維摩詰所說經 囑累品第十四

Not merely a scroll of words, but the Dharma of unsurpassed awakening gathered over immeasurable kalpas, so that after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa there will still be people who hear, accept and retain, read and recite, and practice it, as well as people who explain it widely for them.

The World-Honored One gives this entrustment to Maitreya and explicitly says that its time is the latter age after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. At that time there will be good men and good women, as well as devas, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, gandharvas, rākṣasas, and other sentient beings, who have raised the mind of unsurpassed awakening and delight in the great Dharma. If they cannot hear sūtras of this kind, they lose wholesome benefit; if they do hear them, they give rise to abundant faith and delight, regard them as rare, and receive and retain them upon the crown of their heads. The sūtra is not to reach an abstract “later age,” but the very beings whom its words name one by one.

Yet once the sūtra reaches their hands, has it necessarily been truly received? The World-Honored One immediately speaks of two marks of a bodhisattva: one delights in the business of miscellaneous phrasing and literary ornament, while the other does not fear profound meaning and can enter it as it truly is. Being able to enter is not a claim to understand what is profound: it means that, after hearing, one’s mind is pure; one accepts and retains, reads and recites, and practices according to the teaching. The words remain, and reading and recitation remain. One who truly receives the entrustment does not stop at literary ornament as the endpoint and does not retreat before profound meaning.

A new student may hear a profound sūtra for the first time, become alarmed, give rise to doubt, refuse to accord with it, and even slander it and disbelieve. Such a person may also refuse to draw near, make offerings to, or respect one who upholds and explains the profound sūtra, and instead speak of that person’s faults and wrongdoing. Even one who already believes and understands the profound Dharma may not be free of danger: such a person may slight new students and fail to teach them, or may still grasp marks and discriminate within the profound Dharma. The former rejects before drawing near; the latter already believes and understands, yet is arrogant toward people and attached to dharmas. The sūtra calls both “self-injury.”

After hearing this, Maitreya does not merely say that he will preserve the sūtra. He promises to cause future seekers of the Great Vehicle to obtain the sūtra in their own hands, grant them the power of recollection, and enable them to accept and retain it, read and recite it, and explain it widely for others. From receiving the scroll in one’s hands to recollecting it in one’s mind; from accepting and retaining it oneself to explaining it widely to others—the entrustment extends link by link into the future.

Next, all the bodhisattvas promise to proclaim and circulate it widely throughout the lands of the ten directions and to guide those who teach the Dharma so that they obtain the sūtra. The Four Heavenly Kings then say that wherever there is a scroll of the sūtra and someone who reads, recites, and explains it—whether in a city, village, mountain forest, or wilderness—they will lead their officials there to hear the Dharma and protect that person, ensuring that within a hundred yojanas no one lying in wait for an opening finds an opportunity. The Dharma circulates through the ten directions, while protection comes down to each place where a scroll is found and each person who reads, recites, and explains it.

Finally, the World-Honored One gives the sūtra to Ānanda to accept and retain. Ānanda says that he has already accepted and retained its essence, yet still asks: What is this sūtra called? The World-Honored One gives two names—The Teaching of Vimalakīrti and The Dharma-Gate of Inconceivable Liberation. Its content is accepted and retained, and its names are accepted and retained as well. What later ages receive is not an anonymous discourse, but a sūtra with names to follow and a Dharma to practice.

When the Buddha has finished teaching the sūtra, Vimalakīrti, Mañjuśrī, Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the entire great multitude of devas, human beings, and asuras hear what the Buddha has taught and all rejoice greatly. The whole sūtra does not end with another statement from Vimalakīrti, but with the entire great assembly hearing what the Buddha has taught and rejoicing greatly.

When the Buddha gives a sūtra away, what is truly entrusted? The scroll, and also its acceptance and retention; its names, and also practice according to its teaching; explaining it widely for others, and also neither slighting new students nor grasping marks within the profound Dharma. So long as someone lets it pass from the hand into recollection, from reading and recitation into practice, and then from what one has oneself received into the benefit gained by sentient beings, this entrustment extends from the very moment when the Buddha finished teaching this sūtra into the future age.

Base text: Kumārajīva’s Yao-Qin translation, The Vimalakīrti Sūtra, Lower Scroll, Chapter 14, “Entrustment.” What follows renders the chapter’s twelve passages one by one; none of the three groups of two, Maitreya’s five actions, the two scripture names, or the assembly in the circulation passage is omitted.

The World-Honored One Entrusts the Dharma of Unsurpassed Awakening to Maitreya

At that time, the Buddha said to Bodhisattva Maitreya, “Maitreya! I now entrust to you the Dharma of unsurpassed perfect awakening borne by this sūtra, which I gathered over immeasurable kotis of asaṃkhyeya kalpas. After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, in the latter age, you must exercise your spiritual powers to proclaim and circulate sūtras of this kind widely throughout Jambudvīpa. Do not let them be cut off.

“Why? In a future age, there will be good men and good women, as well as devas, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, gandharvas, rākṣasas, and beings of their kind, who raise the mind that seeks unsurpassed perfect awakening and delight in the Dharma of the Great Vehicle. If they cannot hear sūtras of this kind, they will lose exceptional benefit. If they can hear sūtras of this kind, they will surely give rise to abundant faith and delight, regard them as rare, and reverently receive them upon the crown of their heads. You should explain them widely to each kind of sentient being in accordance with the benefit they ought to gain.”

What Are the Two Marks of a Bodhisattva?

The Buddha again said to Maitreya, “You should know that bodhisattvas have two marks. What are the two?

“The first is delighting in the business of miscellaneous phrasing and literary ornament. The second is feeling no fear before profound meaning and being able to enter it as it truly is.

“If one delights only in miscellaneous phrasing and literary ornament, you should know that this is a bodhisattva new to the training. If one has no fear before profound sūtras of this kind, which are undefiled and unattached, but can enter them; if, after hearing them, one’s mind is pure, one can accept and retain them, read and recite them, and practice in accordance with what they teach, you should know that this is a bodhisattva who has long cultivated the practice of the Way.”

Two Ways New Bodhisattvas Injure Themselves before the Profound Dharma

The Buddha continued, “Maitreya! There are also two circumstances showing that bodhisattvas new to the training cannot become settled in the profound Dharma. What are the two?

“First, on hearing for the first time a profound sūtra they have never heard before, they become alarmed and afraid, then give rise to doubt, cannot accord with it, and go on to slander it and refuse to believe it. They also say that they have never heard such a sūtra and demand to know where it came from.

“Second, when they see someone who upholds and explains such a profound sūtra, they do not draw near that person, do not make offerings, and do not show respect; sometimes they even speak of that person’s faults and wrongdoing.

“Those who possess these two circumstances should be known as bodhisattvas new to the training who injure themselves and cannot discipline their own minds within the profound Dharma.”

Even Those Who Already Believe and Understand the Profound Dharma May Injure Themselves in Two Ways

The Buddha also said, “Maitreya! There are two further circumstances: although bodhisattvas already believe and understand the profound Dharma, they still injure themselves and cannot attain acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. What are the two?

“First, they slight bodhisattvas new to the training and fail to teach them. Second, although they understand the profound Dharma, they still grasp its various marks and give rise to discrimination. These are the two dharmas of self-injury.”

Maitreya Promises to Leave Faults Behind and Uphold the Sūtra’s Dharma

After hearing these words, Bodhisattva Maitreya said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! This is truly unprecedented. Just as the Buddha has taught, I will certainly leave these faults behind and reverently uphold the Dharma of unsurpassed perfect awakening gathered by the Tathāgata over countless asaṃkhyeya kalpas.

“If, in a future age, good men and good women seek the Great Vehicle, I will cause them to obtain sūtras of this kind in their own hands, grant them the power to recollect the Dharma of the sūtras, and enable each of them to accept and retain them, read and recite them, and explain them widely to others.

“World-Honored One! If, in the latter age to come, anyone can accept and retain this sūtra, read and recite it, and explain it to others, you should know that all these things have been established and brought to completion through Maitreya’s spiritual power.”

The World-Honored One Praises Him

The Buddha replied, “Excellent! Excellent! Maitreya! Just as you have said, the Buddha also assists you in this rejoicing.”

All the Bodhisattvas Also Promise to Proclaim and Circulate It Widely

At that time, all the bodhisattvas present joined their palms and said to the Buddha, “After the Tathāgata’s parinirvāṇa, we too will proclaim and circulate the Dharma of unsurpassed perfect awakening widely throughout the lands of the ten directions. We will also instruct and guide those who teach the Dharma, enabling them to obtain this sūtra.”

The Four Heavenly Kings Promise to Go Hear the Dharma and Protect That Person

Next, the Four Heavenly Kings said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! Wherever it may be—in a city, village, mountain forest, or wilderness—so long as a scroll of this sūtra is present there and someone reads, recites, and explains it, we will lead the officials under our command to that place in order to hear the Dharma and protect the person who teaches and upholds the sūtra. Within a hundred yojanas around that person, we will not allow those who lie in wait for an opening to find any opportunity.”

The World-Honored One Commands Ānanda to Accept, Retain, and Circulate It

At that time, the Buddha said to Ānanda, “You must accept and retain this sūtra, proclaim it widely, and cause it to circulate.”

Ānanda replied, “Yes! I have already accepted and retained its essential meaning. World-Honored One! What should this sūtra be called?”

The World-Honored One Gives the Two Names of the Sūtra

The Buddha said, “Ānanda! This sūtra is named The Teaching of Vimalakīrti; it is also named The Dharma-Gate of Inconceivable Liberation. You should accept and retain it under these two names.”

The Entire Assembly Rejoices on Hearing the Dharma

When the Buddha had finished teaching this sūtra, the elder Vimalakīrti, Mañjuśrī, Śāriputra, Ānanda, all the others in the assembly, and the entire great multitude of devas, human beings, and asuras heard what the Buddha had taught and all rejoiced greatly.

「我今以是無量億阿僧祇劫所集阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法，付囑於汝。」 — “I now entrust to you the Dharma of unsurpassed perfect awakening gathered over immeasurable kotis of asaṃkhyeya kalpas.” As the whole sūtra reaches its end, the World-Honored One does not open another new dialogue. Instead, he entrusts to Maitreya the Dharma of unsurpassed awakening gathered over immeasurable kalpas. The sūtra explicitly speaks of the latter age after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa and commands that it not be cut off. The question before the reader is therefore very practical: How can a sūtra be kept from being cut off in the future age?

This chapter’s answer is not merely to preserve the scroll. On one side, it writes of the Dharma being proclaimed and circulated widely; on the other, it writes of who accepts and retains it, who explains it, who guides others, and who protects it. At the same time, it points directly to the ways those who uphold the profound Dharma may injure themselves. Whether the sūtra can circulate is tested in the same chapter as the minds of those who hear the Dharma, the conduct of those who teach it, and their attitude toward new students.

Why Does the Entrustment First Point toward the Future Age?

The World-Honored One first says: 「如是輩經，於佛滅後末世之中，汝等當以神力廣宣流布於閻浮提，無令斷絕。」 — “After the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, in the latter age, you must use your spiritual powers to proclaim and circulate sūtras of this kind widely throughout Jambudvīpa and not allow them to be cut off.” The time of the entrustment is explicitly the latter age after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa; the place is explicitly Jambudvīpa; and the actions are proclaiming widely, circulating, and not allowing the sūtras to be cut off. These three levels make “entrustment” not a ceremonial instruction but an explicit charge for the future.

Who in the future needs to hear it? The sūtra lists them one by one: good men, good women, devas, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, gandharvas, rākṣasas, and others. What they share is that they have raised the mind of unsurpassed awakening and delight in the great Dharma. If they do not hear sūtras of this kind, they lose wholesome benefit; if they can hear them, they give rise to faith and delight, regard them as rare, and receive and retain them upon the crown of their heads. The sūtra then adds one final instruction: explain them widely according to the benefit that sentient beings ought to gain. Circulation therefore means not only making the sound travel farther, but ensuring that what is taught truly corresponds to the benefit the listener can gain.

This passage begins before hearing the Dharma and continues through what follows the hearing. First comes raising the mind and delighting in the Dharma; then comes the fork between hearing and not hearing. After hearing come faith and delight, a sense of rarity, and receiving upon the crown of the head; only then does the passage turn to explaining widely for others. If only the word “circulation” remains, all these links are flattened.

Are Delighting in Literary Ornament and Being Able to Enter Deeply the Same Thing?

The World-Honored One next says: 「一者、好於雜句文飾之事；二者、不畏深義如實能入。」 — “The first delights in the business of miscellaneous phrasing and literary ornament; the second does not fear profound meaning and can enter it as it truly is.” The sūtra does not first rank two identity labels as higher and lower. It first gives two recognizable marks: one places what it delights in upon miscellaneous phrasing and literary ornament; the other does not fear profound meaning and enters it as it truly is.

How can “being able to enter” be recognized? This chapter immediately gives a complete sequence: one has no fear before profound sūtras that are undefiled and unattached and can enter them; after hearing, one’s mind is pure; one then accepts and retains, reads and recites; and one next practices according to what is taught. From fearlessness to entry, from hearing to purity of mind, and from accepting and retaining and reading and reciting to practicing according to the teaching—if any link is missing, it cannot substitute for the long cultivation of the Way described by the sūtra.

The sūtra lists two marks of a bodhisattva. The first is delighting in the business of miscellaneous phrasing and literary ornament; the second is not fearing profound meaning and being able to enter it as it truly is. The sūtra identifies one who delights in miscellaneous phrasing and literary ornament as a bodhisattva new to the training. One who has no fear before profound sūtras that are undefiled and unattached, can enter them, becomes pure in mind after hearing, accepts and retains, reads and recites, and practices according to what is taught is identified by the sūtra as a bodhisattva who has long cultivated the practice of the Way.

What Forms of Self-Injury Does the Sūtra List When One First Hears a Profound Sūtra?

For bodhisattvas new to the training, this chapter first speaks of two kinds of self-injury. The first occurs when they encounter a profound sūtra they have never heard before: first they are alarmed and afraid, then they give rise to doubt and cannot accord with it, and next they slander it and refuse to believe it, even saying, 「我初不聞，從何所來？」 — “I have never heard this before. Where did it come from?” The sūtra does not condemn them merely because they had not heard it before. It lays out the process by which not having heard turns into alarm, doubt, refusal to accord, and slander.

The second does not directly attack a sentence of the sūtra, but turns instead toward the person who upholds and explains the profound sūtra: one refuses to draw near, refuses to make offerings, refuses to show respect, and sometimes speaks of the other person’s faults and wrongdoing. The profound Dharma may therefore be rejected in two places: in one, the Dharma has not yet entered the mind and is denied because it is unfamiliar; in the other, the Dharma is already being upheld and explained by someone, yet arrogance toward that person prevents one from drawing near.

The World-Honored One states the result clearly: both kinds of conduct injure oneself and make one unable to discipline one’s mind within the profound Dharma. The point of the sūtra is not to condemn someone else, but to let new students see how alarm and doubt, and speaking of another’s faults, turn back and injure their own ability to receive the profound Dharma and discipline their minds.

Why May One Who Already Believes and Understands the Profound Dharma Still Injure Oneself?

This chapter does not reserve danger for beginners alone. It next asks: Once a bodhisattva already believes and understands the profound Dharma, is that bodhisattva necessarily beyond error? The sūtra replies that there are still two dharmas. First, one slights bodhisattvas new to the training and fails to teach them. Second, although one understands the profound Dharma, one still grasps marks and discriminates.

The sūtra states: Although bodhisattvas believe and understand the profound Dharma, they still injure themselves and cannot attain acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. What are the two? First, they slight bodhisattvas new to the training and fail to teach them. Second, although they understand the profound Dharma, they grasp marks and discriminate.

The result of these two dharmas is not an ordinary flaw. The World-Honored One explicitly says that they make bodhisattvas unable to attain acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. After speaking of those who have long cultivated the practice of the Way, the chapter still separately lists two ways in which those who believe and understand injure themselves: daring to hear a profound sūtra and believing and understanding the profound Dharma do not mean that one has already left behind contempt for new students or grasping and discriminating marks.

Why Must One Examine One’s Own Mind before Circulating the Sūtra’s Dharma?

The arrangement of this chapter deserves close attention. The World-Honored One has already said to use spiritual powers to proclaim and circulate the sūtra widely, yet he does not immediately proceed to Maitreya’s promise. He first inserts the two marks and the two groups of self-injury. This shows that the continuation of the sūtra’s Dharma depends not only on whether scrolls exist and whether someone speaks, but also on where the minds of its upholders abide when they face profound meaning, people who uphold the Dharma, and new students.

The first group of self-injuries occurs in those who are not yet settled in the profound Dharma. On encountering a profound sūtra they had never heard before, they may move from alarm to doubt and from doubt to slander. They may also see someone uphold and explain it yet refuse to draw near, make offerings, or show respect, and instead speak of the person’s faults and wrongdoing. These two things, on one side, prevent them from hearing the Dharma and, on the other, sever their approach to the Dharma teacher. Twice the sūtra locates the result in “injuring oneself,” rather than merely saying that such a person injures others.

The second group of self-injuries occurs in those who already believe and understand the profound Dharma. Such a person no longer rejects the sūtra because it is unfamiliar, but may use what one understands as a basis for slighting new students and failing to teach them. Such a person may also turn the profound Dharma back into marks that can be grasped and discriminated. The first group refuses to approach the profound Dharma and its upholders; the second refuses to support new students and has not loosened its own grasp on the marks of the Dharma. Their learning differs in depth, yet self-injury can still occur.

Reading the two groups together shows why this chapter speaks both of one’s attitude toward the profound sūtra and toward the person who upholds and explains it, and then also of how one who already believes and understands treats new students. The conclusion of the first group is self-injury and inability to discipline one’s mind in the profound Dharma; the conclusion of the second is likewise self-injury and inability to attain acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Hearing the Dharma, drawing near its upholders, teaching new students, and not grasping marks are all placed within the self-examination of one who upholds the profound Dharma.

The verbs used earlier for long cultivation of the Way now reveal their weight again: after hearing, the mind is pure; one accepts and retains, reads and recites, and practices according to the teaching. Later, Maitreya, the bodhisattvas, and Ānanda repeatedly speak of accepting and retaining, reading and reciting, and explaining widely. These terms echo one another. What one hears must be able to enter one’s practice, and what one upholds must also be teachable to others. Either side by itself is not the complete circulation described by this chapter.

How Does Maitreya Receive This Entrustment?

After hearing, Maitreya first praises the World-Honored One’s teaching as unprecedented, promises to leave the stated faults behind, and reverently upholds the Dharma of awakening gathered over immeasurable kalpas. He then describes the future work very concretely: 「當令手得如是等經，與其念力，使受持讀誦、為他廣說。」 — “I will cause them to obtain sūtras of this kind in their own hands, grant them the power of recollection, and enable them to accept and retain, read and recite, and explain them widely to others.”

This sentence has five actions that cannot be merged. First, cause seekers of the Great Vehicle to obtain the sūtra in their own hands. Second, grant them the power of recollection. Third, enable them to accept and retain it. Fourth, enable them to read and recite it. Fifth, enable them to explain it widely to others. The scroll enters their hands, then must enter recollection, acceptance and retention, and reading and recitation, and finally be explained by this person to others. This is precisely the sequence of circulation written in this chapter.

Maitreya further says that if anyone in the latter age can accept and retain, read and recite, and explain the sūtra to others, it should be known that this was established by Maitreya’s spiritual power. The World-Honored One adds no extended teaching, but says “excellent” twice, affirms that what Maitreya has said is so, and assists his rejoicing. The entrustment now has someone who receives it, and the recipient has made an active promise concerning future sentient beings.

Why Are the Bodhisattvas, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Ānanda Also Needed?

After Maitreya receives the entrustment, all the bodhisattvas join their palms and request to uphold it. They speak of two things: after the Tathāgata’s parinirvāṇa, they will proclaim and circulate the Dharma of unsurpassed awakening widely throughout the lands of the ten directions; at the same time, they will guide the Dharma teachers in every place, enabling them to obtain this sūtra. The first extends the Dharma throughout the ten directions; the second enables the Dharma teachers themselves to obtain the scripture on which they rely.

The promise of the Four Heavenly Kings is different. They list four kinds of place: cities, villages, mountain forests, and wildernesses. Wherever there is a scroll of the sūtra and someone reads, recites, and explains it, they will lead their officials there to hear the Dharma, protect that person, and ensure that within a hundred yojanas no one who lies in wait for an opening finds an opportunity. Hearing the Dharma and protecting the person are written within the same promise.

These four kinds of place also unfold the phrase “wherever it may be.” Not only cities, but villages; not only places where people gather, but mountain forests and wildernesses. Wherever the scroll is found and wherever it is read, recited, and explained is the very place to which the Heavenly Kings promise to go, hear the Dharma, and protect. The sūtra needs no newly invented place of circulation; it situates protection within each kind of place it has already named.

Finally, the World-Honored One commands Ānanda to accept and retain this sūtra and proclaim and circulate it widely. Ānanda replies that he has already accepted and retained its essence, then immediately asks its name. This question brings out one further requirement of transmission: someone must not only remember the content but also have a name to follow, so that later recipients know what it is they uphold.

The responsibilities assumed by Maitreya, all the bodhisattvas, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Ānanda do not duplicate one another. Maitreya faces future seekers of the Great Vehicle and enables them to obtain the sūtra and the power of recollection. All the bodhisattvas face the lands of the ten directions and those who teach the Dharma. The Four Heavenly Kings face the places where the scroll is found and the people who uphold it. Ānanda accepts and retains the sūtra’s essence and asks its name. Each has a distinct emphasis, even as their work overlaps in accepting, retaining, and circulating the sūtra.

How Do the Two Names of the Sūtra Bring the Whole Sūtra to a Close?

The World-Honored One answers: 「阿難！是經名為『維摩詰所說』，亦名『不可思議解脫法門』，如是受持。」 — “Ānanda! This sūtra is named The Teaching of Vimalakīrti; it is also named The Dharma-Gate of Inconceivable Liberation. Accept and retain it in this way.” The first name identifies the whole sūtra through what Vimalakīrti taught; the second identifies its Dharma as the Dharma-gate of inconceivable liberation. The sūtra does not choose between the two names, but commands Ānanda to accept and retain it in this way.

When the Buddha has finished teaching the sūtra, the final passage brings the people in the Dharma assembly back one by one: the elder Vimalakīrti, Mañjuśrī, Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the entire great multitude of devas, human beings, and asuras hear what the Buddha has taught and all rejoice greatly. This sentence adds no further doctrine, but returns the whole sūtra from the World-Honored One’s entrustment to the shared hearing of the Dharma. What is to be transmitted into the future is precisely the sūtra heard, accepted, and retained in this assembly.

This chapter lists visible actions one by one: not fearing profound meaning, disciplining one’s mind, not slandering the Dharma, not slighting people, enabling others to obtain the sūtra, accepting and retaining, reading and reciting, explaining widely to others, guiding Dharma teachers, protecting those who uphold the sūtra, and asking its name so that it may be retained. The sūtra travels from the Dharma assembly into the future not through an abstract “circulation,” but through these actions receiving one another in sequence.

Two Mirrors Shining Side by Side

The exposition above has followed this chapter of Kumārajīva’s recension alone. The ancient masters further illuminate entrustment, words and meaning, new students, and protection through two lines of transmission. What follows keeps each with its own recension and presents them with equal standing, without letting either mirror draw the other’s conclusion.

The Kumārajīva-Line Mirror: Words and Meaning, Injuring the Dharma and Injuring People, External and Internal Troubles

In this chapter, the actual attributions in the Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra are only “Kumārajīva says” and “Sengzhao says”; no “Daosheng says” or “Daosheng states” appears. In this chapter, the three masters of the Kumārajīva line cannot be forced into three sets of notes. Where Daosheng has no actual note, its absence is recorded plainly.

Kumārajīva first uses 「什曰：言此經是菩提之因。」 — “Kumārajīva says: This sūtra is the cause of awakening”—to identify the Dharma being entrusted. He also says that the entrustment to Maitreya is related to his future buddhahood and his circulation of the sūtra through spiritual power. When discussing the two marks, he does not reject words altogether, but says: 「什曰：若好雜句，應授之以文；若好深法，即誨之以義。要宜知其相，故為辯二相也。」 — “Kumārajīva says: If one delights in miscellaneous phrasing, one should teach that person through words; if one delights in the profound Dharma, one should instruct that person through meaning. One must know the person’s mark, and therefore the two marks are distinguished.” Words and meaning each have those to whom they correspond. The question is whether one can teach according to the person and enter meaning through words.

Sengzhao calls words 「妙旨之蹄筌」 — “the fish trap and hare snare for the wondrous purport”—and warns against 「捨本尋末唯文飾是好」 — “abandoning the root, seeking the branches, and delighting only in literary ornament.” For the two dharmas of the beginner, he uses 「肇曰：一毀法，二毀人。」 — “Sengzhao says: The first injures the Dharma; the second injures the person”—as his summary. For those who already believe and understand, he calls slighting new students and failing to teach them an external trouble, and grasping and discriminating marks on the basis of what one understands an internal trouble. This mirror illuminates the sūtra’s two groups of two as a double self-examination of Dharma and person, inner and outer, while still standing upon the two dharmas of Kumārajīva’s recension.

At the point concerning the power of recollection, Kumārajīva explains: 「什曰：以神通加其念力令不忘也。」 — “Kumārajīva says: Through spiritual powers, he augments their power of recollection so that they do not forget.” Sengzhao says: 「肇曰：冥啟其心，增其善念也。」 — “Sengzhao says: Unseen, he awakens their minds and increases their wholesome recollection.” The two masters both explain the power of recollection in different words. Presenting them side by side is enough; there is no need to combine them into a new meaning that exceeds both notes.

The Ci’en Mirror: Three Parts of Entrustment, Mark-Seals and Four Conditions, and Protecting People and Dharma

Following Xuanzang’s recension, Kuiji first divides the whole chapter into three parts: 「贊曰：品段有三，初付授丁寧、次問名持法、後時利既訖歡喜流通。」 — “The Commentary says: The chapter has three parts. First is entrustment with earnest instruction; next is asking the name and upholding the Dharma; last, when the timely benefit has been completed, is rejoicing and circulation.” Within the entrustment, there are again three parts: receiving the charge, the bodhisattvas’ request to uphold it, and the Heavenly Kings’ protective defense. This analysis preserves the sequence of circulation in Xuanzang’s recension and does not rewrite the names and terms of Kumārajīva’s text.

On the two kinds of mark-seal in Xuanzang’s recension, Kuiji says: 「相者狀貌，印者決定。相狀決定，名為相印。此二教名印，印二菩薩故。」 — “‘Mark’ means appearance; ‘seal’ means determination. A determined appearance is called a mark-seal. These two teachings are called seals because they seal the two kinds of bodhisattva.” Xuanzang’s recension lists four conditions each for the faults of beginners and those who believe and understand. Kuiji divides the first group into the first two concerning the Dharma and the latter two concerning people; he divides the second into the first two concerning people and the latter two concerning the Dharma. This differs from the two dharmas listed in each group by Kumārajīva’s recension and can only be transmitted within its own recension.

Concerning the level of Dharma acceptance, Kuiji first says that beginners fail to attain the first ground because of the four conditions. He then says that the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas not attained by those who believe and understand is at the eighth ground, or that they may also fail to attain the first ground. Both explanations occur in the commentary; therefore neither is selected as the sūtra’s sole level. In the passage where the bodhisattvas request to uphold the Dharma, he divides protection of the Dharma from protection of people and explains protection of people as: 「一與念力，令記法不忘。二令無障礙，廣演流布。」 — “First, grant the power of recollection so that they remember the Dharma and do not forget it. Second, cause them to be without obstruction so that they may expound and circulate it widely.” At the name of the sūtra, he explains one by one “inconceivable,” “mastery,” “spiritual transformation,” “liberation,” and “Dharma-gate,” all in accordance with the composite full name in Xuanzang’s recension.

The Kumārajīva-line mirror focuses on the cause of awakening, the relation between words and meaning, injuring the Dharma and injuring people, and internal and external troubles. The Ci’en mirror focuses on the divisions of entrustment, the two kinds of mark-seal, four conditions, Dharma acceptance, and protecting the Dharma and people. One lets us see how the profound Dharma enters the mind; the other lets us see how circulation is divided into parts. Both return to accepting and retaining, explaining, and protecting, yet each has its own scriptural recension and vocabulary. The chapter’s transmission lies precisely in keeping each with its own recension: the Dharma is entrusted together with the warnings not to slight new students and not to grasp the marks of the Dharma.