文殊師利所說摩訶般若波羅蜜經 文殊般若 · 卷上 · 見如來
文殊天明先到佛所；舍利弗說明先後之後，佛卻仍問：『你來，是想見如來嗎？』人已站在佛前，『見』才真正成為問題。文殊說自己確實欲見，隨即以如如不異、不動不作、無生無滅、不有不無等語正觀如來；而這一正觀，開頭與結尾都指向利益眾生。佛只再推一層：心無所取，也無不取。舍利弗於是把這一見落回行中——為眾生見如來、令眾生趣涅槃、為眾生發大莊嚴，卻不取眾生、涅槃與莊嚴之相。文殊答「如是，如是」：即使無量諸佛長劫說法、度無量眾生，眾生界仍不增不減，因眾生定相不可得。來到佛前而不把如來抓成一相，利益眾生而不把眾生抓成定相；本章以一問打開的，正是這條不離行而無所取的見路。
Mañjuśrī arrives first at the Buddha’s place as day breaks. After Śāriputra explains who came before and who came after, the Buddha still asks: ‘You have come — is it because you wish to see the Tathāgata?’ The person is already standing before the Buddha, and only then does “seeing” truly become a question. Mañjuśrī says that he indeed wishes to see, and immediately contemplates the Tathāgata through such phrases as suchness without difference, unmoving and unmade, without arising and without ceasing, neither existent nor nonexistent. This right contemplation points toward benefiting sentient beings both at its opening and its close. The Buddha presses only one step further: the mind grasps nothing, yet it does not grasp at non-grasping. Śāriputra then brings this seeing back into action — seeing the Tathāgata for sentient beings, leading sentient beings toward nirvāṇa, and bringing forth the great adornment for sentient beings, yet without grasping the marks of sentient beings, nirvāṇa, or adornment. Mañjuśrī replies 「如是，如是」— “So it is, so it is”: even if immeasurable Buddhas taught the Dharma through long aeons and brought immeasurable sentient beings into nirvāṇa, the realm of sentient beings would still neither increase nor decrease, because no fixed mark of sentient beings can be found. To come before the Buddha without grasping the Tathāgata as a single mark; to benefit sentient beings without grasping them as fixed marks — the path of seeing opened by this chapter’s one question is precisely a seeing that does not depart from action and yet grasps nothing.
Shi Huijing · Zhiyue · Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā · Seeing the Tathāgata · Heart-Essence · Summer 2026
〔T08 0726b〕 舍利弗白佛言：「世尊！文殊師利童真菩薩先已至此，住門外立。我實於後晚來到耳。」爾時世尊問文殊師利：「汝實先來到此住處，欲見如來耶？」文殊師利即白佛言：「如是，世尊！我實來此欲見如來。何以故？我樂正觀利益眾生。我觀如來如如相不異相，不動相不作相，無生相無滅相，不有相不無相，不在方不離方，非三世非不三世，非二相非不二相，非垢相非淨相。以如是等，正觀如來利益眾生。」佛告文殊師利：「若能如是見於如來，心無所取亦無不取，非積聚非不積聚。」爾時舍利弗語文殊師利言：「若能如是，如汝所說見如來者，甚為希有。為一切眾生故見於如來，而心不取眾生之相；化一切眾生向於涅槃，而亦不取向涅槃相；為一切眾生發大莊嚴，而心不見莊嚴之相。」爾時文殊師利童真菩薩摩訶薩語舍利弗言：「如是，如是！如汝所說。雖為一切眾生發大莊嚴心，恒不見有眾生相；為一切 〔T08 0726c〕 眾生發大莊嚴，而眾生趣亦不增不減。假使一佛住世，若一劫若過一劫，如此一佛世界，復有無量無邊恒河沙諸佛，如是一一佛，若一劫若過一劫，晝夜說法心無暫息，各各度於無量恒河沙眾生皆入涅槃，而眾生界亦不增不減。乃至十方諸佛世界亦復如是，一一諸佛說法教化，各度無量恒河沙眾生皆入涅槃，於眾生界亦不增不減。何以故？眾生定相不可得故。是故眾生界不增不減。」
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.
舍利弗回答佛說：「世尊！文殊師利童真菩薩早已先到這裡，站在門外；我其實是在他之後，較晚才到。」
這時，世尊問文殊師利：「你確實先來到這個住處，是想見如來嗎？」
文殊師利隨即回答佛說：「是的，世尊！我確實來到這裡，想要見如來。為什麼呢？因為我樂於作正確的觀察，以利益眾生。我觀如來，是如如之相，是沒有差異之相；是不動之相、不造作之相；是無生之相、無滅之相；不是有相，也不是無相；不在某個方所，也不離開方所；不是過去、現在、未來三世，也不是離開三世；不是二相，也不是非二相；不是垢染之相，也不是清淨之相。我以這些方式正觀如來，利益眾生。」
佛告訴文殊師利：「若能像這樣見如來，心中便沒有任何所取，也不是另有一個『不取』可取；不是積聚，也不是不積聚。」
這時，舍利弗對文殊師利說：「若有人能像你所說的那樣見如來，實在非常稀有。他為了一切眾生而見如來，心中卻不執取眾生之相；教化一切眾生走向涅槃，卻也不執取走向涅槃之相；為了一切眾生發起廣大的莊嚴，心中卻不見有莊嚴之相。」
這時，文殊師利童真菩薩摩訶薩對舍利弗說：「正是如此，正是如此！就像你所說的。雖然為一切眾生發起廣大莊嚴之心，卻始終不見有眾生之相；雖然為一切眾生發起廣大的莊嚴，眾生所趣向的界域卻也不增加、不減少。
「假使有一尊佛住世一劫，或住世超過一劫；又假使像這一個佛世界一樣，另有無量無邊、如恒河沙那麼多的諸佛；其中每一尊佛都各自住世一劫，或超過一劫，日夜不斷說法，心念片刻不停；每一尊佛又各自度化無量如恒河沙那麼多的眾生，使他們全都進入涅槃，然而眾生界仍然不增加，也不減少。
「乃至十方一切諸佛世界也都是這樣：每一尊佛都說法教化，各自度化無量如恒河沙那麼多的眾生，使他們全都進入涅槃；但眾生界仍舊不增加，也不減少。為什麼呢？因為眾生那決定不變的相不可得到，所以眾生界不增不減。」
Śāriputra replied to the Buddha, ‘World-Honored One! Mañjuśrī, the Youthful Bodhisattva, arrived here before us and is standing outside the gate. I actually came later, after him.’
At that time the World-Honored One asked Mañjuśrī, ‘You truly came to this dwelling first. Was it because you wished to see the Tathāgata?’
Mañjuśrī immediately replied to the Buddha, ‘Yes, World-Honored One! I truly came here because I wished to see the Tathāgata. Why? Because I delight in right contemplation for the benefit of sentient beings. I contemplate the Tathāgata as the mark of suchness, a mark without difference; as a mark unmoving and unmade; as a mark without arising and without ceasing; as neither an existent mark nor a nonexistent mark; as neither situated in a direction nor apart from direction; as neither the three times — past, present, and future — nor apart from the three times; as neither a dual mark nor a nondual mark; as neither a defiled mark nor a pure mark. In ways such as these I rightly contemplate the Tathāgata for the benefit of sentient beings.’
The Buddha told Mañjuśrī, ‘If one can see the Tathāgata in this way, the mind grasps nothing, yet it does not turn non-grasping into something else to grasp; it is neither an accumulation nor a non-accumulation.’
At that time Śāriputra said to Mañjuśrī, ‘If someone can see the Tathāgata in the way you have described, it is exceedingly rare. For the sake of all sentient beings, that person sees the Tathāgata, yet the mind does not cling to the mark of sentient beings; that person teaches and transforms all sentient beings to go toward nirvāṇa, yet does not cling to the mark of going toward nirvāṇa; that person brings forth the great adornment for all sentient beings, yet the mind sees no mark of adornment.’
At that time Mañjuśrī, the Youthful Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, said to Śāriputra, ‘So it is, so it is! It is just as you have said. Although one brings forth the mind of great adornment for all sentient beings, one never sees a mark of sentient beings. Although one brings forth the great adornment for all sentient beings, the destinations toward which sentient beings tend neither increase nor decrease.
‘Suppose one Buddha abided in the world for an aeon or for longer than an aeon. Suppose, in addition to this one Buddha-world, there were immeasurable and boundless Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Suppose each Buddha abided for an aeon or for longer than an aeon, taught the Dharma day and night without the mind pausing even for a moment, and brought immeasurably many sentient beings, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, into nirvāṇa. Even then, the realm of sentient beings would neither increase nor decrease.
‘So too throughout all the Buddha-worlds of the ten directions: each Buddha teaches and transforms, bringing immeasurably many sentient beings, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, into nirvāṇa; yet the realm of sentient beings still neither increases nor decreases. Why? Because no fixed, unchanging mark of sentient beings can be found. Therefore the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases.’
Shi Huijing · Zhiyue · Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā · Seeing the Tathāgata · Vernacular · Summer 2026
已經先到，為什麼還要問「見」？
舍利弗先向佛說明：文殊早已到達，站在門外，自己反而較晚才來。佛接著問文殊：『你確實先來，是想見如來嗎？』便不只是確認到達次序。人已經到了佛的住處；可是經文仍然把「見如來」提成一問。這一問，使身體的到達轉向『所見究竟如何』的正觀。
本段沒有古德逐文徵引可作另一把利刃，便只能讓經文自己的問句切入：來到如來面前，不等於經文已經回答了什麼叫見如來。
文殊說來見，為什麼接著說一連串「不」？
文殊並不迴避佛的問。他先明說：我確實來此欲見如來。接著說明原因：他樂於正觀，以利益眾生。然後，經文才排出所謂正觀的內容：如如而不異，不動也不作，無生也無滅，不落有無，不囿於方所而也不離方所，不是三世也不是離開三世，不落二相也不另取非二，不是垢相也不是淨相。
這一連串話最容易被讀成一份否定清單。可是經文的開頭和結尾都沒有離開「利益眾生」：文殊先說樂於正觀利益眾生，列完諸相之後，又說以這樣的正觀利益眾生。因此，這些「不」並未把見如來變成與眾生無關的空白；它們是在利益眾生之中，不讓所見被固定成某一邊的相。
三種漢譯在這裡各有自己的說法。有一譯先說如來法身本不可見，又說不可思議、如如實際；後出的會譯則說以真如之相觀如來，名為真見佛。這些說法彼此如何作義理上的等同，仍須譯者裁定；但三本都把問題從眼前見到一個形體，推向不動不作、非有非無、無生無滅等正觀之語。
「無所取」會不會又變成另一個所取？
佛對文殊的回答很短：若能這樣見如來，心無所取，也無不取；不是積聚，也不是不積聚。這一句的鋒利處，在於它不只放下「取」，也不讓人抓住一個『我就是不取』的立場。若把不取積聚成一種可以自守的狀態，仍然落在經文所鬆開的兩邊。
所以，這裡不是先立一個對象，再命令心不要拿它；經文把能取與不取、積聚與不積聚一同放回正觀之中。就本段文字而言，佛只以這一短句承接文殊，不另造新的相給讀者把持。
不取眾生相，為何仍為眾生發大莊嚴？
舍利弗把問題帶到行動上。他說，能這樣見如來的人實在稀有：為一切眾生而見如來，心不取眾生之相；教化一切眾生趣向涅槃，也不取趣向涅槃之相；為一切眾生發起廣大莊嚴，心中又不見莊嚴之相。
若只讀「不取」，很容易誤以為什麼都不必做。舍利弗卻連說三件正在做的事：見如來、化眾生向涅槃、為眾生發大莊嚴。每一件都行，每一件又都不取其相。文殊回答『正是如此』，再把這一點推得更遠：即使無量諸佛經過長劫，日夜不停說法，度無量眾生入涅槃，眾生界仍然不增不減，因為眾生決定不變的相不可得。
本章沒有自己的譬喻，也沒有古德逐句疏解可替經文下判語。它所給的教學次第，就是先把行動完整說出，再把所取之相逐一鬆開。不是因為眾生相不可得便不利益眾生，也不是因為利益眾生便要把眾生、涅槃與莊嚴抓成固定實體。
承衍
卷上接下來仍沿著眾生界不增不減追問：既然如此，菩薩為何求菩提、常行說法？本章結尾所留下的張力，沒有在一句話裡封死，而是成為後續對話的入口。再往卷下，本經另以一行三昧說「法界一相，繫緣法界」，把般若正觀帶入明確的修學次第；該章已另立單元，不在此處混入其徵引網。
因此，本章的承衍不是替「見如來」立一個結論，而是讓問題繼續工作：人來到佛前，什麼是見？利益眾生時，什麼是不取？發大莊嚴而不見莊嚴之相，如何不落成空說？經卷隨後逐輪追問；此處只守住它最初打開的門。
He Has Already Arrived — Why Ask About “Seeing”?
Śāriputra first explains to the Buddha that Mañjuśrī arrived long before him and is standing outside the gate, while he himself came later. The Buddha then asks Mañjuśrī: ‘You truly came first. Was it because you wished to 「見如來」— “see the Tathāgata”?’ The question does more than confirm the order of arrival. The person has already reached the Buddha’s dwelling, yet the sūtra still raises 「見」— “seeing” — as a question. The question turns bodily arrival toward the right contemplation, ‘What, ultimately, is seen?’
No ancient master’s phrase-by-phrase citation of this passage has been found to supply another cutting edge. We can only let the sūtra’s own question cut in: arriving before the Tathāgata does not mean the sūtra has already answered what 「見如來」— “seeing the Tathāgata” — is.
Mañjuśrī Says He Has Come to See — Why Does He Then Speak a Whole Series of Negations?
Mañjuśrī does not evade the Buddha’s question. He first states plainly: I truly came here because I wished to see the Tathāgata. Then he gives the reason: he delights in right contemplation for 「利益眾生」— “the benefit of sentient beings.” Only then does the sūtra unfold the content of this right contemplation: suchness without difference; unmoving and unmade; without arising and without ceasing; falling into neither existence nor nonexistence; neither confined to a direction nor apart from direction; neither the three times nor apart from the three times; neither falling into duality nor setting up nonduality as something else to grasp; neither a defiled mark nor a pure mark.
This series is easily read as a list of 「不」— “nots.” Yet neither the opening nor the close of the passage departs from “benefiting sentient beings”: Mañjuśrī first says he delights in right contemplation for the benefit of sentient beings, and after listing these marks says once again that by this right contemplation he benefits sentient beings. These 「不」— “nots” — therefore do not turn seeing the Tathāgata into a blank unrelated to sentient beings. In the very midst of benefiting sentient beings, they prevent what is seen from being fixed as the mark of either side.
The three Chinese translations each speak in their own way here. One translation first says that the Tathāgata’s Dharma-body is fundamentally invisible, and then speaks of it as inconceivable and the reality-limit of suchness. The later composite translation says that contemplating the Tathāgata through the mark of suchness is named truly seeing the Buddha. Their doctrinal equivalence is not assumed. Yet all three move the question away from seeing a form before the eyes and toward such language of right contemplation as unmoving and unmade, neither existent nor nonexistent, without arising and without ceasing.
Can “Nothing Grasped” Become One More Thing to Grasp?
The Buddha’s response to Mañjuśrī is brief: if one can see the Tathāgata in this way, the mind is 「無所取」— “with nothing grasped” — yet does not grasp at non-grasping; it is neither an accumulation nor a non-accumulation. The sharpness of this line lies in its releasing not only 「取」— “grasping” — but also the position ‘I am one who does not grasp.’ If non-grasping is accumulated into a state one can possess and defend, one still falls back into the two sides the sūtra loosens.
Thus the text does not first establish an object and then command the mind not to take it. It places both grasping and non-grasping, both accumulation and non-accumulation, back within right contemplation. As the wording of this passage stands, the Buddha answers Mañjuśrī only with this short sentence and does not construct a new mark for the reader to hold.
If One Does Not Grasp the Mark of Sentient Beings, Why Still Bring Forth the Great Adornment for Them?
Śāriputra brings the question into action. He says that one who can see the Tathāgata in this way is exceedingly rare: for the sake of all sentient beings one sees the Tathāgata, yet the mind does not grasp the mark of sentient beings; one teaches all sentient beings to go toward nirvāṇa, yet does not grasp the mark of going toward nirvāṇa; one brings forth the great adornment for all sentient beings, yet the mind sees no mark of adornment.
Read only 「不取」— “does not grasp” — and it is easy to suppose that nothing need be done. Śāriputra instead names three things actively being done: seeing the Tathāgata, transforming sentient beings toward nirvāṇa, and bringing forth the great adornment for them. Each is carried out, and in each its mark is not grasped. Mañjuśrī replies ‘So it is’ and takes the point further: even if immeasurable Buddhas taught the Dharma day and night over long aeons and brought immeasurable sentient beings into nirvāṇa, the realm of sentient beings would still neither increase nor decrease, because no fixed and unchanging mark of sentient beings can be found.
This chapter has no simile of its own, nor an ancient master’s line-by-line explanation that can pass judgment for the sūtra. Its pedagogical sequence is to state the action in full and then loosen each mark that might be grasped. It is not that because the mark of sentient beings cannot be found, one therefore does not benefit them; nor is it that because one benefits sentient beings, one must grasp sentient beings, nirvāṇa, and adornment as fixed entities.
Onward Transmission
The upper scroll continues by questioning the statement that the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases: if so, why does the bodhisattva seek awakening and constantly teach the Dharma? The tension left at the end of this chapter is not sealed shut within a single sentence. It becomes the entrance to the dialogue that follows. Further on in the lower scroll, the sūtra speaks of the single-practice samādhi through 「法界一相，繫緣法界」— “the single mark of the dharma-realm; bind the attention to the dharma-realm”〔T08 0731a〕— bringing prajñā’s right contemplation into an explicit sequence of practice. That chapter has been established as a separate unit; its citation network is not folded into this one.
The onward transmission of this chapter therefore does not establish a conclusion for “seeing the Tathāgata.” It lets the question continue to work: when a person comes before the Buddha, what is seeing? When benefiting sentient beings, what is non-grasping? How can bringing forth the great adornment without seeing a mark of adornment avoid becoming empty talk? The scroll pursues these questions round after round. Here we preserve only the door first opened by them.
Shi Huijing · Zhiyue · Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā · Seeing the Tathāgata · Exposition · Summer 2026
考據Apparatus
一、科判定位
《文殊師利所說摩訶般若波羅蜜經》不立品目。本章承序分末問而起，依底本對話輪攝第二至第七輪：舍利弗先答文殊已在門外，佛問文殊是否先來欲見如來；文殊以「如如相不異相」等語正觀如來，佛印其心無所取亦無不取；舍利弗提起利益眾生而不取眾生等相，文殊答以發大莊嚴而眾生界不增不減。
本章底本文字範圍共五百三十一字〔T08 0726b12–0726c09〕。第七輪自 0726b 延續至 0726c。節目定為「見如來」。
二、異譯對勘
（一）對讀範圍
本段對曼陀羅仙本、僧伽婆羅本與玄奘第七曼殊室利分作義段局部對讀。以下只取本單元所涉佛問、文殊正觀與無取行願，不再把三本序分會眾收入本章。逐字對勘只證明義段可對讀，不判定三本文句義理全同。
（二）佛問見如來
曼陀羅仙本：「汝實先來到此住處，欲見如來耶？」〔T08 0726b〕
僧伽婆羅本先問：「汝於晨朝先至門乎？」〔T08 0733a〕
文殊答以中夜見光而來禮拜親近、願聞妙法後，僧伽婆羅本再問：「汝今真實見如來乎？」〔T08 0733b〕
玄奘本：「善男子！汝實先來至此住處，為欲觀禮親近佛耶？」〔T07 0964b〕
曼陀羅仙本把「先來」與「欲見如來」合為一問；僧伽婆羅本先問晨朝先至，後另問真實見如來；玄奘本則把先來與觀禮親近合問。此處誌錄三本問法的結構差異，不判其義域高下。
（三）文殊對揚核心句
曼陀羅仙本：「我觀如來如如相不異相，不動相不作相，無生相無滅相，不有相不無相，不在方不離方，非三世非不三世，非二相非不二相，非垢相非淨相。以如是等，正觀如來利益眾生。」〔T08 0726b〕
僧伽婆羅本：「如來法身本不可見，我為眾生故來見佛。佛法身者不可思議，無相無形，不來不去，非有非無，非見非不見，如如實際，不去不來，非無非非無，非處非非處，非一非二，非淨非垢，不生不滅。我見如來亦復如是。」〔T08 0733b〕
玄奘本：「我觀如來即真如相無動無作、無所分別無異分別、非即方處非離方處、非有非無、非常非斷、非即三世非離三世、無生無滅、無去無來、無染不染、無二不二，心言路絕。若以此等真如之相觀於如來，名真見佛，亦名禮敬親近如來，實於有情能為利樂。」〔T07 0964b〕
曼陀羅仙本以「如如相不異相」領起一連串離二相語，並明說正觀如來是為利益眾生；僧伽婆羅本先說如來法身本不可見，又以不可思議、如如實際等語說其見；玄奘本作「即真如相」，以無動無作等語展開，末說名真見佛、亦名禮敬親近如來。三本異同在此並列，不作會通判定。
三、經論宗依
本章由佛問「欲見如來耶」開出正觀；文殊的回答完全以本經自語展開，所依即「如如相不異相」以及不動不作、無生無滅、不有不無等句。佛續以「心無所取亦無不取」承接，舍利弗與文殊再把見如來連到利益眾生而不取眾生、涅槃與莊嚴之相。本目不外攀他經他論另立宗義。
四、本章釋要
舍利弗說明文殊先至後，佛把「先來」轉成「欲見如來」之問。文殊承認來見，卻隨即說明他所樂的是正觀以利益眾生，並以一連串不落兩邊的相語陳說所觀如來。
佛沒有另加長釋，只把文殊所說收在「心無所取亦無不取，非積聚非不積聚」。舍利弗則將這一見法放進利益眾生、令向涅槃與發大莊嚴三事：事皆行，而相不取。文殊答「如是，如是」，再以無量諸佛長時說法、度無量眾生入涅槃，而眾生界仍不增不減，推進到本章結尾。此處只依經文次第勾勒，不替這些離二語另作判教。
五、術語
| 術語 | 古德傳音／發音輔助 | 本章所給的義界 |
|---|---|---|
| 如來 | 無古德音寫可徵者從闕 | 佛問「欲見如來耶」所指；下文以如如相不異相等正觀，不另立外解 |
| 如如／如 | 無古德音寫可徵者從闕 | 底本作「如如相不異相」；僧伽婆羅本作「如如實際」；玄奘本作「真如相」 |
| 不動相／不作相 | 無古德音寫可徵者從闕 | 底本正觀如來之相語；玄奘本對讀作「無動無作」 |
| 無生相／無滅相 | 無古德音寫可徵者從闕 | 底本成對列舉；僧伽婆羅本與玄奘本均有不生不滅或無生無滅之語 |
| 不來相／不去相 | 無古德音寫可徵者從闕 | 底本本段未直接列此二語；僧伽婆羅本作「不來不去」「不去不來」，玄奘本作「無去無來」，只列作異譯對讀，勿倒灌為底本文字 |
| 大莊嚴 | 無古德音寫可徵者從闕 | 舍利弗說為眾生發大莊嚴而不見莊嚴之相；文殊續說發大莊嚴而眾生界不增不減 |
本章沒有可據古德音寫繫定的梵語，羅馬字從闕；不以近代梵文校本補作文字出處。
六、譬喻
本章無自有譬喻。文殊以一佛世界、恒河沙諸佛、長劫說法與度眾生陳說眾生界不增不減，這是廣設情境的論說，不另判為經中譬喻。
七、徵引承衍
已查本經現有徵引座標表與徵引網，未見古德逐文徵引本段。已核的《楞伽師資記》、智顗《摩訶止觀》與《六祖大師法寶壇經》所涉重點皆是一行三昧，位於本經卷下後段，不屬本章，故不移入此處湊作徵引。
就本經自身承衍而言，本章由「欲見如來」起問，所立的無取與利益眾生兩線，隨卷上對話繼續展開；至卷下一行三昧章，本經又以「法界一相，繫緣法界」〔T08 0731a〕說觀行，該章已另成單元。兩章的義理關係依各章經文分別呈現，不另作會通判定。
八、校本定位
- 底本：T08n0232〔0726b12–0726c09〕，共五百三十一字。
- 同代異譯：T08n0233〔0733a–b〕，本章只取佛問與正觀如來等義段對讀。
- 玄奘對讀：T07n0220 第七曼殊室利分〔0964b–c〕，本章只取相應對揚義段。
- 〔T08 0726b15〕底本作「先」，異讀作「光」（一本）。
- 〔T08 0726b24〕底本作「如是」，異讀無「如是」（三本）。
- 〔T08 0726c01〕底本作「趣」，異讀作「界」（四本）。
- 〔T08 0726c04〕底本作「無」，異讀作「不」（四本）。
原典層依底本文字，以上四處均保留底本讀法。0726a28「國」與 0726b08「犍」兩條已移入獨立「序」單元，不在本章重錄。
1 · Classificatory Placement
Mañjuśrī’s Teaching of the Mahā-Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra has no chapter divisions. This chapter begins by taking up the final question of the prologue and, according to the dialogue-round analysis of the base text, comprises rounds two through seven: Śāriputra first answers that Mañjuśrī is already outside the gate; the Buddha asks Mañjuśrī whether he 「先來」— “came first” — because he 「欲見如來」— “wished to see the Tathāgata”; Mañjuśrī rightly contemplates the Tathāgata through 「如如相不異相」— “the mark of suchness, a mark without difference” — and the phrases that follow; the Buddha confirms this as a mind that grasps nothing and yet does not grasp at non-grasping; Śāriputra raises benefiting sentient beings without grasping the marks of sentient beings, and Mañjuśrī answers that one brings forth the great adornment while the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases.
The base-text range of this chapter totals 531 characters〔T08 0726b–c〕. The seventh round continues from 0726b into 0726c. The section title is “Seeing the Tathāgata.”
2 · Collation with Other Translations
(1) Range of Parallel Reading
This passage makes a local, sense-unit parallel reading of the Mandrasena recension, the Saṅghabhara recension, and Xuanzang’s Seventh Assembly, Mañjuśrī Division. Only the Buddha’s questions, Mañjuśrī’s right contemplation, and the practice of non-grasping taken below; the three prologues’ assemblies are not brought into this chapter again. Verbatim collation establishes only that these sense units can be read in parallel; it does not judge the wording and doctrinal scope of the three texts to be entirely identical.
(2) The Buddha Asks About Seeing the Tathāgata
Mandrasena recension: 「汝實先來到此住處，欲見如來耶？」〔T08 0726b〕
tr. “Did you truly come to this dwelling first because you wished to see the Tathāgata?”
The Saṅghabhara recension first asks: 「汝於晨朝先至門乎？」〔T08 0733a〕
tr. “Did you arrive at the gate first in the early morning?”
After Mañjuśrī answers that he saw light at midnight and came to bow, draw near, and ask to hear the wondrous Dharma, the Saṅghabhara recension asks again: 「汝今真實見如來乎？」〔T08 0733b〕
tr. “Do you now truly see the Tathāgata?”
Xuanzang recension: 「善男子！汝實先來至此住處，為欲觀禮親近佛耶？」〔T07 0964b〕
tr. “Good man! Did you truly come first to this dwelling in order to contemplate, venerate, and draw near the Buddha?”
The Mandrasena recension joins 「先來」— “coming first” — and 「欲見如來」— “wishing to see the Tathāgata” — in one question. The Saṅghabhara recension first asks about arriving first at dawn and later separately asks about truly seeing the Tathāgata. Xuanzang joins coming first with contemplation, veneration, and drawing near. This section records the structural differences among the three forms of the question without ranking their doctrinal ranges.
(3) The Core Sentence of Mañjuśrī’s Exchange
Mandrasena recension: 「我觀如來如如相不異相，不動相不作相，無生相無滅相，不有相不無相，不在方不離方，非三世非不三世，非二相非不二相，非垢相非淨相。以如是等，正觀如來利益眾生。」〔T08 0726b〕
tr. “I contemplate the Tathāgata as the mark of suchness, a mark without difference; as a mark unmoving and unmade; as a mark without arising and without ceasing; as neither an existent mark nor a nonexistent mark; as neither situated in a direction nor apart from direction; as neither the three times nor apart from the three times; as neither a dual mark nor a nondual mark; as neither a defiled mark nor a pure mark. In ways such as these I rightly contemplate the Tathāgata for the benefit of sentient beings.”
Saṅghabhara recension: 「如來法身本不可見，我為眾生故來見佛。佛法身者不可思議，無相無形，不來不去，非有非無，非見非不見，如如實際，不去不來，非無非非無，非處非非處，非一非二，非淨非垢，不生不滅。我見如來亦復如是。」〔T08 0733b〕
tr. “The Tathāgata’s Dharma-body is fundamentally not visible; I came to see the Buddha for the sake of sentient beings. The Buddha’s Dharma-body is inconceivable, without mark or form, neither coming nor going, neither existent nor nonexistent, neither seen nor unseen — the reality-limit of suchness; neither going nor coming, neither nonexistent nor non-nonexistent, neither situated nor nonsituated, neither one nor two, neither pure nor defiled, neither arising nor ceasing. My seeing of the Tathāgata is likewise.”
Xuanzang recension: 「我觀如來即真如相無動無作、無所分別無異分別、非即方處非離方處、非有非無、非常非斷、非即三世非離三世、無生無滅、無去無來、無染不染、無二不二，心言路絕。若以此等真如之相觀於如來，名真見佛，亦名禮敬親近如來，實於有情能為利樂。」〔T07 0964b〕
tr. “I contemplate the Tathāgata as precisely the mark of suchness: without movement or making, without discrimination or differentiated discrimination, neither identical with a direction and place nor apart from direction and place, neither existent nor nonexistent, neither permanent nor annihilated, neither identical with the three times nor apart from the three times, without arising or ceasing, without going or coming, without defilement yet not ‘undefiled,’ without duality yet not ‘nondual’ — where the paths of mind and speech are cut off. To contemplate the Tathāgata through such marks of suchness is named truly seeing the Buddha and is also named venerating and drawing near the Tathāgata; it can genuinely bring benefit and ease to sentient beings.”
The Mandrasena recension opens a sequence of phrases departing the two sides with 「如如相不異相」— “the mark of suchness, a mark without difference” — and expressly says that rightly contemplating the Tathāgata is for the benefit of sentient beings. The Saṅghabhara recension first says that the Tathāgata’s Dharma-body is fundamentally not visible, then describes its seeing through inconceivable, the reality-limit of suchness, and similar phrases. Xuanzang has 「即真如相」— “precisely the mark of suchness” — expands it through “without movement or making” and related phrases, and closes by naming this truly seeing the Buddha and also venerating and drawing near the Tathāgata. The agreements and differences are set side by side without doctrinal harmonization.
3 · Scriptural and Treatise Ground
The Buddha’s question, 「欲見如來耶」— “Did you wish to see the Tathāgata?” — opens this chapter’s right contemplation. Mañjuśrī’s answer unfolds entirely through this sūtra’s own words, grounded in 「如如相不異相」— “the mark of suchness, a mark without difference” — followed by unmoving and unmade, without arising and without ceasing, neither existent nor nonexistent, and the rest. The Buddha continues with 「心無所取亦無不取」— tr. “the mind has nothing it grasps, yet neither is it without grasping.” Śāriputra and Mañjuśrī then join seeing the Tathāgata to benefiting sentient beings without grasping the marks of sentient beings, nirvāṇa, or adornment. This rubric does not reach outward to another sūtra or treatise to establish a separate doctrine.
4 · Essential Explanation of This Chapter
After Śāriputra explains that Mañjuśrī came first, the Buddha turns “coming first” into the question 「欲見如來」— “wishing to see the Tathāgata.” Mañjuśrī acknowledges that he came to 「見如來」— “see the Tathāgata” — yet immediately explains that what he delights in is right contemplation for the benefit of sentient beings, and sets forth the contemplated Tathāgata in a series of phrases that do not fall into either side.
The Buddha adds no long explanation. He gathers Mañjuśrī’s statement into 「心無所取亦無不取，非積聚非不積聚」— tr. “the mind has nothing it grasps, yet neither is it without grasping; it is neither an accumulation nor a non-accumulation.” Śāriputra places this seeing within three acts: benefiting sentient beings, directing them toward nirvāṇa, and bringing forth the great adornment — each act carried out, its mark not grasped. Mañjuśrī answers 「如是，如是」— “So it is, so it is” — then advances to the chapter’s close: immeasurable Buddhas teach for a long time and bring immeasurable sentient beings into nirvāṇa, yet the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases. This account follows the sequence of the sūtra and does not turn these phrases departing duality into a doctrinal classification of its own.
5 · Terms
| Term | Ancient transmitted sound / pronunciation aid | Scope supplied by this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| 如來 · the Tathāgata | No ancient-master transliteration presently attested; left blank | The referent of the Buddha’s question “Did you wish to see the Tathāgata?”; the following passage rightly contemplates him through the mark of suchness and the other phrases, without establishing an external explanation. |
| 如如／如 · suchness / such | No ancient-master transliteration presently attested; left blank | The base text has 「如如相不異相」, tr. “the mark of suchness, a mark without difference”; the Saṅghabhara recension has 「如如實際」, tr. “the reality-limit of suchness”; Xuanzang has 「真如相」, tr. “the mark of suchness.” |
| 不動相／不作相 · the unmoving mark / the unmade mark | No ancient-master transliteration presently attested; left blank | Phrases for rightly contemplating the Tathāgata in the base text; Xuanzang’s parallel has 「無動無作」, tr. “without movement or making.” |
| 無生相／無滅相 · the mark without arising / the mark without ceasing | No ancient-master transliteration presently attested; left blank | Listed as a pair in the base text; both Saṅghabhara and Xuanzang have either “neither arising nor ceasing” or “without arising or ceasing.” |
| 不來相／不去相 · the mark without coming / the mark without going | No ancient-master transliteration presently attested; left blank | These two expressions do not occur directly in this base-text passage. Saṅghabhara has 「不來不去」「不去不來」 and Xuanzang has 「無去無來」; they are listed only as alternate-translation parallels and must not be backfilled into the base wording. |
| 大莊嚴 · the great adornment | No ancient-master transliteration presently attested; left blank | Śāriputra speaks of bringing forth the great adornment for sentient beings without seeing the mark of adornment; Mañjuśrī continues that one brings forth the great adornment while the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases. |
This chapter has no Sanskrit that can be anchored to an ancient master’s transmitted transliteration. Romanization is therefore left blank; no modern Sanskrit critical edition is used as an authority for the wording.
6 · Simile
This chapter has no simile of its own. Mañjuśrī sets out an extended scenario of one Buddha-world, Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, long aeons of teaching, and sentient beings brought into nirvāṇa in order to explain that the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases. This is an argumentative scenario, not separately adjudicated as a scriptural simile.
7 · Citations and Onward Transmission
The existing citation-coordinate table and citation network for this sūtra have been checked; no ancient master’s phrase-by-phrase citation of this passage has been found. The verified passages in the Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Laṅkā, Zhiyi’s Great Calming and Contemplation, and the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch all focus on the single-practice samādhi in the later part of the lower scroll. They do not belong to this chapter and are not moved here merely to supply citations.
Within the sūtra’s own onward movement, this chapter begins with 「欲見如來耶」— “Did you wish to see the Tathāgata?” — and its two threads — non-grasping and benefiting sentient beings — continue through the dialogue of the upper scroll. In the lower scroll’s single-practice samādhi chapter, the sūtra later speaks of 「法界一相，繫緣法界」— tr. “the single mark of the dharma-realm; bind the attention to the dharma-realm”〔T08 0731a〕— as a practice instruction; that chapter has already been made a separate unit. Each chapter’s doctrinal movement is presented from its own wording without further harmonization.
8 · Witness Placement
- Base text: T08n0232〔0726b–c〕, totaling 531 characters.
- Contemporary alternate translation: T08n0233〔0733a–b〕; only the sense units corresponding to the Buddha’s questions and right contemplation of the Tathāgata are used for parallel reading here.
- Xuanzang parallel: T07n0220, Seventh Assembly, Mañjuśrī Division〔0964b–c〕; only the corresponding exchange is used for parallel reading here.
- At〔T08 0726b15〕the base text has 「先」, tr. “first”; one witness reads 「光」, tr. “light.” This note falls after the independent 「序」— “Prologue” — unit.
- At〔T08 0726b24〕the base text has 「如是」, tr. “so it is”; three witnesses omit 「如是」.
- At〔T08 0726c01〕the base text has 「趣」, tr. “destination / tendency”; four witnesses read 「界」, tr. “realm.”
- At〔T08 0726c04〕the base text has 「無」, tr. “without”; four witnesses read 「不」, tr. “not.”
The source-text layer follows the sealed wording of the base text and retains the base reading in all four cases. The two notes at 0726a28, 「國」, and 0726b08, 「犍」, have been moved into the independent “Prologue” unit rather than repeated in this chapter.
Shi Huijing · Zhiyue · Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā · Seeing the Tathāgata · Apparatus · Summer 2026