharmas is of itself equal’ and does not take ‘by the power of prajñā they are made equal’. This treatise records the two views side by side without judging, while Jizang plainly takes one of them; it is recorded here for reference, and his judgement belongs to his own teaching and does not establish a meaning on the treatise-author's behalf.

On the passage of obtaining the samādhis, Jizang says: 「即得諸法等三昧下，第三、聞法得益也。法尚如行說，常啼如說行……」 tr. "From ‘then obtained the samādhi of the equality of dharmas’ onward is the third: the benefit of hearing the Dharma. Dharma-Esteeming teaches as he practises; Ever Weeping practises as he is taught……" He also cites the text of this treatise in abridged form, saying: 「論云：今從師同一心思惟名三昧，攝心不散智慧及名三昧也。」 tr. "The treatise says: now from the teacher, together reflecting with one mind, it is named samādhi; gathering the mind so that it does not scatter, wisdom too is named samādhi." Collated against the original text of this treatise, which reads 「今從師聞已，一心思惟，名為三昧，攝心不散，智慧變成三昧」 tr. "now, having heard it from the teacher, he reflects with one mind, and it is named samādhi: gathering the mind so that it does not scatter, wisdom turns into samādhi"—what Jizang cites is an abridged citation and not word for word, and moreover 「智慧變成三昧」 tr. "wisdom turns into samādhi" reads 「智慧及名三昧」 tr. "wisdom too is named samādhi", a difference of one character with a difference in the weight of the meaning: this treatise says that wisdom changes and becomes samādhi, while his citation says that wisdom too is named samādhi. The two texts are set side by side for comparison, without choosing between them on anyone's behalf.

On the concluding exhortation of the last passage, where the Buddha tells Subhūti, Jizang's explanation is wholly the same as this treatise: 「爾時佛告下，第三、結觀修行之般羅蜜。深入佛智慧者，論云初地至七地名無生忍，八地、九地、十地名深入佛智，得一切種智作佛也。」 tr. "From ‘at that time the Buddha told’ onward is the third: concluding the contemplation of the pāramitā to be cultivated and practised. As for entering deeply into the wisdom of the Buddha, the treatise says that from the first ground to the seventh ground is named the acceptance of non-arising; the eighth, ninth, and tenth grounds are named entering deeply into the wisdom of the Buddha, obtaining the omniscience of all kinds and becoming a Buddha." This is precisely the text of section 63 of this unit, and it can be seen that in judging the grounds and positions he relies wholly on this treatise.

The extant text of Huiying's Commentary stops at the end of fascicle 24, far before this chapter, so it lacks an explanation of this fascicle; in its structural divisions around chapter 55 it twice points ahead to the name 「曇無竭品」 tr. "the chapter ‘Dharmodgata’", which marks in advance the divisions that come later, not a commentary on this chapter; its lack is recorded according to the facts. Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises is not seen anywhere in its whole text to reach this chapter; its absence is recorded according to the facts.

This fascicle's teaching of the marks of prajñā takes over from above the breaking of the clinging to coming and going in Fascicle 99 of this chapter, and opens below the handing on of the Dharma in the chapter "Entrustment". Breaking coming and going breaks the marks that arise toward the Buddha's body; teaching the marks of prajñā breaks the marks that arise toward prajñā. The two matters are one Dharma-gate, yet the sickness each faces differs: in the former what is clung to is the person; in the latter what is clung to is the Dharma. So at the end of the fascicle the treatise-author sets himself the question 「見曇無竭得何等利益」 tr. "seeing Dharmodgata, what benefit did he obtain", and answers it with 「破其著心」 tr. "breaking his clinging mind"—what the two fascicles of the whole chapter were for here comes together into one matter. That the next chapter entrusts prajñā to Ānanda and not to Subhūti—the reason for it the treatise-author has already given in advance in the last two passages of this fascicle; the reader can view them together.