維摩詰所說經 不思議品第六
因為這一品呈現的，不只是房間的大小，而是大小如何同時不相妨礙。
故事從一個很平常的念頭開始。舍利弗看見室內沒有床座，心想：這麼多菩薩和大弟子，要坐在哪裡？維摩詰沒有立刻搬來座位，只問他：你是為法而來，還是為床座而來？
舍利弗說自己為法而來。維摩詰便一路追問：若真是求法，為什麼還要在五蘊、界入、三界、佛法僧、苦集滅道、見聞覺知中，抓住一個可以得到的東西？連涅槃若成為染著，仍然是染著。於是，求法一路走到於一切法無所求。
可是下一幕，三萬二千個高廣嚴淨的師子座真的來了。
小室全數容下它們，彼此沒有妨礙；毘耶離城、閻浮提、四天下也都不迫不窄，一切仍舊如故。經文沒有讓高座消失，也沒有把小室抹去。它只讓兩件看來不能同時成立的事，同時呈現在眾人面前。
接著，須彌山進入芥子。芥子不增，須彌不減，山王本相如故；住在山中的諸天甚至不知道自己已經進入其中，只有應當得度的人才看見。
四大海進入一個毛孔。魚、鼈、黿、鼉沒有受擾，大海本相如故，龍、鬼神、阿修羅也不知道自己進入何處。須彌入芥子而無所增減，山王本相如故；四大海入毛孔而水族不受擾，大海本相如故。
三千大千世界像陶家的轉輪，被放在一隻手掌中，拋過恒河沙世界之外，再放回原處；其中眾生沒有往來之想，世界本相如故。七日可以延為一劫，一劫可以促成七日，卻都隨可度眾生的需要而現。
一切佛土的莊嚴可以集在一國，一佛土的眾生可以置於掌上而遍見十方；供佛之具、日月星宿可以在一毛孔中顯現。十方諸風收入一口，樹木不折；劫火納入一腹，火事如故而身不受害；一個佛土被舉過無量世界，如鍼鋒舉起一片棗葉，眾生無所嬈。
這些反覆帶著『如故』『無損』『無所嬈』的影像，共同守住一件事：自在沒有以傷害為代價，變化沒有以毀掉本相為完成。
大迦葉聽見後，用另一幅影像說明自己的處境：盲者面前雖現眾色，卻不是他所能見。法門已在眼前，能不能看見，仍不是同一件事。他又說，有智慧的人聽見，誰會不發無上正等正覺心？就在他說話時，三萬二千天子發起了這個心。
品末的影像更加逼近人心。魔王的外相，可能是菩薩以方便示現；向人索求身體、親屬、城邑、財寶與飲食的大乞者，也可能是為使志願堅固而來。經文沒有因此把逼迫交給所有人，反而明說：凡夫下劣、沒有力量，不能如此。龍象的蹴踏，不是驢所能承受。
所以，一間小室為什麼能容下三萬二千高座？經文沒有把答案縮成一句大小互換。它讓人看見：經先說其室廣博，此處仍稱如是小室；高座仍是高座，須彌本相如故，眾生不覺不知。不可思議之門，經文自名為智慧方便之門。
最初，舍利弗只想找一個地方坐下；其後一度，維摩詰把三千大千世界著於右掌，擲過恒沙之外，又還置本處。品末，經文自收於「住不可思議解脫菩薩智慧方便之門」。兩端之間，問題也從座位展開到這裡：當一切法都不再是你要抓住的座位，智慧與方便，能不能讓所到之處既自在，又無所嬈？
Because what this chapter presents is not merely the size of a room, but how large and small can be mutually unobstructed at the same time.
The story begins with an entirely ordinary thought. Śāriputra sees that there are no beds or seats in the room and wonders: where will so many bodhisattvas and great disciples sit? Vimalakīrti does not immediately bring in seats. He only asks: have you come for the Dharma, or have you come for beds and seats?
Śāriputra says that he has come for the Dharma. Vimalakīrti then pursues the question step by step: if this truly is seeking the Dharma, why grasp something attainable among the five aggregates, the elements and entrances, the three realms, Buddha, Dharma, and community, the truths of suffering, origination, cessation, and the path, or seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing? If even nirvāṇa becomes an attachment, it remains attachment. Seeking the Dharma thus proceeds all the way to seeking nothing in any dharma.
Yet in the very next scene, thirty-two thousand lofty, broad, adorned, and pure lion thrones actually arrive.
The small room contains them all without mutual obstruction; Vaiśālī, Jambudvīpa, and the four-continent world likewise become neither constricted nor narrow, and everything remains just as before. The scripture does not make the lofty thrones disappear, nor does it erase the small room. It simply lets two things that seem unable to hold true at the same time appear simultaneously before the assembly.
Mount Sumeru then enters a mustard seed. The mustard seed does not increase, Sumeru does not decrease, and the king of mountains remains in its original form just as before. The gods dwelling upon the mountain do not even know that they have entered it; only those who should be liberated see it.
The four great seas enter a single pore. Fish, soft-shelled turtles, giant turtles, and alligators are not disturbed; the seas remain in their original forms just as before; and dragons, ghosts, spirits, and asuras likewise do not know where they have entered. Sumeru enters the mustard seed with neither increase nor decrease, and the king of mountains remains in its original form just as before; the four seas enter a pore without disturbing aquatic creatures, and the seas remain in their original forms just as before.
A three-thousand-great-thousand world, like a potter's turning wheel, is placed in one palm, cast beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and then returned to its original place. The sentient beings within form no thought of going or returning, and the world remains in its original form just as before. Seven days can be extended into a kalpa and a kalpa contracted into seven days, yet both appear in response to the needs of sentient beings who can be liberated.
The adornments of all buddha-lands can be gathered in one land, and the sentient beings of one buddha-land can be placed upon the palm and shown throughout the ten directions. Implements for offerings to the buddhas, and suns, moons, and constellations, can appear within a single pore. The winds of the ten directions enter one mouth without breaking the trees; the fire at the end of a kalpa enters one belly, yet the fires remain just as before and the body is unharmed; a buddha-land is lifted beyond immeasurable worlds like a jujube leaf raised on the tip of a needle, without disturbing sentient beings.
These images, repeatedly accompanied by “just as before,” “unharmed,” and “without disturbance,” together safeguard one point: freedom does not take harm as its price, and transformation is not completed by destroying an original form.
After Mahākāśyapa hears this, he uses another image to describe his own situation: though many colors are displayed before a blind person, they are not what he can see. The Dharma-gate is already before him, yet seeing and not seeing it remain different matters. He then says: what wise person, on hearing this, would fail to arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening? As he speaks, thirty-two thousand sons of the gods arouse that aspiration.
The images at the chapter's end press still closer to the mind. The outer appearance of a king Māra may be a manifestation made by a bodhisattva through skillful means. A great beggar demanding a person's body, family, towns, wealth, and food may likewise have come to make resolve firm. The scripture does not therefore entrust such pressure to everyone. On the contrary, it states explicitly that ordinary persons are inferior and lack the power to act in this way. A dragon-elephant's trampling is not something a donkey can bear.
Why, then, can one small room contain thirty-two thousand lofty thrones? The scripture does not reduce its answer to a single statement about large and small changing places. It lets us see that the scripture first calls the room broad and expansive, yet later still calls it such a small room; the lofty thrones remain lofty thrones, Sumeru remains in its original form just as before, and sentient beings neither perceive nor know. The gate of inconceivability is named by the scripture itself as a gate of wisdom and skillful means.
At first Śāriputra merely wants to find somewhere to sit. Later, Vimalakīrti places a three-thousand-great-thousand world upon his right palm, casts it beyond Ganges-sands, and returns it to its original place. At the chapter's end, the scripture itself concludes with 「住不可思議解脫菩薩智慧方便之門」—“the gate of wisdom and skillful means of bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation.” Between these two ends, the question also unfolds from a seat to this: when no dharma is any longer a seat that you try to grasp, can wisdom and skillful means allow each place reached to be both free and without disturbance?
姚秦三藏鳩摩羅什譯《維摩詰所說經》卷中〈不思議品第六〉· 大正藏 T14n0475〔起 T14 0546a03〕。段/行首〔T14 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔T14 0546a03〕維摩詰所說經不思議品第六 爾時舍利弗見此室中無有床座，作是念：「斯諸菩薩、大弟子眾，當於何坐？」 長者維摩詰知其意，語舍利弗言：「云何仁者？為法來耶？求床座耶？」 舍利弗言：「我為法來，非為床座。」 維摩詰言：「唯，舍利弗！夫求法者，不貪軀命，何況床座？夫求法者，非有色、受、想、行、識之求，非有界、入之求，非有欲、色、無色之求。唯，舍利弗！夫求法者，不著佛求，不著法求，不著眾求；夫求法者，無見苦求，無斷集求，無造盡證、修道之求。所以者何？法無戲論，若言我當見苦、斷集、證滅、修道，是則戲論，非求法也。唯，舍利弗！法名寂滅，若行生滅，是求生滅，非求法也；法名無染，若染於法乃至涅槃，是則染著，非求法也；法無行處，若行於法，是則行處，非求法也；法無取捨，若取捨法，是則取捨，非求法也；法無處所，若著處所，是則著處，非求法也；法名無相，若隨相識，是則求相，非求法也；法不可住，若住於法，是則住法，非求法也；法不可見、聞、覺、知，若行見、聞、覺、知，是則見、聞、覺、知，非求法也；法名無為，若行有為，是求有為，非求法也：是故，舍利弗！若求法者，於一切法，應無所求。」 說是語時，五百天子於諸法中得法眼淨。 爾時，長者維摩詰問文殊師利：「仁者遊於無量千萬億阿僧祇國，何等佛土有好上妙功德成就師子之座？」 文殊師利言：「居士！東方度三十六恒河沙國，有世界名須彌相，其佛號須彌燈王，今現在。彼佛身長八萬四千由旬，其師子座高八萬四千由旬，嚴飾第一。」 於是長者維摩詰現神通力，即時彼佛遣三萬二千師子座，高廣嚴淨，來入維摩詰室，諸菩薩、大弟子、釋、梵、四天王等，昔所未見。其室廣博，悉皆包容三萬二千師子座，無所妨礙。於毘耶離城及閻浮提、四天下，亦不迫迮，悉見如故。 爾時維摩詰語文殊師利：「就師子座！與諸菩薩上人俱坐，當自立身如彼座像。」其得神通菩薩，即自變形為四萬二千由旬，坐師子座，諸新發意菩薩及大弟子皆不能昇。 爾時維摩詰語舍利弗：「就師子座！」舍利弗言：「居士！此座高廣，吾不能昇。」 維摩詰言：「唯，舍利弗！為須彌燈王如來作禮，乃可得坐。」於是新發意菩薩及大弟子即為須彌燈王如來作禮，便得坐師子座。 舍利弗言：「居士！未曾有也！如是小室，乃容受此高廣之座，於毘耶離城無所妨礙，又於閻浮提聚落、城邑，及四天下諸天、龍王、鬼神宮殿，亦不迫迮。」 維摩詰言：「唯，舍利弗！諸佛菩薩，有解脫名不可思議。若菩薩住是解脫者，以須彌之高廣內芥子中無所增減，須彌山王本相如故，而四天王、忉利諸天不覺不知己之所入，唯應度者乃見須彌入芥子中，是名住不思議解脫法門。又以四大海水入一毛孔，不嬈魚、鼈、黿、鼉水性之屬，而彼大海本相如故，諸龍、鬼神、阿修羅等不覺不知己之所入，於此眾生亦無所嬈。又，舍利弗！住不可思議解脫菩薩，斷取三千大千世界，如陶家輪，著右掌中，擲過恒河沙世界之外，其中眾生不覺不知己之所往；又復還置本處，都不使人有往來想，而此世界本相如故。又，舍利弗！或有眾生樂久住世而可度者，菩薩即延七日以為一劫，令彼眾生謂之一劫；或有眾生不樂久住而可度者，菩薩即促一劫以為七日，令彼眾生謂之七日。又，舍利弗！住不可思議解脫菩薩，以一切佛土嚴飾之事集在一國，示於眾生。又菩薩以一佛土眾生置之右掌，飛到十方遍示一切，而不動本處。又，舍利弗！十方眾生供養諸佛之具，菩薩於一毛孔皆令得見；又十方國土所有日、月、星宿，於一毛孔普使見之。又，舍利弗！十方世界所有諸風，菩薩悉能吸著口中，而身無損，外諸樹木亦不摧折；又十方世界劫盡燒時，以一切火內於腹中，火事如故而不為害。又於下方過恒河沙等諸佛世界，取一佛土舉著上方，過恒河沙無數世界，如持鍼鋒舉一棗葉，而無所嬈。又，舍利弗！住不可思議解脫菩薩，能以神通現作佛身，或現辟支佛身，或現聲聞身，或現帝釋身，或現梵王身，或現世主身，或現轉輪王身。又十方世界所有眾聲上、中、下音，皆能變之令作佛聲，演出無常、苦、空、無我之音，及十方諸佛所說種種之法，皆於其中普令得聞。舍利弗！我今略說菩薩不可思議解脫之力，若廣說者，窮劫不盡。」 〔T14 0547a03〕是時大迦葉聞說菩薩不可思議解脫法門，歎未曾有，謂舍利弗：「譬如有人，於盲者前現眾色像，非彼所見；一切聲聞聞是不可思議解脫法門，不能解了，為若此也！智者聞是，其誰不發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心？我等何為永絕其根，於此大乘已如敗種！一切聲聞聞是不可思議解脫法門，皆應號泣，聲震三千大千世界；一切菩薩應大欣慶，頂受此法。若有菩薩信解不可思議解脫法門者，一切魔眾無如之何。」大迦葉說是語時，三萬二千天子皆發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。 爾時維摩詰語大迦葉：「仁者！十方無量阿僧祇世界中作魔王者，多是住不可思議解脫菩薩。以方便力教化眾生，現作魔王。又，迦葉！十方無量菩薩，或有人從乞手足耳鼻、頭目髓腦、血肉皮骨、聚落城邑、妻子奴婢、象馬車乘、金銀琉璃、車磲馬碯、珊瑚琥珀、真珠珂貝、衣服飲食，如此乞者，多是住不可思議解脫菩薩，以方便力而往試之，令其堅固。所以者何？住不可思議解脫菩薩，有威德力，故現行逼迫，示諸眾生如是難事；凡夫下劣，無有力勢，不能如是逼迫菩薩。譬如龍象蹴踏，非驢所堪。是名住不可思議解脫菩薩智慧方便之門。」
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
底本：姚秦鳩摩羅什譯《維摩詰所說經》卷中〈不思議品第六〉。以下依本品散文對話次第逐段今譯；求法所離、不可思議神變與大乞所求，逐項不省。
舍利弗先想到座位，維摩詰卻問他來求什麼
那時，舍利弗看見維摩詰的室內沒有床，也沒有座位，心裡便想：『在場這些菩薩和佛的大弟子們，等一下要坐在哪裡？』
維摩詰知道了他的念頭，便對他說：『仁者，您是為了佛法而來，還是為了尋找床座而來？』
舍利弗回答：『我是為了佛法而來，不是為了床座。』
維摩詰說：『舍利弗啊！真正求法的人，連自己的身體和性命都不貪著，何況是供身體安坐的床座？
『真正求法的人，不是要從色、受、想、行、識這五蘊中求得一個東西；也不是要從十八界、十二入中求得一個東西；更不是要在欲界、色界、無色界中求得一個東西。
『舍利弗啊！真正求法的人，不執著一個佛來求，不執著一個法來求，也不執著一個僧眾來求。真正求法的人，不把見苦當成一個可得的目標來求，不把斷集當成一個可得的目標來求，也不帶著一個要造作證滅、修道的所得心去求。
『為什麼？法本身沒有戲論。假使心裡說：我一定要見苦、斷集、證滅、修道，那就已經落入戲論，不是真正在求法。
『舍利弗啊！法名為寂滅；若又在其中追逐生起和消滅，那是在求生滅，不是在求法。法名為無染；若心染著於法，甚至染著於涅槃，那仍是染著，不是在求法。法沒有一個可以行走、活動的所在；若又認定自己正在法上行，那就另立了一個行處，不是在求法。法沒有可取、可捨；若又對法作取捨，那仍是取捨，不是在求法。
『法沒有固定處所；若執著某一處所，那就是著在一處，不是在求法。法名為無相；若跟隨相狀而認識、執取，那就是在求一個相，不是在求法。法不可安住；若又住在法上，那就是住法，不是在求法。
『法不能被當成一個可見、可聞、可覺、可知的對象；若又依見、聞、覺、知去行，那只是在見、聞、覺、知上活動，不是在求法。法名為無為；若又依有為造作而行，那是在求有為，不是在求法。
『所以，舍利弗，真正求法的人，對一切法都應當無所求。』
就在維摩詰說這段話的時候，五百位天子在一切法中得到了清淨的法眼。
文殊師利說出東方佛國的高座
這時，維摩詰問文殊師利：『仁者，您曾遊歷無量千萬億阿僧祇佛國。哪一個佛土有最好、最上妙、功德成就的師子座？』
文殊師利回答：『居士，從這裡向東方，越過三十六恒河沙數的國土，有一個世界名叫須彌相；那裡的佛名叫須彌燈王，現在仍然住世。那尊佛的身長八萬四千由旬，祂的師子座也高八萬四千由旬，莊嚴裝飾居於第一。』
於是，維摩詰顯現神通力。須彌燈王佛立即遣來三萬二千個師子座；每一座都高大、寬廣、莊嚴而清淨，進入維摩詰的室內。在場的菩薩、佛的大弟子、帝釋、梵天、四天王和其餘大眾，從前都不曾見過這樣的座位。
維摩詰的室內顯得寬廣開闊，三萬二千個師子座全都容納在其中，彼此沒有妨礙。毘耶離城、整個閻浮提以及四天下，也都沒有因此變得狹窄逼迫；一切仍像原來那樣被大眾看見。
維摩詰對文殊師利說：『請就師子座，和諸位菩薩上人一起坐下。各位應當自行使身形與那些座位相稱。』
已得神通的菩薩，立即把自己的身形變為四萬二千由旬，坐上師子座；新發菩提心的菩薩和佛的大弟子們，卻都不能登上去。
維摩詰又對舍利弗說：『請就師子座。』
舍利弗回答：『居士，這座位又高又大，我登不上去。』
維摩詰說：『舍利弗啊！您先向須彌燈王如來禮拜，才可以坐上去。』
於是，新發心的菩薩和佛的大弟子們都向須彌燈王如來禮拜，這才坐上師子座。
舍利弗讚歎說：『居士，這是從未有過的事！這樣一間小室，竟能容納如此高大的座位，絲毫沒有妨礙毘耶離城；閻浮提中的村落、城邑，四天下中諸天、龍王、鬼神的宮殿，也都沒有變得狹窄逼迫。』
須彌入芥子，四海入毛孔
維摩詰說：『舍利弗啊！諸佛和菩薩有一種解脫，名為不可思議。菩薩如果安住在這種解脫之中，便能把高大寬廣的須彌山放入一粒芥子裡，芥子沒有增大，須彌山也沒有縮小，須彌山王原來的形相仍舊不變。住在須彌山上的四天王和忉利天人，都不知道自己已經進入芥子；只有那些應當藉此得度的人，才看得見須彌山進入芥子之中。這就叫作安住於不可思議解脫法門。
『菩薩又能把四大海的海水放進一個毛孔裡。海中的魚、鼈、黿、鼉以及其他水族，都不會受到擾動；四大海原有的形相仍然不變。海中的龍、鬼神、阿修羅，也不知道自己已經進入毛孔；在這個世界上的眾生同樣不受擾動。
『舍利弗啊！安住不可思議解脫的菩薩，還能切取三千大千世界，如陶匠的輪，安在右手掌中，擲過恒河沙數世界以外。其中的眾生不知道自己到了哪裡。菩薩又把這個世界放回原處，完全不使其中任何人產生曾經前往或返回的感覺；這個世界原來的形相仍舊不變。
『有些眾生喜歡長久住世，這樣才適合受到度化，菩薩便把七日延長為一劫，使那些眾生覺得已經過了一劫。有些眾生不喜歡長久住世，這樣才適合受到度化，菩薩便把一劫縮短為七日，使那些眾生覺得只過了七日。
『安住不可思議解脫的菩薩，能把一切佛土所有莊嚴裝飾之事，集中顯現在一個國土中，展示給眾生看。
『菩薩也能把一個佛土的眾生放在右手掌上，飛到十方，遍示一切，而本處不動。
『舍利弗啊！十方眾生供養諸佛的所有器具，菩薩能讓人從一個毛孔中全部看見。十方國土所有的太陽、月亮和星宿，菩薩也能讓人從一個毛孔中普遍看見。
『十方世界所有的風，菩薩都能吸入口中，而自己的身體毫無損傷，外面所有樹木也不被吹折。十方世界到了劫末被火焚燒時，菩薩能把所有的火納入腹中；火仍照常燃燒，菩薩卻不受它傷害。
『菩薩又能往下方越過恒河沙數佛世界，取來一個佛土，把它舉到上方，再越過恒河沙數的無量世界；這就像用針尖挑起一片棗葉，不會擾動其中任何眾生。
『舍利弗啊！安住不可思議解脫的菩薩，能以神通顯現成佛的身形，或顯現成辟支佛的身形，或顯現成聲聞的身形，或顯現成帝釋的身形，或顯現成梵王的身形，或顯現成世主的身形，或顯現成轉輪王的身形。
『十方世界所有的聲音，無論上等、中等或下等，菩薩都能把它們轉成佛的聲音。這聲音演說無常、苦、空、無我，也演說十方諸佛所說的種種法，使人都能從其中普遍聽聞。
『舍利弗，我現在只是簡略說明菩薩不可思議解脫的力量；如果廣泛地說，即使用盡一整劫，也說不完。』
大迦葉聽後，為聲聞自歎
大迦葉聽見菩薩不可思議解脫法門後，讚歎這是從未有過的事。他對舍利弗說：『譬如有人在盲人面前展示種種色彩和形像，那位盲人仍看不見。一切聲聞聽見這個不可思議解脫法門，不能理解，也像這樣。
『有智慧的人聽見這個法門，誰會不發起無上正等正覺之心？我們為什麼竟永久斷絕了這個根，在大乘之中已經像敗壞的種子！一切聲聞聽見不可思議解脫法門，都應當放聲號泣，聲音震動三千大千世界；一切菩薩則應大大欣喜慶賀，以頭頂恭敬接受這個法門。
『如果有菩薩信受、理解不可思議解脫法門，一切魔眾都對他無可奈何。』
就在大迦葉說這些話的時候，三萬二千位天子全都發起無上正等正覺之心。
魔王、大乞者與智慧方便之門
這時，維摩詰對大迦葉說：『仁者，十方無量阿僧祇世界中，那些示現作魔王的，有許多其實是安住不可思議解脫的菩薩。他們以方便力教化眾生，所以顯現成魔王。
『迦葉啊！十方無量菩薩中，有時會有人前來索求手、腳、耳朵、鼻子；索求頭、眼、骨髓、腦；索求血、肉、皮、骨；索求村落、城邑；索求妻子兒女、奴婢；索求象、馬、車乘；索求金、銀、琉璃；索求車磲、馬碯；索求珊瑚、琥珀；索求真珠、珂貝；索求衣服、飲食。
『提出這些要求的人，有許多也是安住不可思議解脫的菩薩。他們運用方便力前來考驗菩薩，使那位菩薩的志願堅固。
『為什麼？安住不可思議解脫的菩薩具有威德力量，所以能顯現逼迫之事，向眾生示現這些難行之事。凡夫能力低下，沒有這樣的力量，不能用這種方式逼迫菩薩。譬如龍象踏下的力量，不是驢所能承受。
『這就叫作安住不可思議解脫菩薩的智慧方便之門。』
Base text: Kumārajīva's translation of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, Middle Scroll, Chapter 06 “Inconceivability.” What follows renders the prose dialogue of this chapter in sequence; the things relinquished in seeking the Dharma, the displays of inconceivability, and the great beggar's demands are all retained item by item.
Śāriputra First Thinks of Seats, but Vimalakīrti Asks What He Came to Seek
At that time, Śāriputra saw that Vimalakīrti's room contained neither bed nor seat, and he thought to himself, “Where will all these bodhisattvas and the Buddha's great disciples sit?”
Vimalakīrti knew his thought and said to him, “Good sir, have you come for the Dharma, or have you come looking for beds and seats?”
Śāriputra replied, “I have come for the Dharma, not for beds and seats.”
Vimalakīrti said, “Śāriputra! One who truly seeks the Dharma does not covet even body or life; how much less would such a person covet the beds and seats that support the body at rest?
“One who truly seeks the Dharma does not seek to obtain something from the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; does not seek to obtain something from the eighteen elements or twelve entrances; and still less seeks to obtain something within the desire realm, form realm, or formless realm.
“Śāriputra! One who truly seeks the Dharma does not seek while clinging to a buddha, does not seek while clinging to the Dharma, and does not seek while clinging to the community. One who truly seeks the Dharma does not seek by treating seeing suffering as an attainable goal, does not seek by treating the cutting off of its origination as an attainable goal, and does not seek with an acquisitive mind that would fabricate the realization of cessation or the cultivation of the path.
“Why is this? The Dharma itself is free from conceptual proliferation. If one says inwardly, ‘I must see suffering, cut off its origination, realize cessation, and cultivate the path,’ one has already fallen into conceptual proliferation and is not truly seeking the Dharma.
“Śāriputra! The Dharma is called quiescence; if one pursues arising and ceasing within it, one is seeking arising and ceasing, not seeking the Dharma. The Dharma is called unstained; if one's mind is stained by attachment to the Dharma, even by attachment to nirvāṇa, that is still attachment and is not seeking the Dharma. The Dharma has no place of movement or activity; if one asserts that one is proceeding upon the Dharma, one has established a separate place of practice and is not seeking the Dharma. The Dharma has nothing to grasp or discard; if one applies grasping and discarding to the Dharma, that is still grasping and discarding and is not seeking the Dharma.
“The Dharma has no fixed location; if one clings to some location, one is attached to a place and is not seeking the Dharma. The Dharma is called signless; if one follows signs in order to recognize and grasp, one is seeking a sign and is not seeking the Dharma. The Dharma cannot be abided in; if one abides in the Dharma, one has made an abiding in Dharma and is not seeking the Dharma.
“The Dharma cannot be made into an object that can be seen, heard, sensed, or known; if one proceeds through seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, one is merely moving within seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing and is not seeking the Dharma. The Dharma is called the unconditioned; if one proceeds through conditioned fabrication, one is seeking the conditioned and is not seeking the Dharma.
“Therefore, Śāriputra, one who truly seeks the Dharma should seek nothing in any dharma.”
As Vimalakīrti spoke these words, five hundred sons of the gods attained purity of the Dharma eye among all dharmas.
Mañjuśrī Names the Lofty Thrones in an Eastern Buddha-Land
Then Vimalakīrti asked Mañjuśrī, “Good sir, you have traveled through immeasurable thousands, tens of thousands, millions, and asaṃkhyeyas of buddha-lands. Which buddha-land has lion thrones that are finest, supremely wondrous, and perfect in merit?”
Mañjuśrī replied, “Layman, east of here, beyond lands as numerous as the sands of thirty-six Ganges Rivers, is a world named Sumeru-Sign. Its buddha is named Sumeru-Lamp-King, and he is still dwelling in the world now. That buddha's body is eighty-four thousand yojanas tall, and his lion throne is also eighty-four thousand yojanas high; its adornment is foremost.”
Vimalakīrti then manifested the power of spiritual mastery. Buddha Sumeru-Lamp-King immediately sent thirty-two thousand lion thrones, each lofty, broad, adorned, and pure, into Vimalakīrti's room. The bodhisattvas, the Buddha's great disciples, Śakra, Brahmā, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the rest of the assembly had never before seen seats like these.
Vimalakīrti's room appeared broad and expansive, containing all thirty-two thousand lion thrones without any obstruction between them. The city of Vaiśālī, the whole of Jambudvīpa, and the four-continent world likewise did not become narrow or constricted; the assembly still saw everything just as before.
Vimalakīrti said to Mañjuśrī, “Please take a lion throne and sit down together with the honored bodhisattvas. Each of you should make your bodily form correspond to the dimensions of these thrones.”
The bodhisattvas who had attained spiritual mastery immediately transformed their bodies to a height of forty-two thousand yojanas and sat upon the lion thrones. The bodhisattvas who had newly aroused the aspiration for awakening and the Buddha's great disciples, however, were all unable to mount them.
Vimalakīrti then said to Śāriputra, “Please take a lion throne.”
Śāriputra replied, “Layman, these seats are so high and large that I cannot mount them.”
Vimalakīrti said, “Śāriputra! First pay homage to the Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King; then you will be able to sit upon one.”
The newly inspired bodhisattvas and the Buddha's great disciples then paid homage to the Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King, and only then were they able to sit upon the lion thrones.
Śāriputra exclaimed in praise, “Layman, this has never happened before! Such a small room can contain seats so lofty and vast without obstructing the city of Vaiśālī in the slightest. Nor have the villages and towns of Jambudvīpa, or the palaces of the gods, dragon kings, ghosts, and spirits throughout the four-continent world, become narrow or constricted.”
Sumeru Enters a Mustard Seed, the Four Seas Enter a Pore
Vimalakīrti said, “Śāriputra! The buddhas and bodhisattvas have a liberation called inconceivable. If a bodhisattva abides in this liberation, he can place lofty and vast Mount Sumeru inside a mustard seed. The mustard seed does not grow larger, Mount Sumeru does not grow smaller, and Sumeru, king of mountains, remains in its original form just as before. The Four Heavenly Kings and the gods of Trāyastriṃśa who dwell upon Mount Sumeru do not know that they have entered a mustard seed; only those who should be liberated through this display see Mount Sumeru enter the mustard seed. This is called abiding in the Dharma-gate of inconceivable liberation.
“The bodhisattva can also place the waters of the four great seas inside a single pore. The fish, soft-shelled turtles, giant turtles, alligators, and other aquatic creatures in those seas are not disturbed, and the original forms of the four great seas remain unchanged. The dragons, ghosts, spirits, and asuras in the seas do not know that they have entered a pore, and the sentient beings in this world are likewise not disturbed.
“Śāriputra! A bodhisattva who abides in inconceivable liberation can also cut out a three-thousand-great-thousand world, set it in his right palm like a potter's wheel, and cast it beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The sentient beings within it do not know where they have gone. The bodhisattva then puts that world back in its original place without causing anyone within it to feel that there has been a going or a return, and the world's original form remains just as before.
“Some sentient beings delight in dwelling in the world for a long time and can be liberated only in that way. For them, the bodhisattva extends seven days into one kalpa, causing those sentient beings to feel that a kalpa has passed. Other sentient beings do not delight in dwelling in the world for a long time and can be liberated only in that way. For them, the bodhisattva contracts one kalpa into seven days, causing those sentient beings to feel that only seven days have passed.
“A bodhisattva who abides in inconceivable liberation can gather all the adornments of every buddha-land and manifest them together within a single land, displaying them to sentient beings.
“The bodhisattva can also place the sentient beings of one buddha-land upon his right palm, fly throughout the ten directions, and show them everything, while their original place remains unmoved.
“Śāriputra! The bodhisattva can cause all the implements with which sentient beings throughout the ten directions make offerings to the buddhas to be seen within a single pore. He can also cause all the suns, moons, and constellations in the lands of the ten directions to be universally seen within a single pore.
“The bodhisattva can draw all the winds of the worlds in the ten directions into his mouth without any injury to his own body or any breaking of the trees outside. When the worlds in the ten directions are consumed by fire at the end of a kalpa, the bodhisattva can take all those fires into his belly; the fires continue to burn just as before, yet they do him no harm.
“The bodhisattva can also descend past buddha-worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, take up one buddha-land, raise it upward, and carry it beyond immeasurable worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. This is like lifting a jujube leaf on the tip of a needle, without disturbing any sentient being within it.
“Śāriputra! A bodhisattva who abides in inconceivable liberation can use spiritual mastery to manifest the bodily form of a buddha, or the bodily form of a pratyekabuddha, or the bodily form of a śrāvaka, or the bodily form of Śakra, or the bodily form of a Brahmā king, or the bodily form of a lord of the world, or the bodily form of a wheel-turning king.
“The bodhisattva can also transform every sound in the worlds of the ten directions—whether superior, middling, or inferior—into the voice of a buddha. This voice expounds impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, and also expounds the various dharmas taught by the buddhas of the ten directions, enabling everyone to hear them throughout.
“Śāriputra, I have now given only a brief account of the power of the bodhisattvas' inconceivable liberation. Were I to explain it extensively, even an entire kalpa would not suffice.”
Mahākāśyapa Hears This and Laments for the Śrāvakas
After Mahākāśyapa heard the Dharma-gate of the bodhisattvas' inconceivable liberation, he praised it as something never before seen. He said to Śāriputra, “Suppose someone displays many colors and forms before a blind person; that blind person still cannot see them. All śrāvakas who hear this Dharma-gate of inconceivable liberation but cannot understand it are just like this.
“What wise person could hear this Dharma-gate and fail to arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening? Why have we permanently severed this root and become like spoiled seeds within the Great Vehicle? All śrāvakas who hear the Dharma-gate of inconceivable liberation should raise their voices and weep so loudly that the three-thousand-great-thousand world trembles, while all bodhisattvas should rejoice and celebrate greatly, reverently receiving this Dharma-gate upon the crowns of their heads.
“If a bodhisattva accepts in faith and understands the Dharma-gate of inconceivable liberation, no host of Māras can do anything to him.”
As Mahākāśyapa spoke these words, thirty-two thousand sons of the gods all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening.
Māra Kings, Great Beggars, and the Gate of Wisdom and Skillful Means
Then Vimalakīrti said to Mahākāśyapa, “Good sir, among the immeasurable asaṃkhyeyas of worlds in the ten directions, many of those who manifest as kings Māra are actually bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation. They manifest as kings Māra in order to teach and transform sentient beings through the power of skillful means.
“Kāśyapa! Among the immeasurable bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions, someone may come demanding their hands, feet, ears, and noses; demanding their heads, eyes, marrow, and brains; demanding their blood, flesh, skin, and bones; demanding their villages and towns; demanding their wives, sons, daughters, male servants, and female servants; demanding their elephants, horses, and carriages; demanding their gold, silver, and beryl; demanding their giant clamshells and agate; demanding their coral and amber; demanding their pearls and conch shells; or demanding their clothing, drink, and food.
“Many who make such demands are also bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation. They employ the power of skillful means to come and test a bodhisattva, so that the bodhisattva's resolve will become firm.
“Why is this? Bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation possess the power of awe-inspiring virtue, and therefore can manifest acts of pressure and show sentient beings these difficult deeds. Ordinary persons are inferior in power and lack such strength; they cannot pressure bodhisattvas in this way. Just as the force of a dragon-elephant's trampling is more than a donkey can bear,
“this is called the gate of wisdom and skillful means of bodhisattvas who abide in inconceivable liberation.”
舍利弗只是在一間沒有床座的室內，想到菩薩與大弟子們等一下要坐在哪裡。這個念頭很平常，維摩詰卻立刻把問題推到根本：人來到法會，究竟是為法而來，還是為安頓身體而來？舍利弗回答：「我為法來，非為床座。」全品便從這一句展開。
奇特的是，經文沒有在『無所求』處結束。說完求法者不求床座，維摩詰反而向文殊師利問起最上妙的師子座；三萬二千高座隨即來入小室。從一張座位的念頭，到須彌山入芥子、四海入毛孔，再到魔王與大乞者的示現，本品一路追問：若心不再把大小、久暫、來去、得失固定成不可移動的界線，智慧與方便能顯出怎樣的自在？
『無所求』到底不求什麼？
維摩詰先從貼近身體的地方說起：真正求法的人，不貪身體和性命，何況床座。這不是只責備舍利弗想坐下；接下來的長段，把可求的範圍一層層全部展開。
第一層是構成身心與世界的分類。色、受、想、行、識不能成為所求，界與入不能成為所求，欲界、色界、無色界也不能成為所求。若求法仍是想從這些法中取得一物，『法』就被放到心的對面，成為可佔有的東西。
第二層是佛、法、僧眾與四諦行相。經文不只說不著世間之物，也說不著佛求、不著法求、不著眾求；連『我要見苦、斷集、證滅、修道』這一念，若被建立成我的所得，也成為戲論。這不是把苦集滅道抹去，而是經文直接把『我當如何』的言說指出為戲論；求法不能靠一個求法者不斷替自己增加可得之事。
第三層更細。法名寂滅，若在其中追逐生滅，所求便仍是生滅；法名無染，若連涅槃也成為染著，仍不是求法。法沒有行處、取捨與處所，若另立一處可行、一法可取可捨、一地可住，心就又在法上建立位置。法名無相，隨相而識便成求相；法不可住，住於法便又成住法。
最後，經文把見、聞、覺、知也放下。法不可被當成一個可見、可聞、可覺、可知的對象；若只在這四種活動中追逐，得到的仍是見聞覺知。法名無為，若又依有為造作去取得它，所求仍在有為。於是整段收在：「若求法者，於一切法，應無所求。」
這個結語不是從許多對象中另挑一個值得求的，而是把所有可住之處一併照見。經文隨即記載：說這段話時，五百天子於諸法中得法眼淨。它只以『說是語時』並記法益，沒有另造一條因果說明。
剛說不求床座，為什麼又問最好的座？
經文接著做了一個強烈轉折。維摩詰沒有把床座從法會中取消，反而問文殊師利：哪一個佛土有上妙、功德成就的師子座？文殊師利說，東方越過三十六恒河沙國，有須彌相世界，須彌燈王佛現正住世；佛身長八萬四千由旬，師子座也高八萬四千由旬。
三萬二千座來入室內，經文不只說座位高廣莊嚴，也寫菩薩、大弟子、帝釋、梵天與四天王從前都未曾見。更重要的是：「其室廣博，悉皆包容三萬二千師子座，無所妨礙。」室內全數容下高座，毘耶離城、閻浮提與四天下卻都沒有迫迮，仍如原來所見。
這一段沒有靠摧毀小室來安置大座，也沒有靠削小高座來遷就房間。經文讓『小室』與『高廣之座』同時存在，又以無所妨礙、悉見如故說明兩端都沒有受損。大小相容首先在眾人眼前成為一件事，維摩詰才開始解說不可思議解脫。
誰能坐上高座，經文也逐層交代。得神通的菩薩使自己的身形與座相稱，便能坐下；新發意菩薩與大弟子不能登上。舍利弗受到勸請仍說自己不能昇，維摩詰要他禮須彌燈王如來，新發意菩薩與大弟子作禮後才得坐。這裡先有座來，再有身量相稱與禮佛而坐；每一步都留在敘事中，不需要把另一譯本所說的新學菩薩得通補進來。
不可思議之中，什麼仍然『如故』？
舍利弗因小室容座而歎未曾有，維摩詰便說，諸佛菩薩有一種解脫名為不可思議。經文往後逐項列出：須彌入芥子，無所增減，須彌山王本相如故；四大海入一毛孔，不嬈水族，大海本相如故；世界如陶家輪擲過恒沙之外，其中眾生不覺不知；各項所附之語，隨事而異。
須彌山王被放進一粒芥子，芥子不增，須彌不減，「須彌山王本相如故」。四天王與忉利諸天不知自己已入其中，只有應當得度的人才看見。這不是所有人都被迫看見同一奇相；經文明白保留了『唯應度者乃見』。
四大海水被放進一個毛孔，魚、鼈、黿、鼉與其餘水族不受擾動，大海本相仍舊，龍、鬼神與阿修羅不知道自己已入毛孔，其他眾生也無所嬈。大入小之後，大者沒有失去本相，小者沒有被寫成擴張，住在其中的生命也沒有成為神變的代價。
三千大千世界被切取，如陶家輪一般放在右掌，拋過恒河沙世界之外，再放回原處。經文特別說，其中眾生不知道去了哪裡，也沒有往來之想；世界本相仍舊。此處的自在不只在能搬動世界，也在世界被移動而眾生不生移動之感。
時間也可延促，但不是任意炫示。有眾生樂於久住世間，這樣才可度化，菩薩便延七日為一劫，使他自以為過了一劫；有眾生不樂久住，這樣才可度化，菩薩便促一劫為七日，使他自以為過了七日。長與短都隨可度者而顯，經文沒有把時間改變與度化對象分開。
接下來的神變一項比一項廣：一切佛土的莊嚴集在一國，讓眾生看見；一佛土的眾生被置於右掌，飛到十方遍示一切，卻不動本處；十方眾生供佛的器具，在一毛孔中全都可見；十方的日、月、星宿，也在一毛孔中普遍顯現。
十方諸風被吸入口中，菩薩身體不受損，外面的樹木也不摧折；十方世界劫盡之火被納入腹中，「火事如故而不為害。」火並未被說成熄滅，菩薩也沒有受害。又從下方越過恒河沙佛世界，取一佛土舉到上方，越過恒河沙無數世界，如以鍼鋒舉一棗葉，仍然無所嬈。
神變也不只改變尺度。菩薩能現作佛身、辟支佛身、聲聞身、帝釋身、梵王身、世主身、轉輪王身；七類身相一類不少。十方世界上、中、下的一切聲音，又都可轉成佛聲，演出無常、苦、空、無我，以及十方諸佛所說的種種法，使眾生普遍聽聞。
說到這裡，維摩詰主動收住：這只是一番略說，若廣說不可思議解脫之力，窮劫不盡。經文沒有讓讀者把十四項列舉當成完整邊界；它用『略說』提醒，已說的每一項只是門中所見。
大迦葉為何用盲者見色作譬？
大迦葉聽完，先歎未曾有，再說：「譬如有人，於盲者前現眾色像，非彼所見；」色像雖然現前，盲者卻看不見；聲聞聽見不可思議解脫而不能解了，也像這樣。這個譬喻沒有說法門不曾出現，而是說所現與所見之間仍有距離。
大迦葉接著問：有智慧的人聽見後，誰會不發無上正等正覺之心？他又說聲聞於大乘如敗種，應當號泣；菩薩則應欣慶頂受。經文把這些話都放在大迦葉的自歎中，不把『敗種』從人物之語抽離成另一篇判論。
他最後說，信解不可思議解脫法門的菩薩，魔眾無可奈何。大迦葉說這些話時，三萬二千天子發無上正等正覺心。和前面的五百天子法眼淨一樣，經文仍以同時之語記錄法益。
魔王與大乞者，為何也被放進不思議之門？
維摩詰順著『魔不能嬈』再說：十方無量世界中示現魔王者，多是住不可思議解脫的菩薩，以方便力教化眾生。經文沒有停在『魔王』外相，而把外相與所住的解脫、所用的方便並列。
大乞者一段更尖銳。經文沒有含糊說『索求各物』，而是逐件列出：手足耳鼻，頭目髓腦，血肉皮骨，聚落城邑，妻子奴婢，象馬車乘，金銀琉璃，車磲馬碯，珊瑚琥珀，真珠珂貝，衣服飲食。身體、親屬、土地、財寶與日用所需，全都在所求之列。
經文隨即說，這些來求者多是住不可思議解脫的菩薩，以方便力前往試驗，使對方堅固；又說只有具威德力者才能顯現逼迫、示現難事，凡夫下劣、無有力勢，不能如此。限制與行為寫在同一段，不能只取逼迫之相，省去有威德與凡夫不能的界線。
最後一個譬喻是：「譬如龍象蹴踏，非驢所堪。」它把能與不能分得清楚。全品末句不再說大小、久暫或神變的名目，而直稱這是不可思議解脫菩薩的智慧方便之門。
從『為法而來』到智慧方便，這一品承衍了什麼？
品首，舍利弗說自己為法而來；維摩詰把求法推到於一切法無所求。品中，三萬二千高座進入小室，須彌與芥子、四海與毛孔、世界與手掌、長劫與七日，經文各繫其語：或無所增減、或本相如故、或不嬈、或不覺不知。品末，魔王與大乞者的外相又不能單看，經文要求同時看其所住解脫、方便力與凡夫不能的限制。
所以，無所求不是全品的空白起點，而是不把任何一端固定成所得。師子座可以設，身可以坐，佛土可以莊嚴，眾聲可以演法；但床座、大小、時間、身相、魔王與乞求，都不能只憑表面一相被定死。經文以『如故』與『無所嬈』守住眾生，又以智慧方便守住神變的落點。從一念求座到智慧方便，這正是本品自身留下的完整道路。
經文另有數處把變化繫於眾生得度：須彌入芥子，不是人人都看見，只有應當得度者能見；七日可以延成一劫、一劫可以促成七日，也分別對應樂久住與不樂久住而可度的眾生；佛土莊嚴集於一國，是要示於眾生；一佛土眾生置於掌上，是要遍示十方；眾聲化作佛聲，是要使種種法普遍得聞。到了魔王與大乞者，經文仍說以方便力教化、使志願堅固。若只看尺度、速度與威力，便會漏掉每一段緊隨其後的『為誰而現』。
經文於數處另繫不害之語：水族不受擾動，世界中的眾生不起往來想，樹木不被摧折，眾生無所嬈；連火被納入腹中，仍是火事如故而菩薩不受其害。上列各處，經文各繫其語；末句經文自收於「住不可思議解脫菩薩智慧方便之門」。
二鏡並照
上來只順羅什本本品自身開講。古德讀到求法、設座、神變、迦葉與大乞，又各從自己的經本照見不同紋理。以下分列什門三家與慈恩一系，各守所隨本、等權並照，不以一鏡裁另一鏡。
什門之鏡：不取法相、外迹內德與權智二門
什曰先從求法之心下手：「不取法相、理會於法，名為求法。若取相生著，心與法乖，非求法也。」肇曰則說：「真求乃不求法，況安身之具乎。」到結處又說，若真要求，只有無求才是真求。生曰另以一句收束：「夫求法者，非謂求也，以無復諸求為求耳。」三家同談無求，什著眼於取相生著，肇著眼於真求不求，生著眼於無復諸求；三個署名不能合併成『僧肇說』。
到了不可思議解脫，什曰說：「能然而莫知所以然，故曰不思議也。」又由須彌入芥子說「巨細相容物無定體，明不常也。」肇曰的長釋則把外在神變視為由末示本、託麁表微，所追的是內在不思議之德；他在全品末又說：「智慧遠通、方便近導，異迹所以形、眾庶所以成，物不無由而莫之能測，故權智二門為不思議之本也。」一面由相容照物無定體，一面由外迹追智慧方便，兩讀並列而不互相代換。
大乞一段，什曰說施度將盡而未極，所以大士強來求索，使其無惜之心具足堅固；肇曰卻提醒，神通已備者逆覩人根，並非試過才知道，故反問：「豈待試而後知耶？」一說著力於使志行堅固，一說著力於不待試而知，仍各自保留。
慈恩之鏡：求法十段、六翻與多重解釋
窺基依玄奘本，先把求法分為總明、別明、結成，又把別明列作十段。他說：「所求，謂作證法。所不求者，雖可求知，不求證獲，故名不求。」最後以「於是法中無求而求，是為求法。」作結。這一鏡又把五百天子法眼淨釋為得預流果，和肇曰所說大乘法眼淨不同；兩說只並錄，不擇一。
對小室與大座，窺基列出室變大與小能納大等多種解釋，沒有只留一種。對不可思議神變，他總分六翻：「一大小相容、二寬狹相納、三往來自在、四延促任情、五運轉隨心、六同類往趣。」在山芥相容處，他又先列空理義，再列應理八釋；其中一釋說：「五、迷心執境，實境難容；識境皆心，何礙不得。」這只是八釋之一，不能用它遮住其餘七釋，更不能倒作羅什本直說。
這一鏡也保存玄奘本特有的差別：新學菩薩得五神通後昇座，聲聞則禮佛而坐；品末另有八千菩薩得入不可思議解脫境界。這些段落在羅什本本品未見，所以只留在慈恩鏡中。對大乞，窺基把所求分為內財、外財，並將能行逼迫者繫於八地以上；位地判釋同樣只屬此鏡，不下灌為羅什本經文。
兩鏡都從求法讀到神變與大乞，卻各用不同的經本與語彙。什門三家由不取法相、無求、外迹內德與權智展開；慈恩一系由十段、六翻、空理與應理展開。兩條承衍可以同時照見本品，卻不需要會成一條共同判釋；經文仍居中，使每一鏡所顯有其來源，也有其邊界。
Śāriputra merely notices that there are no beds or seats in the room and wonders where the bodhisattvas and great disciples will sit. The thought is entirely ordinary, yet Vimalakīrti immediately presses the question to its root: when someone comes to a Dharma assembly, has he come for the Dharma, or to settle his body comfortably? Śāriputra answers, 「我為法來，非為床座。」—“I have come for the Dharma, not for beds and seats.” The entire chapter unfolds from this one sentence.
What is remarkable is that the scripture does not end with “nothing to seek.” After saying that one who seeks the Dharma does not seek beds and seats, Vimalakīrti instead asks Mañjuśrī about the finest lion thrones; thirty-two thousand lofty thrones immediately enter the small room. From a thought about one seat, to Mount Sumeru entering a mustard seed and the four seas entering a pore, and finally to the manifestations of Māra kings and great beggars, the chapter keeps asking: if the mind no longer fixes large and small, long and short, coming and going, gain and loss into immovable boundaries, what freedom can wisdom and skillful means reveal?
What Does “Seeking Nothing” Actually Not Seek?
Vimalakīrti begins with what is closest to the body: one who truly seeks the Dharma does not covet body and life, much less beds and seats. This is not merely a rebuke to Śāriputra for wanting to sit down. The long passage that follows unfolds, layer by layer, the entire range of what might be sought.
The first layer consists of the classifications that constitute body, mind, and world. Form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness cannot be what is sought; the elements and entrances cannot be what is sought; the desire, form, and formless realms cannot be what is sought either. If seeking the Dharma still means wanting to acquire something from among these dharmas, “Dharma” has been placed opposite the mind and made into a possession.
The second layer is the Buddha, Dharma, community, and the modes of the Four Truths. The scripture does not merely say not to cling to worldly things. It also says not to seek while clinging to the Buddha, not to seek while clinging to the Dharma, and not to seek while clinging to the community. Even the thought “I will see suffering, cut off its origination, realize cessation, and cultivate the path,” if established as my attainment, becomes conceptual proliferation. This does not erase suffering, origination, cessation, and the path; rather, the scripture directly identifies the formulation “what I must do” as conceptual proliferation. Seeking the Dharma cannot proceed by having a seeker constantly add further attainable things to himself.
The third layer is subtler still. The Dharma is called quiescence; if one pursues arising and ceasing within it, what one seeks remains arising and ceasing. The Dharma is called unstained; if even nirvāṇa becomes an object of attachment, this still is not seeking the Dharma. The Dharma has no place of practice, grasping or discarding, or location. If one establishes a place in which to proceed, a dharma to grasp or discard, or a ground upon which to dwell, the mind has once again created a position upon the Dharma. The Dharma is called signless; to recognize by following signs becomes the seeking of signs. The Dharma cannot be abided in; to abide in Dharma once again becomes an abiding in Dharma.
Finally, the scripture also relinquishes seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. The Dharma cannot be treated as an object that can be seen, heard, sensed, or known. If one pursues it only within these four activities, what one obtains remains seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. The Dharma is called the unconditioned; if one tries to acquire it through conditioned fabrication, what one seeks remains conditioned. The whole passage therefore concludes, 「若求法者，於一切法，應無所求。」—“If one seeks the Dharma, one should seek nothing in any dharma.”
This conclusion does not select, from among many objects, another object that deserves to be sought. It illuminates every possible place of abiding at once. The scripture immediately records that, when these words were spoken, five hundred sons of the gods attained purity of the Dharma eye among all dharmas. It merely records the benefit alongside “when these words were spoken”; it does not construct a separate causal explanation.
Why Ask for the Best Seats Just after Saying Not to Seek Beds and Seats?
The scripture next makes a forceful turn. Vimalakīrti does not remove beds and seats from the Dharma assembly. Instead, he asks Mañjuśrī: which buddha-land has lion thrones that are supremely wondrous and perfect in merit? Mañjuśrī says that eastward, beyond lands as numerous as the sands of thirty-six Ganges Rivers, lies the world Sumeru-Sign, where Buddha Sumeru-Lamp-King is presently dwelling. The buddha's body is eighty-four thousand yojanas tall, and his lion throne is likewise eighty-four thousand yojanas high.
When the thirty-two thousand thrones enter the room, the scripture says not only that they are lofty, broad, adorned, and pure, but also that the bodhisattvas, great disciples, Śakra, Brahmā, and the Four Heavenly Kings have never seen their like. More importantly, it says, 「其室廣博，悉皆包容三萬二千師子座，無所妨礙。」—“His room was broad and expansive, containing all thirty-two thousand lion thrones without obstruction.” The room contains every lofty throne, while the city of Vaiśālī, Jambudvīpa, and the four-continent world are not constricted and remain visible just as before.
This passage does not accommodate the great thrones by destroying the small room, nor does it cut the lofty thrones down to fit the room. The scripture allows the “small room” and the “lofty, broad thrones” to exist at the same time, then explains through “without obstruction” and “all seen as before” that neither side has been damaged. The compatibility of large and small first becomes an event before the assembly's eyes; only then does Vimalakīrti begin explaining inconceivable liberation.
The scripture also relates, step by step, who can mount the lofty thrones. Bodhisattvas who have attained spiritual mastery make their bodily forms correspond to the thrones and can then sit. Newly inspired bodhisattvas and the great disciples cannot mount them. Even after being invited, Śāriputra says that he cannot ascend. Vimalakīrti tells him to pay homage to the Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King, and only after paying homage can the newly inspired bodhisattvas and great disciples sit. Here the thrones arrive first; bodily dimensions are then made to correspond, and homage to the buddha precedes sitting. Every step remains within the narrative, and there is no need to import from another recension the statement that novice bodhisattvas acquire spiritual mastery.
Within the Inconceivable, What Still Remains “Just as Before”?
Śāriputra marvels at the unprecedented sight of a small room containing the thrones, and Vimalakīrti then says that the buddhas and bodhisattvas have a liberation called inconceivable. The scripture thereafter enumerates each display: Sumeru enters a mustard seed with neither increase nor decrease, and Sumeru, king of mountains, remains in its original form just as before; the four great seas enter a pore without disturbing aquatic creatures, and the seas remain in their original forms just as before; a world is cast beyond Ganges-sands like a potter's wheel, and its sentient beings do not perceive or know it. The accompanying language differs according to each event.
Sumeru, king of mountains, is placed in a single mustard seed. The mustard seed does not increase, Sumeru does not decrease, and 「須彌山王本相如故」—“Sumeru, king of mountains, remains in its original form just as before.” The Four Heavenly Kings and the gods of Trāyastriṃśa do not know that they have entered it; only those who should be liberated see it. This is not one strange spectacle that everyone is compelled to see alike. The scripture explicitly retains the words “only those who should be liberated see it.”
The waters of the four great seas are placed in one pore. Fish, soft-shelled turtles, giant turtles, alligators, and other aquatic creatures are not disturbed; the seas remain in their original forms; dragons, ghosts, spirits, and asuras do not know that they have entered a pore; and other sentient beings are not disturbed. After the great has entered the small, the great has not lost its original form, the small is not described as expanding, and the lives within have not become the price of the display.
A three-thousand-great-thousand world is cut out, set in the right palm like a potter's wheel, cast beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and then returned to its original place. The scripture specifically says that the sentient beings within do not know where they have gone and do not form a thought of going or returning; the world remains in its original form just as before. Freedom here lies not only in moving a world, but also in the world's being moved without sentient beings developing a sense of movement.
Time, too, can be extended or contracted, but not as an arbitrary display. Some sentient beings delight in dwelling in the world for a long time and can be liberated only in that way; the bodhisattva therefore extends seven days into a kalpa and causes them to think that a kalpa has passed. Others do not delight in dwelling long and can be liberated only in that way; the bodhisattva therefore contracts a kalpa into seven days and causes them to think that seven days have passed. Long and short both appear in response to those who can be liberated; the scripture does not separate the alteration of time from the beings to be liberated.
The displays that follow become ever more extensive: the adornments of all buddha-lands are gathered in one land for sentient beings to see; the sentient beings of one buddha-land are placed upon the right palm and flown throughout the ten directions so that everything is shown to them, yet their original place does not move; the implements with which sentient beings throughout the ten directions make offerings to the buddhas can all be seen in a single pore; and the suns, moons, and constellations of the ten directions are likewise manifested throughout a single pore.
All the winds of the ten directions are drawn into the mouth, yet the bodhisattva's body is unharmed and the trees outside are not broken. The fires that consume the worlds of the ten directions at the end of a kalpa are taken into the belly: 「火事如故而不為害。」—“The fires continue just as before and do no harm.” The fires are not said to be extinguished, and the bodhisattva is not harmed. The bodhisattva also descends past buddha-worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, takes up one buddha-land, and raises it beyond countless worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, as if lifting a jujube leaf with the tip of a needle, yet without disturbance.
The displays do not alter scale alone. A bodhisattva can manifest the body of a buddha, a pratyekabuddha, a śrāvaka, Śakra, a Brahmā king, a lord of the world, or a wheel-turning king; none of the seven bodily forms is omitted. Every superior, middling, or inferior sound in the worlds of the ten directions can in turn be transformed into a buddha's voice, expounding impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, together with the various dharmas taught by the buddhas of the ten directions, so that sentient beings everywhere can hear them.
At this point Vimalakīrti deliberately draws the account to a close: this is only a brief account; were the power of inconceivable liberation explained extensively, a whole kalpa would be exhausted without reaching the end. The scripture does not let the reader treat the fourteen enumerated displays as a complete boundary. By calling the account “brief,” it reminds us that every stated display is only something glimpsed within the gate.
Why Does Mahākāśyapa Use the Simile of a Blind Person Seeing Forms?
After hearing the account, Mahākāśyapa first marvels that it is unprecedented, and then says, 「譬如有人，於盲者前現眾色像，非彼所見；」—“Suppose someone displays many colors and forms before a blind person; they are not seen by him.” Although colors and forms are present, the blind person cannot see them. Śrāvakas who hear inconceivable liberation but cannot understand it are the same. The simile does not say that the Dharma-gate has failed to appear; it says that a distance remains between what is displayed and what is seen.
Mahākāśyapa then asks: what wise person, on hearing this, would fail to arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening? He further says that the śrāvakas are like spoiled seeds within the Great Vehicle and should weep aloud, whereas the bodhisattvas should rejoice and reverently receive the teaching upon their heads. The scripture places all these words within Mahākāśyapa's own lament; it does not extract “spoiled seeds” from a speaker's words and turn it into a separate doctrinal judgment.
He finally says that no Māra host can do anything to a bodhisattva who accepts in faith and understands the Dharma-gate of inconceivable liberation. As Mahākāśyapa says these words, thirty-two thousand sons of the gods arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening. As with the earlier purity of the Dharma eye attained by five hundred sons of the gods, the scripture again records the benefit with language of simultaneity.
Why Are Māra Kings and Great Beggars Also Placed within the Gate of Inconceivability?
Following the statement that Māra cannot disturb them, Vimalakīrti continues: among the immeasurable worlds of the ten directions, many who manifest as kings Māra are bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation, who employ the power of skillful means to teach and transform sentient beings. The scripture does not stop at the external appearance “king Māra,” but places that appearance alongside the liberation in which they abide and the skillful means they employ.
The passage on great beggars is sharper still. The scripture does not vaguely say “they demand various things,” but lists each one: hands, feet, ears, and noses; heads, eyes, marrow, and brains; blood, flesh, skin, and bones; villages and towns; wives, sons, daughters, and servants; elephants, horses, and carriages; gold, silver, and beryl; giant clamshells and agate; coral and amber; pearls and conch shells; clothing, drink, and food. Body, family, land, treasure, and daily necessities all fall within what is demanded.
The scripture immediately says that many who come to demand these things are bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation, who go through the power of skillful means to test others and make their resolve firm. It further says that only those possessing the power of awe-inspiring virtue can manifest pressure and display difficult deeds; ordinary persons are inferior and lack strength, so they cannot act in this way. The restriction and the action occur in the same passage. One cannot take only the appearance of pressure and omit the boundary that it requires awe-inspiring virtue and cannot be done by ordinary persons.
The final simile is, 「譬如龍象蹴踏，非驢所堪。」—“It is like the trampling of a dragon-elephant, which a donkey cannot bear.” It distinguishes clearly between what can and cannot be done. The chapter's last sentence no longer names large and small, long and short, or individual displays, but directly calls this the gate of wisdom and skillful means of bodhisattvas who abide in inconceivable liberation.
From “Coming for the Dharma” to Wisdom and Skillful Means, What Path Does This Chapter Unfold?
At the beginning of the chapter, Śāriputra says that he has come for the Dharma; Vimalakīrti presses seeking the Dharma all the way to seeking nothing in any dharma. In the middle, thirty-two thousand lofty thrones enter a small room: Sumeru and the mustard seed, the four seas and a pore, a world and the palm, a long kalpa and seven days. The scripture attaches a distinct phrase to each event—neither increase nor decrease, original form just as before, no disturbance, or neither perception nor knowledge. At the end, the outer appearances of Māra kings and great beggars likewise cannot be read in isolation; the scripture requires that their abiding in liberation, their power of skillful means, and the restriction that ordinary persons cannot do this all be seen together.
Thus, seeking nothing is not the chapter's blank starting point; it means not fixing either side into an attainment. Lion thrones may be set out, bodies may sit, buddha-lands may be adorned, and many sounds may expound the Dharma. Yet beds and seats, size, time, bodily form, kings Māra, and demands cannot be fixed solely by their surface appearance. Through “just as before” and “without disturbance,” the scripture safeguards sentient beings; through wisdom and skillful means, it safeguards the purpose of the displays. From a thought of seeking a seat to wisdom and skillful means, this is the complete path left by the chapter itself.
At several points the scripture specifically connects transformation to the liberation of sentient beings. When Sumeru enters the mustard seed, not everyone sees it; only those who should be liberated can see it. Extending seven days into a kalpa and contracting a kalpa into seven days correspond respectively to sentient beings who delight in long dwelling and those who do not, each capable of liberation in that way. The adornments of buddha-lands are gathered into one land in order to be shown to sentient beings; the sentient beings of one buddha-land are placed on the palm in order to be shown throughout the ten directions; sounds become a buddha's voice in order that the various dharmas may be heard everywhere. Even with kings Māra and great beggars, the scripture still says that their skillful means teach and transform or make resolve firm. If one looks only at scale, speed, and power, one misses the “for whom is this manifested?” that immediately accompanies each passage.
At several other points, the scripture expressly connects the displays with non-harm: aquatic creatures are not disturbed, the sentient beings within the world form no thought of going or returning, trees are not broken, and sentient beings are without disturbance. Even when fire is taken into the belly, the fires remain just as before while the bodhisattva is unharmed. In each instance above, the scripture attaches its own phrase; the chapter's final sentence itself concludes with 「住不可思議解脫菩薩智慧方便之門」—“the gate of wisdom and skillful means of bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation.”
Two Mirrors Shining Together
Everything above has followed only the chapter itself in Kumārajīva's recension. When ancient masters read its seeking of Dharma, establishment of seats, displays, Mahākāśyapa, and great beggars, each saw different patterns through his own scriptural recension. The two mirrors below present the three Kumārajīva-line commentators and the Ci'en tradition separately. Each keeps to the recension it follows; they shine with equal authority, and one mirror does not adjudicate the other.
The Kumārajīva-Line Mirror: Not Grasping the Marks of Dharmas, Outer Traces and Inner Virtue, and the Two Gates of Provisionality and Wisdom
Kumārajīva's comment begins with the mind that seeks the Dharma: 「不取法相、理會於法，名為求法。若取相生著，心與法乖，非求法也。」—“Not grasping the marks of dharmas and inwardly meeting the Dharma is called seeking the Dharma. If one grasps marks and gives rise to attachment, the mind diverges from the Dharma; this is not seeking the Dharma.” Sengzhao says, 「真求乃不求法，況安身之具乎。」—“True seeking does not even seek the Dharma; how much less the implements that support the body.” At the conclusion he again says that if one truly wishes to seek, only seeking nothing is true seeking. Daosheng offers another concise conclusion: 「夫求法者，非謂求也，以無復諸求為求耳。」—“One who seeks the Dharma is not said to seek; taking the absence of all further seeking as seeking, that is all.” All three discuss non-seeking, but Kumārajīva focuses on grasping marks and generating attachment, Sengzhao on true seeking as not seeking, and Daosheng on there being no further seeking. Their three attributions cannot be merged into “Sengzhao says.”
On inconceivable liberation, Kumārajīva says, 「能然而莫知所以然，故曰不思議也。」—“It can be so, yet no one knows how it is so; therefore it is called inconceivable.” Regarding Sumeru entering a mustard seed, he also says, 「巨細相容物無定體，明不常也。」—“The immense and the minute contain one another; things have no fixed substance, which clarifies impermanence.” Sengzhao's extended explanation, by contrast, regards outward displays as showing the root through its branches and entrusting the subtle to coarse manifestations; it seeks the inner virtue of inconceivability. At the chapter's end he further says, 「智慧遠通、方便近導，異迹所以形、眾庶所以成，物不無由而莫之能測，故權智二門為不思議之本也。」—“Wisdom penetrates afar, while skillful means guide what is near. By them extraordinary traces take form and the multitude is brought to fulfillment. Events do not lack a cause, yet no one can fathom them; therefore the two gates of provisionality and wisdom are the root of inconceivability.” One reading illuminates the absence of a fixed substance through mutual containment; the other follows outward traces back to wisdom and skillful means. The two stand side by side without replacing one another.
In the passage on great beggars, Kumārajīva says that the perfection of giving is nearing completion but has not yet reached its utmost, so a great being forcefully comes to make demands, bringing the giver's mind without reluctance to complete firmness. Sengzhao, however, warns that those equipped with spiritual powers discern a person's capacities in advance and do not need to test in order to know, asking, 「豈待試而後知耶？」—“Would they wait to test before they know?” One account emphasizes making resolve and practice firm; the other emphasizes knowing without waiting for a test. Each remains intact.
The Ci'en Mirror: Ten Sections on Seeking the Dharma, Six Rounds, and Multiple Explanations
Following Xuanzang's recension, Kuiji first divides seeking the Dharma into a general explanation, a detailed explanation, and a conclusion, and then arranges the detailed explanation into ten sections. He says, 「所求，謂作證法。所不求者，雖可求知，不求證獲，故名不求。」—“What is sought means a dharma to be realized. What is not sought may be sought as knowledge, but is not sought as realized attainment; therefore it is called not seeking.” He concludes with, 「於是法中無求而求，是為求法。」—“Within these dharmas, seeking without seeking: this is seeking the Dharma.” This mirror also explains the purity of the Dharma eye attained by five hundred sons of the gods as attainment of stream-entry, unlike Sengzhao's statement that it is purity of the Great Vehicle Dharma eye. The two explanations are recorded together without choosing one.
For the small room and the great thrones, Kuiji lists several explanations, including that the room becomes large and that the small can contain the great; he does not retain only one. He divides the displays of inconceivability into six rounds: 「一大小相容、二寬狹相納、三往來自在、四延促任情、五運轉隨心、六同類往趣。」—“First, great and small mutually contain; second, broad and narrow mutually receive; third, coming and going are free; fourth, extension and contraction follow intent; fifth, movement and turning follow the mind; sixth, those of the same kind proceed toward one another.” In the mutual containment of mountain and mustard seed, he first lists an interpretation through the principle of emptiness and then eight Consciousness-Only explanations. One of these says, 「五、迷心執境，實境難容；識境皆心，何礙不得。」—“Fifth, a deluded mind grasps objects, so real objects are difficult to contain; when consciousness and object are both mind, what obstruction could prevent it?” This is only one of eight explanations. It cannot obscure the other seven, much less be retrojected as something directly stated by Kumārajīva's recension.
This mirror also preserves features distinctive to Xuanzang's recension: novice bodhisattvas mount the thrones after attaining the five spiritual powers, whereas the śrāvakas sit after paying homage to the buddha; and at the chapter's end another eight thousand bodhisattvas enter the realm of inconceivable liberation. These passages are not found within this chapter of Kumārajīva's recension and therefore remain only within the Ci'en mirror. Regarding the great beggars, Kuiji divides what is demanded into inner and outer wealth and associates those capable of applying pressure with the eighth stage and above. This stage-based interpretation likewise belongs only to this mirror and is not poured downward into the text of Kumārajīva's recension.
Both mirrors read from seeking the Dharma through the displays and great beggars, yet they employ different recensions and vocabularies. The three Kumārajīva-line commentators unfold the chapter through not grasping the marks of dharmas, non-seeking, outer traces and inner virtue, and provisionality and wisdom; the Ci'en tradition unfolds it through ten sections, six rounds, the principle of emptiness, and Consciousness-Only explanations. Both lines of reception can illuminate the chapter at once, but need not be merged into one common interpretation. The scripture remains at the center, giving everything disclosed by each mirror both its source and its boundary.
考據Apparatus
全品定位 本品位於卷中。舍利弗先因室中無床座而起念，維摩詰由『為法而來，還是求床座』發問，說求法者於一切法應無所求；接著問文殊師利何方佛土有上妙師子座，使三萬二千高座入於一室而無妨礙，再由此廣說不可思議解脫。大迦葉聞後歎未曾有，品末轉入魔王示現、大乞試驗與智慧方便之門。全品由求座入無求，由設座顯大小相容，由神變反覆申明不增、不減、不嬈、不害，最後以智慧與方便收束。
一、科判定位
| 節點 | 定位 |
|---|---|
| 卷品 | 卷中 · 第六〈不思議品〉 |
| 品題 | T14n0475 0546a03 |
| 品身 | 0546a03–0547a27 |
| 舍利弗念座 | 0546a04 |
| 維摩詰問為法或求座 | 0546a05–0546a07 |
| 求法者應無所求 | 0546a08–0546a25 |
| 五百天子得法眼淨 | 0546a26 |
| 問座、設座與昇座 | 0546a28–0546b23 |
| 廣說不可思議解脫 | 0546b24–0547a02 |
| 大迦葉歎恨與三萬二千天子發心 | 0547a03–0547a14 |
| 魔王、大乞與智慧方便 | 0547a15–0547a27 |
| 下一品題 | 第七〈觀眾生品〉，0547a28 |
全品可依六個移動讀：一、求座而顯無求；二、說法時五百天子得法眼淨；三、問座、設座與昇座；四、廣說不可思議解脫神變；五、迦葉歎恨與天子發心；六、魔王、大乞與智慧方便。底本品內有十五個散文段，沒有偈頌，也沒有呪文。兩次法益都照經文的『時』字並記，不把同時發生改寫成前事造成後果。
二、異譯對勘
三譯各守本名：支謙、羅什二本作維摩詰、文殊師利、須彌燈王；玄奘本作無垢稱、妙吉祥、山燈王。三本同有第六〈不思議品〉之名，品內起訖與段落卻不完全相同。下列依關鍵節點並欄；某本品界內沒有相應段，即明記『本品未見』，不以他品或後譯補入。
一、求法與法眼淨
| 節點 | 支謙 T474 | 羅什 T475 | 玄奘 T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 舍利弗見室無座 | 本品未見 | 「爾時舍利弗見此室中無有床座，作是念：「斯諸菩薩、大弟子眾，當於何坐？」」（T14n0475 0546a04） | 「時舍利子見此室中無有床座，竊作是念：「此諸菩薩及大聲聞當於何坐？」」（T14n0476 0570a29） |
| 為法或求床座 | 本品未見 | 「云何仁者？為法來耶？求床座耶？」（T14n0475 0546a06） | 「唯，舍利子！為法來耶？求床坐耶？」（T14n0476 0570b02） |
| 於一切法無所求 | 本品未見 | 「是故，舍利弗！若求法者，於一切法，應無所求。」（T14n0475 0546a25） | 「是故，舍利子！若欲求法，於一切法應無所求。」（T14n0476 0570c03） |
| 五百天子法眼淨 | 本品未見 | 「說是語時，五百天子於諸法中得法眼淨。」（T14n0475 0546a26） | 「說是法時，五百天子遠塵離垢，於諸法中得法眼淨。」（T14n0476 0570c04） |
支謙本本品從問師子座起，沒有羅什、玄奘二本品首的念座、訶座、無求說與五百天子法眼淨。這一差別只誌錄本品形態，不以支謙本他處補成相同開頭。
二、問座、設座與昇座
| 節點 | 支謙 T474 | 羅什 T475 | 玄奘 T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 世界與佛號 | 「其世界名須彌幡，其佛號須彌燈王如來、至真、等正覺，今現在。」（T14n0474 0527a19） | 「有世界名須彌相，其佛號須彌燈王，今現在。」（T14n0475 0546b02） | 「有佛世界名曰山幢，彼土如來號山燈王，今正現在安隱住持。」（T14n0476 0570c10） |
| 佛身與佛座量 | 「其佛身八萬四千由延，佛師子座六萬八千由延。」（T14n0474 0527a21） | 「彼佛身長八萬四千由旬，其師子座高八萬四千由旬，嚴飾第一。」（T14n0475 0546b03） | 「其佛身長八十四億踰膳那量，其師子座高六十八億踰膳那量；」（T14n0476 0570c12） |
| 菩薩身與座量 | 「其菩薩身四萬二千由延，須彌幡國有八百四十萬師子之座。」（T14n0474 0527a22） | 本品未見此一組並列量數 | 「彼菩薩身長四十二億踰膳那量，其師子座高三十四億踰膳那量。」（T14n0476 0570c13） |
| 座數與來入 | 「遣三萬二千師子座，高廣淨好，」（T14n0474 0527a26） | 「即時彼佛遣三萬二千師子座，高廣嚴淨，來入維摩詰室，」（T14n0475 0546b05） | 「山燈王佛遣三十二億大師子座——高廣嚴淨，甚可愛樂——乘空來入無垢稱室。」（T14n0476 0570c18） |
| 新學菩薩 | 「其邊菩薩、大弟子，皆不能昇。」（T14n0474 0527b05） | 「諸新發意菩薩及大弟子皆不能昇。」（T14n0475 0546b14） | 「令彼一切得五神通，即以神力各自變身為四十二億踰膳那量，昇師子座端嚴而坐。」（T14n0476 0571a02） |
| 聲聞禮佛方坐 | 「為須彌燈王如來作禮，然後可坐。」（T14n0474 0527b07） | 「為須彌燈王如來作禮，乃可得坐。」（T14n0475 0546b18） | 「宜應禮敬山燈王佛，請加神力方可得坐。」（T14n0476 0571a07） |
三本的國名、佛名、由旬譯形、數量與新學菩薩昇座情形各不相同。羅什本只說得神通菩薩自行變形，新發意菩薩及大弟子不能昇；玄奘本另載新學菩薩得五神通後昇座。後者只留在玄奘本欄，不倒入羅什本讀者面。
三、不可思議解脫與神變
| 節點 | 支謙 T474 | 羅什 T475 | 玄奘 T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 法門名目 | 「諸如來、諸菩薩有八不思議門。」（T14n0474 0527b13） | 「諸佛菩薩，有解脫名不可思議。」（T14n0475 0546b24） | 「諸佛、如來、應、正等覺及不退菩薩有解脫名不可思議。」（T14n0476 0571a15） |
| 須彌入芥子 | 「以須彌之高廣入芥子中，無所增減，」（T14n0474 0527b14） | 「以須彌之高廣內芥子中無所增減，須彌山王本相如故，」（T14n0475 0546b25） | 「妙高山王高廣如是，能以神力內芥子中，而令芥子形量不增、妙高山王形量不減。」（T14n0476 0571a17） |
| 延七日為一劫 | 「為奉律人現七夜為劫壽，」（T14n0474 0527b25） | 「菩薩即延七日以為一劫，」（T14n0475 0546c09） | 「或延七日以為一劫令彼有情謂經一劫、」（T14n0476 0571b19） |
| 促一劫為七日 | 本品未見 | 「菩薩即促一劫以為七日，」（T14n0475 0546c11） | 「或促一劫以為七日令彼有情謂經七日，」（T14n0476 0571b20） |
| 供具見於毛孔 | 本品未見 | 「十方眾生供養諸佛之具，菩薩於一毛孔皆令得見；」（T14n0475 0546c16） | 「又以神力從一毛孔現出一切上妙供具，遍歷十方一切世界供養諸佛、菩薩、聲聞。」（T14n0476 0571c03） |
| 諸風入口 | 本品未見 | 「十方世界所有諸風，菩薩悉能吸著口中，」（T14n0475 0546c18） | 「又以神力乃至十方一切世界大風輪等吸置口中而身無損，」（T14n0476 0571c06） |
| 現作多類身相 | 「如佛像色貌立以立之，如緣一覺像色貌立以立之，如弟子像色貌立以立之，」（T14n0474 0527c06） | 「能以神通現作佛身，或現辟支佛身，或現聲聞身，」（T14n0475 0546c25） | 「能以神力現作佛身種種色像、或現獨覺及諸聲聞種種色像、或現菩薩種種色像——」（T14n0476 0571c20） |
| 略說、廣說不盡 | 本品未見 | 「我今略說菩薩不可思議解脫之力，若廣說者，窮劫不盡。」（T14n0475 0547a01） | 「我今略說安住如是不可思議解脫菩薩方便善巧智力所入不可思議解脫境界。」（T14n0476 0572a06） |
支謙本所列神變較短，且用『八不思議門』；羅什、玄奘二本用『解脫名不可思議』。三本對延促時分、毛孔所現、身相變化與收束語各有增減，不把『本品未見』改說成全譯本絕無，也不取較長本補較短本。
四、迦葉、魔王、大乞與品末利益
| 節點 | 支謙 T474 | 羅什 T475 | 玄奘 T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 迦葉所用譬喻 | 「譬如，賢者！於凡人前現眾名香，非彼所見，則不能知，為若此也。」（T14n0474 0527c12） | 「譬如有人，於盲者前現眾色像，非彼所見；」（T14n0475 0547a04） | 「譬如有人對生盲者，雖現種種差別色像，而彼盲者都不能見。」（T14n0476 0572a15） |
| 三萬二千天子發心 | 「三萬二千天人皆發無上正真道意。」（T14n0474 0527c20） | 「三萬二千天子皆發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。」（T14n0475 0547a13） | 「眾中三萬二千天子皆發無上正等覺心。」（T14n0476 0572a29） |
| 魔王多為菩薩示現 | 本品未見 | 「多是住不可思議解脫菩薩。以方便力教化眾生，現作魔王。」（T14n0475 0547a16） | 「多是安住不可思議解脫菩薩方便善巧現作魔王，為欲成熟諸有情故。」（T14n0476 0572b03） |
| 大乞所求 | 「或從菩薩求索手足、耳鼻、頭眼、髓腦、血肉、肌體、妻子、男女、眷屬，」（T14n0474 0527c24） | 「或有人從乞手足耳鼻、頭目髓腦、血肉皮骨、」（T14n0475 0547a18） | 「諸有來求手、足、耳、鼻、頭、目、髓、腦、血、肉、筋骨、一切支體，」（T14n0476 0572b06） |
| 玄奘本品末八千菩薩 | 本品未見 | 本品未見 | 「說此法時，八千菩薩得入菩薩方便善巧智力所入不可思議解脫境界。」（T14n0476 0572b24） |
支謙本沒有魔王示現段；羅什本沒有玄奘本品末八千菩薩得益段。玄奘本所載品末利益只在玄奘本與其疏鏡中傳錄，不補到羅什本品尾。
三、經論宗依（眼）
本品之眼先在羅什本本品實文。四條主線前後相接：由求座顯無所求，由無所求至法眼淨；由小室容大座顯無礙；由一連串神變反覆保存本相並不嬈眾生；最後由魔王、大乞收於智慧方便。
一、求法者於一切法應無所求。 舍利弗說自己為法而來，維摩詰便從軀命、床座一路說到五蘊、界入、三界、三寶、四諦行相、見聞覺知與有為無為，末以「是故，舍利弗！若求法者，於一切法，應無所求。」（T14n0475 0546a25）作結。此處不是換一個更高的對象來貪著，而是連『我正在求法』所依的一切住處也不立。
二、小室與大座同時不失其相。 三萬二千師子座來入維摩詰室，經文說：「其室廣博，悉皆包容三萬二千師子座，無所妨礙。」（T14n0475 0546b08）又說毘耶離城、閻浮提與四天下都不迫迮，悉見如故。大小沒有靠毀去一端才相容，無妨礙與如故同時成立。
三、神變之中反覆申明不嬈不害。 須彌入芥子而無所增減，四海入毛孔而水族不被擾動，世界被置掌擲還而眾生不起往來想，風入口而樹木不折，劫火入腹而不為害，佛土被舉過無數世界而無所嬈。經文所顯的不只是尺度改變，更是一再保留本相、覺受與眾生安隱。
四、不可思議以智慧方便收束。 品末說大士可示現魔王，也可作大乞者使菩薩志願堅固；經文同時限定凡夫下劣、無有力勢者不能如此，最後明稱：「是名住不可思議解脫菩薩智慧方便之門。」（T14n0475 0547a26）不可思議並未止在奇特形相，而落到智慧與方便如何共同作用。
四、本品釋要
一、求法者無所求
舍利弗看見室中沒有床座，先想到眾菩薩與大弟子應當坐在哪裡。維摩詰知道其念，問他是為法而來，還是求床座；舍利弗答為法而來。維摩詰遂把『求法』從床座一路推至一切法：
| 序 | 經文所列 | 本品所示 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 軀命、床座 | 不貪軀命，何況安身之具 |
| 2 | 色、受、想、行、識 | 不以五蘊作所得 |
| 3 | 界、入 | 不以十八界、十二入作所得 |
| 4 | 欲、色、無色 | 不以三界作所得 |
| 5 | 佛、法、眾 | 不著三寶而求 |
| 6 | 見苦、斷集、證滅、修道 | 不把四諦行相變成『我將如何』的戲論 |
| 7 | 寂滅與生滅 | 法名寂滅，不以生滅行求之 |
| 8 | 無染與染著 | 乃至染著涅槃，仍不是求法 |
| 9 | 無行處與行處 | 不另立一處可行 |
| 10 | 無取捨與取捨 | 不在法上另作取捨 |
| 11 | 無處所與著處 | 不把法安置為可著之處 |
| 12 | 無相與隨相識 | 不逐相而識為所得 |
| 13 | 不可住與住法 | 不住於法 |
| 14 | 不可見、聞、覺、知 | 不以四種識取作求法 |
| 15 | 無為與有為 | 不以有為行求無為 |
| 16 | 一切法 | 結於應無所求 |
經文說這段話時，五百天子於諸法中得法眼淨。它只記同時法益，不另說一條由先前敘事推成後果的因果鏈。
二、問座、設座與昇座
維摩詰接著問文殊師利：哪一佛土有上妙、功德成就的師子座？文殊師利說東方越過三十六恒河沙國，有須彌相世界，須彌燈王佛現在住世；佛身長八萬四千由旬，師子座也高八萬四千由旬。維摩詰現神通力，須彌燈王佛便遣三萬二千高廣嚴淨的師子座來入其室。室能全數包容，城與四天下也仍如故。
得神通的菩薩自行變身為四萬二千由旬而坐；新發意菩薩與大弟子不能昇。舍利弗受勸仍說座太高廣，維摩詰便要他禮須彌燈王如來；新發意菩薩及大弟子作禮後才得坐。舍利弗因小室能容高座、外界不迫迮而歎未曾有，這一歎成為維摩詰廣說不可思議解脫的起點。
三、不可思議解脫十四種神變
| 序 | 神變 | 經文同時保留之條件 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 須彌山王入芥子 | 無所增減；山王本相如故；諸天不覺，唯應度者見 |
| 2 | 四大海水入一毛孔 | 水族不受擾動；大海本相如故；龍、鬼神、阿修羅不覺，眾生無所嬈 |
| 3 | 三千大千世界置掌、擲出、還置 | 眾生不覺所往，也不起往來想；世界本相如故 |
| 4 | 延七日為一劫 | 為樂久住世而可度者，令其自謂一劫 |
| 5 | 促一劫為七日 | 為不樂久住而可度者，令其自謂七日 |
| 6 | 一切佛土嚴飾集在一國 | 示於眾生 |
| 7 | 一佛土眾生置於右掌、遍示十方 | 不動本處 |
| 8 | 十方眾生供佛之具見於一毛孔 | 供具皆令得見 |
| 9 | 十方日、月、星宿見於一毛孔 | 普使見之 |
| 10 | 十方諸風吸入口中 | 身無損，外諸樹木不摧折 |
| 11 | 劫盡之火納入腹中 | 火事如故，菩薩不受其害 |
| 12 | 下方佛土舉置上方 | 如鍼鋒舉棗葉，眾生無所嬈 |
| 13 | 現作七類身 | 佛、辟支佛、聲聞、帝釋、梵王、世主、轉輪王，一類不省 |
| 14 | 上、中、下眾聲轉為佛聲 | 演無常、苦、空、無我及十方諸佛所說種種法，普令得聞 |
維摩詰明說這只是略說；若要廣說菩薩不可思議解脫之力，窮劫也說不盡。
四、迦葉歎恨與天子發心
大迦葉聞法後歎未曾有，以盲者面前雖現眾色、盲者仍不能見，譬一切聲聞聞此法門卻不能解了。他問有智者聽見後，誰會不發無上正等正覺之心；又自歎聲聞於大乘如敗種，說聲聞宜號泣、菩薩宜欣慶頂受，並說信解此法門者，魔眾不能奈何。大迦葉說這些話時，三萬二千天子都發無上正等正覺心。
五、魔王、大乞與智慧方便
維摩詰再告訴大迦葉：十方無量世界中作魔王者，多是住不可思議解脫的菩薩，以方便力教化眾生而示現魔王。又有大乞者向菩薩索求內外諸物，本品逐項列為：手足耳鼻、頭目髓腦、血肉皮骨、聚落城邑、妻子奴婢、象馬車乘、金銀琉璃、車磲馬碯、珊瑚琥珀、真珠珂貝、衣服飲食。經文不以省略語收束這張清單。
如此乞者，多是不可思議解脫菩薩以方便力前來，使其志願堅固。經文同時說，這些菩薩有威德力，凡夫下劣、無有力勢，不能作如此逼迫；又以龍象蹴踏非驢所堪為譬。全品遂從最初一張床座的求念，走到大小、延促、往來與示現都能自在，最後以智慧方便之門結束。
五、諸家異釋（雙鏡並錄）
本目嚴守兩個隨本：T1775 所收什、肇、生三家依羅什 T475，所釋經主為維摩詰，文殊為文殊師利，佛名為須彌燈王；T1782 窺基依玄奘 T476，所釋經主為無垢稱，文殊為妙吉祥，佛名為山燈王。兩鏡等權並列，不以一鏡詞系改寫另一鏡。
一、求法何以無求
什曰（鳩摩羅什，依羅什本）：「什曰：不取法相、理會於法，名為求法。若取相生著，心與法乖，非求法也。」（T38n1775 0381b18）這一讀以不取法相說求法。
肇曰（僧肇，依羅什本）：「肇曰：真求乃不求法，況安身之具乎。自此下遍於諸法，明無求義也。」（T38n1775 0381b22）又在結處說：「肇曰：法相如此，豈可求乎？若欲求者，其唯無求乃真求耳。」（T38n1775 0381c15）
生曰（道生，依羅什本）：「生曰：夫求法者，非謂求也，以無復諸求為求耳。」（T38n1775 0381c17）什、肇、生三家都談無求，措辭與著力仍各自保留，不合成一條共同注語。
窺基（依玄奘本）先分總明、別明與結成，再把別明分為十段。他說：「所求，謂作證法。所不求者，雖可求知，不求證獲，故名不求。」（T38n1782 1077c04）十段依次列不求虛幻法、二乘差別執、有漏法、所知境、取捨、愛著、有相、世俗住法、四境法與惡業煩惱所為法，最後結為：「諸求法者，不求一切諸非法法，於非法法應無所求，於是法中無求而求，是為求法。」（T38n1782 1078a23）此科判只還於玄奘本疏鏡。
兩鏡對法眼淨亦有不同讀法。肇曰只說：「肇曰：大乘法眼淨也。」（T38n1775 0381c20）窺基則說：「贊曰：此第四段，時眾獲益，得預流果。」（T38n1782 1078a25）二說並存，不由本編裁成一義。
二、訶座之後何以設座
什曰把問座說成兩義：一是顯諸佛嚴淨功德與殊特之座，使始行菩薩深其志願；二是藉座往返，使教化流於二國。肇曰著眼於文殊遊化諸國，維摩詰先問後取，使眾會生敬信；生曰則說先問是要表明後來所致為實。三家仍各自署名，不以『僧肇注』籠統統攝。
窺基本身提出問答：「問曰：何故初責求法非座，後問座方，方將設置？答：理應求真非俗，所以初訶；禮訖順機，所以今設。」（T38n1782 1078b02）對小室容大座，他又並列室變大與小能納大等解；這些都是慈恩鏡的解讀，不倒作羅什本經文已明說的唯一答案。
三、不可思議與山芥相容
什曰說不可思議解脫：「什曰：同體異名也。夫欲為而不能則為縛也，應念即成解脫。無不能，名為解脫。能然而莫知所以然，故曰不思議也。」（T38n1775 0382b17）說須彌入芥子時，又以「巨細相容物無定體，明不常也。」（T38n1775 0382b25）照其作用。
肇曰則由外迹追內德，以智與權為本，並說解脫是自在心法，所得者內行外應自在無閡。這一長釋沒有把巨細相容當作全部，只把它視為由末示本、託麁表微的外迹。
窺基把玄奘本廣說分為六翻：「此中六者，一大小相容、二寬狹相納、三往來自在、四延促任情、五運轉隨心、六同類往趣。」（T38n1782 1079b11）在山芥相容處，他先列空理義，再列應理八釋；八釋之一說：「五、迷心執境，實境難容；識境皆心，何礙不得。」（T38n1782 1079b26）此為八釋之一，不取代其餘七釋，也不改成羅什本自說。
四、迦葉、魔王與大乞
迦葉說聲聞應號泣，肇曰先明這是假言：「肇曰：所乖處重，故假言應號泣耳。二乘憂悲永除尚無微泣，況震三千乎？」（T38n1775 0383a09）窺基則把迦葉歎恨分為六：恨己不知、明智能悟、嗟無發趣、怨己悲號、慶他道勝、顯能破惡。兩家對同段的分判各自保存。
對大乞，什曰把強索繫於令施度將盡未極的菩薩無惜心具足堅固；肇曰則問『豈待試而後知』，說大士逆覩人根，是為堅固其志而不須故索。窺基依玄奘本把所乞分內財、外財，又說：「八地以上解脫菩薩，方能大乞而行逼迫，威力大故，亦方大施，非前位能。」（T38n1782 1081a19）位地之說只屬慈恩鏡；羅什本身只說住不可思議解脫菩薩有威德力。
玄奘本品末另有八千菩薩得入不可思議解脫境界，窺基釋為能入並證不退；支謙、羅什二本本品未見此段。這一利益只在玄奘本鏡中傳錄，不補寫於羅什本品末。
六、術語與譬喻
一、本品術語
求法、無所求。 經文不是以床座為唯一所破，而是逐層列至一切法。什、肇、生所說『不取法相』『真求乃不求』『以無復諸求為求』與窺基『無求而求』各還其家，不能去掉署名後混成一句經文。
界、入。 肇曰分別說十八界與十二入；玄奘本與窺基疏用蘊、界、處的詞系。羅什本白話可依肇注釋界、入，卻不把玄奘本牒文換入羅什原句。
見、聞、覺、知。 肇曰把見聞配眼耳識、覺配鼻舌身識、知配意識；窺基依玄奘本另引《對法論》《瑜伽論》分疏四名。兩套分配並錄，不跨本合成。
不可思議解脫。 羅什本先以此為解脫名，再列其作用；什曰著眼於能然而不知所以然，肇曰著眼於內德權智與外應自在，窺基著眼於不退菩薩神通、解脫定障及六翻科判。它們都是古德讀法，不等同於經文只說一個後設定義。
智慧方便之門。 羅什本以此作全品末句。肇曰說智慧遠通、方便近導，權智二門是不思議之本；本品窺基疏沒有另作同句對釋，故不自行補成對稱兩欄。
二、三譯名量分欄
| 義點 | 支謙 T474 | 羅什 T475 | 玄奘 T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 經主 | 維摩詰 | 維摩詰 | 無垢稱 |
| 文殊 | 文殊師利 | 文殊師利 | 妙吉祥 |
| 世界 | 須彌幡 | 須彌相 | 山幢 |
| 佛號 | 須彌燈王如來 | 須彌燈王 | 山燈王 |
| 佛身量 | 八萬四千由延 | 八萬四千由旬 | 八十四億踰膳那 |
| 佛座量 | 六萬八千由延 | 八萬四千由旬 | 六十八億踰膳那 |
| 來座數 | 三萬二千 | 三萬二千 | 三十二億 |
| 法門名 | 八不思議門 | 解脫名不可思議 | 解脫名不可思議 |
三本數量不換算，也不以一欄的整齊數目校正另一欄。
三、本品自有譬喻
須彌入芥子、四海入毛孔。 兩喻都同時寫大者本相如故、小者不增，以及其中眾生不覺或不受擾動；不能只取『大入小』四字而省去不嬈不害。
世界如陶家輪。 菩薩斷取三千大千世界，如陶家輪，著右掌中，擲過恒河沙世界之外，又還置本處（T475 無「旋轉」二字；玄奘本作「如陶家輪速疾旋轉擲置他方」（T14n0476 0571b08），窺基據玄奘本解，兩本分欄不合）；窺基只把陶家輪釋為陶師之家打瓦輪，不增其未說的器物細節。
鍼鋒舉棗葉。 從下方取一佛土而置上方，經文說如鍼鋒舉一棗葉，重點仍帶『無所嬈』。
盲者前現眾色。 大迦葉用此譬聲聞聞不可思議解脫而不能解了。支謙本相應處作眾名香，三本異形分欄保存，不改為共同譬喻。
敗種。 大迦葉以敗種自歎聲聞於大乘永絕其根；這是經中人物的自陳，不擴成對一切聲聞的後設判決。
龍象與驢。 品末以龍象蹴踏非驢所堪，譬有威德力者方能現行逼迫；經文已明說凡夫下劣不能如此，故不把此譬抽離限制而作普遍行事法。
七、徵引承衍
什門三家的承衍，從無求一路走向權智。什曰以不取法相釋求法，以能然而莫知所以然釋不可思議，又以巨細相容照物無定體；肇曰由真求無求、外迹內德，最後以「肇曰：智慧遠通、方便近導，異迹所以形、眾庶所以成，物不無由而莫之能測，故權智二門為不思議之本也。」（T38n1775 0383b18）收束；生曰則在品首無求處留下自己的簡明判語。三家同在一部集注中，承衍線相接，署名仍不可抹去。
慈恩疏的承衍，先把求法分十段，再把不思議神變分六翻；在山芥相容處同列空理義與應理八釋，在昇座處又引《成唯識》所傳：「若定等力所變身器界地自他，則不決定。」（T38n1782 1079a17）疏家以此說座量與身量隨他神力所引、識隨大小而變。此硬鏈只作窺基本段所引古論，不倒成羅什本原語，也不因此抹去窺基同處所列的其他解釋。
兩條承衍各守其經本：一條由什、肇、生沿無求、外迹與權智展開；一條由窺基沿十段、六翻、空理與應理展開。它們都以品內問答與神變為所依，卻不必會通成一套；並錄不判，才能使不同古代讀路各自可見。
八、校本定位
一、底本、異譯與疏本座標
- 羅什本 T14n0475：品題 0546a03，品身至 0547a27；下一品題 0547a28。
- 支謙本 T14n0474：品題 0527a15；下一品題 0528a10。
- 玄奘本 T14n0476：品題 0570a28，品末八千菩薩得益 0572b24；下一品題 0572c05。
- 什、肇、生注 T38n1775：本品 0381a28–0383b20；下一品題 0383b21。經句依 T475。
- 窺基疏 T38n1782：本品 1077a26–1081a26；下一品題 1081a27。經句依 T476。
二、本品十八條校勘記
見證代碼：【大】大正本，【CB】CBETA 定讀，【宋】宋本，【元】元本，【明】明本，【聖】聖語藏本，【磧乙-CB】磧砂乙本之 CBETA 校訂。全書二百五十一條校記中，本品索引為九十八至一一五；其中十七條在第一層，一條為巢狀校記。巢狀條不折疊，只傳定讀、異讀與見證，不在本層作取捨。
| 索引 | 層次 | 出處 | 定讀及見證 | 異讀及見證 | 注記 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | 0 | 0546a03 | 所說【大】 | 闕【宋】【聖】 | — |
| 99 | 0 | 0546a03 | 維摩詰所說經【大】 | 闕【明】 | 另牽索引一百 |
| 100 | 1 | 0546a03 | 所說【大】 | 闕【宋】【聖】 | 索引九十九內巢狀校記 |
| 101 | 0 | 0546a07 | 求【大】 | 為【明】 | — |
| 102 | 0 | 0546a28 | 仁【大】 | 古仁【元】 | — |
| 103 | 0 | 0546b06 | 座【大】 | 之座【元】【明】 | — |
| 104 | 0 | 0546b29 | 住不【大】 | 不可【宋】【元】【明】 | — |
| 105 | 0 | 0546c02 | 本相【大】 | 本性【元】【明】 | — |
| 106 | 0 | 0546c05 | 河【大】 | 闕【宋】【元】【明】 | — |
| 107 | 0 | 0546c09 | 延【大】 | 演【宋】【元】【明】 | — |
| 108 | 0 | 0546c14 | 一【大】 | 一切【元】【明】 | — |
| 109 | 0 | 0546c27 | 王【大】 | 聖王【宋】【元】【明】 | — |
| 110 | 0 | 0547a13 | 是【大】 | 此【宋】【元】【明】 | — |
| 111 | 0 | 0547a17 | 力【大】 | 力故【元】【明】 | — |
| 112 | 0 | 0547a20 | 車【大】 | 硨【宋】【元】【明】【聖】 | — |
| 113 | 0 | 0547a20 | 馬【大】 | 碼【宋】【元】【明】【聖】 | — |
| 114 | 0 | 0547a24 | 故【大】 | 闕【宋】 | — |
| 115 | 0 | 0547a24 | 現【大】 | 闕【元】【明】【聖】 | — |
本品校記十八條、三譯段落與兩部古疏共同保存這一品在不同傳本中的形態。從無所求到大小相容，再到不嬈眾生與智慧方便，底本敘事自有完整次第；異譯與雙鏡只能各守本句、各還其名、並錄不判，不能替底本添成一條整齊而不存在的共同原文。
Chapter location. This chapter stands in the Middle Scroll. Śāriputra first thinks about seats because there are no beds or seats in the room. From the question whether he has come for the Dharma or to seek beds and seats, Vimalakīrti explains that one who seeks the Dharma should seek nothing in any dharma. He then asks Mañjuśrī which buddha-land has supremely wondrous lion thrones, brings thirty-two thousand lofty thrones into a single room without obstruction, and from this point gives an extensive account of inconceivable liberation. Mahākāśyapa marvels at what he has heard; at the chapter's end the account turns to manifestations as kings Māra, the tests of great beggars, and the gate of wisdom and skillful means. The chapter moves from seeking a seat into non-seeking, reveals the compatibility of large and small through the establishment of seats, repeatedly affirms neither increase nor decrease, non-disturbance, and non-harm through its displays, and finally concludes with wisdom and skillful means.
1. Structural Location
| Node | Location |
|---|---|
| Scroll and chapter | Middle Scroll · Chapter 06, “Inconceivability” |
| Chapter title | T14n0475 0546a03 |
| Chapter body | 0546a03–0547a27 |
| Śāriputra thinks about seats | 0546a04 |
| Vimalakīrti asks whether he has come for the Dharma or to seek seats | 0546a05–0546a07 |
| One who seeks the Dharma should seek nothing | 0546a08–0546a25 |
| Five hundred sons of the gods attain purity of the Dharma eye | 0546a26 |
| Asking for, establishing, and mounting the thrones | 0546a28–0546b23 |
| Extensive account of inconceivable liberation | 0546b24–0547a02 |
| Mahākāśyapa's lament and the arousal of aspiration by thirty-two thousand sons of the gods | 0547a03–0547a14 |
| Kings Māra, great beggars, and wisdom and skillful means | 0547a15–0547a27 |
| Title of the next chapter | Chapter 07, “Contemplating Sentient Beings,” 0547a28 |
The whole chapter can be read through six movements: first, seeking seats reveals non-seeking; second, five hundred sons of the gods attain purity of the Dharma eye while the Dharma is taught; third, the thrones are sought, established, and mounted; fourth, displays of inconceivable liberation are extensively explained; fifth, Kāśyapa laments and sons of the gods arouse aspiration; sixth, kings Māra, great beggars, and wisdom and skillful means are disclosed. The base text contains fifteen prose segments within this chapter, with no verse and no dhāraṇī. Both benefits of the Dharma are recorded in accordance with the scripture's word “when”; events that occur simultaneously are not rewritten as though the earlier event caused the later one.
2. Comparison of Alternative Translations
Each of the three translations retains its own names. The Zhi Qian and Kumārajīva recensions use Vimalakīrti, Mañjuśrī, and Sumeru-Lamp-King; the Xuanzang recension uses Stainless Renown, Wondrous Auspiciousness, and Mountain-Lamp-King. All three have a sixth chapter titled “Inconceivability,” but the chapter boundaries and passages are not completely identical. The key loci below are presented in parallel. When a recension has no corresponding passage within its chapter, this is expressly recorded as “not found in this chapter”; no passage from another chapter or a later translation is supplied in its place.
1. Seeking the Dharma and Purity of the Dharma Eye
| Node | Zhi Qian T474 | Kumārajīva T475 | Xuanzang T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Śāriputra sees that the room has no seats | Not found in this chapter | 「爾時舍利弗見此室中無有床座，作是念：「斯諸菩薩、大弟子眾，當於何坐？」」—“At that time Śāriputra saw that this room contained no beds or seats and thought, ‘Where will these bodhisattvas and great disciples sit?’” (T14n0475 0546a04) | 「時舍利子見此室中無有床座，竊作是念：「此諸菩薩及大聲聞當於何坐？」」—“Then Śāriputra saw that this room contained no beds or seats and privately thought, ‘Where will these bodhisattvas and great śrāvakas sit?’” (T14n0476 0570a29) |
| For the Dharma or seeking beds and seats | Not found in this chapter | 「云何仁者？為法來耶？求床座耶？」—“How is it, good sir? Have you come for the Dharma, or have you come seeking beds and seats?” (T14n0475 0546a06) | 「唯，舍利子！為法來耶？求床坐耶？」—“Śāriputra! Have you come for the Dharma, or have you come seeking beds and seats?” (T14n0476 0570b02) |
| Seeking nothing in any dharma | Not found in this chapter | 「是故，舍利弗！若求法者，於一切法，應無所求。」—“Therefore, Śāriputra! If one seeks the Dharma, one should seek nothing in any dharma.” (T14n0475 0546a25) | 「是故，舍利子！若欲求法，於一切法應無所求。」—“Therefore, Śāriputra! If one wishes to seek the Dharma, one should seek nothing in any dharma.” (T14n0476 0570c03) |
| Five hundred sons of the gods attain purity of the Dharma eye | Not found in this chapter | 「說是語時，五百天子於諸法中得法眼淨。」—“When these words were spoken, five hundred sons of the gods attained purity of the Dharma eye among all dharmas.” (T14n0475 0546a26) | 「說是法時，五百天子遠塵離垢，於諸法中得法眼淨。」—“When this Dharma was taught, five hundred sons of the gods became distant from dust and free of defilement and attained purity of the Dharma eye among all dharmas.” (T14n0476 0570c04) |
The Zhi Qian recension begins this chapter with the question about lion thrones. It does not contain, at the beginning of this chapter, the thought about seats, the rebuke concerning seats, the teaching of non-seeking, or the purity of the Dharma eye attained by five hundred sons of the gods that appear in the Kumārajīva and Xuanzang recensions. This difference records only the form of the chapter; it does not use another passage in Zhi Qian's recension to construct an identical opening.
2. Asking for, Establishing, and Mounting the Thrones
| Node | Zhi Qian T474 | Kumārajīva T475 | Xuanzang T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| World and buddha names | 「其世界名須彌幡，其佛號須彌燈王如來、至真、等正覺，今現在。」—“That world is named Sumeru-Banner. Its buddha is called the Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King, the Most True, the Completely Awakened, and is present now.” (T14n0474 0527a19) | 「有世界名須彌相，其佛號須彌燈王，今現在。」—“There is a world named Sumeru-Sign. Its buddha is called Sumeru-Lamp-King and is present now.” (T14n0475 0546b02) | 「有佛世界名曰山幢，彼土如來號山燈王，今正現在安隱住持。」—“There is a buddha-world named Mountain-Banner. The Tathāgata of that land is called Mountain-Lamp-King and is presently dwelling there in peace.” (T14n0476 0570c10) |
| Dimensions of the buddha's body and throne | 「其佛身八萬四千由延，佛師子座六萬八千由延。」—“That buddha's body is eighty-four thousand yojanas tall, and the buddha's lion throne is sixty-eight thousand yojanas high.” (T14n0474 0527a21) | 「彼佛身長八萬四千由旬，其師子座高八萬四千由旬，嚴飾第一。」—“That buddha's body is eighty-four thousand yojanas tall, and his lion throne is eighty-four thousand yojanas high; its adornment is foremost.” (T14n0475 0546b03) | 「其佛身長八十四億踰膳那量，其師子座高六十八億踰膳那量；」—“That buddha's body measures 8.4 billion yojanas in height, and his lion throne measures 6.8 billion yojanas in height.” (T14n0476 0570c12) |
| Dimensions of the bodhisattvas and their thrones | 「其菩薩身四萬二千由延，須彌幡國有八百四十萬師子之座。」—“The bodies of its bodhisattvas are forty-two thousand yojanas tall, and the land Sumeru-Banner has 8.4 million lion thrones.” (T14n0474 0527a22) | This paired set of measurements is not found in this chapter | 「彼菩薩身長四十二億踰膳那量，其師子座高三十四億踰膳那量。」—“The bodies of those bodhisattvas measure 4.2 billion yojanas in height, and their lion thrones measure 3.4 billion yojanas in height.” (T14n0476 0570c13) |
| Number and arrival of thrones | 「遣三萬二千師子座，高廣淨好，」—“He sent thirty-two thousand lion thrones, lofty, broad, pure, and fine.” (T14n0474 0527a26) | 「即時彼佛遣三萬二千師子座，高廣嚴淨，來入維摩詰室，」—“That buddha immediately sent thirty-two thousand lion thrones, lofty, broad, adorned, and pure, into Vimalakīrti's room.” (T14n0475 0546b05) | 「山燈王佛遣三十二億大師子座——高廣嚴淨，甚可愛樂——乘空來入無垢稱室。」—“Buddha Mountain-Lamp-King sent 3.2 billion great lion thrones—lofty, broad, adorned, pure, and exceedingly delightful—which traveled through the air and entered Stainless Renown's room.” (T14n0476 0570c18) |
| Novice bodhisattvas | 「其邊菩薩、大弟子，皆不能昇。」—“The bodhisattvas and great disciples there were all unable to mount them.” (T14n0474 0527b05) | 「諸新發意菩薩及大弟子皆不能昇。」—“The bodhisattvas who had newly aroused aspiration and the great disciples were all unable to mount them.” (T14n0475 0546b14) | 「令彼一切得五神通，即以神力各自變身為四十二億踰膳那量，昇師子座端嚴而坐。」—“He caused them all to attain the five spiritual powers; each then used spiritual power to transform his body to a height of 4.2 billion yojanas, mounted a lion throne, and sat in dignity.” (T14n0476 0571a02) |
| Śrāvakas pay homage to the buddha before sitting | 「為須彌燈王如來作禮，然後可坐。」—“Pay homage to the Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King; only then can you sit.” (T14n0474 0527b07) | 「為須彌燈王如來作禮，乃可得坐。」—“Pay homage to the Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King; only then will you be able to sit.” (T14n0475 0546b18) | 「宜應禮敬山燈王佛，請加神力方可得坐。」—“You should pay homage to Buddha Mountain-Lamp-King and request the aid of his spiritual power; only then will you be able to sit.” (T14n0476 0571a07) |
The names of the lands and buddhas, the forms used to translate yojana, the quantities, and the way novice bodhisattvas mount the thrones differ among the three recensions. Kumārajīva's recension says only that bodhisattvas who have attained spiritual mastery transform themselves, while newly inspired bodhisattvas and great disciples cannot mount the thrones. Xuanzang's recension separately records that novice bodhisattvas mount them after attaining the five spiritual powers. The latter statement remains only in the Xuanzang column and is not retrojected into the reader-facing text of Kumārajīva's recension.
3. Inconceivable Liberation and Its Displays
| Node | Zhi Qian T474 | Kumārajīva T475 | Xuanzang T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name of the Dharma-gate | 「諸如來、諸菩薩有八不思議門。」—“The tathāgatas and bodhisattvas have eight inconceivable gates.” (T14n0474 0527b13) | 「諸佛菩薩，有解脫名不可思議。」—“The buddhas and bodhisattvas have a liberation called inconceivable.” (T14n0475 0546b24) | 「諸佛、如來、應、正等覺及不退菩薩有解脫名不可思議。」—“The buddhas, tathāgatas, worthy ones, completely awakened ones, and nonretrogressing bodhisattvas have a liberation called inconceivable.” (T14n0476 0571a15) |
| Sumeru enters a mustard seed | 「以須彌之高廣入芥子中，無所增減，」—“They place lofty and vast Sumeru within a mustard seed, with neither increase nor decrease.” (T14n0474 0527b14) | 「以須彌之高廣內芥子中無所增減，須彌山王本相如故，」—“They place lofty and vast Sumeru within a mustard seed, with neither increase nor decrease, while Sumeru, king of mountains, remains in its original form just as before.” (T14n0475 0546b25) | 「妙高山王高廣如是，能以神力內芥子中，而令芥子形量不增、妙高山王形量不減。」—“Although lofty and vast in this way, Sumeru, king of mountains, can through spiritual power be placed within a mustard seed, while the mustard seed's dimensions do not increase and the mountain king's dimensions do not decrease.” (T14n0476 0571a17) |
| Extending seven days into one kalpa | 「為奉律人現七夜為劫壽，」—“For those who observe the discipline, they manifest seven nights as the lifespan of a kalpa.” (T14n0474 0527b25) | 「菩薩即延七日以為一劫，」—“The bodhisattva then extends seven days into one kalpa.” (T14n0475 0546c09) | 「或延七日以為一劫令彼有情謂經一劫、」—“Or they extend seven days into one kalpa, causing those sentient beings to think that a kalpa has passed.” (T14n0476 0571b19) |
| Contracting one kalpa into seven days | Not found in this chapter | 「菩薩即促一劫以為七日，」—“The bodhisattva then contracts one kalpa into seven days.” (T14n0475 0546c11) | 「或促一劫以為七日令彼有情謂經七日，」—“Or they contract one kalpa into seven days, causing those sentient beings to think that seven days have passed.” (T14n0476 0571b20) |
| Implements of offering seen in a pore | Not found in this chapter | 「十方眾生供養諸佛之具，菩薩於一毛孔皆令得見；」—“The bodhisattva causes all the implements with which sentient beings of the ten directions make offerings to the buddhas to be seen within a single pore.” (T14n0475 0546c16) | 「又以神力從一毛孔現出一切上妙供具，遍歷十方一切世界供養諸佛、菩薩、聲聞。」—“Again through spiritual power, they manifest all supremely wondrous implements of offering from a single pore, travel throughout all worlds in the ten directions, and make offerings to the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and śrāvakas.” (T14n0476 0571c03) |
| Winds enter the mouth | Not found in this chapter | 「十方世界所有諸風，菩薩悉能吸著口中，」—“The bodhisattva can draw all the winds in the worlds of the ten directions into his mouth.” (T14n0475 0546c18) | 「又以神力乃至十方一切世界大風輪等吸置口中而身無損，」—“Again through spiritual power, they draw even the great wind-disks of all worlds in the ten directions into the mouth, yet the body is unharmed.” (T14n0476 0571c06) |
| Manifesting many kinds of bodily form | 「如佛像色貌立以立之，如緣一覺像色貌立以立之，如弟子像色貌立以立之，」—“They establish it in the appearance and form of a buddha image, establish it in the appearance and form of a solitary awakened one, and establish it in the appearance and form of a disciple.” (T14n0474 0527c06) | 「能以神通現作佛身，或現辟支佛身，或現聲聞身，」—“Through spiritual mastery they can manifest the body of a buddha, or manifest the body of a pratyekabuddha, or manifest the body of a śrāvaka.” (T14n0475 0546c25) | 「能以神力現作佛身種種色像、或現獨覺及諸聲聞種種色像、或現菩薩種種色像——」—“Through spiritual power they can manifest the various forms of a buddha's body, or the various forms of pratyekabuddhas and śrāvakas, or the various forms of bodhisattvas.” (T14n0476 0571c20) |
| Brief account; an extensive account is inexhaustible | Not found in this chapter | 「我今略說菩薩不可思議解脫之力，若廣說者，窮劫不盡。」—“I have now given only a brief account of the power of the bodhisattvas' inconceivable liberation; were I to explain it extensively, even an entire kalpa would not suffice.” (T14n0475 0547a01) | 「我今略說安住如是不可思議解脫菩薩方便善巧智力所入不可思議解脫境界。」—“I have now briefly explained the realm of inconceivable liberation entered by the wisdom and skillfulness in means of bodhisattvas who abide in such inconceivable liberation.” (T14n0476 0572a06) |
The Zhi Qian recension gives a shorter list of displays and uses “eight inconceivable gates,” while the Kumārajīva and Xuanzang recensions use “a liberation called inconceivable.” The three differ in their extension and contraction of time, what is manifested in a pore, transformations of bodily form, and concluding language. “Not found in this chapter” is not recast as total absence from the entire translation, nor is a longer recension used to supplement a shorter one.
4. Kāśyapa, Kings Māra, Great Beggars, and the Benefit at the Chapter's End
| Node | Zhi Qian T474 | Kumārajīva T475 | Xuanzang T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kāśyapa's simile | 「譬如，賢者！於凡人前現眾名香，非彼所見，則不能知，為若此也。」—“Good sir, it is like displaying many renowned fragrances before an ordinary person: because they are not what he sees, he cannot know them. It is just so.” (T14n0474 0527c12) | 「譬如有人，於盲者前現眾色像，非彼所見；」—“Suppose someone displays many colors and forms before a blind person; they are not seen by him.” (T14n0475 0547a04) | 「譬如有人對生盲者，雖現種種差別色像，而彼盲者都不能見。」—“Suppose someone displays many distinct colors and forms before a person blind from birth; that blind person cannot see any of them.” (T14n0476 0572a15) |
| Thirty-two thousand sons of the gods arouse aspiration | 「三萬二千天人皆發無上正真道意。」—“Thirty-two thousand divine beings all aroused the aspiration for the unsurpassed, true, and right Way.” (T14n0474 0527c20) | 「三萬二千天子皆發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。」—“Thirty-two thousand sons of the gods all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening.” (T14n0475 0547a13) | 「眾中三萬二千天子皆發無上正等覺心。」—“Thirty-two thousand sons of the gods in the assembly all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening.” (T14n0476 0572a29) |
| Kings Māra are often manifestations of bodhisattvas | Not found in this chapter | 「多是住不可思議解脫菩薩。以方便力教化眾生，現作魔王。」—“Most are bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation. Through the power of skillful means, they teach and transform sentient beings and manifest as kings Māra.” (T14n0475 0547a16) | 「多是安住不可思議解脫菩薩方便善巧現作魔王，為欲成熟諸有情故。」—“Most are bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation who skillfully manifest as kings Māra through skillful means in order to bring sentient beings to maturity.” (T14n0476 0572b03) |
| Things demanded by great beggars | 「或從菩薩求索手足、耳鼻、頭眼、髓腦、血肉、肌體、妻子、男女、眷屬，」—“Or they demand from bodhisattvas hands and feet, ears and noses, heads and eyes, marrow and brains, blood and flesh, bodily members, wives, sons and daughters, and dependents.” (T14n0474 0527c24) | 「或有人從乞手足耳鼻、頭目髓腦、血肉皮骨、」—“Someone may demand from them hands, feet, ears, and noses; heads, eyes, marrow, and brains; blood, flesh, skin, and bones.” (T14n0475 0547a18) | 「諸有來求手、足、耳、鼻、頭、目、髓、腦、血、肉、筋骨、一切支體，」—“Those who come may demand hands, feet, ears, noses, heads, eyes, marrow, brains, blood, flesh, sinews, bones, and every bodily member.” (T14n0476 0572b06) |
| Eight thousand bodhisattvas at the end of Xuanzang's chapter | Not found in this chapter | Not found in this chapter | 「說此法時，八千菩薩得入菩薩方便善巧智力所入不可思議解脫境界。」—“When this Dharma was taught, eight thousand bodhisattvas entered the realm of inconceivable liberation entered by the wisdom and skillfulness in means of bodhisattvas.” (T14n0476 0572b24) |
The Zhi Qian recension does not contain the passage on manifestations as kings Māra, and the Kumārajīva recension does not contain the benefit attained by eight thousand bodhisattvas at the end of Xuanzang's chapter. The latter benefit is transmitted only within the Xuanzang recension and its commentarial mirror; it is not added to the end of Kumārajīva's chapter.
3. Canonical and Treatise Foundations (The Eye)
The eye of this chapter lies first in the actual words of this chapter in Kumārajīva's recension. Four principal lines connect in sequence: seeking seats reveals seeking nothing; from seeking nothing, the sequence reaches purity of the Dharma eye; a small room containing great thrones reveals non-obstruction; a succession of displays repeatedly preserves original forms and does not disturb sentient beings; and finally kings Māra and great beggars conclude in wisdom and skillful means.
1. One who seeks the Dharma should seek nothing in any dharma. Śāriputra says that he has come for the Dharma. Vimalakīrti then proceeds from body and life, beds and seats, through the five aggregates, the elements and entrances, the three realms, the Three Jewels, the modes of the Four Truths, seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, and the conditioned and unconditioned, concluding with 「是故，舍利弗！若求法者，於一切法，應無所求。」—“Therefore, Śāriputra! If one seeks the Dharma, one should seek nothing in any dharma.” (T14n0475 0546a25) The point is not to exchange one object of attachment for something higher, but to establish no place of abiding whatsoever upon which even “I am seeking the Dharma” depends.
2. The small room and the great thrones both retain their forms at the same time. When thirty-two thousand lion thrones enter Vimalakīrti's room, the scripture says, 「其室廣博，悉皆包容三萬二千師子座，無所妨礙。」—“His room was broad and expansive, containing all thirty-two thousand lion thrones without obstruction.” (T14n0475 0546b08) It further says that the city of Vaiśālī, Jambudvīpa, and the four-continent world are not constricted and are all seen just as before. Large and small are not made compatible by destroying one side; absence of obstruction and remaining as before hold true together.
3. Amid the displays, non-disturbance and non-harm are repeatedly affirmed. Sumeru enters a mustard seed with neither increase nor decrease; the four seas enter a pore without disturbing aquatic creatures; a world is placed on the palm, cast away, and returned without sentient beings forming thoughts of going or returning; winds enter the mouth without breaking trees; the fire at the end of a kalpa enters the belly without doing harm; and a buddha-land is raised beyond innumerable worlds without disturbance. What the scripture reveals is not only alteration of scale, but the repeated preservation of original forms, experience, and the safety of sentient beings.
4. The inconceivable concludes with wisdom and skillful means. At the chapter's end, the great beings may manifest as kings Māra, or may act as great beggars to make a bodhisattva's resolve firm. At the same time, the scripture limits this to those with power: ordinary persons, being inferior and without strength, cannot do it. It finally states, 「是名住不可思議解脫菩薩智慧方便之門。」—“This is called the gate of wisdom and skillful means of bodhisattvas who abide in inconceivable liberation.” (T14n0475 0547a26) The inconceivable does not stop at extraordinary appearances, but comes to rest in the joint operation of wisdom and skillful means.
4. Explanation of This Chapter
1. One Who Seeks the Dharma Seeks Nothing
Seeing no beds or seats in the room, Śāriputra first wonders where the bodhisattvas and great disciples should sit. Knowing his thought, Vimalakīrti asks whether he has come for the Dharma or to seek beds and seats. Śāriputra answers that he has come for the Dharma. Vimalakīrti then presses “seeking the Dharma” from beds and seats all the way to every dharma:
| No. | What the Scripture Lists | What This Chapter Shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Body and life; beds and seats | Not coveting body and life, much less implements for resting the body |
| 2 | Form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness | Not making the five aggregates into an attainment |
| 3 | Elements and entrances | Not making the eighteen elements or twelve entrances into an attainment |
| 4 | Desire, form, and formlessness | Not making the three realms into an attainment |
| 5 | Buddha, Dharma, and community | Not seeking while attached to the Three Jewels |
| 6 | Seeing suffering, cutting off origination, realizing cessation, and cultivating the path | Not turning the modes of the Four Truths into the conceptual proliferation “what I will do” |
| 7 | Quiescence and arising and ceasing | The Dharma is called quiescence; it is not sought through the activity of arising and ceasing |
| 8 | The unstained and attachment | Even attachment to nirvāṇa is still not seeking the Dharma |
| 9 | No place of practice and a place of practice | Not separately establishing a place in which to proceed |
| 10 | Nothing to grasp or discard and grasping or discarding | Not separately applying grasping and discarding to the Dharma |
| 11 | No location and attachment to a place | Not placing the Dharma in a location to which one can be attached |
| 12 | Signlessness and recognition by following signs | Not pursuing signs and recognizing them as an attainment |
| 13 | Inability to abide and abiding in Dharma | Not abiding in Dharma |
| 14 | Cannot be seen, heard, sensed, or known | Not making seeking the Dharma into the four kinds of cognitive grasping |
| 15 | The unconditioned and the conditioned | Not seeking the unconditioned through conditioned activity |
| 16 | All dharmas | Concluding that one should seek nothing |
As this passage is spoken, five hundred sons of the gods attain purity of the Dharma eye among all dharmas. The scripture records only the simultaneous benefit; it does not create an additional causal chain that derives the later event from the preceding narrative.
2. Asking for, Establishing, and Mounting the Thrones
Vimalakīrti next asks Mañjuśrī: which buddha-land has lion thrones that are supremely wondrous and perfect in merit? Mañjuśrī says that eastward, beyond lands as numerous as the sands of thirty-six Ganges Rivers, lies the world Sumeru-Sign, where Buddha Sumeru-Lamp-King is presently dwelling. The buddha's body is eighty-four thousand yojanas tall, and his lion throne is also eighty-four thousand yojanas high. Vimalakīrti manifests the power of spiritual mastery, whereupon Buddha Sumeru-Lamp-King sends thirty-two thousand lofty, broad, adorned, and pure lion thrones into his room. The room contains them all, while the city and the four-continent world remain just as before.
Bodhisattvas who have attained spiritual mastery transform their own bodies to a height of forty-two thousand yojanas and sit. Newly inspired bodhisattvas and the great disciples cannot mount the thrones. Even after being invited, Śāriputra says that the seats are too high and broad. Vimalakīrti therefore tells him to pay homage to the Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King; only after doing so can the newly inspired bodhisattvas and great disciples sit. Śāriputra marvels at the unprecedented sight of a small room containing lofty thrones while the outer world is not constricted. His marvel becomes the point of departure for Vimalakīrti's extensive account of inconceivable liberation.
3. Fourteen Displays of Inconceivable Liberation
| No. | Display | Condition Simultaneously Preserved by the Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sumeru, king of mountains, enters a mustard seed | Neither increase nor decrease; the mountain king remains in its original form just as before; the gods do not perceive it, and only those who should be liberated see it |
| 2 | The waters of the four great seas enter a single pore | Aquatic creatures are not disturbed; the seas remain in their original forms just as before; dragons, ghosts, spirits, and asuras do not perceive it, and sentient beings are not disturbed |
| 3 | A three-thousand-great-thousand world is set on the palm, cast away, and returned | Sentient beings do not perceive where they go and form no thought of going or returning; the world remains in its original form just as before |
| 4 | Seven days are extended into one kalpa | Done for those who delight in long dwelling in the world and can be liberated thereby, causing them to think that a kalpa has passed |
| 5 | One kalpa is contracted into seven days | Done for those who do not delight in long dwelling and can be liberated thereby, causing them to think that seven days have passed |
| 6 | The adornments of all buddha-lands are gathered in a single land | Displayed to sentient beings |
| 7 | The sentient beings of one buddha-land are placed upon the right palm and shown throughout the ten directions | Their original place does not move |
| 8 | Implements with which sentient beings throughout the ten directions make offerings to the buddhas are seen within a single pore | All the implements are caused to be seen |
| 9 | The suns, moons, and constellations of the ten directions are seen within a single pore | All are universally made visible |
| 10 | The winds of the ten directions are drawn into the mouth | The body is unharmed, and the trees outside are not broken |
| 11 | The fires at the end of the kalpa are taken into the belly | The fires remain just as before, and the bodhisattva is not harmed |
| 12 | A buddha-land below is raised and placed above | Like lifting a jujube leaf with the tip of a needle, without disturbing sentient beings |
| 13 | Seven kinds of bodily form are manifested | Buddha, pratyekabuddha, śrāvaka, Śakra, Brahmā king, lord of the world, and wheel-turning king; none is omitted |
| 14 | Superior, middling, and inferior sounds are transformed into a buddha's voice | It expounds impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, together with the various dharmas taught by the buddhas of the ten directions, causing them to be universally heard |
Vimalakīrti expressly says that this is only a brief account. Were the power of the bodhisattvas' inconceivable liberation explained extensively, even an entire kalpa would not suffice.
4. Kāśyapa's Lament and the Arousal of Aspiration by Sons of the Gods
After hearing the Dharma, Mahākāśyapa marvels that it is unprecedented. He compares all śrāvakas who hear this Dharma-gate but cannot understand it to a blind person before whom many colors are displayed but who still cannot see them. He asks what wise person, on hearing this, would fail to arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening. He further laments that śrāvakas are like spoiled seeds within the Great Vehicle, says that śrāvakas should weep while bodhisattvas should rejoice and reverently receive the teaching upon their heads, and states that the hosts of Māra cannot do anything to one who accepts in faith and understands this Dharma-gate. As Mahākāśyapa speaks, thirty-two thousand sons of the gods all arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed perfect awakening.
5. Kings Māra, Great Beggars, and Wisdom and Skillful Means
Vimalakīrti then tells Mahākāśyapa that among the immeasurable worlds of the ten directions, many who act as kings Māra are bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation, manifesting as kings Māra to teach and transform sentient beings through the power of skillful means. Other great beggars demand inner and outer things from bodhisattvas. This chapter enumerates them item by item: hands, feet, ears, and noses; heads, eyes, marrow, and brains; blood, flesh, skin, and bones; villages and towns; wives, sons, daughters, male servants, and female servants; elephants, horses, and carriages; gold, silver, and beryl; giant clamshells and agate; coral and amber; pearls and conch shells; clothing, drink, and food. The scripture does not conclude this list with an abbreviation.
Many such beggars are bodhisattvas of inconceivable liberation who come through the power of skillful means to make the other's resolve firm. At the same time, the scripture says that these bodhisattvas possess the power of awe-inspiring virtue, while ordinary persons, being inferior and without strength, cannot apply such pressure. It compares this to the trampling of a dragon-elephant, which a donkey cannot bear. The chapter thus proceeds from the initial thought of seeking one bed or seat to freedom in size, extension and contraction, coming and going, and manifestation, and finally ends with the gate of wisdom and skillful means.
5. Divergent Interpretations of the Commentators (Two Mirrors Recorded Together)
This section strictly preserves two textual bases. The three commentators Kumārajīva, Sengzhao, and Daosheng collected in T1775 follow Kumārajīva's T475: the principal figure is Vimalakīrti, Mañjuśrī is Mañjuśrī, and the buddha is Sumeru-Lamp-King. Kuiji in T1782 follows Xuanzang's T476: the principal figure is Stainless Renown, Mañjuśrī is Wondrous Auspiciousness, and the buddha is Mountain-Lamp-King. The two mirrors are presented with equal authority; the terminology of one mirror is not used to rewrite the other.
1. Why Seeking the Dharma Means Seeking Nothing
Kumārajīva says (following Kumārajīva's recension): 「什曰：不取法相、理會於法，名為求法。若取相生著，心與法乖，非求法也。」—“Kumārajīva says: Not grasping the marks of dharmas and inwardly meeting the Dharma is called seeking the Dharma. If one grasps marks and gives rise to attachment, the mind diverges from the Dharma; this is not seeking the Dharma.” (T38n1775 0381b18) This reading explains seeking the Dharma through not grasping the marks of dharmas.
Sengzhao says (following Kumārajīva's recension): 「肇曰：真求乃不求法，況安身之具乎。自此下遍於諸法，明無求義也。」—“Sengzhao says: True seeking does not even seek the Dharma; how much less the implements that support the body. From this point onward, the text ranges through all dharmas to clarify the meaning of non-seeking.” (T38n1775 0381b22) At the conclusion he further says, 「肇曰：法相如此，豈可求乎？若欲求者，其唯無求乃真求耳。」—“Sengzhao says: Since the character of dharmas is like this, how could they be sought? If one wishes to seek, only seeking nothing is true seeking.” (T38n1775 0381c15)
Daosheng says (following Kumārajīva's recension): 「生曰：夫求法者，非謂求也，以無復諸求為求耳。」—“Daosheng says: One who seeks the Dharma is not said to seek; taking the absence of all further seeking as seeking, that is all.” (T38n1775 0381c17) Kumārajīva, Sengzhao, and Daosheng all discuss non-seeking, but their wording and emphasis remain distinct and are not merged into a common gloss.
Kuiji (following Xuanzang's recension) first divides the passage into a general explanation, a detailed explanation, and a conclusion, and then divides the detailed explanation into ten sections. He says, 「所求，謂作證法。所不求者，雖可求知，不求證獲，故名不求。」—“What is sought means a dharma to be realized. What is not sought may be sought as knowledge, but is not sought as realized attainment; therefore it is called not seeking.” (T38n1782 1077c04) The ten sections in order concern not seeking illusory dharmas, the discriminating attachments of the two vehicles, contaminated dharmas, objects of knowledge, grasping and discarding, craving and attachment, marked dharmas, conventionally abiding dharmas, the four classes of objects, and dharmas produced by bad karma and afflictions. He finally concludes, 「諸求法者，不求一切諸非法法，於非法法應無所求，於是法中無求而求，是為求法。」—“Those who seek the Dharma do not seek any of the dharmas that are not Dharma. With respect to such non-Dharma dharmas, they should seek nothing. Within these dharmas, seeking without seeking: this is seeking the Dharma.” (T38n1782 1078a23) This analysis is returned only to the commentarial mirror based on Xuanzang's recension.
The two mirrors also interpret purity of the Dharma eye differently. Sengzhao says only, 「肇曰：大乘法眼淨也。」—“Sengzhao says: It is purity of the Great Vehicle Dharma eye.” (T38n1775 0381c20) Kuiji instead says, 「贊曰：此第四段，時眾獲益，得預流果。」—“The commentary says: In this fourth section, the assembly then gains the benefit and attains the fruit of stream-entry.” (T38n1782 1078a25) Both explanations remain; this edition does not adjudicate them into a single meaning.
2. Why Establish Thrones after Rebuking the Search for Thrones
Kumārajīva gives two meanings to the question about thrones. First, it reveals the pure adornments and merit of the buddhas and their extraordinary thrones, deepening the resolve of beginning bodhisattvas. Second, by having the thrones travel back and forth, it lets teaching and transformation flow through both lands. Sengzhao focuses on Mañjuśrī's teaching travels through many lands: Vimalakīrti first asks and then obtains the thrones, causing the assembly to give rise to reverence and faith. Daosheng says that asking first serves to show that what is later brought is real. The three remain individually attributed and are not vaguely subsumed under “Sengzhao's commentary.”
Kuiji himself poses a question and answer: 「問曰：何故初責求法非座，後問座方，方將設置？答：理應求真非俗，所以初訶；禮訖順機，所以今設。」—“Question: Why does he first rebuke the seeking of Dharma as not concerning seats, but later ask where the seats are and then proceed to establish them? Answer: In principle one should seek the real, not the conventional, and therefore he first rebukes him; once homage has been completed, he accords with capacities, and therefore now establishes them.” (T38n1782 1078b02) For the small room containing great thrones, he also lists several explanations, including that the room becomes large and that the small can contain the great. These are interpretations within the Ci'en mirror, not the sole answer explicitly stated by the text of Kumārajīva's recension.
3. Inconceivability and the Mutual Containment of Mountain and Mustard Seed
Kumārajīva says of inconceivable liberation, 「什曰：同體異名也。夫欲為而不能則為縛也，應念即成解脫。無不能，名為解脫。能然而莫知所以然，故曰不思議也。」—“Kumārajīva says: They are one in substance but differ in name. When one wishes to act but cannot, this is bondage; when it is accomplished in response to a thought, this is liberation. Having nothing one cannot do is called liberation. It can be so, yet no one knows how it is so; therefore it is called inconceivable.” (T38n1775 0382b17) When discussing Sumeru entering a mustard seed, he further illuminates its operation with 「巨細相容物無定體，明不常也。」—“The immense and the minute contain one another; things have no fixed substance, which clarifies impermanence.” (T38n1775 0382b25)
Sengzhao, by contrast, follows outer traces back to inner virtue, takes wisdom and provisionality as the root, and says that liberation is the free activity of mind: one who attains it is inwardly free in practice and outwardly free in responsive activity, without obstruction. This extended explanation does not make the mutual containment of immense and minute the whole teaching; it regards it only as an outer trace that shows the root through its branches and entrusts the subtle to a coarse manifestation.
Kuiji divides the extensive account in Xuanzang's recension into six rounds: 「此中六者，一大小相容、二寬狹相納、三往來自在、四延促任情、五運轉隨心、六同類往趣。」—“There are six here: first, great and small mutually contain; second, broad and narrow mutually receive; third, coming and going are free; fourth, extension and contraction follow intent; fifth, movement and turning follow the mind; sixth, those of the same kind proceed toward one another.” (T38n1782 1079b11) At the mutual containment of mountain and mustard seed, he first gives an interpretation through the principle of emptiness and then eight Consciousness-Only explanations. One of the eight says, 「五、迷心執境，實境難容；識境皆心，何礙不得。」—“Fifth, a deluded mind grasps objects, so real objects are difficult to contain; when consciousness and object are both mind, what obstruction could prevent it?” (T38n1782 1079b26) This is one of eight explanations. It does not replace the other seven, nor is it recast as something stated by Kumārajīva's recension itself.
4. Kāśyapa, Kings Māra, and Great Beggars
When Kāśyapa says that śrāvakas should weep, Sengzhao first explains that this is hypothetical language: 「肇曰：所乖處重，故假言應號泣耳。二乘憂悲永除尚無微泣，況震三千乎？」—“Sengzhao says: Because what they have turned away from is grave, he hypothetically says that they should weep aloud. The two vehicles have permanently eliminated grief and sorrow and do not have even the slightest weeping; how much less could they shake the three-thousand-great-thousand world?” (T38n1775 0383a09) Kuiji, by contrast, divides Kāśyapa's lament into six: regretting his own lack of knowledge, clarifying that the wise can awaken, lamenting the absence of aspiration, resenting himself and weeping sadly, celebrating the excellence of others' path, and revealing the ability to destroy evil. Each tradition's analysis of the same passage is preserved on its own terms.
Regarding the great beggars, Kumārajīva connects forceful demands with bringing a bodhisattva whose perfection of giving is nearly but not yet fully complete to a firm mind without reluctance. Sengzhao asks whether they would “wait to test before knowing,” explaining that great beings discern capacities in advance and make resolve firm without needing deliberately to make demands. Following Xuanzang's recension, Kuiji divides what is demanded into inner and outer wealth and further says, 「八地以上解脫菩薩，方能大乞而行逼迫，威力大故，亦方大施，非前位能。」—“Only bodhisattvas of liberation at the eighth stage and above can act as great beggars and apply pressure, because their awesome power is great; only they can also give greatly, not those at earlier stages.” (T38n1782 1081a19) The statement about stages belongs only to the Ci'en mirror; Kumārajīva's recension itself says only that bodhisattvas abiding in inconceivable liberation possess the power of awe-inspiring virtue.
At the end of Xuanzang's chapter, another eight thousand bodhisattvas enter the realm of inconceivable liberation, which Kuiji explains as both entering and realizing nonretrogression. This passage is not found within this chapter of the Zhi Qian or Kumārajīva recensions. The benefit is transmitted only in the mirror of Xuanzang's recension and is not added to the end of Kumārajīva's chapter.
6. Terms and Similes
1. Terms in This Chapter
Seeking the Dharma; seeking nothing. The scripture does not treat beds and seats as the sole object to be broken down, but enumerates layer after layer until it reaches all dharmas. Kumārajīva's “not grasping the marks of dharmas,” Sengzhao's “true seeking does not seek,” Daosheng's “taking the absence of all further seeking as seeking,” and Kuiji's “seeking without seeking” are each returned to their own commentator. Their attributions cannot be removed and the statements merged into a single scriptural sentence.
Elements and entrances. Sengzhao explains these respectively as the eighteen elements and the twelve entrances; Xuanzang's recension and Kuiji's commentary use the terminological set aggregates, elements, and sense fields. The Vernacular of Kumārajīva's recension may explain “elements” and “entrances” through Sengzhao's note, but does not replace Kumārajīva's original wording with the lemmata of Xuanzang's recension.
Seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. Sengzhao associates seeing and hearing with eye- and ear-consciousness, sensing with nose-, tongue-, and body-consciousness, and knowing with mind-consciousness. Following Xuanzang's recension, Kuiji separately cites the Treatise on the Systematic Teaching and the Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice to analyze the four names. Both allocations are recorded; they are not combined across recensions.
Inconceivable liberation. Kumārajīva's recension first gives this as the name of a liberation and then enumerates its operations. Kumārajīva focuses on its being possible without anyone knowing how; Sengzhao focuses on the inner virtue of provisionality and wisdom and the freedom of outward response; Kuiji focuses on the spiritual powers of nonretrogressing bodhisattvas, liberation from the obstruction of meditative concentration, and the analysis into six rounds. All are ancient masters' readings; they are not equivalent to the scripture itself stating a single later definition.
The gate of wisdom and skillful means. Kumārajīva's recension uses this as the chapter's final sentence. Sengzhao says that wisdom penetrates afar and skillful means guide what is near, and that the two gates of provisionality and wisdom are the root of inconceivability. Kuiji's commentary on this chapter does not separately gloss the same sentence, so a symmetrical second column is not supplied independently.
2. Names and Quantities in the Three Translations
| Point | Zhi Qian T474 | Kumārajīva T475 | Xuanzang T476 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Principal figure | Vimalakīrti | Vimalakīrti | Stainless Renown |
| Mañjuśrī | Mañjuśrī | Mañjuśrī | Wondrous Auspiciousness |
| World | Sumeru-Banner | Sumeru-Sign | Mountain-Banner |
| Buddha name | Tathāgata Sumeru-Lamp-King | Sumeru-Lamp-King | Mountain-Lamp-King |
| Height of the buddha's body | Eighty-four thousand yojanas | Eighty-four thousand yojanas | 8.4 billion yojanas |
| Height of the buddha's throne | Sixty-eight thousand yojanas | Eighty-four thousand yojanas | 6.8 billion yojanas |
| Number of thrones sent | Thirty-two thousand | Thirty-two thousand | 3.2 billion |
| Name of the Dharma-gate | Eight gates that cannot be conceived | A liberation that cannot be conceived | A liberation that cannot be conceived |
The quantities in the three recensions are not converted into one another, nor is the orderly number in one column used to correct another.
3. Similes Belonging to This Chapter
Sumeru enters a mustard seed; the four seas enter a pore. Both similes simultaneously say that the great remains in its original form, that the small does not increase, and that the sentient beings within do not perceive the change or are not disturbed. The four words “the great enters the small” cannot be taken alone while non-disturbance and non-harm are omitted.
A world like a potter's wheel. The bodhisattva cuts out a three-thousand-great-thousand world like a potter's wheel, sets it in the right palm, casts it beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and then returns it to its original place. T475 does not contain the two-character expression 「旋轉」—“rotating”; Xuanzang's recension reads 「如陶家輪速疾旋轉擲置他方」—“like a potter's wheel, swiftly spinning and cast into another region” (T14n0476 0571b08), and Kuiji explains according to Xuanzang's recension. The two recensions remain in separate columns and are not combined. Kuiji explains the potter's wheel only as the wheel used in a potter's household to shape tiles; he adds no further details about an object that his source does not mention.
Lifting a jujube leaf on the tip of a needle. When a buddha-land is taken from below and placed above, the scripture says it is like lifting a jujube leaf with the tip of a needle; the point remains accompanied by “without disturbance.”
Displaying many colors before a blind person. Mahākāśyapa uses this to compare śrāvakas who hear inconceivable liberation but cannot understand it. The corresponding passage in Zhi Qian's recension uses many renowned fragrances; the distinct forms in the three recensions are preserved in separate columns and are not converted into a common simile.
Spoiled seeds. Mahākāśyapa compares himself and the śrāvakas to spoiled seeds whose roots in the Great Vehicle have been permanently severed. This is the self-description of a speaker within the scripture, not an expanded later judgment concerning every śrāvaka.
The dragon-elephant and the donkey. At the chapter's end, the trampling of a dragon-elephant, which a donkey cannot bear, illustrates that only those possessing the power of awe-inspiring virtue can manifest acts of pressure. The scripture has already stated that ordinary persons, being inferior, cannot do so. This simile is therefore not extracted from its restriction and made into a universal rule for action.
7. Lines of Reception through Citation
The line of reception through the three Kumārajīva-line commentators proceeds from non-seeking toward provisionality and wisdom. Kumārajīva explains seeking the Dharma through not grasping the marks of dharmas, explains inconceivability through its being possible without anyone knowing how, and illuminates the absence of a fixed substance in things through the mutual containment of immense and minute. Sengzhao proceeds from true seeking as non-seeking through outer traces and inner virtue, and finally concludes, 「肇曰：智慧遠通、方便近導，異迹所以形、眾庶所以成，物不無由而莫之能測，故權智二門為不思議之本也。」—“Sengzhao says: Wisdom penetrates afar, while skillful means guide what is near. By them extraordinary traces take form and the multitude is brought to fulfillment. Events do not lack a cause, yet no one can fathom them; therefore the two gates of provisionality and wisdom are the root of inconceivability.” (T38n1775 0383b18) Daosheng leaves his own concise judgment at the opening discussion of non-seeking. Although the three commentators appear in one collected commentary and their lines of reception connect, their attributions cannot be erased.
The line of reception in the Ci'en commentary first divides seeking the Dharma into ten sections, then divides the inconceivable displays into six rounds. At the mutual containment of mountain and mustard seed it presents both an interpretation through the principle of emptiness and eight Consciousness-Only explanations. In discussing the mounting of the thrones, it also cites what is transmitted in the Treatise on the Establishment of Consciousness-Only: 「若定等力所變身器界地自他，則不決定。」—“When bodies, physical worlds, and grounds are transformed by the power of meditative concentration and the like, self and other are not fixed.” (T38n1782 1079a17) The commentator uses this to explain that the dimensions of thrones and bodies, induced by another's spiritual power, vary as consciousness varies in size. This hard citation chain serves only as an ancient treatise cited in Kuiji's passage. It is not converted into the original wording of Kumārajīva's recension, nor does it erase Kuiji's other explanations in the same passage.
The two lines of reception each preserve their scriptural recension. One proceeds through Kumārajīva, Sengzhao, and Daosheng along non-seeking, outer traces, and provisionality and wisdom; the other proceeds through Kuiji along ten sections, six rounds, the principle of emptiness, and Consciousness-Only. Both depend upon the questions, answers, and displays within the chapter, but need not be harmonized into one system. Only by recording without adjudicating can the distinct ancient paths of reading each remain visible.
8. Textual Positioning
1. Coordinates of the Base Text, Alternative Translations, and Commentaries
- Kumārajīva's T14n0475: chapter title at 0546a03, chapter body through 0547a27; next chapter title at 0547a28.
- Zhi Qian's T14n0474: chapter title at 0527a15; next chapter title at 0528a10.
- Xuanzang's T14n0476: chapter title at 0570a28, benefit attained by eight thousand bodhisattvas at the chapter's end at 0572b24; next chapter title at 0572c05.
- Commentary of Kumārajīva, Sengzhao, and Daosheng, T38n1775: this chapter at 0381a28–0383b20; next chapter title at 0383b21. Its scriptural wording follows T475.
- Kuiji's commentary, T38n1782: this chapter at 1077a26–1081a26; next chapter title at 1081a27. Its scriptural wording follows T476.
2. Eighteen Textual Notes in This Chapter
Witness codes: 【大】 is the Taishō base, 【CB】 the CBETA adopted reading, 【宋】 the Song edition, 【元】 the Yuan edition, 【明】 the Ming edition, 【聖】 the Shōgozō manuscript, and 【磧乙-CB】 CBETA's correction from the Qisha second edition. Among the 251 textual notes for the whole sūtra, those of this chapter are indexed 98–115. Seventeen are at the first level, and one is a nested note. The nested note is not collapsed: only the adopted reading, variant reading, and witnesses are transmitted, without adjudication at this layer.
| Index | Layer | Location | Adopted Reading and Witnesses | Variant Reading and Witnesses | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98 | 0 | 0546a03 | 所說【大】 — “spoken,” 【Taishō】 | 闕【宋】【聖】 — omitted in 【Song】【Shōgozō】 | — |
| 99 | 0 | 0546a03 | 維摩詰所說經【大】 — “The Sūtra Spoken by Vimalakīrti,” 【Taishō】 | 闕【明】 — omitted in 【Ming】 | Also links to index 100 |
| 100 | 1 | 0546a03 | 所說【大】 — “spoken,” 【Taishō】 | 闕【宋】【聖】 — omitted in 【Song】【Shōgozō】 | Nested textual note within index 99 |
| 101 | 0 | 0546a07 | 求【大】 — “seek,” 【Taishō】 | 為【明】 — “for,” 【Ming】 | — |
| 102 | 0 | 0546a28 | 仁【大】 — “good sir,” 【Taishō】 | 古仁【元】 — “ancient good sir,” 【Yuan】 | — |
| 103 | 0 | 0546b06 | 座【大】 — “seat,” 【Taishō】 | 之座【元】【明】 — “the seat,” 【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 104 | 0 | 0546b29 | 住不【大】 — “abiding in in-,” 【Taishō】 | 不可【宋】【元】【明】 — “inconceivable,” 【Song】【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 105 | 0 | 0546c02 | 本相【大】 — “original form,” 【Taishō】 | 本性【元】【明】 — “original nature,” 【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 106 | 0 | 0546c05 | 河【大】 — “river,” 【Taishō】 | 闕【宋】【元】【明】 — omitted in 【Song】【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 107 | 0 | 0546c09 | 延【大】 — “extend,” 【Taishō】 | 演【宋】【元】【明】 — “expound,” 【Song】【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 108 | 0 | 0546c14 | 一【大】 — “one,” 【Taishō】 | 一切【元】【明】 — “all,” 【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 109 | 0 | 0546c27 | 王【大】 — “king,” 【Taishō】 | 聖王【宋】【元】【明】 — “sage king,” 【Song】【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 110 | 0 | 0547a13 | 是【大】 — “this,” 【Taishō】 | 此【宋】【元】【明】 — “this,” 【Song】【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 111 | 0 | 0547a17 | 力【大】 — “power,” 【Taishō】 | 力故【元】【明】 — “because of the power,” 【Yuan】【Ming】 | — |
| 112 | 0 | 0547a20 | 車【大】 — “the graph 車,” 【Taishō】 | 硨【宋】【元】【明】【聖】 — “the graph 硨,” 【Song】【Yuan】【Ming】【Shōgozō】 | — |
| 113 | 0 | 0547a20 | 馬【大】 — “the graph 馬,” 【Taishō】 | 碼【宋】【元】【明】【聖】 — “the graph 碼,” 【Song】【Yuan】【Ming】【Shōgozō】 | — |
| 114 | 0 | 0547a24 | 故【大】 — “therefore,” 【Taishō】 | 闕【宋】 — omitted in 【Song】 | — |
| 115 | 0 | 0547a24 | 現【大】 — “manifest,” 【Taishō】 | 闕【元】【明】【聖】 — omitted in 【Yuan】【Ming】【Shōgozō】 | — |
The eighteen textual notes in this chapter, the passages in the three translations, and the two ancient commentaries together preserve the distinct forms of this chapter across different textual witnesses. From seeking nothing to the compatibility of large and small, and then to non-disturbance of sentient beings and wisdom and skillful means, the narrative of the base text has its own complete sequence. Alternative translations and the two mirrors can only preserve their own wording, return every name to its own recension, and record without adjudicating; they cannot supplement the base text into a uniform common original that never existed.