妙法蓮華經文句 釋提婆達多品
寶塔開了，兩位佛並坐，釋迦大聲說：如來不久將入涅槃，這部經要交付給有能承擔的人。
交給誰？
經文沒有直接回答。它先講了一個很久以前的故事。
有一位國王捨了王位求法，為一個仙人做了一千年的僕役——採果、汲水、拾薪、辦飯，最後還以自己的身體作床座，始終不覺得疲倦。
那位仙人是誰？
佛說：就是提婆達多。
就是那個帶走五百比丘、破了僧團的人；就是那個從山崖上推下三十肘巨石、傷了佛腳出血的人；就是那個唆使國王放出醉象、以拳打死花色比丘尼、在指甲裡藏毒想趁禮足時下手的人。
五逆之罪，一件不少。
本論把這些事一件一件記下來，沒有淡化，也沒有替他辯解。記完之後才說：他出生那天，天上人間都覺得心裡發燙，所以叫「天熱」。
然後補上一句——因地上的行為是逆的，道理上卻是順的。
而這句話下面還有六個字：這是圓教的意思，不是其餘三教的意思。
這六個字要緊。它等於承認：換一個高度來看，逆與順才可能不是對立的兩邊；在別的高度上，逆就只是逆。
所以本論並沒有說惡是好的。它說的是：你站在哪裡看這件事。
接著，經文轉到當場。
智積菩薩問文殊：你在海裡度了多少人？文殊說，多得說不出來。
然後龍王的女兒出現了。八歲，畜生道，女身。
舍利弗當場提出質疑——女身有五種障礙，怎麼可能成佛？
龍女沒有辯論。她拿出一顆寶珠獻給佛，佛接了。
她轉頭問智積菩薩與舍利弗：我獻寶珠，世尊接受，這件事快不快？
答：很快。
她說：那就以你的神力看我成佛，比這還快。
本論解這一幕，只用了幾句話：圓的珠子表示她所修得的圓滿之因，獻上去是把因推向果；佛接得快，就是得果快。
然後是那句——這就是一念之間坐上道場，成佛不虛。
我們常以為修行是一條很長的路，要走很久很久。可是這一品把兩頭都堵住了：業障最重的人可以成，條件最差的人也可以成。
那還剩下什麼理由？
只剩下一個——我還沒有把那顆珠子拿出來。
珠子不是別的。本論說，圓珠表示的是修得的圓因。它不在別處，它就是你此刻手裡有的那一點點東西。
問題從來不是它夠不夠大。
問題是你肯不肯遞出去。
The jeweled stūpa has opened. The two buddhas sit together, and Śākyamuni proclaims in a great voice: the Tathāgata will soon enter nirvāṇa; this sutra must be entrusted to someone able to bear it.
Entrusted to whom?
The scripture does not answer directly. First it tells a story from the distant past.
A king relinquished his throne to seek the Dharma and served an immortal seer for a thousand years—gathering fruit, drawing water, collecting firewood, preparing food, and finally making his own body a bed and seat, never once feeling weary.
Who was that immortal?
The Buddha says: it was Devadatta.
The very man who led away five hundred bhikṣus and split the Saṅgha; who hurled a thirty-cubit boulder from a cliff and wounded the Buddha’s foot until it bled; who incited the king to release a drunken elephant, beat the Bhikṣuṇī Utpalavarṇā to death with his fist, and hid poison beneath his fingernails to strike while bowing at the Buddha’s feet.
Not one of the five heinous transgressions is absent.
The root treatise records these deeds one by one. It neither softens them nor makes excuses for him. Only after recording them does it say that, on the day he was born, humans and devas alike felt their hearts burn, and so he was called “Heavenly Heat.”
It then adds one sentence: his conduct at the causal stage was contrary, yet in principle it was accordant.
Beneath that sentence come six further words: this is the meaning of the Perfect Teaching, not the meaning of the other three teachings.
Those six words matter. They acknowledge that only from another height can contrariety and accord cease to be opposing sides; at every other height, what is contrary remains simply contrary.
The root treatise therefore does not say that evil is good. It asks: from where are you looking at this?
The scripture then returns to the present assembly.
Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulation asks Mañjuśrī: how many people did you deliver in the ocean? Mañjuśrī replies that their number cannot be expressed.
Then the dragon king’s daughter appears—eight years old, born in the animal realm, and female.
Śāriputra challenges her at once: the female body has five obstacles; how could she possibly become a buddha?
The dragon girl does not debate him. She takes out a precious jewel and offers it to the Buddha. The Buddha accepts it.
She turns to Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulation and Śāriputra and asks: I offered the jewel and the World-Honored One accepted it—was that quick?
They answer: very quick.
She says: then use your spiritual power to watch me become a buddha even more quickly.
The root treatise explains the scene in only a few sentences: the round jewel represents the perfect cause she has cultivated; offering it directs the cause toward the fruit; the Buddha’s swift acceptance represents swift attainment of the fruit.
Then comes the sentence: this is sitting at the site of awakening in a single thought; her buddhahood is not false.
We often imagine practice as a very long road that must be traveled for a very long time. This chapter closes off both ends of that excuse: the person bearing the gravest karmic obstruction can attain it, and the person possessing the least favorable conditions can attain it.
What reason remains?
Only one: I have not yet taken out that jewel.
The jewel is nothing else. The root treatise says that the round jewel represents the perfect cause attained through cultivation. It is nowhere else; it is the little that you hold in your hand at this very moment.
The question has never been whether it is large enough.
The question is whether you are willing to offer it.
隋天台智者大師說《妙法蓮華經文句》〔灌頂法師私記・唐天寶戊子朗和尚條倫治定本・卷端序＝鏡中沙門神逈述〕· 大正藏 T34n1718〔起 T34 0114c17〕。段/行首〔T34 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T34 0114c17〕釋提婆達多品〔生時人天心熱，因此立名，即因緣釋名也；因行逆而理順，即圓教之意，非餘教意也。本地清涼，迹示天熱，同眾生病耳〕 《寶唱經目》云「《法華》凡四譯，兩存、兩沒。曇摩羅剎，此言法護，西晉長安譯，名正法華。法護仍敷演，安、汰所承者是也。鳩摩羅什，此翻童壽，是龜茲國人，以偽秦弘始五年四月二十三日，於長安逍遙園譯《大品》竟，至八年夏，於草堂寺譯此《妙法蓮華》，命僧叡講之，叡開為九轍，當時二十八品，長安宮人請此品淹留在內，江東所傳止得二十七品。梁有滿法師，講經一百遍，於長沙郡燒身，仍以此品安〈持品〉之前，彼自私安未聞天下。陳有南嶽禪師，次此品在〈寶塔〉之後，晚以《正法華》勘之，甚相應。今四瀆混和，見長安舊本，故知二師深得經意。」提婆達多亦言達兜，此翻天熱，其破僧將五百比丘去，身子厭之。眠熟，目連擎眾將還，眠起發誓誓報此怨，捧三十肘石廣十五肘擲佛，山神手遮，小石迸傷佛足血出；教闍王放醉象蹋佛；拳花色比丘尼死；安毒十爪欲禮佛足中傷於佛，是為五逆罪。若作三逆，教王、毒爪並害佛攝。以其應行逆，生時人天心熱，從是得名，故言天熱，此迹也。若作本解者，眾生煩惱故菩薩示熱，同其病行而度脫之。此品來意引古弘經傳益非謬，明今宣化事驗不虛，舉往勸今使流通也。文為二：一、訖「生佛前蓮花化生」，明昔日達多通經、釋迦成道；二、從「於時下方多寶所從菩薩」下，明今日文殊通經、龍女作佛，稟教尚然，宣通之功益豈不大矣！故提婆達受記，文殊可以意知〔云云〕。 〔T34 0115a18〕第一有三：一、明往昔師弟持經之相，二、結會古今，三、勸信。第一有長行、偈頌。長行有四：一、明求法時節；二、「於多劫中」下，正明求法；三、「時有仙人」下，明求得法師；四、「王聞」下，明受法奉行。第一如文。「於多劫中」下，第二，復二：一、明發願；「為欲滿足」下，二，明修行。行中復二：一、明欲滿檀那勤行布施，如文；二、「時世人民」下，明為滿般若推求妙法。偈有七行半，頌上長行。初二句，頌第一求法時節；次「雖作」下，第二，一行半，頌第二正求法；次「時有阿私」下，第三，一行半，頌第三得說法師；「時王聞仙言」下，第四，二行半，頌受法奉行；「後亦不為已」下，第五，一行半，結證勸信。 「告諸比丘王者」下，第二，結會古今，復二：一、正結會古今，如文；「由提婆」下，第二，明師弟功報俱滿。滿中復二：先明弟子因報已滿；次「佛告四眾」下，第二，明法師妙果當成。弟子中復三：先明因滿；次「三十二相」下，明果圓；後「皆因提婆」下，結證由通經者益。初，「具足六波羅蜜」者，度義甚多，如《大論》說，捨依正名檀，防止七支名戒，打罵不報名忍，為事始終名精進，四禪八定名禪，分地息諍名般若。又若束十善為六者，不殺至不妄語是檀，不兩舌是尸，不惡口是忍，不綺語是進，不貪瞋是禪，不邪見是般若。《菩薩善戒》第十云「六波羅蜜有三種，一對治，謂慳惡瞋怠亂癡〔云云〕；二謂相生，謂捨家持戒遇辱須忍，忍已精進，進已調五根，根調知法界；三謂果報，富具色力壽安辯。」又餘經云，施報富，戒報善道，忍報端正，進報神通，禪報生天，智報破煩惱。如是等例皆是三藏明六度相也。若施受財物三事皆空名檀，不見持犯名戒，能忍所忍不可得名忍，身心不動名精進，不亂不味名禪，非智非愚名般若，如此流例即通教中六度相。若言檀有十利，伏慳煩惱，捨心相續，與眾生同資產，生豪富家，生生施心現前，四眾愛樂，處眾不怯畏，勝名遍布，手足柔軟，乃至詣道場，恒值善知識。戒有十利者，滿一切智如佛所學，智者不毀，誓願不退，安住於行，棄捨生死慕樂涅槃，得無纏心，得勝三昧，不乏信財。忍有十利者，火刀毒水皆不能害，非人所護身相莊嚴，閉惡道生梵天，晝夜常安，身不離喜樂。精進有十利者，他不能折伏，佛所攝，非人所護，聞法不忘，未聞能聞，增長辯才，得三昧性，少病惱，隨食能銷，如優鉢花增長。禪有十利者，安住儀式行慈境界，無悔熱，守護諸根，得無食喜，離愛欲修禪不空，解脫魔羂安住佛境，解脫成熟。般若有十利者，不取施相，不依戒，不住忍力，不離身心精進，禪無所住魔不能擾，他言論不能動，達生死底起增上慈，不樂二乘地。四事應修檀：一、修道者破慳貪故；二、莊嚴菩提故；三、自他利益，欲施施時施已皆歡喜名自利，飢渴者得除是名利他；四、得後世大善果，後世獲大尊貴饒財。四事應持戒：自修善法滅惡，戒莊嚴菩提攝眾生，臥覺安、不悔恨、於眾生無害心，後受人天得涅槃等樂。四事應修忍：修忍除不忍，莊嚴菩提攝眾生，彼此離怖畏、後世無瞋、眷屬不壞、不受苦惱，得人天涅槃樂。四事應須修精進：進破懈怠，莊嚴菩提攝眾生，增善法是自利、不惱他是利他，後得大力致菩提。四事應修禪定：定破亂心，莊嚴菩提攝眾生，身心寂靜是自利、不惱眾生是利他，後受清淨身、安隱得涅槃。四事應修般若：智慧破無明，莊嚴菩提攝眾生，智慧自樂是自利、能教眾生是利他，能壞煩惱及智障等是大果。如此流例，是別教明六度相也。《月藏》第一云「若眾生唯依讀誦求菩提，是人為著世俗，尚不調己煩惱何能調他？是人著嫉妬名利富貴，高心自是輕慢毀他，尚不得欲界善根，況色無色善根？況二乘菩提？況無上菩提？如星火不能乾海，口氣不能動山，藕絲不能稱岳。何者？世俗不能滿菩提。何者是第一義？謂造一切福事，若修身修心修慧，以第一義熏修，則速滿六波羅蜜：若行若坐捨攀緣想是檀，捨攀緣不犯是尸，於境界不生瘡疣是羼，不捨於離是精進，於事中不放逸是禪，於諸法體性無生是般若。復次於陰捨是檀，不計念陰是尸，於陰無我想是羼，於陰起怨想是進，於陰不熾然是禪，於陰畢竟棄是般若。於界捨是檀，於界不擾濁是尸，於界捨因緣是羼，於界數數捨是進，於界不起發是禪，於界如幻想是般若。如是等是名第一義諦善巧方便甚深法要，能滿六波羅蜜。」以此法自為、為他，三世菩薩悉修是法成菩提，故非世俗也。此法能息眾生煩惱道苦道，安置菩提道。華嚴七地方明念念具十波羅蜜修習一切佛法：以求佛道善根與一切眾生是檀，能滅一切煩惱熱是尸，於一切眾生無所傷是忍，求善無厭是進，修道心不散常向一切智是禪，忍諸法不生門是般若，能起無量智門是方便，求轉勝智是願，魔邪不能阻是力，於一切法相如實說是智，是十波羅蜜具故，四攝、道品、三解脫、一切助菩提法，於念念中皆具足，諸地皆念念具足，此地勝故。如此例是圓教六度相也。 〔T34 0116b02〕次「三十二相」下，明果圓。「三十二相」者，足平如奩底，足趺隆如龜背，兩相共一修堅固布施；千輻輪但一修，安慰恐怖者；足跟長、手足指長、圓直身，三相共一修，謂不殺戒；七處滿、肩頸臂脚一修，謂恒作施主；手足合縵及柔軟，兩相一修，謂四攝；足跟直、踝不現、毛右旋，三相共一修，恒以善法饒益眾生；鹿膞腸相一修，以經書教人不悋；皮膚不受塵垢相一修，如問而答；黃金色相一修，忍辱好衣施；陰馬藏相一修，和合諍訟；梵身圓等相、手摩膝相共一修，慈等心教導；肩圓、項光、師子臆，三相共一修，恒令施得增長；萬字相一修，不惱眾生；紺眼、牛王睫，二相共一修，不恚愛視眾生；頂髻、青髮，二相共一修，諸功德在人前；一孔一毛、白毫，二相共一修，不妄語；四十齒、白齊，二相共一修，不兩舌；廣長舌、梵音聲，二相共一修，不麁惡語；師子頰一修，不綺語；四牙一修，離邪命。一切眾生功德等佛一毛，佛諸毛功德等一好，諸好等一相，諸相等白毫肉髻，白毫肉髻百千萬億乃成梵音聲。三十二相因雖各各，論其真因者，持戒精進，精進無戒尚不得人天身，況餘相耶？此則三藏教相本也。空無生是通教相本，道種智是別教相本，實相是圓教相本。「八十種好」者，二十指手足表裏，八處平滿，踝膝髀六處好；妙肩肘腕六處滿，兩髂奇中三處好；髖尻二處馬藏一，兩膊二腰齊二，脇腋乳六，腹胸背項四，上下牙上下唇齶，兩頰兩鬢兩目兩眉，兩鼻孔額兩𮌋兩耳頭圓，若分別四種好義，準相可知。 「告諸四眾」下，第二，明師妙果當成。師中復三：初、明正果成。《分陀利經》云「調達作佛，號提和羅耶，漢言天王，國名提和越，漢言天地。」「時天王佛住世二十」下，第二，明化度。「時天王佛般涅槃」下，第三，明滅後利益。 「佛告比丘」下，第三，勸修，如文。「蓮華化生」者，《胎經》云「蓮華生者，非胎、卵、濕、化之化生也」，非化而言化耳，實不如四生中之化生也。《請觀音》云「蓮華化生為父母」，《無量壽觀》云「處華臺久者為胎生，實非胎也，例蓮華生者亦稱濕卵，而非濕卵」〔云云〕。 「於時下方」者，第二，明今日文殊通經利益，復二：初、明文殊通經；二、從「文殊言我於海中」下，明利益。第一復五：一、明智積請退。《分陀利經》云「下方佛所從菩薩，名般若拘羅，漢言智積」。二、「釋迦」下，明釋尊止之，令待通經利益之證。智積謂多寶為證經故出，勸物流通既訖，是故請還。釋迦止者，雖迹門事訖，本門未彰，故託在文殊以留多寶，佛之密意非菩薩所知。從「爾時文殊」下，第三，文殊尋來。四、「智積菩薩」下，智積問所化幾如。五、「文殊師利言」下，文殊答非口所宣也。就第五復七：一、答利益甚眾。「所言未」下，第二，蒙益者集證。「此諸菩薩」下，第三，皆是文殊所化。「本聲聞人」下，第四，本聲聞人，先稟權教住二乘道。《分陀利經》云「蓮華從池出者，本發菩薩心，其華在空中說摩訶衍事；本發聲聞心者，華在空中但說斷生死事。」從「今皆修行」下，第五，今聞實教，悉住大乘法。「文殊謂智積」下，第六，文殊結益。「爾時」下，七智，積偈歎也。 〔T34 0117a03〕從「文殊言我於海中」下，第二，明利益。文為九：一、文殊自敘，二、智積問，三、答，四、智積執別教為疑，五、龍女明圓釋疑，六、身子挾三藏權難，七、龍女以一實除疑，八、時眾聞見得益，九、智積身子默然信伏。第五，龍女明圓釋疑：初、經敘現申敬。次有三行半偈，為三：初半行，明持經得解；次二行，明成就二身；後一行，引佛為證。「罪福」者，約七方便傳作，今偈深達無罪無福入一實相，名為「深達」也。「十方」即十法界，同以實慧朗之，故言「遍照」也。「具三十二相」者，深得法身之理即備相好，如《大品》明：欲得一切法當學般若，如得如意珠也，二乘但得空，空無相好也〔云云〕。第六，身子復難，先總難信，後釋出五礙。第七，龍女現成明證，復二：一者獻珠表得圓解。圓珠表其修得圓因，奉佛是將因剋果，佛受疾者獲果速也，此即一念坐道場，成佛不虛也。二正示因圓果滿。《胎經》云「魔梵釋女皆不捨身不受身，悉於現身得成佛故」。偈言「法性如大海，不說有是非，凡夫賢聖人，平等無高下，唯在心垢滅，取證如反掌」。第八，「爾時娑婆」下，明時眾見聞，復二：先、明見聞；二、人天歡喜，彼此蒙益。南方緣熟宜以八相成道，此土緣薄秖以龍女教化，此是權巧之力。得一身一切身，普現色身三昧也。
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.
一、釋品名
〔品題之下有所傳夾註：〕他出生的時候，天上人間都心頭燥熱，因此立了這個名字——這是就因緣解釋名字。他因地上的行為是逆的，而道理上卻是順的，這就是圓教的意思，不是其餘三教的意思。他的本地清涼寂靜，垂迹卻示現為天熱，那只是同著眾生的病罷了。
二、《寶唱經目》所記：《法華》四譯與此品之出沒
《寶唱經目》記載：『《法華》一共有四個譯本，兩本存世、兩本亡佚。曇摩羅剎，漢語譯作法護，西晉時在長安翻譯，名為《正法華》。法護又加以敷演講說，道安、竺法汰所承接的就是這一本。
鳩摩羅什，此地譯作童壽，是龜茲國人，在偽秦弘始五年四月二十三日，於長安逍遙園譯完《大品》，到弘始八年夏天，在草堂寺翻譯這部《妙法蓮華》，命僧叡開講。僧叡開為九轍。當時是二十八品，長安的宮人請走這一品滯留在宮內，江東所傳下來的只得二十七品。
梁朝有滿法師，講這部經一百遍，在長沙郡燒身供養，就把這一品安放在〈持品〉的前面，那是他自己私下安放的，並未通行天下。陳朝有南嶽禪師，把這一品次列在〈寶塔品〉之後，後來拿《正法華》來勘對，非常相合。
如今天下四瀆混同合流，見到了長安的舊本，才知道這兩位法師深得經意。』
三、提婆達多本事：達兜、天熱與五逆
提婆達多也叫作達兜，此地譯作天熱。
他破和合僧，帶走五百比丘離去，舍利弗厭患這件事。等到他熟睡的時候，目連把那批人扛起來帶了回去；他睡醒之後便發誓要報這個怨。他捧起三十肘長、十五肘寬的大石擲向佛，山神以手遮擋，小石迸落，傷了佛的腳出血；他又教唆阿闍世王放醉象踏佛；又以拳打死花色比丘尼；又在十指甲中安放毒藥，想藉禮佛足的機會傷害佛——這就是五逆罪。
如果算作三逆，那麼教唆國王與毒爪這兩件，都攝在害佛之內。
因為他所應行的是逆行，出生的時候天上人間心頭燥熱，從這裡得名，所以稱為天熱——這是迹。如果作本地的解釋，那就是：眾生有煩惱，所以菩薩示現燥熱，同著他們的病而行，藉此度脫他們。
四、此品來意與分文
這一品的來意，是引古來弘經之人以證得益不虛，說明今日宣揚教化其事有驗，舉往昔以勸現在，使人流通此經。
全文分為兩段：第一段到「生佛前蓮花化生」為止，說明昔日提婆達多通經、釋迦因此成道；第二段從「於時下方多寶所從菩薩」以下，說明今日文殊通經、龍女因此作佛。稟受教法的人尚且如此，那麼宣揚流通的功德利益，豈不更大！所以提婆達多受記，文殊之事可以由此意會〔云云〕。
五、昔日達多通經（一）往昔師弟持經之相
第一段有三節：一、說明往昔師徒持經的情形，二、結會古今，三、勸信。
第一節有長行與偈頌。長行有四項：一、說明求法的時節；二、「於多劫中」以下，正說求法；三、「時有仙人」以下，說明求得說法之師；四、「王聞」以下，說明受法奉行。
第一項如經文所說。「於多劫中」以下是第二項，又分二：一、說明發願；「為欲滿足」以下是第二，說明修行。修行之中又分二：一、說明想要圓滿檀那而勤行布施，如經文所說；二、「時世人民」以下，說明為圓滿般若而推求妙法。
偈頌有七行半，頌上面的長行。起初二句，頌第一項求法的時節；其次「雖作」以下是第二，一行半，頌第二項正求法；其次「時有阿私」以下是第三，一行半，頌第三項得說法之師；「時王聞仙言」以下是第四，二行半，頌受法奉行；「後亦不為已」以下是第五，一行半，結證勸信。
六、昔日達多通經（二）結會古今
「告諸比丘王者」以下是第二節，結會古今，又分二：一、正結會古今，如經文所說；「由提婆」以下是第二，說明師徒的功德果報都已圓滿。
功報圓滿之中又分二：先說明弟子的因行果報已經圓滿；其次「佛告四眾」以下是第二，說明法師的妙果將要成就。
弟子這一段又分三：先說明因行圓滿；其次「三十二相」以下，說明果德圓滿；最後「皆因提婆」以下，結證由於通經之人而得利益。
七、六度相之一：三藏
起初，「具足六波羅蜜」這一句——「度」的義理很多，如《大論》所說：捨去依報正報叫作檀，防止身口七支叫作戒，被打被罵而不回報叫作忍，做事有始有終叫作精進，四禪八定叫作禪，判分地界、止息諍訟叫作般若。
又如果把十善收束為六度：不殺乃至不妄語是檀，不兩舌是尸，不惡口是忍，不綺語是進，不貪不瞋是禪，不邪見是般若。
《菩薩善戒》第十卷說：『六波羅蜜有三種。一是對治，指的是慳吝、惡行、瞋恚、懈怠、散亂、愚癡〔云云〕；二叫作相生，指的是捨離家業而後持戒，遇到侮辱便須忍耐，忍了之後精進，精進之後調伏五根，五根調伏了便知法界；三叫作果報，是富有、諸根具足、色貌端正、氣力、長壽、安隱、辯才。』
又別的經典說：布施報得富有，持戒報得善道，忍辱報得端正，精進報得神通，禪定報得生天，智慧報得破除煩惱。
像這些例子，都是三藏教所說明的六度之相。
八、六度相之二：通教
如果說：布施的人、受施的人、所施的財物，這三事都是空的，叫作檀；不見有持戒犯戒，叫作戒；能忍的人與所忍的境都不可得，叫作忍；身心不動，叫作精進；不散亂也不耽味，叫作禪；不是智也不是愚，叫作般若——像這一類的例子，就是通教中的六度之相。
九、六度相之三：別教
如果說檀有十種利益：伏除慳吝的煩惱，捨心相續不斷，與眾生共有資產，生在豪富之家，生生世世布施之心現前，四眾愛樂，處在大眾之中不怯懦畏懼，美名遍布，手足柔軟，乃至前往道場，恆常值遇善知識。
戒有十種利益：圓滿一切智如佛所學，智者不譏毀，誓願不退，安住於行，棄捨生死而慕樂涅槃，得無纏縛之心，得殊勝三昧，不缺乏信財。
忍有十種利益：火、刀、毒、水都不能為害，非人守護，身相莊嚴，關閉惡道而生梵天，晝夜常安，身不離喜樂。
精進有十種利益：他人不能折伏，為佛所攝受，非人守護，聞法不忘，未曾聽聞的能夠聽聞，增長辯才，得三昧之性，少病少惱，隨所飲食皆能消化，如優鉢羅花之增長。
禪有十種利益：安住威儀法式，行於慈心境界，沒有悔恨燥熱，守護諸根，得不依飲食之喜，離愛欲，修禪不空過，解脫魔的羅網，安住佛的境界，解脫成熟。
般若有十種利益：不取著布施之相，不依倚戒，不住著忍力，不離身心精進，禪無所住而魔不能擾亂，他人的言論不能動搖，通達生死之底而生起增上慈，不樂二乘之地。
有四件事應當修布施：一、修道的人為破慳貪；二、為莊嚴菩提；三、自利利他——想施、正施、施完都歡喜，這叫自利；飢渴的人得以除去飢渴，這叫利他；四、得後世的大善果，後世獲得大尊貴、多財富。
有四件事應當持戒：自己修習善法、滅除惡法，以戒莊嚴菩提、攝受眾生，臥時覺時安穩、不生悔恨、對眾生沒有害心，後世受人天之樂並得涅槃等樂。
有四件事應當修忍：修忍以除去不忍，莊嚴菩提、攝受眾生，彼此離於怖畏、後世沒有瞋恚、眷屬不壞、不受苦惱，得人天之樂與涅槃之樂。
有四件事應當修精進：精進以破懈怠，莊嚴菩提、攝受眾生，增長善法是自利、不惱害他人是利他，後來得大力而致菩提。
有四件事應當修禪定：定以破散亂之心，莊嚴菩提、攝受眾生，身心寂靜是自利、不惱害眾生是利他，後來受清淨之身、安隱而得涅槃。
有四件事應當修般若：智慧以破無明，莊嚴菩提、攝受眾生，智慧自樂是自利、能教化眾生是利他，能壞煩惱障與智障等，這是大果。
像這一類的例子，是別教所說明的六度之相。
十、六度相之四：圓教
《月藏》第一卷說：『如果眾生只依讀誦而求菩提，這個人是執著世俗；他尚且不能調伏自己的煩惱，怎能調伏他人？這個人執著嫉妒、名利、富貴，心高自是，輕慢毀謗他人，尚且得不到欲界的善根，何況色界無色界的善根？何況二乘菩提？何況無上菩提？
就像星星之火不能使大海乾涸，一口氣不能使山動搖，藕絲不能稱起山岳。為什麼？世俗之心不能圓滿菩提。
什麼是第一義？就是造作一切福事。若能修身、修心、修慧，以第一義來熏修，那就迅速圓滿六波羅蜜：或行或坐而捨去攀緣之想是檀，捨了攀緣而不犯是尸，於境界上不生瘡疣是羼，不捨離於出離是精進，於事相中不放逸是禪，於諸法的體性上見無生是般若。
其次，於五陰能捨是檀，不計著憶念五陰是尸，於五陰作無我之想是羼，於五陰生起怨敵之想是進，於五陰不熾然是禪，於五陰畢竟棄捨是般若。
於十八界能捨是檀，於界不擾亂渾濁是尸，於界捨去因緣是羼，於界一再地捨是進，於界不生起發動是禪，於界作如幻之想是般若。
像這些就叫作第一義諦的善巧方便、甚深法要，能圓滿六波羅蜜。』
以這個法自己修、也為他人說，三世的菩薩都修這個法而成菩提，所以不是世俗。這個法能止息眾生的煩惱道與苦道，安置他們於菩提道。
《華嚴》七地才說明念念具足十波羅蜜、修習一切佛法：以求佛道的善根給與一切眾生是檀，能滅除一切煩惱之熱是尸，對一切眾生無所傷害是忍，求善不厭足是進，修道之心不散亂而常向一切智是禪，忍諸法不生之門是般若，能生起無量智慧之門是方便，求轉更殊勝之智是願，魔與外道不能阻礙是力，於一切法相如實而說是智。因為這十波羅蜜具足的緣故，四攝法、三十七道品、三解脫門、一切助菩提之法，在念念之中都具足；諸地也都是念念具足，只是七地特別殊勝罷了。
像這樣的例子，就是圓教的六度之相。
十一、果圓：三十二相
其次「三十二相」以下，說明果德圓滿。
「三十二相」是這樣的——腳掌平滿如奩盒之底、腳背隆起如龜之背，這兩相共由一因所修，就是堅固布施；千輻輪相只由一因所修，是安慰恐怖的人；腳跟長、手指腳趾長、身形圓直，這三相共由一因所修，就是不殺戒；七處平滿、肩頸臂腳由一因所修，就是恆常作施主；手足指間有縵網以及手足柔軟，這兩相由一因所修，就是四攝；腳跟正直、腳踝不突出、身毛右旋，這三相共由一因所修，是恆以善法饒益眾生；鹿王腨腸之相由一因所修，是以經書教人而不吝惜；皮膚不受塵垢之相由一因所修，是有問即答；身色黃金之相由一因所修，是以忍辱與好衣布施；陰馬藏之相由一因所修，是和解諍訟；梵身圓滿等相與手能摩膝之相共由一因所修，是以慈心平等教導；肩圓、項後圓光、師子胸臆，這三相共由一因所修，是恆使布施得以增長；萬字之相由一因所修，是不惱害眾生；紺青之眼、牛王般的睫毛，這兩相共由一因所修，是不瞋恚而慈愛地注視眾生；頂上肉髻、青色髮，這兩相共由一因所修，是把種種功德放在他人之前；一孔一毛、眉間白毫，這兩相共由一因所修，是不妄語；四十齒、齒白齊平，這兩相共由一因所修，是不兩舌；廣長舌、梵音聲，這兩相共由一因所修，是不粗惡語；師子頰由一因所修，是不綺語；四牙由一因所修，是遠離邪命。
一切眾生的功德等於佛的一毛，佛的眾毛功德等於一好，眾好等於一相，眾相等於白毫與肉髻，白毫肉髻百千萬億倍才成就梵音聲。
十二、三十二相之真因與四教相本
三十二相的因雖然各各不同，若論它們真正的因，就是持戒與精進——精進而沒有戒，尚且得不到人天之身，何況其餘諸相？
這就是三藏教之相的本。空與無生是通教之相的本，道種智是別教之相的本，實相是圓教之相的本。
十三、八十種好
「八十種好」是這樣的——二十根手指腳趾的表面裡面，八處平滿，腳踝、膝、大腿六處為好；美妙的肩、肘、腕六處圓滿，兩髂與奇中三處為好；髖與尻二處、馬陰藏一處，兩膊、二腰、臍二處，脇、腋、乳六處，腹、胸、背、項四處，上下牙、上下唇與齶，兩頰、兩鬢、兩眼、兩眉，兩鼻孔、額、兩𮌋、兩耳、頭圓。若要分別四種好的義理，比照三十二相就可以知道。
十四、師之妙果當成
「告諸四眾」以下是第二，說明師的妙果將要成就。師這一段又分三：第一、說明正果成就。《分陀利經》說：『調達作佛，號為提和羅耶，漢語是天王；國名提和越，漢語是天地。』
「時天王佛住世二十」以下是第二，說明化度。「時天王佛般涅槃」以下是第三，說明滅後的利益。
十五、勸修與蓮華化生
「佛告比丘」以下是第三，勸修，如經文所說。
「蓮華化生」這一句——《胎經》說：『蓮華所生的，不是胎、卵、濕、化四生中的那個化生。』這是沒有化而說作化罷了，實在不同於四生中的化生。
《請觀音》說：『蓮華化生為父母。』《無量壽觀》說：『停在華臺上久的稱為胎生，其實不是胎；比照蓮華所生的也稱為濕生卵生，而其實不是濕生卵生。』〔云云〕
十六、今日文殊通經
「於時下方」這一句，是第二段，說明今日文殊通經的利益，又分二：第一、說明文殊通經；第二、從「文殊言我於海中」以下，說明利益。
第一又分五：
一、說明智積請求回去。《分陀利經》說：『下方佛所帶來的菩薩，名叫般若拘羅，漢語是智積。』
二、「釋迦」以下，說明釋尊制止他，要他等待通經利益的證明。智積以為多寶是為了作證此經而出現，勸人流通既然已經完畢，因此請求回去。釋尊制止他，是因為雖然迹門之事已完，本門還未彰顯，所以託在文殊身上以留住多寶——佛的密意不是菩薩所能知道的。
三、從「爾時文殊」以下，是文殊尋來。
四、「智積菩薩」以下，是智積問所化度的有多少。
五、「文殊師利言」以下，是文殊回答說不是口所能宣說的。
就第五又分七：一、回答利益極多。「所言未」以下是第二，蒙受利益的人聚集作證。「此諸菩薩」以下是第三，都是文殊所化度的。「本聲聞人」以下是第四，本來的聲聞人先前稟受權教而住於二乘之道——《分陀利經》說：『蓮華從池中出來的，本來發菩薩心的，那華在空中說摩訶衍之事；本來發聲聞心的，華在空中只說斷生死之事。』從「今皆修行」以下是第五，如今聽聞實教，都住於大乘之法。「文殊謂智積」以下是第六，文殊結說利益。「爾時」以下是第七，智積以偈讚歎。
十七、明利益：九科
從「文殊言我於海中」以下是第二，說明利益。文分為九：一、文殊自敘，二、智積發問，三、回答，四、智積執著別教而生疑，五、龍女明圓教以釋疑，六、舍利弗挾三藏權教而發難，七、龍女以一實除疑，八、當時大眾聞見得益，九、智積與舍利弗默然信伏。
十八、龍女明圓釋疑
第五，龍女明圓教以釋疑：起初是經文敘述龍女現身申致敬禮。其次有三行半偈，分為三段：起初半行，說明持經而得解；其次二行，說明成就法報二身；最後一行，引佛為證。
「罪福」這一句——就七方便之人而說是輾轉造作，如今偈中所說是深達無罪無福而入一實相，所以名為「深達」。
「十方」就是十法界，同以真實智慧照明它，所以說「遍照」。
「具三十二相」這一句——深得法身之理便具備相好，如《大品》所說：想要得到一切法應當學般若，就像得到如意珠一樣；二乘只得到空，空是沒有相好的〔云云〕。
十九、舍利弗之難與龍女獻珠
第六，舍利弗再度發難：先總難其信，後面釋出五種障礙。
第七，龍女現前成佛以作明證，又分二：
第一，獻珠表示得到圓解。圓滿的寶珠表示她所修得的圓因，奉獻給佛是把因移向剋取果，佛很快接受表示獲果迅速——這就是一念之間坐上道場，成佛不虛。
第二，正示因圓果滿。《胎經》說：『魔王、梵王、帝釋、女人都不捨此身、不受彼身，全都在現身之中得以成佛。』偈中說：『法性如同大海，不說有是有非；凡夫與賢聖之人，平等而無高下；只在心垢滅盡，取證如同反掌。』
二十、時眾見聞
第八，「爾時娑婆」以下，說明當時大眾的見聞，又分二：先、說明見聞；二、人天歡喜，彼此都蒙受利益。
南方的機緣成熟，適宜以八相成道；此土機緣淺薄，只用龍女來教化——這是權巧之力。得到一身即一切身，這是普現色身三昧。
I. Explaining the Chapter Title
〔A transmitted annotation appears beneath the chapter title:〕 When he was born, the hearts of humans and devas burned, and the name was therefore established—this interprets the name through causes and conditions. His conduct at the causal stage was contrary, yet in principle it was accordant; this is the meaning of the Perfect Teaching, not that of the other three teachings. His original ground is cool and quiescent, while in his trace he manifests Heavenly Heat, merely sharing the illness of sentient beings.
II. The Scripture Catalogue of Baochang: Four Translations of the Lotus and the Appearance and Disappearance of This Chapter
The Scripture Catalogue of Baochang records: “The Lotus had four translations, two surviving and two lost. Dharmarakṣa, rendered in Chinese as Dharma Protector, translated one at Chang’an during the Western Jin under the title True Dharma Lotus. Dharmarakṣa also expounded and lectured upon it; this was the version transmitted by Dao’an and Zhu Fatai.
“Kumārajīva, rendered here as Youthful Longevity, was a native of Kucha. On the twenty-third day of the fourth month in the fifth year of Hongshi under the Later Qin, he completed the translation of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā at Xiaoyao Garden in Chang’an. In the summer of the eighth year of Hongshi, he translated this Wondrous Dharma Lotus Sutra at Caotang Monastery and instructed Sengrui to open its exposition. Sengrui opened it into nine tracks. At that time it comprised twenty-eight chapters, but palace women in Chang’an requested this chapter and kept it within the palace, so only twenty-seven chapters were transmitted to Jiangdong.
“In the Liang there was Dharma Master Man, who lectured on this sutra one hundred times and burned his body as an offering in Changsha Commandery. He placed this chapter before ‘Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra,’ but this was his own private placement and was not known throughout the realm. In the Chen there was Chan Master Nanyue, who placed this chapter after ‘Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa.’ When he later checked it against the True Dharma Lotus, it corresponded very closely.
“Now that the four great rivers of the realm have mingled and flowed together, the old Chang’an text has been seen, and we know that these two masters deeply grasped the sutra’s purport.”
III. Devadatta’s Story: Dadu, Heavenly Heat, and the Five Heinous Transgressions
Devadatta is also called Dadu, rendered here as Heavenly Heat.
He split the harmonious Saṅgha and led away five hundred bhikṣus, which distressed Śāriputra. When Devadatta was sound asleep, Maudgalyāyana lifted those people and brought them back. Upon waking, Devadatta vowed to avenge the grievance. He raised a boulder thirty cubits long and fifteen cubits wide and hurled it at the Buddha. A mountain spirit caught it with his hand, but a small fragment flew off and wounded the Buddha’s foot until it bled. Devadatta then incited King Ajātaśatru to release a drunken elephant to trample the Buddha; beat the Bhikṣuṇī Utpalavarṇā to death with his fist; and placed poison beneath all ten fingernails, intending to harm the Buddha while bowing at his feet. These are the five heinous transgressions.
If counted as three heinous transgressions, inciting the king and the poisoned nails are both included under harming the Buddha.
Because the conduct he was to perform was contrary, the hearts of humans and devas burned at his birth. He took his name from this and was called Heavenly Heat—this is the Trace. Interpreted in terms of his original ground, sentient beings possess afflictions, so the bodhisattva manifests burning heat, shares their illness in his practice, and thereby delivers them.
IV. The Purpose and Division of This Chapter
The purpose of this chapter is to cite ancient propagators of the sutra and verify that transmission of its benefit is not false; to show through present evidence that today’s proclamation and transformation are not false; and to raise the past to exhort the present and cause this sutra to circulate.
The text has two divisions. The first, extending through “born before a buddha through transformation from a lotus,” explains that Devadatta transmitted the sutra in the past and Śākyamuni thereby attained the path. The second, beginning with “at that time, the bodhisattva who accompanied Many Jewels from below,” explains that Mañjuśrī transmits the sutra today and the dragon girl thereby becomes a buddha. If even those who receive the teaching are like this, how much greater must be the meritorious benefit of proclaiming and circulating it! Devadatta therefore receives a prediction; the import of Mañjuśrī’s work may be understood from this [and so forth].
V. Devadatta Transmits the Sutra in the Past: (1) How Master and Disciple Upheld the Sutra
The first division has three sections: first, explaining how master and disciple upheld the sutra in the past; second, identifying past and present; and third, exhorting faith.
The first section has prose and verse. The prose has four items: first, explaining the time when the Dharma was sought; second, from “throughout many kalpas” onward, formally explaining the search for the Dharma; third, from “at that time there was an immortal” onward, explaining how the teacher who proclaimed the Dharma was found; and fourth, from “the king heard” the immortal’s words onward, explaining reception of the Dharma and practice in accord with it.
The first item is as stated in the scripture. From “throughout many kalpas” onward is the second item, which has two parts: first, explaining the generation of the vow; and second, from “wishing to fulfill” onward, explaining practice. Practice again has two parts: first, diligently giving in the wish to fulfill dāna, as stated in the scripture; and second, from “the people of that time” onward, seeking the wondrous Dharma in order to fulfill prajñā.
The verse contains seven and a half lines and restates the prose above. The initial two lines restate the first item, the time when the Dharma was sought. Next, from “although acting as” onward, one and a half lines restate the second item, formally seeking the Dharma. Next, from “at that time there was an immortal” onward, one and a half lines restate the third item, finding the teacher who proclaimed the Dharma. From “at that time the king heard the immortal’s words” onward, two and a half lines restate reception of the Dharma and practice in accord with it. From “afterward he still did not do it for himself” onward, one and a half lines conclude, verify, and exhort faith.
VI. Devadatta Transmits the Sutra in the Past: (2) Identifying Past and Present
From “he told the bhikṣus: the king” onward is the second section, identifying past and present. It has two parts: first, formally identifying past and present, as stated in the scripture; and second, from “because of Devadatta” onward, explaining that the meritorious recompenses of master and disciple were both complete.
The completion of meritorious recompense has two parts: first, explaining that the disciple’s causal practices and fruition were complete; and second, from “the Buddha told the four assemblies” onward, explaining that the wondrous fruit of the Dharma master would be accomplished.
The passage on the disciple has three parts: first, explaining completion of causal practice; second, from “the thirty-two marks” onward, explaining completion of the virtues of the fruit; and finally, from “all because of Devadatta” onward, concluding and verifying the benefit obtained through the person who transmitted the sutra.
VII. First Characteristics of the Six Perfections: The Tripiṭaka Teaching
First, consider the phrase “fully possessing the six perfections”. The meanings of “perfection” are many, as explained in the Great Treatise: relinquishing dependent and primary recompenses is called dāna; preventing the seven bodily and verbal transgressions is called precepts; not retaliating when struck or reviled is called patience; completing a task from beginning to end is called diligence; the four dhyānas and eight concentrations are called meditation; and distinguishing domains and settling disputes is called prajñā.
Further, if the ten wholesome actions are gathered into the six perfections: not killing through not speaking falsely is dāna; not engaging in divisive speech is śīla; not speaking harshly is patience; not speaking frivolously is diligence; not being greedy or angry is meditation; and not holding wrong views is prajñā.
Fascicle Ten of the Bodhisattva’s Wholesome Precepts says: “The six perfections are of three kinds. First is counteraction: counteracting stinginess, evil conduct, anger, indolence, distraction, and delusion [and so forth]. Second is successive generation: after relinquishing household affairs one keeps precepts; when insulted one must be patient; after patience one is diligent; after diligence one regulates the five faculties; when the faculties are regulated one knows the Dharma realm. Third is recompense: wealth, complete faculties, handsome appearance, strength, longevity, security, and eloquence.”
Other scriptures also say that the recompense of giving is wealth; that of precepts, a wholesome mode of existence; that of patience, handsome appearance; that of diligence, supernormal powers; that of meditation, heavenly birth; and that of wisdom, destruction of afflictions.
Examples such as these are all the characteristics of the six perfections clarified by the Tripiṭaka Teaching.
VIII. Second Characteristics of the Six Perfections: The Shared Teaching
If one says that the giver, receiver, and gift are all empty, this is called dāna; not seeing observance or violation is called precepts; the one who endures and what is endured are unobtainable, which is called patience; body and mind do not move, which is called diligence; one is neither distracted nor attached to the flavor, which is called meditation; and one is neither wise nor foolish, which is called prajñā—examples of this kind are the characteristics of the six perfections in the Shared Teaching.
IX. Third Characteristics of the Six Perfections: The Distinct Teaching
Dāna has ten benefits: subduing the affliction of stinginess; uninterrupted continuity of the mind of relinquishment; sharing possessions with sentient beings; birth into a wealthy household; the mind of giving becoming present in life after life; being loved by the four assemblies; feeling no timidity or fear amid a great assembly; widespread good reputation; soft hands and feet; and, until reaching the site of awakening, constantly encountering good spiritual friends.
Precepts have ten benefits: fulfilling omniscience as studied by the Buddha; not being disparaged by the wise; not retreating from one’s vow; abiding securely in practice; relinquishing birth and death and aspiring to nirvāṇa; attaining a mind free of bonds; attaining excellent samādhi; and not lacking the riches of faith.
Patience has ten benefits: fire, blades, poison, and water cannot harm one; nonhuman beings protect one; the bodily marks are majestic; evil modes of existence are closed and one is born in the Brahmā heaven; one is constantly secure by day and night; and the body does not depart from joy and ease.
Diligence has ten benefits: others cannot subdue one; one is gathered in by buddhas; nonhuman beings protect one; Dharma once heard is not forgotten; what one has never heard can be heard; eloquence grows; one attains the nature of samādhi; one has few illnesses and troubles; whatever food or drink one takes is digested; and one grows like an utpala flower.
Meditation has ten benefits: abiding in proper comportment and forms; practicing within the domain of loving-kindness; having no regret or burning agitation; guarding the faculties; obtaining a joy that does not depend upon food; separating from sensual desire; not cultivating meditation in vain; escaping Māra’s net; abiding in the Buddha’s domain; and maturing liberation.
Prajñā has ten benefits: not grasping the mark of giving; not relying upon precepts; not abiding in the power of patience; not separating bodily and mental diligence; meditation abiding nowhere while Māra cannot disturb it; not being moved by the arguments of others; penetrating to the bottom of birth and death and generating superior compassion; and taking no delight in the grounds of the two vehicles.
Giving should be cultivated for four matters: first, a practitioner cultivates the path to destroy stinginess and greed; second, to adorn bodhi; third, for benefit of self and others—rejoicing before giving, while giving, and after giving is benefit of self, while relieving the hunger and thirst of the hungry and thirsty is benefit of others; and fourth, to obtain the great wholesome fruit of a later life, gaining great honor and abundant wealth.
Precepts should be kept for four matters: cultivating wholesome dharmas oneself and extinguishing evil dharmas; adorning bodhi and gathering in sentient beings through precepts; resting and waking securely, having no regret, and bearing no harmful intention toward beings; and in a later life receiving the joy of humans and devas and the joy of nirvāṇa.
Patience should be cultivated for four matters: cultivating patience to eliminate impatience; adorning bodhi and gathering in sentient beings; removing mutual fear; and in a later life being free of anger, maintaining an unbroken retinue, undergoing no suffering or distress, and attaining the joy of humans and devas and the joy of nirvāṇa.
Diligence should be cultivated for four matters: destroying indolence through diligence; adorning bodhi and gathering in sentient beings; increasing wholesome dharmas as benefit of self and not troubling or harming others as benefit of others; and later obtaining great power and reaching bodhi.
Meditative concentration should be cultivated for four matters: destroying the distracted mind through concentration; adorning bodhi and gathering in sentient beings; quiescence of body and mind as benefit of self and not troubling or harming sentient beings as benefit of others; and later receiving a pure body and securely attaining nirvāṇa.
Prajñā should be cultivated for four matters: destroying ignorance through wisdom; adorning bodhi and gathering in sentient beings; the delight of wisdom as benefit of self and the capacity to teach and transform sentient beings as benefit of others; and destroying the obstruction of afflictions and the obstruction to knowledge, which is the great fruit.
Examples of this kind are the characteristics of the six perfections clarified by the Distinct Teaching.
X. Fourth Characteristics of the Six Perfections: The Perfect Teaching
Fascicle One of the Moon Treasury says: “If a sentient being seeks bodhi merely by relying on recitation, that person is attached to the conventional. Unable even to subdue their own afflictions, how could they subdue others? Such a person is attached to jealousy, reputation, gain, wealth, and rank; is haughty and self-righteous; and disparages and slanders others. They cannot obtain even the wholesome roots of the desire realm, much less those of the form and formless realms, the bodhi of the two vehicles, or unsurpassed bodhi.
“It is like a spark unable to dry the great sea, a single breath unable to move a mountain, or a lotus filament unable to weigh a peak. Why? A conventional mind cannot fulfill bodhi.
“What is ultimate meaning? It is performing every meritorious deed. If one can cultivate body, mind, and wisdom and cultivate through the perfuming of ultimate meaning, one swiftly fulfills the six perfections. Whether walking or sitting, relinquishing the thought of grasping conditions is dāna; relinquishing such grasping and not transgressing is śīla; not producing sores in relation to objects is kṣānti; not abandoning emancipation is diligence; not being negligent amid phenomenal characteristics is meditation; and seeing nonarising within the nature of dharmas is prajñā.
“Next, being able to relinquish the five aggregates is dāna; not calculating, attaching to, or recollecting the five aggregates is śīla; forming the perception of not-self regarding them is kṣānti; producing the perception that they are enemies is diligence; not blazing in relation to them is meditation; and abandoning them ultimately is prajñā.
“Being able to relinquish the eighteen elements is dāna; not disturbing or muddling the elements is śīla; relinquishing causes and conditions in relation to them is kṣānti; repeatedly relinquishing them is diligence; not generating movement in relation to them is meditation; and perceiving them as conjurations is prajñā.
“These are called the skillful means and profound Dharma essentials of the truth of ultimate meaning, which can fulfill the six perfections.”
Practicing this Dharma oneself and teaching it to others, bodhisattvas of the three times all cultivate this Dharma and accomplish bodhi; therefore it is not conventional. This Dharma can stop sentient beings’ paths of affliction and suffering and establish them upon the path of bodhi.
Only at the seventh ground does the Avataṃsaka explain that every thought possesses the ten perfections and cultivates all Buddhadharmas: giving the wholesome roots with which one seeks the Buddha-path to all sentient beings is dāna; extinguishing the heat of all afflictions is śīla; harming no sentient being is patience; seeking goodness without satisfaction is diligence; keeping the mind of cultivation undistracted and constantly directed toward omniscience is meditation; patiently accepting the gateway of the nonarising of dharmas is prajñā; generating immeasurable gateways of wisdom is skillful means; seeking ever more excellent wisdom is vow; being unobstructed by Māras and outsiders is power; and speaking the characteristics of all dharmas as they really are is knowledge. Because these ten perfections are complete, the four methods of gathering beings, the thirty-seven factors of the path, the three gateways of liberation, and every Dharma assisting bodhi are all complete in every thought. All the grounds possess them in every thought; the seventh ground is simply particularly excellent.
Examples such as these are the characteristics of the six perfections in the Perfect Teaching.
XI. Perfection of the Fruit: The Thirty-Two Marks
Next, from “the thirty-two marks” onward, the text explains perfection of the virtues of the fruit.
The “thirty-two marks” are as follows. The soles being full and flat like the bottom of a box and the insteps arched like a tortoise’s back are two marks cultivated through the single cause of steadfast giving. The thousand-spoked wheels are cultivated through comforting those who are afraid. Long heels, long fingers and toes, and a straight and rounded body are three marks cultivated through the single cause of the precept against killing. Fullness in seven places and fullness of the shoulders, neck, arms, and feet are cultivated through constantly acting as a donor. Webbing between the fingers and toes and softness of the hands and feet are two marks cultivated through the four methods of gathering beings. Straight heels, unprotruding ankles, and body hair curling to the right are three marks cultivated through constantly benefiting sentient beings with wholesome dharmas. Calves like those of an antelope are cultivated through teaching scriptures without stinginess. Skin that does not retain dust is cultivated through answering whenever asked. Golden skin is cultivated through patience and giving fine clothing. The sheathed male organ is cultivated through reconciling disputes. A full and rounded Brahmā-like body and hands that reach the knees are cultivated through teaching impartially with loving-kindness. Rounded shoulders, a circular radiance behind the neck, and a lion-like chest are three marks cultivated through constantly causing giving to increase. The svastika is cultivated through not troubling sentient beings. Dark-blue eyes and eyelashes like those of the ox king are cultivated through looking upon sentient beings without anger and with affection. The fleshy protuberance on the crown and blue hair are cultivated through placing the various virtues before others. One hair in each pore and the white curl between the brows are cultivated through not speaking falsely. Forty teeth and white, even teeth are cultivated through not speaking divisively. A broad, long tongue and Brahmā’s voice are cultivated through not speaking harshly. Lion-like cheeks are cultivated through not speaking frivolously. Four canine teeth are cultivated through abandoning wrong livelihood.
The virtues of all sentient beings equal one hair of the Buddha; the virtues of all the Buddha’s hairs equal one minor excellent characteristic; all minor characteristics equal one major mark; all major marks equal the white curl and the fleshy protuberance; and hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of the virtues of the white curl and fleshy protuberance accomplish Brahmā’s voice.
XII. The True Causes of the Thirty-Two Marks and Their Bases in the Four Teachings
Although the causes of the thirty-two marks differ individually, when their true causes are discussed, they are keeping precepts and diligence. Diligence without precepts cannot obtain even the body of a human or deva; how much less the remaining marks?
This is the basis of the marks in the Tripiṭaka Teaching. Emptiness and nonarising are their basis in the Shared Teaching; knowledge of the varieties of paths is their basis in the Distinct Teaching; and the true mark is their basis in the Perfect Teaching.
XIII. The Eighty Minor Excellent Characteristics
The “eighty minor excellent characteristics” are as follows: the surfaces and inner portions of the twenty fingers and toes; fullness in eight places; the ankles, knees, and thighs, making six excellent characteristics; the fine shoulders, elbows, and wrists, six rounded and full places; the two hipbones and groin, three places; the hips and buttocks, two places; the sheathed male organ, one place; the two upper arms, two sides of the waist, and two areas of the navel; the ribs, armpits, and breasts, six places; the abdomen, chest, back, and neck, four places; the upper and lower teeth, upper and lower lips, and palate; the two cheeks, two temples, two eyes, and two brows; the two nostrils, forehead, two cheekbones, two ears, and round head. The meanings of the four kinds of excellent characteristics may be understood by analogy with the thirty-two marks.
XIV. The Teacher’s Wondrous Fruit Will Be Accomplished
From “he told the four assemblies” onward is the second part, explaining that the teacher’s wondrous fruit will be accomplished. The passage on the teacher again has three parts. First, it explains accomplishment of the direct fruit. The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra says: “Devadatta will become a buddha named Devarāja, rendered in Chinese as Heavenly King. His land will be named Devavara, rendered in Chinese as Heaven and Earth.”
From “at that time Heavenly King Buddha will abide in the world for twenty” onward is the second part, explaining teaching and deliverance. From “at that time Heavenly King Buddha entered parinirvāṇa” onward is the third, explaining benefit after his extinction.
XV. Exhorting Cultivation and Birth by Transformation from a Lotus
From “the Buddha told the bhikṣus” onward is the third section, exhorting cultivation, as stated in the scripture.
Concerning the phrase “birth by transformation from a lotus,” the Womb Sutra says: “Those born from a lotus do not undergo the transformation birth included among the four births from a womb, an egg, moisture, and transformation.” It is not transformation, yet is called transformation; in reality it is unlike transformation birth among the four modes.
The Sutra on Invoking Avalokiteśvara says: “Birth by transformation from a lotus takes the lotus as father and mother.” The Contemplation of Amitāyus says: “One who remains upon the lotus dais for a long time is called womb-born, though it is not truly a womb. By analogy, one born from a lotus may also be called moisture-born or egg-born, though it is neither moisture-born nor egg-born.” [And so forth.]
XVI. Mañjuśrī Transmits the Sutra Today
The phrase “at that time, from below” begins the second division, explaining the benefit of Mañjuśrī transmitting the sutra today. It has two parts: first, explaining Mañjuśrī’s transmission of the sutra; and second, from “Mañjuśrī said: I was in the ocean” onward, explaining its benefit.
The first part again has five sections:
First, Wisdom Accumulation asks to return. The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra says: “The bodhisattva who accompanied the buddha from below was named Borejuluo, rendered in Chinese as Wisdom Accumulation.”
Second, from “Śākyamuni” onward, the World-Honored One stops him and asks him to await evidence of the benefit of transmitting the sutra. Wisdom Accumulation thinks that Many Jewels appeared to verify this sutra and that the exhortation to circulate it is now complete, and so asks to return. The World-Honored One stops him because, although the affairs of the Trace Gate are complete, the Origin Gate has not yet been disclosed. The Buddha therefore uses Mañjuśrī to keep Many Jewels present—the Buddha’s hidden intention is not known even to bodhisattvas.
Third, from “at that time Mañjuśrī” onward, Mañjuśrī arrives.
Fourth, from “Bodhisattva Wisdom Accumulation” onward, Wisdom Accumulation asks how many were delivered.
Fifth, from “Mañjuśrī said” onward, Mañjuśrī answers that their number cannot be proclaimed by speech.
The fifth section again has seven parts. First, he answers that the benefit was extremely great. From “the words were not yet” onward is the second, those who received benefit assembling to bear witness. From “these bodhisattvas” onward is the third, explaining that all were transformed by Mañjuśrī. From “originally śrāvakas” onward is the fourth: those originally belonging to the śrāvaka vehicle had previously received the provisional teaching and abided in the path of the two vehicles. The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra says: “Lotuses emerged from the pool. For those who had originally generated the bodhisattva resolve, the flowers spoke of the Mahāyāna while in the air. For those who had originally generated the śrāvaka resolve, the flowers in the air spoke only of severing birth and death.” From “now all practice” onward is the fifth: having now heard the real teaching, they all abide in the Dharma of the Great Vehicle. From “Mañjuśrī told Wisdom Accumulation” onward is the sixth, Mañjuśrī concluding the explanation of benefit. From “at that time” onward is the seventh, Wisdom Accumulation praising him in verse.
XVII. Explaining the Benefit: Nine Sections
From “Mañjuśrī said: I was in the ocean” onward is the second part, explaining the benefit. The text has nine sections: first, Mañjuśrī’s own account; second, Wisdom Accumulation’s question; third, the answer; fourth, Wisdom Accumulation clinging to the Distinct Teaching and giving rise to doubt; fifth, the dragon girl clarifying the Perfect Teaching to resolve the doubt; sixth, Śāriputra raising a challenge based on the provisional Tripiṭaka Teaching; seventh, the dragon girl using the one real to eliminate the doubt; eighth, the assembly seeing, hearing, and attaining benefit; and ninth, Wisdom Accumulation and Śāriputra silently believing and submitting.
XVIII. The Dragon Girl Clarifies the Perfect Teaching and Resolves Doubt
The fifth section is the dragon girl clarifying the Perfect Teaching to resolve doubt. First, the scripture narrates her appearance and respectful salutation. Next come three and a half lines of verse in three divisions: the first half-line explains that she upheld the sutra and attained understanding; the next two lines explain accomplishment of the Dharma and Reward bodies; and the final line invokes the Buddha as witness.
Concerning “transgression and merit,” for people of the seven expedient means these are successively fabricated. What the verse describes, however, is deeply penetrating that there is neither transgression nor merit and entering the one true mark; hence it is called “deeply penetrating.”
“the ten directions” means the ten Dharma realms. Illuminating them all through real wisdom is therefore called “universal illumination.”
Concerning “possessing the thirty-two marks,” deeply attaining the principle of the dharma-body is itself possessing the excellent marks. As explained in the Larger Prajñāpāramitā, one who wishes to obtain all dharmas should study prajñā, as though obtaining a wish-fulfilling jewel. The two vehicles obtain only emptiness; emptiness has no excellent marks [and so forth].
XIX. Śāriputra’s Challenge and the Dragon Girl’s Offering of the Jewel
The sixth section is Śāriputra raising another challenge: first he generally challenges the claim as unbelievable, after which the five obstacles are set forth.
The seventh is the dragon girl becoming a buddha before the assembly to furnish direct evidence. It has two parts:
First, offering the jewel represents attaining perfect understanding. The round jewel represents the perfect cause she attained through cultivation. Presenting it to the Buddha directs the cause toward bringing the fruit to fruition. The Buddha’s swift acceptance represents swift attainment of the fruit—this is sitting at the site of awakening in a single thought, and her buddhahood is not false.
Second, she formally demonstrates that the cause is perfect and the fruit complete. The Womb Sutra says: “Māra kings, Brahmā kings, Śakra, and women neither relinquish this body nor receive another body; all attain buddhahood in their present bodies.” The verse says: “The Dharma-nature is like the great sea and does not speak of affirmation or negation. Ordinary people, worthies, and sages are impartial, without high or low. Once the mind’s defilements are exhausted, realization is like turning over one’s hand.”
XX. What the Assembly Saw and Heard
From “at that time in the Sahā world” onward is the eighth section, explaining what the assembly saw and heard. It has two parts: first, explaining their seeing and hearing; and second, humans and devas rejoicing and both places receiving benefit.
Conditions in the south were mature, so it was fitting to accomplish the path through the eight marks. Conditions in this land were meager, so only the dragon girl was used to teach and transform—this is the power of expedient skill. Obtaining one body is obtaining all bodies: this is the samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies.
寶塔開了，佛把經交了出去。接下來，經文卻沒有立刻交到誰手上，而是回過頭去講兩件事。
第一件事在極遠的過去：有一位國王為求法而給人做了千年的僕役，那位說法的仙人，就是提婆達多。第二件事在當場：娑竭羅龍王的女兒，八歲，畜生道，女身，獻上一顆寶珠，隨即成佛。
一個是破僧害佛、五逆俱全的人；一個是連做人都還沒輪到的畜類。經文偏偏把這兩位擺在付囑之後、勸持之前。
本論給出的理由只有一句：「此品來意引古弘經傳益非謬」——引古來弘經之人，證明得益不是虛話。往下還有一句：「明今宣化事驗不虛，舉往勸今使流通也」。
於是這一品的功能就清楚了。它不是插曲，是證據。前一品佛說要把經交出去，接著就必須有人問：交出去有用嗎？受持這部經真的能成嗎？本品答：往昔有人受持而成道，現在有人受持而作佛——連最不可能的兩種人都成了，何況你我。
本論隨即補上一句更重的話：「稟教尚然，宣通之功益豈不大矣」。受法的人尚且如此，那麼傳法的人呢？——問題就這樣被推到讀者面前。
一、一句夾註，定了全品的讀法
品題底下有一行所傳夾註，短得容易被跳過，卻是全品的鑰匙。
它先說名字的來歷：「生時人天心熱，因此立名，即因緣釋名也」。這是因緣釋——他出生那天，天上人間都覺得心裡發燙，所以叫「天熱」。
然後是第二句：「因行逆而理順，即圓教之意，非餘教意也」。
這十七個字，是整品最重的一句。
因地上的行為是逆的——破僧、擲石、放象、殺尼、毒爪，一件不缺。可是道理上是順的。而這種「行逆而理順」的讀法，夾註明說：只有圓教才這樣讀，其餘三教不這樣讀。
為什麼其他教不能這樣讀？因為在三藏、通、別三教的框架裡，逆就是逆，順就是順，惡業有惡業的果，這是不能動的。只有到了圓教，逆與順才不再是兩個彼此排斥的東西。
第三句是本迹釋：「本地清涼，迹示天熱，同眾生病耳」。本地那邊是清涼的，示現出來的天熱只是迹；而示現天熱的理由，是「同眾生病」——眾生害什麼病，他就示現什麼病。
三句話，三種釋法，把提婆達多從『一個作惡的人』轉成『一個示現作惡的位置』。而轉的樞紐，就在那句「因行逆而理順」。
值得留意的是本論的分寸：它沒有說提婆達多的惡是假的。五逆之事，本論下文一件一件照實記下來——三十肘的石頭、山神伸手、小石迸落傷佛足出血、教唆阿闍世王放醉象、以拳打死花色比丘尼、指甲藏毒。記完了才說：「若作三逆，教王、毒爪並害佛攝」。惡行的清單完整無缺，只是這份清單被放進了另一個框架裡讀。
二、本論為什麼要引一份經目？
接下來本論做了一件在《文句》裡少見的事：它整段引錄一份經錄。
《寶唱經目》所記的內容，說白了就是這一品的身世——《法華》共有四譯，兩存兩沒；羅什在草堂寺譯出此經時是二十八品，可是「長安宮人請此品淹留在內」，江東所傳只剩二十七品。後來梁朝的滿法師把這一品安在〈持品〉之前，「彼自私安未聞天下」；陳朝的南嶽禪師把它次列在〈寶塔品〉之後，「晚以《正法華》勘之，甚相應」。
最後本論下了判語：「今四瀆混和，見長安舊本，故知二師深得經意」。
這句話值得停一下。
天下分裂的時候，江東與長安各持一本，誰也勘不了誰。等到四瀆混同、南北一統，長安舊本現世，才驗出兩位法師憑自己的判斷所安的位置是對的。本論由此推許他們「深得經意」。
於是這裡出現了一個有意思的層次：這一品的位置，本身就是一場關於『什麼叫得經意』的考試。滿法師與南嶽禪師手上沒有長安本，他們憑的是對經的通盤理解，而不是對文獻的佔有。後來文獻出土，證明理解是對的。
本論之所以要引這段，恐怕不只為交代版本。它在示範一件事：經意可以校勘文獻，正如文獻可以校勘經意。這與本論在前一品駁北地師時所守的立場——有明文就不許憑人情——並不衝突。前一品是『有明文而不用』，此處是『無明文而理得』；兩者合看，才是本論對待文本次第的完整態度。
三、六度為什麼要說四遍？
本品最長的一段，是「具足六波羅蜜」這一句的註解。
經文只有五個字，本論卻寫了將近一半的篇幅。原因是它不打算只講一種六度，而是把同一個六度講了四遍——三藏一遍、通教一遍、別教一遍、圓教一遍。每一遍結尾都用同一個句式收：「如是等例皆是三藏明六度相也」、「如此流例即通教中六度相」、「如此流例，是別教明六度相也」、「如此例是圓教六度相也」。
四個收句一擺，讀者立刻看見這是一個刻意的排比。
第一遍是三藏：捨依正名檀，防止七支名戒，打罵不報名忍——每一度都對應一個具體可做的行為。這一層最實在，也最容易懂。
第二遍是通教：三事皆空名檀，「不見持犯名戒」，能忍所忍不可得名忍。同樣六個名目，內容全部翻轉成「不見」——不是不做，而是做而不見有所做。
第三遍是別教，也是四遍中最長的。本論列了六度各自的十種利益，再列六度各自應修的四件事，總共十二個清單。這一層讀起來近乎繁瑣，但那正是別教的樣子：次第分明，一步一步，每一度都有它自己的功德帳。
第四遍是圓教。本論不再自己列，而是引兩部經。先引《月藏》：世俗心求菩提，就像星火不能乾海、口氣不能動山、藕絲不能稱岳——三個比喻，說的都是同一件事，力量與目標不成比例。那麼什麼才成比例？「以第一義熏修」。於是同樣的六度被重講一次：捨攀緣想是檀，捨攀緣不犯是尸，於境界不生瘡疣是羼……接著又就五陰重講一次，就十八界再重講一次。三重疊講之後，本論收：「以此法自為、為他，三世菩薩悉修是法成菩提，故非世俗也」。
然後引《華嚴》七地：「華嚴七地方明念念具十波羅蜜修習一切佛法」，並把十度逐條列出。最後一句是「諸地皆念念具足，此地勝故」。
四遍講完，六度還是那六度，可是『布施』這個詞在四層裡的意思已經完全不同了。這正是本論解經的手法：它不換題目，它換高度。
四、三十二相的真因，為什麼落在持戒精進？
「三十二相」以下是果德圓滿。本論把三十二相逐一配上它的因——腳掌平如奩底與腳背隆如龜背，共修堅固布施；千輻輪相，修安慰恐怖者；黃金色相，修忍辱與好衣布施；萬字相，修不惱眾生。
一相一因，配了整整一大段。這一段讀起來像目錄，可是列完之後，本論忽然轉了一句：「三十二相因雖各各，論其真因者，持戒精進」。
三十二個因各不相同，但真正的因只有兩個：持戒、精進。
理由給得很硬：「精進無戒尚不得人天身，況餘相耶」。光有精進而沒有戒，連人天之身都保不住，還談什麼相好。
這是一次很典型的收束。前面愈是鋪陳得繁複，後面這一刀就愈有力——三十二個門，其實只有一把鑰匙。
而更要緊的在下一句。本論說完「此則三藏教相本也」，接著補上三句：「空無生是通教相本，道種智是別教相本，實相是圓教相本」。
於是『相好從哪裡來』這個問題，也和六度一樣被分了四層。三藏答持戒精進，通教答空無生，別教答道種智，圓教答實相。同一個佛的三十二相，四種教各有各的來歷。
這也解釋了為什麼本品前半非要把六度講四遍不可——因為後半的相好也要講四層，前後是同一個結構。因四層，果亦四層。
五、多寶為什麼還不能走？
前半場講完了往昔，鏡頭切回當場。
第一個動作是有人要離席。下方多寶佛所帶來的那位菩薩——本論依《分陀利經》記其名為般若拘羅，漢語作智積——起身請求回去。
他的理由很正當：多寶佛是為了替此經作證而出現的，如今證也作了，勸人流通的事也做完了，任務結束，自然該走。
釋迦制止了他。
本論解釋這一止：「雖迹門事訖，本門未彰，故託在文殊以留多寶」。迹門這邊的事確實了了，可是本門還沒有開；於是佛藉著文殊將至這件事，把多寶留下來。
然後是一句很重的話：「佛之密意非菩薩所知」。
這句話值得停一下。智積不是外道，不是聲聞，他是下方佛親自帶來的大菩薩；他的判斷合乎當下所有可見的事實——證作完了，就該走。他錯在哪裡？
他沒有錯，他只是不知道還有下一幕。
而這正是本品埋在半途的一根伏線：看得見的完成，未必是真的完成。迹門收得再圓滿，本門仍未開口；壽量之說要等到十六品才來。多寶之所以還不能走，是因為這場法會還有一半沒有發生。
本論不解釋佛留他的細節，只用「密意」二字收住。菩薩尚且測不到，何況讀經的人——所以讀到這裡，該學的不是猜佛的用意，而是承認自己所站的位置看不到全局。
六、蓮華化生，為什麼「非化而言化」？
在往昔那一段的收尾，經文說持經之人將生佛前而蓮華化生。本論在這裡插了一段考辨，看似細碎，其實是為後半場的龍女預先鋪路。
它先引《胎經》：蓮華所生的，不是胎、卵、濕、化四生中的那個化生。然後自己下一句斷語：「非化而言化耳，實不如四生中之化生也」。
叫它化生，只是借用這個名字；它其實不是四生所攝的那個化生。
接著本論又引兩處來夾出這個意思。《請觀音》說蓮華化生是以蓮華為父母——那麼蓮華就取代了父母的位置，這已經不在胎生的軌道上了。《無量壽觀》則說停在華臺裡久的稱為胎生，可是「實非胎也」；照這個講法，蓮華所生的也可以被稱為濕生卵生，而它其實都不是。
三處合起來，本論所要說的其實只有一件事：四生這一套名目，到這裡已經不夠用了。它們是就三界內的受生方式立的名，而蓮華化生講的是另一種來處。硬要用舊名去套，就只能一面借用、一面否認——所以才有「非化而言化」這樣彆扭卻誠實的說法。
這一段之所以要緊，是因為後半場的龍女正是同一個問題的極端版本。八歲、畜類、女身，這三個標籤都是就三界內的受生說的；而她所示現的成佛，恰恰不在那套名目管得到的地方。本論在前半場先把『名目不夠用』這件事說清楚，後半場才好直接推到底。
七、龍女：獻珠與剋果
後半場的主角換成龍女。
本論的處理很簡潔。它先分文為九科，然後只在幾個關節上用力。
第一個關節是「深達罪福相」。本論說，就七方便之人而言，罪與福是輾轉造作出來的；而偈中所謂深達，是「深達無罪無福入一實相」。所以「深達」二字不是深深地明白罪福如何運作，而是深到罪福這一組對立本身不再成立。
第二個關節是「具三十二相」。本論說「深得法身之理即備相好」，並引《大品》：想要一切法就當學般若，如得如意珠；隨後補一句「二乘但得空，空無相好也」。這一句是本品的暗線——二乘也證空，但那個空裡沒有相好。相好不是空的裝飾，是實相之理的自然具備。
第三個關節是獻珠。這是全品最精彩的幾句。
龍女獻珠，本論解作「一者獻珠表得圓解」。接著逐字拆：「圓珠表其修得圓因，奉佛是將因剋果」——圓的珠子表示她所修得的圓滿之因，把珠子奉上是把因推向果。然後是那句關鍵：「佛受疾者獲果速也，此即一念坐道場，成佛不虛也」。
佛接得很快，就是得果很快。
這個讀法之所以有力，是因為它把一個看似戲劇性的動作，讀成了因果之間時間差的示意。獻珠與受珠之間幾乎沒有間隔，成佛與圓因之間也就沒有間隔。「一念坐道場」不是說快得離奇，是說在圓教的因果裡，因滿即是果滿，中間本來就不需要一段路。
最後一個關節在本品末尾，也是本論收全品的地方：「南方緣熟宜以八相成道」，而「此土緣薄秖以龍女教化，此是權巧之力」。
南方那邊機緣成熟，所以龍女到那裡去示現八相成道的完整過程；此土機緣淺薄，就只用龍女現前成佛這一幕來教化。同一位龍女，兩處作法不同，本論歸之於「權巧之力」。
然後全品收在一句上：「得一身一切身，普現色身三昧也」。
這一句把前面所有的不可能都收攏了。得一身即得一切身——所以畜類之身、女身、八歲之身，都不構成障礙，因為身與身之間本來就不是彼此隔絕的。
八、承衍：兩個不可能之後，誰去持經？
本品把兩件最不可能的事擺在讀者面前：害佛的人受記作佛，八歲的畜類女現前成佛。
擺完之後，經文沒有停留，立刻進入〈勸持品〉——諸尼受記，諸大菩薩發誓在惡世持經。
這個銜接是有意的。本品所做的一切，都是在拆掉藉口。若說我業障太重，那麼提婆達多的業障比誰都重；若說我根器太劣、身份太低、時間太短，那麼八歲的龍女樣樣不足而當下成佛。
兩個極端一立，中間所有的推託就都站不住了。於是下一品的發誓才有份量——那不是熱情，是被證據逼出來的承擔。
讀路由『古今皆有人能通此經』，轉入『那麼現在誰肯去』。
文句記之眼
本品的鏡釋是全記中考據最密的一段，而它做的第一件事，是替本論補課。
鏡層開卷即指出，品題那行夾註「注四釋中唯無觀心」——四釋只用了三釋，觀心釋缺席。緊接著又設一問：惡人出世，怎能叫作感應？答案只有八個字：「令無量人不敢造惡」。一個人以自己的墮落，讓無數人不敢墮落，這也是應。
然後鏡層把四悉檀補齊，把約教一義說得比本論更透：「理順即圓教，事逆即三教，唯圓教意逆即是順，自餘三教逆順定故」。其餘三教的逆順是『定』的——固定、不可互換；唯有圓教，逆才可能就是順。本論夾註只說「非餘教意」，鏡層說出了為什麼。
補本迹一義時，鏡層一口氣引了三部經：《大經》云「提婆達多必不破僧」，《報恩經》說若有人言他實是惡人入阿鼻獄者無有是處，《大雲經》云「提婆達多不可思議，所修行業同於如來」。三經並列，都指向同一件事——他的惡是一場示現。
鏡層最見功夫的，是品次之事。
本論引《寶唱經目》，說是滿法師安在〈持品〉前、南嶽禪師次在〈寶塔〉後。鏡層卻另有一套記載：此品原不在什公譯本之中，是定林寺法獻從于闐取回梵本，瓦官寺法意於齊永明八年十二月譯出而別行；梁初滿法師置於〈持品〉前，梁末真諦重譯而置於〈寶塔〉後。
兩處對不上。鏡層自己也發現了，並且明白寫出來：「今文不云真諦重譯，復云南嶽私安」——本論不提真諦重譯，反倒說是南嶽私自安放。它沒有替本論圓場，也沒有斷本論為誤，而是索性把三家並收：「乃成三人俱契經理」，三個人的判斷都合經理。至於嘉祥所立的三條理由，鏡層逐條駁完，斷曰「望嘉祥三義，全不可依」。
這一段的態度很值得記。面對本論與自己所見史料不合，鏡層的做法是二說並存而各存其理，而不是強行取一。此帙於本品之讀法，亦守此例——二說並錄不判。
鏡層還替本論補了幾處只標其名而未列其目的地方。本論說「叡開為九轍」，鏡層把九轍的名目逐一列出，列完卻加了一句評語：「名目甚美而宗體不顯」。名目漂亮，可是宗體沒有顯出來。這是很嚴的一句，也顯出鏡層並非有名必錄。
考五逆時，鏡層引《俱舍》定其名數，引《興起行經》述擲石之遠因——原來過去世那位為財而把弟弟推下懸崖的長者之子，就是佛自己；被推下崖的異母弟，就是調達。因緣一翻出來，那塊三十肘的石頭便不只是一次暴行，而是一段極長的往還。鏡層又引《入大乘論》一問一答收之：既然世世為佛之怨，怎能說是大菩薩？答曰「若是怨者，云何而得世世相值」——若真是怨家，兩人早該像東西背行的人一樣愈走愈遠，怎麼可能世世相遇？
真正的怨，是會走散的。走不散的，就不是怨。
於六度一義，鏡層與本論之判並不相同。本論以《華嚴》七地十度為圓教六度相；鏡層則說那是「借彼教道深位以證圓人初心」，並反問：「若圓極說，豈至七地方具十耶？」若真依圓教之極說，哪裡要等到七地才具足十度？隨即申明「若念念具十，何行何念而不具十？一行一切行斯之謂也」。
二判並存。本論借高位以示圓相，鏡層則恐讀者誤以圓在高位，故拉回初心。二說並錄不判。
至於龍女，鏡層的處理最見分寸。它先判「今龍女文從權而說，以證圓經成佛速疾」——此處是從權而說，用來證明依圓經成佛之速。若問實際如何，則「若實得者，從六根淨得無生忍」。權說與實得並不打架：權說取其速以顯經力，實得循其位以明次第。鏡層末了戒讀者一句，用在此處最好——「豈以凡情而度聖境」。
而它對他家之解，只留下一句：「他人釋此，或云七地十地等者，不能顯經力用故也」。把龍女判為七地十地菩薩的說法，錯不在位次算得高低，而在那樣一判，這部經的力用就顯不出來了。
The jeweled stūpa has opened, and the Buddha has entrusted the sutra. Yet the scripture does not immediately say into whose hands it is entrusted. Instead, it turns back to tell two stories.
The first unfolds in the distant past: a king seeking the Dharma served another person for a thousand years, and the immortal seer who taught him was Devadatta. The second unfolds in the present assembly: the daughter of the dragon king Sāgara—eight years old, born in the animal realm, and female—offers a precious jewel and immediately becomes a buddha.
One has split the Saṅgha, harmed the Buddha, and committed all five heinous transgressions. The other is an animal who has not even obtained human birth. The scripture deliberately places these two after the entrustment and before the exhortation to uphold the sutra.
The root treatise gives its reason in a single sentence: “The purpose of this chapter is to cite ancient propagators of the sutra and show that the benefit they transmitted was not false”—to cite those who propagated the sutra in antiquity and prove that attainment of its benefit is no empty claim. A little later comes another sentence: “It shows through present evidence that today’s proclamation and transformation are not false; it raises the past to exhort the present and cause circulation.”
The function of the chapter is therefore clear. It is not an interlude but evidence. In the preceding chapter the Buddha says that the sutra is to be entrusted. Someone must then ask: will entrusting it accomplish anything? Can one truly attain the fruit by receiving and upholding this sutra? This chapter answers: someone upheld it in the past and attained the path; someone upholds it in the present and becomes a buddha. If even these two most impossible persons attained it, how much more you and I?
The root treatise immediately adds a weightier sentence: “If even those who receive the teaching are like this, how could the meritorious benefit of proclaiming and circulating it not be great?” If the recipient of the Dharma is already like this, what of the one who transmits it? The question is thereby placed before the reader.
I. One Transmitted Note Determines How the Entire Chapter Is Read
Beneath the chapter title stands one line of transmitted annotation. Its brevity makes it easy to overlook, yet it is the key to the entire chapter.
It first gives the origin of the name: “At his birth the hearts of humans and devas burned; hence the name was established—this is the interpretation through causes and conditions of the name”. On the day he was born, humans and devas alike felt their hearts burn, and so he was called “Heavenly Heat.”
Then comes the second sentence: “His conduct at the causal stage was contrary, yet in principle it was accordant: this is the meaning of the Perfect Teaching, not that of the other teachings.”
These seventeen graphs form the weightiest sentence in the chapter.
His conduct at the causal stage was contrary—splitting the Saṅgha, hurling a boulder, releasing an elephant, killing a nun, hiding poison beneath his nails; not one deed is absent. Yet in principle it was accordant. The transmitted note expressly says that the reading “conduct contrary yet principle accordant” belongs only to the Perfect Teaching; the other three teachings do not read it this way.
Why can the other teachings not read it this way? Within the frameworks of the Tripiṭaka, Shared, and Distinct Teachings, what is contrary is contrary and what is accordant is accordant; evil karma produces the fruit of evil karma, and this cannot be moved. Only in the Perfect Teaching do contrariety and accord cease to be mutually exclusive opposites.
The third sentence interprets the title in terms of Origin and Trace: “His original ground is cool and quiescent; in his trace he manifests Heavenly Heat, merely sharing the illness of sentient beings.” The original ground is cool; the heat that appears is only the Trace. The reason for manifesting heat is “sharing the illness of sentient beings”: whatever illness beings suffer, he manifests that illness.
Three sentences and three modes of interpretation transform Devadatta from “a person who commits evil” into “a position that manifests committing evil.” The hinge of that transformation is “conduct contrary yet principle accordant.”
The root treatise’s restraint deserves notice. It does not say that Devadatta’s evil was unreal. Below it records every one of the five heinous deeds exactly as transmitted—the thirty-cubit boulder, the mountain spirit extending its hand, a splinter of stone striking the Buddha’s foot until it bled, inciting King Ajātaśatru to release the drunken elephant, beating the Bhikṣuṇī Utpalavarṇā to death, and hiding poison beneath his fingernails. Only after recording them does it say: “If counted as three heinous transgressions, inciting the king and the poisoned nails are both included under harming the Buddha.” The list of evil deeds remains complete; it is simply read within another frame.
II. Why Does the Root Treatise Cite a Scripture Catalogue?
The root treatise next does something unusual within the Wenju: it quotes an entire passage from a scripture catalogue.
The account in the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang is, plainly speaking, the biography of this chapter. Four translations of the Lotus existed, two surviving and two lost. Kumārajīva’s translation at Caotang Monastery contained twenty-eight chapters, but “palace women in Chang’an requested this chapter, and it remained within the palace,” leaving only twenty-seven chapters in the version transmitted south of the Yangzi. Later, Dharma Master Man of the Liang placed the chapter before “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra,” but “he placed it there privately, and it was not known throughout the realm.” Chan Master Nanyue of the Chen placed it after “Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa,” and “later, when checked against the True Dharma Lotus, it corresponded very closely.”
The root treatise finally gives its judgment: “Now that the four great rivers have mingled and the old Chang’an text has been seen, we know that the two masters deeply grasped the sutra’s purport.”
This sentence deserves a pause.
When the realm was divided, Jiangdong and Chang’an each possessed a text and neither could collate its copy against the other. Once the four great rivers had mingled, north and south were unified, and the old Chang’an text reappeared, the positions chosen independently by the two masters were verified as correct. The root treatise therefore praises them as having “deeply grasped the sutra’s purport.”
An intriguing layer appears here: the position of the chapter is itself an examination in what it means to grasp the sutra’s purport. Dharma Master Man and Chan Master Nanyue did not possess the old Chang’an text. Their basis was comprehensive understanding of the sutra, not possession of documentary evidence. When the document later reappeared, it confirmed their understanding.
The root treatise likely cites this account for more than transmission history. It demonstrates that the sutra’s purport can collate documents just as documents can collate the sutra’s purport. This does not conflict with the position it maintained when refuting the Northern masters in the preceding chapter: where explicit wording exists, human sentiment may not override it. There the fault was failing to use explicit wording that existed; here the achievement was reaching the principle when no explicit wording was available. Read together, the two passages show the root treatise’s complete approach to textual sequence.
III. Why Are the Six Perfections Explained Four Times?
The longest passage in this chapter is the explanation of “fully possessing the six perfections.”
The scripture gives only five graphs, yet the root treatise devotes nearly half the unit to them. It does not intend to explain only one kind of six perfections. It explains the same six perfections four times—once through the Tripiṭaka Teaching, once through the Shared Teaching, once through the Distinct Teaching, and once through the Perfect Teaching. Each explanation ends with the same kind of closing sentence: “Examples such as these are all the characteristics of the six perfections clarified by the Tripiṭaka Teaching”; “Examples of this kind are the characteristics of the six perfections in the Shared Teaching”; “Examples of this kind are the characteristics of the six perfections clarified by the Distinct Teaching”; and “Examples such as these are the characteristics of the six perfections in the Perfect Teaching.”
Once these four closing sentences stand together, the deliberate parallel becomes immediately visible.
The first explanation is the Tripiṭaka Teaching: relinquishing one’s dependent and primary recompenses is giving; preventing the seven bodily and verbal transgressions is precepts; not retaliating when struck or reviled is patience. Each perfection corresponds to a concrete action that can be performed. This level is the most tangible and easiest to understand.
The second is the Shared Teaching: the giver, receiver, and gift all being empty is giving; “not seeing observance or violation is called precepts”; the one who endures and what is endured being unobtainable is patience. The same six names remain, but their contents are transformed into “not seeing.” This does not mean failing to act; it means acting without seeing anything that acts.
The third is the Distinct Teaching, the longest of the four. The root treatise lists ten benefits for each perfection, then four matters for which each should be cultivated: twelve lists in all. It can seem nearly tedious, but that is precisely the character of the Distinct Teaching—clearly sequenced, step after step, each perfection maintaining its own account of merit.
The fourth is the Perfect Teaching. The root treatise no longer constructs its own list but cites two scriptures. First it cites the Moon Treasury: seeking bodhi with a conventional mind is like a spark unable to dry the sea, a breath unable to move a mountain, or a lotus filament unable to weigh a peak. All three similes say the same thing—the force is incommensurate with the aim. What is commensurate with it? “cultivating through the perfuming of ultimate meaning.” The same six perfections are then explained again: relinquishing the thought of grasping conditions is giving; having relinquished such grasping and not transgressing is precepts; not producing sores upon encountering objects is patience. They are explained once more in terms of the five aggregates and again in terms of the eighteen elements. After these three overlapping explanations, the root treatise concludes: “Using this Dharma for oneself and for others, bodhisattvas of the three times all cultivate this Dharma and accomplish bodhi; therefore it is not conventional.”
It then cites the seventh ground of the Avataṃsaka: “At the seventh ground the Avataṃsaka explains that every thought possesses the ten perfections and cultivates all Buddhadharmas,” and lists the ten perfections one by one. Its final sentence is “All grounds possess them in every thought; this ground is particularly excellent.”
After four explanations, the six perfections remain the six perfections, but the word “giving” has acquired entirely different meanings at the four levels. This is the root treatise’s method of explaining scripture: it does not change the subject; it changes the height.
IV. Why Are Precepts and Diligence the True Causes of the Thirty-Two Marks?
From “the thirty-two marks” onward, the root treatise explains perfection of the virtues of the fruit. It correlates each of the thirty-two marks with its cause: the soles flat like the bottom of a box and the insteps arched like a tortoise’s back are both cultivated through steadfast giving; the thousand-spoked wheels through comforting the fearful; golden skin through patience and giving fine clothing; the svastika through not troubling sentient beings.
The correlations of one mark with one cause extend through an entire passage. It reads like a catalogue, but after completing it the root treatise abruptly turns: “Although the causes of the thirty-two marks are each distinct, when their true causes are discussed, they are keeping precepts and diligence.”
The thirty-two causes differ, but there are only two true causes: precepts and diligence.
The reason is uncompromising: “Diligence without precepts cannot even obtain the body of a human or deva; how much less the remaining marks?” Diligence alone, without precepts, cannot preserve even a human or deva body—what then could be said of the excellent marks?
This is a characteristic act of consolidation. The more elaborate the preceding exposition, the more forcefully this blade falls: thirty-two gateways, but only one key.
More important still is the following sentence. After saying “This is the basis of the marks in the Tripiṭaka Teaching,” the root treatise adds: “Emptiness and nonarising are the basis of the marks in the Shared Teaching; knowledge of the varieties of paths is their basis in the Distinct Teaching; and the true mark is their basis in the Perfect Teaching.”
The question “Where do the excellent marks come from?” is thereby divided into four levels just like the six perfections. The Tripiṭaka Teaching answers precepts and diligence; the Shared Teaching, emptiness and nonarising; the Distinct Teaching, knowledge of the varieties of paths; the Perfect Teaching, the true mark. The same thirty-two marks of a buddha arise differently within the four teachings.
This also explains why the first half of the chapter must explain the six perfections four times: the excellent marks of the latter half are likewise explained at four levels. Cause and fruit share one structure—four levels of cause and four levels of fruit.
V. Why Can Many Jewels Not Leave Yet?
Once the first half has finished recounting the past, the scene returns to the present assembly.
The first action is an attempt to depart. The bodhisattva who accompanied Many Jewels Buddha from below—whom the root treatise, following the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra, calls Borejuluo and renders in Chinese as Wisdom Accumulation—rises and asks to return.
His reason is entirely sound: Many Jewels Buddha appeared to verify this sutra. Now the verification and the exhortation to circulate it are complete. The mission has ended, so naturally they should depart.
Śākyamuni stops him.
The root treatise explains this act: “Although the affairs of the Trace Gate were complete, the Origin Gate had not yet been disclosed; therefore, on the pretext of Mañjuśrī, the Buddha kept Many Jewels from departing.” The work of the Trace Gate truly is complete, but the Origin Gate has not opened. The Buddha therefore uses Mañjuśrī’s impending arrival to keep Many Jewels present.
Then comes a weighty sentence: “The Buddha’s hidden intention is not known even to bodhisattvas.”
This deserves a pause. Wisdom Accumulation is neither an outsider nor a śrāvaka; he is a great bodhisattva personally brought by the buddha from below. His judgment accords with every fact visible at this point—once the verification is complete, they should leave. Where is his error?
He is not wrong. He simply does not know that another scene remains.
This is the foreshadowing buried halfway through the chapter: a completion that can be seen is not necessarily the true completion. However perfectly the Trace Gate has concluded, the Origin Gate has not yet spoken; the teaching of the lifespan will not come until Chapter Sixteen. Many Jewels cannot yet depart because half of this Dharma assembly has not yet occurred.
The root treatise does not explain the details of why the Buddha keeps him. It closes with the two words miyi (“hidden intention”). If even a bodhisattva cannot fathom it, how much less a reader of scripture? What should be learned here is therefore not to guess the Buddha’s purpose but to acknowledge that one’s present position does not command the whole view.
VI. Why Is Birth from a Lotus “Not Transformation, Yet Called Transformation”?
At the conclusion of the past narrative, the scripture says that those who uphold the sutra will be born before a buddha by transformation from a lotus. The root treatise inserts an apparently minute textual inquiry here, but in fact it prepares for the dragon girl in the second half.
It first cites the Womb Sutra: one born from a lotus is not the transformation birth included among birth from a womb, an egg, moisture, or transformation. It then gives its own judgment: “It is not transformation, yet is called transformation; in reality it is unlike transformation birth among the four modes of birth.”
Calling it transformation birth merely borrows the name. It is not the transformation birth encompassed by the four modes.
The root treatise next draws out this meaning through two further citations. The Sutra on Invoking Avalokiteśvara says that birth by transformation from a lotus takes the lotus as father and mother. The lotus therefore occupies the place of parents, and the birth no longer follows the course of womb birth. The Contemplation of Amitāyus says that remaining a long time upon the lotus dais is called womb birth, but “in reality it is not a womb.” By the same logic, one born from a lotus could be called moisture-born or egg-born, yet is neither.
Taken together, the three citations make one point: the four names for modes of birth are no longer adequate here. They were established for modes of birth within the three realms, whereas birth from a lotus speaks of another kind of origin. Forcing the old names upon it requires borrowing and denying them simultaneously—hence the awkward but honest expression “not transformation, yet called transformation.”
This passage matters because the dragon girl in the second half presents the same problem in its most extreme form. Eight years old, an animal, and female: all three labels concern modes of birth within the three realms. Yet the buddhahood she manifests lies precisely where those labels no longer govern. The first half establishes that the names are inadequate so that the second can press the point to its limit.
VII. The Dragon Girl: Offering the Jewel and Bringing the Fruit to Fruition
The dragon girl becomes the protagonist of the second half.
The root treatise treats her story concisely. It first divides the text into nine sections and then exerts its force only at a few joints.
The first joint is “deeply penetrating the characteristics of transgression and merit.” For people of the seven expedient means, transgression and merit arise through successive fabrication. “Deeply penetrating” in the verse, however, means “deeply penetrating that there is neither transgression nor merit and entering the one true mark.” The two words shenda (“deeply penetrating”) therefore do not mean understanding in depth how transgression and merit operate. They mean going so deep that the opposition between transgression and merit no longer stands.
The second joint is “possessing the thirty-two marks.” The root treatise says “deeply attaining the principle of the dharma-body is itself possessing the excellent marks,” and cites the Larger Prajñāpāramitā: whoever desires to obtain all dharmas should study prajñā, as though obtaining a wish-fulfilling jewel. It then adds: “The two vehicles obtain only emptiness; emptiness has no excellent marks.” This is an undercurrent of the entire chapter. The two vehicles too realize emptiness, but that emptiness lacks the excellent marks. The marks are not ornaments added to emptiness; they are naturally possessed by the principle of the true mark.
The third joint is the offering of the jewel. These are the most vivid sentences in the chapter.
The dragon girl offers a jewel, and the root treatise explains this as “First, offering the jewel represents attaining perfect understanding.” It then parses the action graph by graph: “The round jewel represents the perfect cause she attained through cultivation; presenting it to the Buddha directs the cause toward bringing the fruit to fruition”. Then comes the key sentence: “The Buddha’s swift acceptance represents swift attainment of the fruit; this is sitting at the site of awakening in a single thought, and her buddhahood is not false.”
The Buddha accepts swiftly; the fruit is obtained swiftly.
This reading is powerful because it interprets an apparently dramatic gesture as a demonstration of the interval between cause and fruit. Almost no interval separates offering the jewel from its acceptance; no interval therefore separates buddhahood from the perfect cause. “sitting at the site of awakening in a single thought” does not mean astonishing speed. It means that within the cause and fruit of the Perfect Teaching, completion of the cause is itself completion of the fruit; no road is required between them.
The final joint comes at the end of the chapter, where the root treatise brings the whole unit to a close: “Conditions in the south were mature, so it was fitting to accomplish the path through the eight marks,” while “conditions in this land were meager, so it used only the dragon girl to teach and transform; this is the power of expedient skill.”
Conditions in the south were mature, so the dragon girl went there and manifested the complete process of accomplishing the path through the eight marks. Conditions in this land were meager, so only the present scene of the dragon girl’s buddhahood was used to teach and transform. The same dragon girl acts differently in the two places, which the root treatise calls “the power of expedient skill.”
The entire chapter then closes with one sentence: “Obtaining one body is obtaining all bodies: this is the samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies.”
This sentence gathers all the preceding impossibilities. Obtaining one body is obtaining all bodies; an animal body, a female body, and the body of an eight-year-old therefore create no obstruction, because bodies have never been isolated from one another.
VIII. Carrying Forward: After Two Impossibilities, Who Will Uphold the Sutra?
This chapter places two of the most impossible events before the reader: the person who harmed the Buddha receives a prediction of buddhahood, and an eight-year-old female animal becomes a buddha before the assembly.
After presenting them, the scripture does not linger. It immediately enters “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra,” where the nuns receive predictions and the great bodhisattvas vow to uphold the sutra in an evil age.
The transition is deliberate. Everything this chapter does removes excuses. If I say that my karmic obstructions are too heavy, Devadatta’s were heavier than anyone’s. If I say that my capacities are too dull, my status too low, and my time too short, the eight-year-old dragon girl lacked every condition and became a buddha at once.
Once the two extremes stand, every excuse between them collapses. Only then does the vow in the next chapter carry weight. It is not enthusiasm but a responsibility compelled by evidence.
The reading path turns from “in past and present there have been people able to transmit this sutra” to “who, then, is willing to go now?”
Through the Eye of the Wenjuji
The Mirror’s explanation of this chapter is among the most textually exacting passages in the entire Record. Its first act is to supplement what the root treatise leaves incomplete.
At the outset, the Mirror observes that the transmitted annotation beneath the chapter title has “among the four interpretations in the note, only contemplation of mind is absent.” In other words, the interpretation through contemplating the mind is absent from the fourfold interpretation, and only three are used. It then asks how the appearance of an evil person could be called stimulus and response. The answer has only eight graphs: “it causes immeasurable people not to dare commit evil”. One person’s fall keeps immeasurable people from falling; this too is response.
The Mirror then completes the four siddhāntas and explains interpretation in terms of the teaching more fully than the root treatise: “Accord in principle is the Perfect Teaching; contrariety in events is the three teachings. Only in the Perfect Teaching is what is contrary itself accordant, because in all other three teachings contrariety and accord are fixed.” In the other three teachings, contrary and accordant are “fixed” and not interchangeable. Only in the Perfect Teaching can what is contrary itself be accordant. The root annotation says only “not the meaning of the other teachings”; the Mirror explains why.
To supplement the interpretation in terms of Origin and Trace, the Mirror cites three scriptures in succession. The Great Nirvāṇa Sutra says “Devadatta certainly did not split the Saṅgha.” The Sutra on Requiting Kindness says there can be no case in which someone truly calls him an evil person who entered the Avīci hell. The Great Cloud Sutra says “Devadatta is inconceivable; the deeds he cultivated were the same as the Tathāgata’s.” All three point to one matter: his evil was a manifestation.
The chapter’s placement is where the Mirror’s skill is most visible.
The root treatise cites the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang: Dharma Master Man placed the chapter before “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra,” while Chan Master Nanyue placed it after “Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa.” The Mirror records a different history. This chapter was originally absent from Kumārajīva’s translation; Fawian of Dinglin Monastery brought a Sanskrit manuscript from Khotan, Fayi of Waguan Monastery translated it in the twelfth month of the eighth year of Yongming under the Qi and issued it separately; Dharma Master Man placed it before “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra” at the beginning of the Liang; and Paramārtha retranslated it at the end of the Liang and placed it after “Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa.”
The two accounts do not agree. The Mirror notices this and writes explicitly: “The present text does not say that Paramārtha retranslated it, but instead says that Nanyue placed it there privately”. The root treatise does not mention Paramārtha’s retranslation and attributes the placement to Nanyue. The Mirror neither harmonizes the root treatise nor declares it mistaken. It simply includes all three: “This makes three persons who all accorded with the scripture’s principle.” After refuting Jizang’s three reasons one by one, it concludes: “Viewed against Jizang’s three meanings, none can be relied upon.”
The attitude of this passage deserves notice. When the root treatise conflicts with the historical materials available to the Mirror, the Mirror preserves both accounts and the principle within each rather than forcing one to prevail. This edition follows the same rule here: the two accounts are recorded side by side without adjudication.
The Mirror also supplies lists where the root treatise gives only a name or number. The root treatise says “Sengrui opened the text into nine tracks.” The Mirror lists all nine, then adds the judgment “The names are exceedingly fine, but the doctrinal substance is not manifest.” The names are elegant, but the doctrinal body is obscure—a severe judgment showing that the Mirror does not preserve a list merely because it bears attractive titles.
When investigating the five heinous transgressions, the Mirror cites the Abhidharmakośa to establish their names and the Sutra on the Arising of Practice to recount the distant cause of the boulder. In a past life, the merchant’s son who pushed his younger brother from a cliff for wealth was the Buddha himself, while the half-brother pushed below was Devadatta. Once this causal history is uncovered, the thirty-cubit boulder is not a single act of violence but one movement within an immensely long exchange. The Mirror then closes with a question and answer from the Treatise on Entering the Great Vehicle: if Devadatta was the Buddha’s enemy life after life, how can he be a great bodhisattva? The answer is “If he were truly an enemy, how could they meet life after life?” True enemies should grow farther apart like two people walking east and west. How could they meet in every life?
A true enemy is someone from whom one grows apart. One who never grows apart is not an enemy.
Concerning the six perfections, the Mirror’s judgment differs from that of the root treatise. The root treatise treats the ten perfections at the seventh ground in the Avataṃsaka as the characteristics of the six perfections in the Perfect Teaching. The Mirror says instead that this is “borrowing a profound stage on the path of teaching there to verify the initial mind of a person of the Perfect Teaching.” It asks: “If speaking from the ultimate Perfect Teaching, how could the ten be possessed only upon reaching the seventh ground?” If this were the ultimate statement of the Perfect Teaching, why wait until the seventh ground to possess the ten? It immediately declares: “If every thought possesses the ten, what practice and what thought would not possess them? One practice being all practices is precisely what this means.”
Both judgments remain. The root treatise borrows a high stage to display the perfect characteristics; the Mirror fears that the reader will mistake perfection for something found only at a high stage and therefore returns it to the initial mind. The two are recorded side by side without adjudication.
The Mirror’s treatment of the dragon girl shows its greatest restraint. It first judges: “The present passage on the dragon girl speaks from expedient manifestation to verify the swiftness of buddhahood through the perfect sutra.” If one asks what she actually realized, it says: “If speaking of actual attainment, she obtains the patience of nonarising from purification of the six faculties.” Expedient statement and actual attainment do not conflict: the former takes swiftness to reveal the sutra’s power; the latter follows the stages to clarify the sequence. The Mirror finally cautions the reader: “How could one measure a sage’s domain by ordinary sentiment?”
It leaves only one sentence for the explanations of other masters: “Other people explain this by saying the seventh ground, the tenth ground, and so forth, but such explanations cannot reveal the sutra’s power and function.” The fault in assigning the dragon girl to the seventh or tenth ground is not miscalculating whether her stage is high or low; it is that such a judgment cannot reveal the power and function of this sutra.
考據Apparatus
本單元先以因緣、約教、本迹三釋消品題，次引《寶唱經目》記《法華》四譯與本品出沒之事，次述提婆達多五逆本事並判迹本，然後分文為二：前半釋昔日達多通經而釋迦成道，後半釋今日文殊通經而龍女作佛。本品最長之科段為「具足六波羅蜜」下之六度四教相，逐一開三藏、通、別、圓四相；其次為三十二相配因之逐相列釋。本論於此品所引最密——《寶唱經目》《大論》《菩薩善戒》《月藏》《華嚴》《分陀利經》《胎經》《請觀音》《無量壽觀》《大品》凡十家。
一、科判定位
本品屬迹門（01–14），為迹門「舉往勸今」之證例品：既以往昔達多通經證持經之功不虛，復以今日龍女作佛證圓因之剋果甚速。嚴格域為 T34n1718〔0114c17–0117a28〕：起於品題「釋提婆達多品」〔0114c17〕，止於「得一身一切身，普現色身三昧也」〔0117a27–0117a28〕。全域實有三千四百八十二個漢字。本單元不跨卷界——與前一單元 11_jianbaota 同在卷第八下之內。
品題之下有所傳夾註，本單元依 Rule 11(b) 照錄不刪：「生時人天心熱，因此立名，即因緣釋名也；因行逆而理順，即圓教之意，非餘教意也。本地清涼，迹示天熱，同眾生病耳」〔0114c17–0114c18〕。
| 次第 | 本論自科 | 行域與內容 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 釋品名 | 品題夾註：因緣釋名・約教（因行逆而理順）・本迹（本地清涼，迹示天熱）〔0114c17–0114c18〕 |
| 二 | 引《寶唱經目》 | 法華四譯兩存兩沒・僧叡開九轍・長安宮人淹留此品・滿法師・南嶽禪師〔0114c18–0115a02〕 |
| 三 | 達多本事 | 達兜・天熱・破僧將五百比丘去・擲石傷佛足・放醉象・拳花色比丘尼・毒爪＝五逆〔0115a02–0115a09〕 |
| 四 | 迹本二解 | 應行逆故人天心熱＝迹；示熱同其病行而度脫＝本〔0115a09–0115a11〕 |
| 五 | 來意 | 引古弘經傳益非謬・明今宣化事驗不虛・舉往勸今使流通〔0115a12–0115a13〕 |
| 六 | 分文為二 | 前訖「生佛前蓮花化生」・後從「於時下方多寶所從菩薩」〔0115a13–0115a18〕 |
| 七 | 昔日·持經之相 | 三科（持經之相・結會古今・勸信）；長行四科・偈七行半頌之〔0115a18–0115b02〕 |
| 八 | 昔日·結會古今 | 師弟功報俱滿：弟子因滿・果圓・結證〔0115b02–0115b08〕 |
| 九 | 六度相·三藏 | 《大論》六釋・束十善為六・《菩薩善戒》三種・餘經六報〔0115b08–0115b20〕 |
| 十 | 六度相·通 | 三事皆空・不見持犯・能所不可得・身心不動・不亂不味・非智非愚〔0115b20–0115b23〕 |
| 十一 | 六度相·別 | 六度各十利・六度各四事應修〔0115b23–0116a01〕 |
| 十二 | 六度相·圓 | 《月藏》第一長段・《華嚴》七地十波羅蜜〔0116a01–0116b02〕 |
| 十三 | 果圓·三十二相 | 逐相配因（奩底・龜背・千輻輪…四牙離邪命）・功德相等之次第〔0116b02–0116b22〕 |
| 十四 | 相之真因與四教相本 | 真因＝持戒精進；三藏・通・別・圓四教相本〔0116b22–0116b26〕 |
| 十五 | 八十種好 | 逐處列舉，準相可知〔0116b26–0116c02〕 |
| 十六 | 師妙果當成 | 《分陀利經》天王佛・住世化度・滅後利益〔0116c02–0116c07〕 |
| 十七 | 勸修·蓮華化生 | 《胎經》非四生之化生・《請觀音》・《無量壽觀》〔0116c07–0116c13〕 |
| 十八 | 今日·文殊通經 | 五科：智積請退・釋尊止之・文殊尋來・智積問・文殊答（答中復七）〔0116c13–0117a03〕 |
| 十九 | 今日·明利益 | 九科：自敘・問・答・執別教為疑・明圓釋疑・挾權難・以一實除疑・得益・信伏〔0117a03–0117a08〕 |
| 二十 | 龍女明圓釋疑 | 偈三行半：持經得解・成就二身・引佛為證；釋「深達」「遍照」「具三十二相」〔0117a08–0117a16〕 |
| 廿一 | 身子難·龍女獻珠 | 總難信與五礙；獻珠表得圓解・正示因圓果滿・《胎經》・偈〔0117a16–0117a22〕 |
| 廿二 | 時眾見聞 | 見聞・人天歡喜；南方八相與此土龍女之對・普現色身三昧〔0117a22–0117a28〕 |
《文句記》對位：T34n1719〔0312b14–0314c07〕，起於品題「釋提婆達多品」〔0312b14〕，訖於「他人釋此，或云七地十地等者，不能顯經力用故也」〔0314c06–0314c07〕，其下即「釋持品」〔0314c08〕。本品之鏡釋為全記中考據最密者，詳第四目。
二、成立與傳本
卷端序記灌頂法師私記、合二十卷〔0001a23–0001a24〕，又記唐天寶戊子朗和尚條倫；義說歸智者，記錄歸灌頂，現行文字又經條倫治定。神逈序、朗和尚治定語與湛然《文句記》皆屬傳本或鏡釋層，不改作智者正文。
本品之傳本問題特為切身：〈提婆達多品〉本身之有無與位次，即是一樁傳本公案。本論引《寶唱經目》記其始末（第三目第二項），《文句記》另有一套記載並與本論所引不合（第四目、第五目）。二說並錄不判。
三、所帖經文與所引
（一）所帖根經：〈提婆達多品〉
| 本論所標 | 行錨 |
|---|---|
| 「於多劫中」 | T09n0262〔0034b25〕 |
| 「時有仙人」 | 〔0034c03〕 |
| 「王聞」（仙言） | 〔0034c04〕；偈中「時王聞仙言」〔0034c17〕 |
| 「具足六波羅蜜」 | 〔0034c27〕 |
| 「皆因提婆」（達多善知識故） | 〔0034c29〕 |
| 「佛告四眾」 | 〔0035a01〕 |
| 「時天王佛住世二十」 | 〔0035a04〕 |
| 「時天王佛般涅槃」 | 〔0035a08〕 |
| 「蓮華化生」 | 〔0035a18〕 |
| 「於時下方」 | 〔0035a18〕 |
| 「本聲聞人」 | 〔0035b04〕 |
| 「今皆修行」 | 〔0035b05〕 |
| 「深達罪福相」 | 〔0035b28〕 |
| 「遍照於十方」 | 〔0035b28〕 |
| 「爾時娑婆」 | 〔0035c19〕 |
本論標作「三十二相」〔0115b06〕與「八十種好」〔0116b26〕者，根經二語同在〔0034c27〕一行。本論分文所標「生佛前蓮花化生」〔0115a14〕，根經作「蓮華化生」〔0035a18〕，前四字為本論撮上文而標，非根經連文。
（二）本論所引：《寶唱經目》——今本零命中
「《寶唱經目》云」以下一長段〔0114c18–0115a02〕，記《法華》四譯兩存兩沒、什公譯經始末、僧叡開九轍、長安宮人淹留此品、梁滿法師與陳南嶽禪師二家安置本品之位次。梁沙門寶唱所撰經目今已不傳，以標記容錯法檢今本大藏，全段零命中，據實誌之，不代擬出處。
段中人事之可旁證者三，並列以備參，不以之代所引：
| 本論所記 | 今本可考者 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 「以偽秦弘始五年四月二十三日，於長安逍遙園譯《大品》竟」 | 僧叡序自記「以弘始五年歲在癸卯四月二十三日。於京城之北逍遙園中出此經」 | T55n2145〔0053b03–0053b04〕 |
| 「於草堂寺譯此《妙法蓮華》」 | 「草堂寺」一名 | T55n2149〔0252c25〕 |
| 「《寶唱經目》」 | 寶唱之名 | T55n2146〔0144c20〕 |
僧叡序所記四月二十三日為出經之始，其下復云「以其年十二月十五日出盡」「明年四月二十三日乃訖」〔T55n2145 0053b10–0053b11〕；本論所引作「譯《大品》竟」，與序所記日期同而始竟異，並錄不判。
（三）本論所引：《大智度論》六度六釋——撮述
「度義甚多，如《大論》說，捨依正名檀，防止七支名戒，打罵不報名忍，為事始終名精進，四禪八定名禪，分地息諍名般若」〔0115b08–0115b11〕。今本《大智度論》T25n1509 以標記容錯法檢此六語皆零命中。本論自云「如《大論》說」而不云「云」，屬舉其義非徵其文；《文句記》亦明言本論係於《大論》廣釋六度處「攢其大略」〔T34n1719 0313b25〕，並謂「文相顯著者分為四類，亦非一處次第列之」〔0313b26–0313b27〕。
（四）本論所引：《菩薩善戒經》第十——今本零命中
「《菩薩善戒》第十云「六波羅蜜有三種，一對治，謂慳惡瞋怠亂癡〔云云〕；二謂相生，謂捨家持戒遇辱須忍，忍已精進，進已調五根，根調知法界；三謂果報，富具色力壽安辯。」」〔0115b13–0115b17〕。今本菩薩善戒經二本 T30n1582、T30n1583，以標記容錯法檢本論所引之「六波羅蜜有三種」「慳惡瞋怠亂癡」「遇辱」「調五根」「色力壽」諸語，皆零命中。據實誌之，不代擬出處。
（五）本論所引：《大方等大集經·月藏分》第一——三喻俱在，文經撮引
「《月藏》第一云」以下長段〔0116a01–0116a19〕。所繫為 T13n0397。今本相應段見〔0301a20–0302a17〕，逐條對錨如下：
| 本論所作 | 今本逐字 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 「如星火不能乾海」 | 「譬如星火不能枯竭甚深大海」 | T13n0397〔0301a24–0301a25〕 |
| 「口氣不能動山」 | 「譬如一人口所吹風，不能損壞世界大地」 | 〔0301a27–0301a28〕 |
| 「藕絲不能稱岳」 | 「譬如藕絲不能秤動須彌山王」 | 〔0301a29〕 |
| 「何者是第一義？」 | 「何者是第一義？」 | 〔0301b04〕 |
| 「能滿六波羅蜜」 | 「能滿六波羅蜜」 | 〔0302a04〕 |
| 「第一義諦善巧方便」 | 「第一義諦善巧方便」 | 〔0302a05〕 |
| 「以此法自為、為他」 | 「皆以此法自為為他」 | 〔0302a06〕 |
| 「此法能息眾生煩惱道苦道」 | 「令其止息煩惱道苦道」 | 〔0302a16〕 |
| 「安置菩提道」 | 「安置無上菩提之道」 | 〔0302a17〕 |
三喻俱在而文各經撮：今本第二喻作口所吹風不能損壞世界大地，本論撮為六字「口氣不能動山」；第三喻今本作藕絲不能秤動須彌山王，本論撮為「藕絲不能稱岳」。本論所引三世菩薩悉修是法之語，今本分作現在、十方現在、當來三段陳之〔0302a06–0302a13〕。中段六度三重配釋（若行若坐・於陰・於界）今本文長，本論撮其對句。
（六）本論所引：《華嚴經》七地十波羅蜜——近乎逐句
「華嚴七地方明念念具十波羅蜜修習一切佛法」以下〔0116a21–0116b01〕。所繫為 T09n0278〈十地品〉第七地。今本相應段見〔0561b24–0561c11〕，逐條對錨如下：
| 本論所作 | 今本逐字 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 「念念具十波羅蜜」 | 「是菩薩於念念中具足十波羅蜜及十地行」 | T09n0278〔0561b23–0561b24〕 |
| 「以求佛道善根與一切眾生是檀」 | 「菩薩以求佛道所修善根，與一切眾生，是檀波羅蜜」 | 〔0561b26–0561b28〕 |
| 「能滅一切煩惱熱是尸」 | 「能滅一切煩惱熱，是尸波羅蜜」 | 〔0561b28〕 |
| 「於一切眾生無所傷是忍」 | 「於一切眾生心無所傷，是羼提波羅蜜」 | 〔0561b29〕 |
| 「求善無厭是進」 | 「求善根無厭足，是毘梨耶波羅蜜」 | 〔0561c01〕 |
| 「修道心不散常向一切智是禪」 | 「修道心不散，常向一切智，是禪波羅蜜」 | 〔0561c01–0561c02〕 |
| 「忍諸法不生門是般若」 | 「忍諸法不生門，是般若波羅蜜」 | 〔0561c02–0561c03〕 |
| 「能起無量智門是方便」 | 「能起無量智門，是方便波羅蜜」 | 〔0561c03〕 |
| 「求轉勝智是願」 | 「求轉勝智慧，是願波羅蜜」 | 〔0561c04〕 |
| 「魔邪不能阻是力」 | 「諸魔外道不能沮壞，是力波羅蜜」 | 〔0561c04–0561c05〕 |
| 「於一切法相如實說是智」 | 「於一切法相如實說，是智波羅蜜」 | 〔0561c05–0561c06〕 |
| 「四攝、道品、三解脫、一切助菩提法，於念念中皆具足」 | 「四攝法、三十七品、三解脫門，一切助阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法，於念念中皆悉具足」 | 〔0561c07–0561c09〕 |
| 「諸地皆念念具足，此地勝故」 | 「菩薩摩訶薩但七地具足助菩提法，一切諸地亦能具足？」 | 〔0561c10–0561c11〕 |
十度之名與配釋逐條相應，其中四條逐字命中；本論所改唯在略去波羅蜜之梵名（羼提・毘梨耶）而用漢名（忍・進），及略去修飾語。末條今本作解脫月之問，本論轉為肯定之答。
（七）本論所引：《薩曇分陀利經》——三引，各有字異
本品三引《分陀利經》，皆繫 T09n0265《薩曇分陀利經》。前一單元 11_jianbaota 已誌本論標作《薩雲分陀利經》而今本作《薩曇分陀利經》，本品但作《分陀利經》，不重標經名之異。
其一〔0116c04–0116c05〕：「調達作佛，號提和羅耶，漢言天王，國名提和越，漢言天地。」今本〔0197b18–0197b20〕作「調達却後阿僧祇劫，當得作佛，號名提和羅耶〔漢言天王佛〕」「天王佛國，名提和越〔漢言天地國〕」。二夾註今本各多一字（「佛」「國」），本論所引各省之；「調達作佛」四字為本論撮「當得作佛」而標。並錄不判。
其二〔0116c16–0116c17〕：「下方佛所從菩薩，名般若拘羅，漢言智積」。今本〔0197c04〕作「於是下方佛所從菩薩，名般若拘」——無「羅」字，且今本通篇八處皆作「般若拘」〔0197c04・0197c05・0197c09・0197c10・0197c16・0197c17・0197c19・0197c21〕；「漢言智積」四字今本零命中。字增與零命中並存，並錄不判。此處適為本單元第十七枚校記所在，詳第八目。
其三〔0116c27–0116c29〕：「蓮華從池出者，本發菩薩心，其華在空中說摩訶衍事；本發聲聞心者，華在空中但說斷生死事。」今本〔0197c12–0197c15〕作「其池即時涌華從下而出，盡是池中一切所散。本發菩薩心者，其華在空中，但說摩訶衍事；本發聲聞者，其華在空中，但說斷生死事。」後半近乎逐字，異者四處：本論「本發菩薩心」今本作「本發菩薩心者」・本論「其華在空中說摩訶衍事」今本作「其華在空中，但說摩訶衍事」・本論「本發聲聞心者」今本作「本發聲聞者」・本論「華在空中」今本作「其華在空中」。前半「蓮華從池出者」為本論撮今本「其池即時涌華從下而出」而標。並錄不判。
（八）本論所引：《菩薩處胎經》——二引
所繫為 T12n0384。
其一〔0116c08–0116c09〕：「蓮華生者，非胎、卵、濕、化之化生也」。今本以標記容錯法檢「蓮華生者」「非胎卵濕化」皆零命中，據實誌之，不代擬出處。《文句記》釋此語作「不同界內四生中之化生」〔T34n1719 0314a09–0314a10〕。
其二〔0117a21–0117a22〕：「魔梵釋女皆不捨身不受身，悉於現身得成佛故」。今本連文「魔梵釋女」零命中，然以場景結構回檢，今本〔1035a05–1035c09〕正有四段同型之說，本論所引之魔、梵、釋、女四者各繫一段：
| 本論所舉 | 今本逐字 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 梵 | 「是謂梵天王不捨身、受身、現身得成佛道」 | T12n0384〔1035a09–1035a10〕 |
| 魔 | 「是為害惡大天王，不捨身受身而成佛道」 | 〔1035a26–1035a27〕 |
| 釋 | 「是謂天帝釋不捨身受身而成佛道」 | 〔1035b24–1035b25〕 |
| 女 | 「彼土人民悉受女身」…「是謂不捨身受身而成佛道」 | 〔1035b29〕〔1035c08–1035c09〕 |
「現身得成佛」五字逐字見〔1035a10〕。是知本論係撮今本連續四段為一句，非別有所本。今本四段皆作「不捨身受身」，本論作「不捨身不受身」，多一「不」字，並錄不判。
（九）本論所引：《請觀世音菩薩消伏毒害陀羅尼呪經》——逐字命中
「《請觀音》云「蓮華化生為父母」」〔0116c10〕。今本逐字命中：「蓮華化生為父母」〔T20n1043 0037c03〕。
（十）本論所引：《無量壽觀》——今本零命中
「《無量壽觀》云「處華臺久者為胎生，實非胎也，例蓮華生者亦稱濕卵，而非濕卵」〔云云〕」〔0116c11–0116c13〕。今本《佛說觀無量壽佛經》T12n0365 以標記容錯法檢「處華臺」「華臺」「胎生」諸語，皆零命中（該經唯〔0344b11〕有「不處胞胎」一語，文義不相當）。本論所標之《無量壽觀》或別有所指，據實誌之，不代擬出處。
（十一）本論所引：《大品般若經》——今本零命中
「如《大品》明：欲得一切法當學般若，如得如意珠也」〔0117a14–0117a15〕。今本《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》T08n0223 檢「欲得一切法當學般若」零命中，「如意珠」亦零命中。惟「當學般若波羅蜜」之定型句該經凡八十八見（〈序品〉〈勸學品〉等，如〔0219a27〕以下連舉），本論係撮此定型句而標，非徵其一句。據實誌之。
四、文句記釋要〔鏡〕
本品之鏡釋為《文句記》中考據最密之一段〔T34n1719 0312b14–0314c07〕。其要有九。
其一·四釋之闕與補。湛然開卷即指本論品題夾註「四釋中唯無觀心」〔0312b15〕，又自設問答補足四悉檀：見者喜其己身不作即世界，不作善生即為人，不作惡邊即對治，無障果事即第一義〔0312b18–0312b20〕。又問「惡人出世何名感應？」答「令無量人不敢造惡」〔0312b16–0312b17〕。
其二·約教之判。釋本論「因行逆而理順」曰：「理順即圓教，事逆即三教，唯圓教意逆即是順，自餘三教逆順定故」〔0312b20–0312b22〕。
其三·本迹三證。釋本論「同眾生病」，引三經為證：《大經》云「提婆達多必不破僧」〔0312b23〕、《報恩經》云「若有人言提婆達多實是惡人入阿鼻獄者，無有是處」〔0312b24–0312b25〕、《大雲經》云「提婆達多不可思議，所修行業同於如來」〔0312b25–0312b26〕。
其四·品次之全史，並與本論所引不合。湛然別記一套本品出沒之事：「諸新舊章皆云什譯元無此品」〔0312b26〕，準齊宋錄，「上定林寺釋法獻於于闐國得梵本來」〔0312b27–0312b28〕，「瓦官寺沙門釋法意，齊永明八年十二月譯訖，仍自別行」〔0312b28–0312b29〕；「至梁初有滿法師講經百遍，於寺燒身，乃以此品置〈持品〉前，亦未行天下」〔0312b29–0312c02〕；「至梁末有西天竺國沙門拘羅那陀，此云真諦，重譯此品置〈寶塔〉後」〔0312c02–0312c04〕。
此與本論所引《寶唱經目》二處不合，湛然自己點出其一：本論作「陳有南嶽禪師，次此品在〈寶塔〉之後」〔0114c28–0114c29〕，記則歸之真諦，故云「今文不云真諦重譯，復云南嶽私安」〔0312c12–0312c13〕，並斷「乃成三人俱契經理，望嘉祥三義，全不可依」〔0312c14–0312c15〕。其二湛然未點出：本論作滿法師「於長沙郡燒身」〔0114c27〕，記作「於寺燒身」〔0312c01〕。二處並錄不判。
其五·九轍全目。本論但云「叡開為九轍」〔0114c24〕，記逐一列其名：昏聖相扣・涉教歸真・興類潛彰・述窮通昔・彰因進悟・讚揚行李・本迹無生・舉因徵果・稱揚遠濟〔0313a02–0313a14〕，並評曰「名目甚美而宗體不顯」〔0313a14〕。又釋本論「四瀆」為「江、河、准、濟」，「意云天下大同」〔0313a17〕。
其六·五逆之考。引《俱舍》五逆之名〔0313a18–0313a19〕；「出血」一事引《興起行經》須摩提推弟崖底之本生為因緣〔0313a20–0313b04〕，並記山神名鞞羅、以手接石而小片迸墮傷佛母指；又引《俱舍·業品》頌〔0313b05–0313b09〕，辨同類五逆而不以放象、毒爪為同類，「彼是方便，非同類故」〔0313b14–0313b15〕。復引《入大乘論》問答：「彼提婆達多世世為佛怨，云何而言是大菩薩？」答曰「若是怨者，云何而得世世相值？如二人行東西各去步步轉遠，豈得為伴？」〔0313b15–0313b18〕。
其七·六度之判。記本論所引《大論》係於「始從十五終二十一」廣釋六度處「攢其大略」〔0313b24–0313b26〕；「六各十者，名出《地持》、《華嚴》」〔0313c07〕。於本論以《華嚴》七地為圓教六度相，湛然別出一判：「借彼教道深位以證圓人初心」，「驗知《華嚴》存於教道，別義明矣。若圓極說，豈至七地方具十耶？」〔0313c10–0313c13〕；復申「若念念具十，何行何念而不具十？一行一切行斯之謂也」〔0313c14–0313c15〕。此判與本論之列不同——本論以七地十度為圓教相，記則謂七地屬教道而借以證圓人初心。二說並錄不判。
其八·三十二相與《法界次第》對勘。記云本論所列「今剩有二相」，又「足跟直、踝不現、項光、萬字、青髮」五相《法界次第》中無，而《法界次第》有「丈光、喉中津液」二相今文則無〔0314a04–0314a08〕；八十種好文亦不同，「秖是經論譯異」〔0314a08–0314a09〕。
其九·蓮華化生與龍女之權實。釋「非胎卵濕化之化生」為「不同界內四生中之化生」，並引〈藥王〉「於淨德王家忽然化生」〔0314a11–0314a12〕、《大寶積》「菩薩成就八法，於諸佛前蓮華化生」以下八法〔0314a14–0314a19〕。於文殊自海而來之疑，設三義通之〔0314b02〕，並引《淨名》「移置他土，都不使人有往來相」〔0314b08–0314b09〕；戒讀者曰「豈以凡情而度聖境？」〔0314a24–0314a25〕。於龍女成佛，判曰「今龍女文從權而說，以證圓經成佛速疾」〔0314b24–0314b25〕，「若實得者，從六根淨得無生忍」〔0314b27〕；釋本論「權巧」二字曰「不必一向唯作權釋，秖云龍女已得無生，則約體用而論權巧」〔0314c03–0314c04〕，末斥他解「或云七地十地等者，不能顯經力用故也」〔0314c06–0314c07〕。
五、諸家異釋
本單元錄有二家，皆本論引《寶唱經目》而錄，並加判語：
其一·滿法師：「梁有滿法師，講經一百遍，於長沙郡燒身，仍以此品安〈持品〉之前，彼自私安未聞天下。」〔0114c26–0114c28〕
其二·南嶽禪師：「陳有南嶽禪師，次此品在〈寶塔〉之後，晚以《正法華》勘之，甚相應。」〔0114c28–0115a01〕
本論不駁二家，反判之曰：「今四瀆混和，見長安舊本，故知二師深得經意。」〔0115a01–0115a02〕——以天下混一之後所見長安舊本正與二師所安相合，故推許之。
鏡層另錄五家，皆《文句記》自錄，不倒寫為本論所錄：法獻與法意（于闐得梵本、齊永明八年譯訖別行）〔0312b27–0312b29〕・拘羅那陀真諦（梁末重譯置〈寶塔〉後）〔0312c02–0312c04〕・嘉祥三義（外國相傳流沙已來多無此品／什公譯經多好存略／以〈提婆〉間〈寶塔〉〈持品〉則全成剩經）〔0312c06–0312c12〕・涉法師（「不合安此，〈授記〉、〈調達〉應安〈授學無學記品〉中，後智積後應安〈神力品〉內。」）〔0312c15–0312c17〕・武丘道亮（「有五本，四如前，更有《薩雲分陀利》本，既存於世，乃成三存。」）〔0313a01–0313a02〕。湛然於嘉祥三義逐條駁之，於涉法師亦駁，於真諦則存疑而云「若必真諦重譯不虛，何妨本譯江東未有」〔0312c13–0312c14〕。
又鏡別錄譯訖年月之異說三：本論之文云五年譯之、東安法師云七年三月十六日譯訖（慧遠經序同）、或云弘始十年二月譯竟，記自云「不同之事未可追尋」〔0312c21–0312c24〕。並錄不判。
六、術語
| 語 | 釋 |
|---|---|
| 提婆達多・達兜・天熱 | 提婆達多亦言達兜，此翻天熱；以其應行逆，生時人天心熱，從是得名〔0115a02–0115a10〕。 |
| 因行逆而理順 | 品題夾註語：因上之行是逆而理上是順，此即圓教之意，非餘教意〔0114c17〕。鏡釋「理順即圓教，事逆即三教」〔T34n1719 0312b21〕。 |
| 五逆 | 破僧・擲石出佛身血・教闍王放醉象・拳花色比丘尼・安毒十爪；本論又云「若作三逆，教王、毒爪並害佛攝」〔0115a03–0115a09〕。 |
| 六度四教相 | 一度而四釋：三藏（捨依正名檀等）・通（三事皆空名檀等）・別（十利・四事應修）・圓（《月藏》第一義熏修・《華嚴》七地十度）〔0115b08–0116b02，四段結語各見其末〕。 |
| 四教相本 | 三十二相之所本：三藏＝持戒精進，通＝空無生，別＝道種智，圓＝實相〔0116b22–0116b26〕。 |
| 蓮華化生 | 非胎卵濕化四生中之化生；「非化而言化耳，實不如四生中之化生也」〔0116c08–0116c09〕。 |
| 五礙 | 身子總難信之後所出，本論但標「後釋出五礙」〔0117a16–0117a17〕而不列其目。 |
| 獻珠表得圓解 | 圓珠表其修得圓因，奉佛是將因剋果，佛受疾者獲果速也，此即一念坐道場〔0117a18–0117a19〕。 |
| 深達・遍照 | 「罪福」約七方便傳作，今偈深達無罪無福入一實相，名為「深達」；「十方」即十法界，同以實慧朗之，故言「遍照」〔0117a10–0117a13〕。 |
| 權巧之力・普現色身三昧 | 南方緣熟宜以八相成道，此土緣薄秖以龍女教化，此是權巧之力；得一身一切身，普現色身三昧也〔0117a26–0117a28〕。 |
| 四瀆 | 本論以「四瀆混和」喻天下混一〔0115a01〕；鏡釋為江、河、准、濟〔T34n1719 0313a17〕。 |
| 九轍 | 僧叡開《法華》為九轍，本論但標其數〔0114c24〕；九目具見鏡〔T34n1719 0313a02–0313a14〕。 |
七、譬喻・互讀・承衍
本單元無新立之譬，而以兩個不可能為骨：破僧害佛之人受記作佛，八歲畜類之女現前成佛。本論不以奇事說之，而各繫一義——前者繫於「因行逆而理順」，是圓教意下逆行亦順；後者繫於獻珠剋果，是圓因之下一念坐道場。所引二喻皆屬他經：《月藏》之星火・口氣・藕絲三喻，喻世俗心之不能滿菩提〔0116a05–0116a06〕；蓮華化生之喻，用以辨圓因之生與四生中化生之異〔0116c08–0116c09〕。
與〈見寶塔品〉互讀：前品末釋迦唱募「付囑有在」，本品即以往昔達多通經、今日文殊通經二事應之——付囑之所以可能，正因古今皆有通經而得益者。本論自明此意：「此品來意引古弘經傳益非謬，明今宣化事驗不虛，舉往勸今使流通也」〔0115a12–0115a13〕。前品之塔開，本品之證立。
與〈勸持品〉互讀：本品舉往昔與現前二證既畢，其下即諸菩薩、諸尼發誓持經。鏡於彼品自作一鏈：「〈寶塔〉慕覓用方軌人，〈達多〉引往用方軌者，釋迦即是稟方軌眾」〔T34n1719 0314c26–0314c27〕——三品在鏡層被讀成一條求人、舉證、發誓之次第。
與〈囑累品〉互讀：本品之品次公案（滿法師安〈持品〉前・南嶽禪師次〈寶塔〉後）與 22_zhulei 鏡層之品次大諍（慈恩、安國、秀公主張〈囑累〉當移〈勸發〉後，湛然立八不可駁之）為同族之事，皆屬經文次第之爭；然二處判法相反——本品之二家本論推許為「深得經意」，彼品之三家湛然逐條駁斥。二處並讀，可見本帙於品次之異說並非一概不許。
與〈化城喻品〉互讀：本品三藏六度相之列，與 07 系諸子所釋三藏教相同出一源；本品之特出在四教相並列於一段之內，為全帙四教六度相最完整之一處。
承衍：本單元止於「得一身一切身，普現色身三昧也」〔0117a27–0117a28〕。其下〈勸持品〉諸尼受記、諸菩薩發誓；讀路由『古今皆有人能通此經』，轉入『那麼現在誰肯去』。
八、校本定位
本單元嚴格域內有二十個校勘正文位置：十八屬【大】【甲】直接對舉，一屬 CBETA 校改，一屬星號回指；沒有單邊校記與省略字數式校記。
| 次 | 校勘正文位置 | 【大】 | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0114c18 | 病 | 病之 |
| 二 | 0114c20 | 法 | 甲本缺 |
| 三 | 0114c27 | 百 | 百八 |
| 四 | 0115a01 | 四 | 甲本缺 |
| 五 | 0115a11 | 示 | 亦 |
| 六 | 0115a12 | 經 | 縛 |
| 七 | 0115a15 | 多 | 甲本缺 |
| 八 | 0115a17 | 達 | 達多 |
| 九 | 0115b23 | 般 | 波 |
| 十 | 0115b24 | 伏慳 | 慳伏 |
| 十一 | 0115c09 | 熟 | 就 |
| 十二 | 0115c10 | 不 | 甲本缺 |
| 十三 | 0115c18 | 悔恨 | 恨悔 |
| 十四 | 0116b03 | 足 | 足下 |
| 十五 | 0116b12 | 相 | 二相 |
| 十六 | 0116c17 | 拘 | 物 |
| 十七 | 0116c23 | 如 | 如文 |
| 十八 | 0117a03 | 歎 | 讚 |
另二枚不入【大】【甲】對舉之式，別誌如下：
| 位置 | 式 | 內容 |
|---|---|---|
| 0116b09 | CBETA 校改 | 正文「鹿膞腸相」之「膞」字，【CB】【北藏-CB】作「膞」而【大】作「膊」，繫來函校記一則 |
| 0117a27 | 星號回指 | 「此土緣薄秖以龍女教化」之「秖」，【大】作「秖」而【甲】作「只」 |
其中四枚值得誌明。第九枚〔0115b23〕落在通教六度相結語「非智非愚名般若」之「般」字，甲本作「波」（波若），與前一單元 11_jianbaota 第七枚同形同處理，並錄。第十六枚〔0116c17〕正落在《分陀利經》所引「般若拘羅」之「拘」字，甲本作「物」；今本《薩曇分陀利經》此名作「般若拘」而無「羅」字（見第三目第七項），是知此名於底本、甲本、今本三形並存。第十八枚〔0117a03〕落在智積偈歎之「歎」，甲本作「讚」。第二十枚〔0117a27〕之秖／只二形與 11_jianbaota 第三枚〔0112c26〕同形，二處皆星號或對舉之式，並錄。
本單元嚴格域內有通用字庫外字一枚：〔0116c01〕之 CB02334，組字為 [月*叉]，今本 Unicode 對映為 U+2E30B『𮌋』，見於八十種好之列「兩鼻孔額兩𮌋兩耳頭圓」〔0116c01–0116c02〕。讀者層依現行原典直呈該字，不換近形字、不無誌刪略。
品題兩形之例（「序品」無釋冠、餘二十七品作「釋Ｘ品」）於本品見「釋提婆達多品」〔0114c17〕。品題之下所傳夾註照錄，見第一目。
This unit first explains the chapter title through causes and conditions, in terms of the teaching, and in terms of Origin and Trace. It next cites the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang on the four translations of the Lotus and the appearance and disappearance of this chapter, recounts Devadatta’s five heinous transgressions and judges them through Trace and Origin, then divides the text into two: the first half explains how Devadatta transmitted the sutra in the past and Śākyamuni thereby attained the path; the second explains how Mañjuśrī transmits it today and the dragon girl thereby becomes a buddha. The chapter’s longest doctrinal division is the four-teaching explanation of the six perfections under 「具足六波羅蜜」 tr. “fully possessing the six perfections,” which distinguishes their characteristics in the Tripiṭaka, Shared, Distinct, and Perfect Teachings. The next longest correlates each of the thirty-two marks with its cause. The root treatise’s citations are exceptionally dense in this chapter: ten works in all—the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang, Great Treatise, Bodhisattva’s Wholesome Precepts, Moon Treasury, Avataṃsaka, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra, Womb Sutra, Sutra on Invoking Avalokiteśvara, Contemplation of Amitāyus, and Larger Prajñāpāramitā.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
This chapter belongs to the Trace Gate (01–14) and serves as its evidentiary chapter of 「舉往勸今」 tr. “raising the past to exhort the present.” Devadatta’s past transmission of the sutra verifies that the merit of upholding it is not false; the dragon girl’s buddhahood today verifies the extreme swiftness with which the perfect cause brings the fruit to fruition. Its strict domain is T34n1718 〔0114c17–0117a28〕: it begins with the chapter title 「釋提婆達多品」 tr. “Explanation of the ‘Devadatta’ Chapter” 〔0114c17〕 and ends with 「得一身一切身，普現色身三昧也」 tr. “Obtaining one body is obtaining all bodies: this is the samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies” 〔0117a27–0117a28〕. The full domain contains 3,482 Han characters. This unit does not cross a fascicle boundary: it remains within Fascicle Eight, Second Part, together with the preceding 11_jianbaota.
A transmitted interlinear note appears beneath the chapter title. Under Rule 11(b), this unit records it without deletion: 「生時人天心熱，因此立名，即因緣釋名也；因行逆而理順，即圓教之意，非餘教意也。本地清涼，迹示天熱，同眾生病耳」 tr. “At his birth the hearts of humans and devas burned, and the name was therefore established—this is the interpretation of the name through causes and conditions. His conduct at the causal stage was contrary, yet in principle it was accordant: this is the meaning of the Perfect Teaching, not that of the other teachings. His original ground is cool; in his trace he manifests Heavenly Heat, merely sharing the illness of sentient beings” 〔0114c17–0114c18〕.
| Sequence | Root-treatise division | Locus and content |
|---|---|---|
| I | Explaining the chapter title | Transmitted note beneath the title: interpretation through causes and conditions; in terms of the teaching (conduct contrary yet principle accordant); and in terms of Origin and Trace (the original ground cool, the trace manifesting Heavenly Heat) 〔0114c17–0114c18〕 |
| II | Citing the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang | Four translations of the Lotus, two surviving and two lost; Sengrui’s nine tracks; palace women in Chang’an retaining the chapter; Dharma Master Man; Chan Master Nanyue 〔0114c18–0115a02〕 |
| III | Devadatta’s story | Dadu; Heavenly Heat; splitting the Saṅgha and leading away five hundred bhikṣus; hurling a boulder and injuring the Buddha’s foot; releasing a drunken elephant; striking the Bhikṣuṇī Utpalavarṇā; poisoned nails—the five heinous transgressions 〔0115a02–0115a09〕 |
| IV | Two explanations through Trace and Origin | His contrary conduct causing the hearts of humans and devas to burn = Trace; manifesting heat, sharing their illness in his practice, and delivering them = Origin 〔0115a09–0115a11〕 |
| V | Purpose | Citing ancient propagators to show that transmission of benefit is not false; showing present evidence that today’s proclamation and transformation are not false; raising the past to exhort the present and cause circulation 〔0115a12–0115a13〕 |
| VI | Dividing the text into two | First through 「生佛前蓮花化生」 tr. “born before a buddha through transformation from a lotus”; second from 「於時下方多寶所從菩薩」 tr. “at that time, the bodhisattva who accompanied Many Jewels from below” 〔0115a13–0115a18〕 |
| VII | Past · How the sutra was upheld | Three sections (how it was upheld, identifying past and present, exhorting faith); four prose divisions; seven and a half lines of verse restating them 〔0115a18–0115b02〕 |
| VIII | Past · Identifying past and present | The meritorious recompenses of master and disciple are both complete: the disciple’s causal practice complete, fruit perfected, and concluding verification 〔0115b02–0115b08〕 |
| IX | Characteristics of the six perfections · Tripiṭaka | Six explanations from the Great Treatise; gathering the ten wholesome actions into six; three kinds in the Bodhisattva’s Wholesome Precepts; six recompenses in other scriptures 〔0115b08–0115b20〕 |
| X | Characteristics of the six perfections · Shared | The three factors all empty; not seeing observance or violation; subject and object unobtainable; body and mind unmoving; neither distracted nor attached to flavor; neither wise nor foolish 〔0115b20–0115b23〕 |
| XI | Characteristics of the six perfections · Distinct | Ten benefits for each perfection; four matters for cultivating each 〔0115b23–0116a01〕 |
| XII | Characteristics of the six perfections · Perfect | Long passage from Fascicle One of the Moon Treasury; ten perfections at the seventh ground in the Avataṃsaka 〔0116a01–0116b02〕 |
| XIII | Perfection of the fruit · Thirty-two marks | Correlating each mark with its cause (bottom of a box, tortoise’s back, thousand-spoked wheel through four canine teeth and abandonment of wrong livelihood); sequence of equivalences in merit 〔0116b02–0116b22〕 |
| XIV | True causes of the marks and their bases in the four teachings | True causes = precepts and diligence; bases of the marks in the Tripiṭaka, Shared, Distinct, and Perfect Teachings 〔0116b22–0116b26〕 |
| XV | Eighty minor excellent characteristics | Listed by bodily location; understood by analogy with the marks 〔0116b26–0116c02〕 |
| XVI | The teacher’s wondrous fruit will be accomplished | Heavenly King Buddha in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra; duration and teaching; benefit after extinction 〔0116c02–0116c07〕 |
| XVII | Exhorting cultivation · Birth from a lotus | The Womb Sutra on transformation birth outside the four modes; Sutra on Invoking Avalokiteśvara; Contemplation of Amitāyus 〔0116c07–0116c13〕 |
| XVIII | Present · Mañjuśrī transmits the sutra | Five sections: Wisdom Accumulation requests to depart; the World-Honored One stops him; Mañjuśrī arrives; Wisdom Accumulation asks; Mañjuśrī answers (his answer again has seven sections) 〔0116c13–0117a03〕 |
| XIX | Present · Explaining the benefit | Nine sections: own account; question; answer; clinging to the Distinct Teaching and doubting; explaining the Perfect Teaching to resolve doubt; challenging through the provisional; eliminating doubt through the one real; attainment of benefit; believing and submitting 〔0117a03–0117a08〕 |
| XX | The dragon girl explains the Perfect Teaching and resolves doubt | Three and a half lines of verse: upholding the sutra and attaining understanding; accomplishing the two bodies; invoking the Buddha as witness; explaining 「深達」 tr. “deeply penetrating,” 「遍照」 tr. “universally illuminating,” and 「具三十二相」 tr. “possessing the thirty-two marks” 〔0117a08–0117a16〕 |
| XXI | Śāriputra’s challenge · The dragon girl offers the jewel | General challenge to belief and five obstacles; offering the jewel represents perfect understanding; formally demonstrating perfect cause and complete fruit; Womb Sutra; verse 〔0117a16–0117a22〕 |
| XXII | What the assembly saw and heard | Seeing and hearing; humans and devas rejoicing; the eight marks in the south contrasted with the dragon girl in this land; samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies 〔0117a22–0117a28〕 |
The corresponding Wenjuji domain is T34n1719 〔0312b14–0314c07〕. It begins with the chapter title 「釋提婆達多品」 tr. “Explanation of the ‘Devadatta’ Chapter” 〔0312b14〕 and ends with 「他人釋此，或云七地十地等者，不能顯經力用故也」 tr. “Other people explain this by saying the seventh ground, the tenth ground, and so forth, but such explanations cannot reveal the sutra’s power and function” 〔0314c06–0314c07〕; immediately below is 「釋持品」 tr. “Explanation of ‘Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra’” 〔0314c08〕. The Mirror’s explanation of this chapter is among the most textually exacting in the entire Record; see Section IV.
II. Formation and Transmission
The prefatory record at the head of the fascicle says that Dharma Master Guanding privately recorded the teaching and combined it into twenty fascicles 〔0001a23–0001a24〕; it further records Monk Lang’s arrangement in the wuxu year of Tianbao under the Tang. The doctrinal exposition belongs to Zhiyi, the record to Guanding, and the received text was further redacted by Lang. Shenjiong’s preface, Lang’s editorial statement, and Zhanran’s Wenjuji belong to the transmission or Mirror layers and are not rewritten as Zhiyi’s main text.
The transmission problem is especially immediate in this chapter: the very presence and location of “Devadatta” constitute a transmission case. The root treatise cites the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang for its history (Section III.B); the Wenjuji gives another account that conflicts with the root treatise’s citation (Sections IV and V). The two accounts are recorded side by side without adjudication.
III. Sutra Passages Explained and Works Cited
A. Root-Sutra Passages: “Devadatta”
| Phrase marked by the root treatise | Locus |
|---|---|
| 「於多劫中」 tr. “throughout many kalpas” | T09n0262 〔0034b25〕 |
| 「時有仙人」 tr. “at that time there was an immortal” | 〔0034c03〕 |
| 「王聞」 tr. “the king heard” (the immortal’s words) | 〔0034c04〕; in the verse, 「時王聞仙言」 tr. “at that time the king heard the immortal’s words” 〔0034c17〕 |
| 「具足六波羅蜜」 tr. “fully possessing the six perfections” | 〔0034c27〕 |
| 「皆因提婆」 tr. “all because of Devadatta” (because Devadatta was his good spiritual friend) | 〔0034c29〕 |
| 「佛告四眾」 tr. “the Buddha told the four assemblies” | 〔0035a01〕 |
| 「時天王佛住世二十」 tr. “at that time Heavenly King Buddha will abide in the world for twenty” | 〔0035a04〕 |
| 「時天王佛般涅槃」 tr. “at that time Heavenly King Buddha entered parinirvāṇa” | 〔0035a08〕 |
| 「蓮華化生」 tr. “birth by transformation from a lotus” | 〔0035a18〕 |
| 「於時下方」 tr. “at that time, from below” | 〔0035a18〕 |
| 「本聲聞人」 tr. “originally śrāvakas” | 〔0035b04〕 |
| 「今皆修行」 tr. “now all practice” | 〔0035b05〕 |
| 「深達罪福相」 tr. “deeply penetrating the characteristics of transgression and merit” | 〔0035b28〕 |
| 「遍照於十方」 tr. “universally illuminating the ten directions” | 〔0035b28〕 |
| 「爾時娑婆」 tr. “at that time in the Sahā world” | 〔0035c19〕 |
The two expressions marked by the root treatise as 「三十二相」 tr. “the thirty-two marks” 〔0115b06〕 and 「八十種好」 tr. “the eighty minor excellent characteristics” 〔0116b26〕 both occur on the same line of the root sutra 〔0034c27〕. The phrase used in the root treatise’s division, 「生佛前蓮花化生」 tr. “born before a buddha through transformation from a lotus” 〔0115a14〕, appears in the root sutra as 「蓮華化生」 tr. “birth by transformation from a lotus” 〔0035a18〕; the first four graphs summarize the preceding root-sutra wording and are not a continuous phrase in it.
B. The Scripture Catalogue of Baochang—Zero Match in the Received Canon
The long passage beginning 「《寶唱經目》云」 tr. “The Scripture Catalogue of Baochang says” 〔0114c18–0115a02〕 records four translations of the Lotus, two surviving and two lost; the circumstances of Kumārajīva’s translation; Sengrui’s nine tracks; palace women in Chang’an retaining the chapter; and the respective locations assigned to it by Dharma Master Man of the Liang and Chan Master Nanyue of the Chen. The scripture catalogue compiled by the Liang monk Baochang is no longer extant. Tolerant-marker searches of the received canon yield zero matches for the entire passage. The result is recorded without supplying a conjectural source.
Three persons and events in the passage can be independently corroborated. They are supplied for reference and do not replace the cited work:
| Root-treatise record | Evidence in the received canon | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| 「以偽秦弘始五年四月二十三日，於長安逍遙園譯《大品》竟」 tr. “On the twenty-third day of the fourth month in the fifth year of Hongshi under the Later Qin, he completed the translation of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā at Xiaoyao Garden in Chang’an” | Sengrui’s preface records: 「以弘始五年歲在癸卯四月二十三日。於京城之北逍遙園中出此經」 tr. “On the twenty-third day of the fourth month in the guimao year, the fifth year of Hongshi, this sutra was produced at Xiaoyao Garden north of the capital” | T55n2145 〔0053b03–0053b04〕 |
| 「於草堂寺譯此《妙法蓮華》」 tr. “translated this Wondrous Dharma Lotus at Caotang Monastery” | The name 「草堂寺」 tr. “Caotang Monastery” | T55n2149 〔0252c25〕 |
| 「《寶唱經目》」 tr. “the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang” | The name Baochang | T55n2146 〔0144c20〕 |
Sengrui’s preface identifies the twenty-third day of the fourth month as the beginning of the translation. It later says 「以其年十二月十五日出盡」 tr. “production was completed on the fifteenth day of the twelfth month that year” and 「明年四月二十三日乃訖」 tr. “the work ended on the twenty-third day of the fourth month the following year” 〔T55n2145 0053b10–0053b11〕. The root treatise’s citation has 「譯《大品》竟」 tr. “completed the translation of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā.” The date is the same, but beginning and completion differ; the forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
C. The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra: Six Explanations of the Six Perfections—Summary
「度義甚多，如《大論》說，捨依正名檀，防止七支名戒，打罵不報名忍，為事始終名精進，四禪八定名禪，分地息諍名般若」 tr. “The meanings of perfection are many, as explained in the Great Treatise: relinquishing dependent and primary recompenses is dāna; preventing the seven bodily and verbal transgressions is precepts; not retaliating when struck or reviled is patience; carrying a task from beginning to end is diligence; the four dhyānas and eight concentrations are meditation; and distinguishing domains and settling disputes is prajñā” 〔0115b08–0115b11〕. Tolerant-marker searches of the received Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra, T25n1509, yield zero matches for all six phrases. The root treatise uses 「如《大論》說」 tr. “as explained in the Great Treatise,” rather than 「云」 tr. “says,” and therefore cites the meaning rather than demanding the wording. The Wenjuji likewise states that the root treatise 「攢其大略」 tr. “gathers its broad outline” from the Great Treatise’s extensive explanation of the six perfections 〔T34n1719 0313b25〕 and says 「文相顯著者分為四類，亦非一處次第列之」 tr. “the conspicuous textual forms are divided into four classes, and they too are not listed sequentially in a single place” 〔0313b26–0313b27〕.
D. Fascicle Ten of the Bodhisattva’s Wholesome Precepts—Zero Match in the Received Text
「《菩薩善戒》第十云「六波羅蜜有三種，一對治，謂慳惡瞋怠亂癡〔云云〕；二謂相生，謂捨家持戒遇辱須忍，忍已精進，進已調五根，根調知法界；三謂果報，富具色力壽安辯。」」 tr. “Fascicle Ten of the Bodhisattva’s Wholesome Precepts says: ‘The six perfections are of three kinds. First is counteraction: stinginess, evil, anger, indolence, distraction, and delusion [and so forth]. Second is successive generation: relinquishing household life and keeping precepts; when insulted one must be patient; after patience one is diligent; after diligence one regulates the five faculties; when the faculties are regulated one knows the Dharma realm. Third is recompense: wealth, complete faculties, handsome appearance, strength, longevity, security, and eloquence’” 〔0115b13–0115b17〕. Tolerant-marker searches of both received versions of the Bodhisattva’s Wholesome Precepts, T30n1582 and T30n1583, for 「六波羅蜜有三種」 tr. “the six perfections are of three kinds,” 「慳惡瞋怠亂癡」 tr. “stinginess, evil, anger, indolence, distraction, and delusion,” 「遇辱」 tr. “when insulted,” 「調五根」 tr. “regulates the five faculties,” and 「色力壽」 tr. “appearance, strength, and longevity” yield zero matches for all phrases. The result is recorded without supplying a conjectural source.
E. Fascicle One of the Great Vaipulya Mahāsaṃnipāta Sutra, Moon Treasury Division—All Three Similes Present, Wording Summarized
The long passage beginning 「《月藏》第一云」 tr. “Fascicle One of the Moon Treasury says” 〔0116a01–0116a19〕 corresponds to T13n0397. The received parallel is at 〔0301a20–0302a17〕. The individual anchors follow:
| Root-treatise form | Verbatim received text | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| 「如星火不能乾海」 tr. “like a spark unable to dry the sea” | 「譬如星火不能枯竭甚深大海」 tr. “like a spark unable to exhaust and dry the profound great sea” | T13n0397 〔0301a24–0301a25〕 |
| 「口氣不能動山」 tr. “a breath cannot move a mountain” | 「譬如一人口所吹風，不能損壞世界大地」 tr. “like wind blown from one person’s mouth, which cannot damage the great earth of the world” | 〔0301a27–0301a28〕 |
| 「藕絲不能稱岳」 tr. “a lotus filament cannot weigh a peak” | 「譬如藕絲不能秤動須彌山王」 tr. “like a lotus filament unable to weigh and move Mount Sumeru, king of mountains” | 〔0301a29〕 |
| 「何者是第一義？」 tr. “What is ultimate meaning?” | 「何者是第一義？」 tr. “What is ultimate meaning?” | 〔0301b04〕 |
| 「能滿六波羅蜜」 tr. “can fulfill the six perfections” | 「能滿六波羅蜜」 tr. “can fulfill the six perfections” | 〔0302a04〕 |
| 「第一義諦善巧方便」 tr. “skillful means of the truth of ultimate meaning” | 「第一義諦善巧方便」 tr. “skillful means of the truth of ultimate meaning” | 〔0302a05〕 |
| 「以此法自為、為他」 tr. “using this Dharma for oneself and for others” | 「皆以此法自為為他」 tr. “all use this Dharma for themselves and for others” | 〔0302a06〕 |
| 「此法能息眾生煩惱道苦道」 tr. “this Dharma can stop sentient beings’ paths of affliction and suffering” | 「令其止息煩惱道苦道」 tr. “causing them to stop the paths of affliction and suffering” | 〔0302a16〕 |
| 「安置菩提道」 tr. “establishing them upon the path of bodhi” | 「安置無上菩提之道」 tr. “establishing them upon the path of unsurpassed bodhi” | 〔0302a17〕 |
All three similes are present, but each is summarized. The received second simile says that wind blown from the mouth cannot damage the great earth of the world; the root treatise condenses it to six graphs, 「口氣不能動山」 tr. “a breath cannot move a mountain.” The received third says that a lotus filament cannot weigh and move Mount Sumeru; the root treatise condenses it to 「藕絲不能稱岳」 tr. “a lotus filament cannot weigh a peak.” The root treatise’s statement that bodhisattvas of the three times all cultivate this Dharma appears in the received text as three passages on present bodhisattvas, those presently in the ten directions, and those of the future 〔0302a06–0302a13〕. The received text explains the six perfections at length in three successive correlations—while walking or sitting, in relation to the aggregates, and in relation to the elements—while the root treatise summarizes the paired clauses.
F. Ten Perfections at the Seventh Ground in the Avataṃsaka Sutra—Nearly Verbatim
The passage beginning 「華嚴七地方明念念具十波羅蜜修習一切佛法」 tr. “At the seventh ground the Avataṃsaka explains that every thought possesses the ten perfections and cultivates all Buddhadharmas” 〔0116a21–0116b01〕 corresponds to the seventh ground in the “Ten Grounds” chapter of T09n0278. The received parallel is at 〔0561b24–0561c11〕. The individual anchors follow:
| Root-treatise form | Verbatim received text | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| 「念念具十波羅蜜」 tr. “every thought possesses the ten perfections” | 「是菩薩於念念中具足十波羅蜜及十地行」 tr. “this bodhisattva in every thought fully possesses the ten perfections and practices of the ten grounds” | T09n0278 〔0561b23–0561b24〕 |
| 「以求佛道善根與一切眾生是檀」 tr. “giving the wholesome roots with which one seeks the Buddha-path to all sentient beings is dāna” | 「菩薩以求佛道所修善根，與一切眾生，是檀波羅蜜」 tr. “the bodhisattva gives the wholesome roots cultivated in seeking the Buddha-path to all sentient beings; this is the perfection of dāna” | 〔0561b26–0561b28〕 |
| 「能滅一切煩惱熱是尸」 tr. “extinguishing the heat of all afflictions is śīla” | 「能滅一切煩惱熱，是尸波羅蜜」 tr. “being able to extinguish the heat of all afflictions is the perfection of śīla” | 〔0561b28〕 |
| 「於一切眾生無所傷是忍」 tr. “harming no sentient being is patience” | 「於一切眾生心無所傷，是羼提波羅蜜」 tr. “the mind harming no sentient being is the perfection of kṣānti” | 〔0561b29〕 |
| 「求善無厭是進」 tr. “seeking goodness without satisfaction is diligence” | 「求善根無厭足，是毘梨耶波羅蜜」 tr. “seeking wholesome roots without satisfaction is the perfection of vīrya” | 〔0561c01〕 |
| 「修道心不散常向一切智是禪」 tr. “keeping the mind of cultivation undistracted and constantly directed toward omniscience is meditation” | 「修道心不散，常向一切智，是禪波羅蜜」 tr. “keeping the mind of cultivation undistracted and constantly directed toward omniscience is the perfection of meditation” | 〔0561c01–0561c02〕 |
| 「忍諸法不生門是般若」 tr. “patiently accepting the gateway of the nonarising of dharmas is prajñā” | 「忍諸法不生門，是般若波羅蜜」 tr. “patiently accepting the gateway of the nonarising of dharmas is the perfection of prajñā” | 〔0561c02–0561c03〕 |
| 「能起無量智門是方便」 tr. “generating immeasurable gateways of wisdom is skillful means” | 「能起無量智門，是方便波羅蜜」 tr. “being able to generate immeasurable gateways of wisdom is the perfection of skillful means” | 〔0561c03〕 |
| 「求轉勝智是願」 tr. “seeking ever more excellent wisdom is vow” | 「求轉勝智慧，是願波羅蜜」 tr. “seeking ever more excellent wisdom is the perfection of vow” | 〔0561c04〕 |
| 「魔邪不能阻是力」 tr. “Māras and outsiders being unable to obstruct is power” | 「諸魔外道不能沮壞，是力波羅蜜」 tr. “Māras and outsiders being unable to hinder or destroy is the perfection of power” | 〔0561c04–0561c05〕 |
| 「於一切法相如實說是智」 tr. “speaking the characteristics of all dharmas as they really are is knowledge” | 「於一切法相如實說，是智波羅蜜」 tr. “speaking the characteristics of all dharmas as they really are is the perfection of knowledge” | 〔0561c05–0561c06〕 |
| 「四攝、道品、三解脫、一切助菩提法，於念念中皆具足」 tr. “the four methods of gathering beings, factors of the path, three liberations, and every Dharma assisting bodhi are all complete in every thought” | 「四攝法、三十七品、三解脫門，一切助阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法，於念念中皆悉具足」 tr. “the four methods of gathering beings, thirty-seven factors, three gateways of liberation, and every Dharma assisting unsurpassed complete awakening are all complete in every thought” | 〔0561c07–0561c09〕 |
| 「諸地皆念念具足，此地勝故」 tr. “all grounds possess them in every thought; this ground is particularly excellent” | 「菩薩摩訶薩但七地具足助菩提法，一切諸地亦能具足？」 tr. “Does the bodhisattva mahāsattva possess the factors assisting bodhi only at the seventh ground, or can all the grounds possess them?” | 〔0561c10–0561c11〕 |
The names and explanations of all ten perfections correspond item by item, with four lines matching verbatim. The root treatise’s changes are limited to omitting the Sanskrit names of the perfections (kṣānti and vīrya) in favor of their Chinese names (patience and diligence), and omitting modifiers. The final received line is a question by Liberation Moon; the root treatise turns it into an affirmative answer.
G. The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra—Three Citations, Each with Wording Differences
The chapter cites the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra three times, all corresponding to T09n0265. The preceding 11_jianbaota records that the root treatise calls the work the Sayun-fentuoli Sutra while the received title is the Satan-fentuoli Sutra. The present chapter calls it simply the Fentuoli Sutra and does not repeat that title difference.
First 〔0116c04–0116c05〕: 「調達作佛，號提和羅耶，漢言天王，國名提和越，漢言天地。」 tr. “Devadatta will become a buddha named Devarāja, rendered in Chinese as Heavenly King; his land will be named Devavara, rendered in Chinese as Heaven and Earth.” The received text at 〔0197b18–0197b20〕 reads 「調達却後阿僧祇劫，當得作佛，號名提和羅耶〔漢言天王佛〕」 tr. “After incalculable kalpas, Devadatta will become a buddha named Devarāja [rendered in Chinese as Heavenly King Buddha]” and 「天王佛國，名提和越〔漢言天地國〕」 tr. “Heavenly King Buddha’s land will be named Devavara [rendered in Chinese as the Land of Heaven and Earth].” The two received interlinear notes each have one additional graph—「佛」 tr. “Buddha” and 「國」 tr. “land”—that the root treatise omits. Its four graphs 「調達作佛」 tr. “Devadatta becomes a buddha” summarize the received 「當得作佛」 tr. “will become a buddha.” The forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
Second 〔0116c16–0116c17〕: 「下方佛所從菩薩，名般若拘羅，漢言智積」 tr. “The bodhisattva who accompanied the buddha from below was named Borejuluo, rendered in Chinese as Wisdom Accumulation.” The received text at 〔0197c04〕 reads 「於是下方佛所從菩薩，名般若拘」 tr. “Then the bodhisattva who accompanied the buddha from below was named Boreju”—with no graph 「羅」 tr. “luo”. All eight occurrences in the received text have 「般若拘」 tr. “Boreju” 〔0197c04・0197c05・0197c09・0197c10・0197c16・0197c17・0197c19・0197c21〕, while 「漢言智積」 tr. “rendered in Chinese as Wisdom Accumulation” yields zero matches in the received text. Addition of a graph and a zero match coexist and are recorded without adjudication. This is also the site of the unit’s seventeenth variant; see Section VIII.
Third 〔0116c27–0116c29〕: 「蓮華從池出者，本發菩薩心，其華在空中說摩訶衍事；本發聲聞心者，華在空中但說斷生死事。」 tr. “Lotuses emerged from the pool. For those who had originally generated the bodhisattva resolve, the flowers spoke of the Mahāyāna while in the air; for those who had originally generated the śrāvaka resolve, the flowers in the air spoke only of severing birth and death.” The received text at 〔0197c12–0197c15〕 reads 「其池即時涌華從下而出，盡是池中一切所散。本發菩薩心者，其華在空中，但說摩訶衍事；本發聲聞者，其華在空中，但說斷生死事。」 tr. “The pool immediately sent flowers surging up from below, all those scattered within the pool. For those who had originally generated the bodhisattva resolve, their flowers in the air spoke only of Mahāyāna matters; for those who had originally generated the śrāvaka resolve, their flowers in the air spoke only of severing birth and death.” The latter half is nearly verbatim, with four differences: the root treatise’s 「本發菩薩心」 tr. “originally generated the bodhisattva resolve” is 「本發菩薩心者」 tr. “those who originally generated the bodhisattva resolve” in the received text; 「其華在空中說摩訶衍事」 tr. “their flowers in the air spoke of Mahāyāna matters” becomes 「其華在空中，但說摩訶衍事」 tr. “their flowers in the air spoke only of Mahāyāna matters”; 「本發聲聞心者」 tr. “those who originally generated the śrāvaka resolve” becomes 「本發聲聞者」 tr. “those who originally generated the śrāvaka”; and 「華在空中」 tr. “flowers in the air” becomes 「其華在空中」 tr. “their flowers in the air.” The first phrase 「蓮華從池出者」 tr. “lotuses emerged from the pool” summarizes the received 「其池即時涌華從下而出」 tr. “the pool immediately sent flowers surging up from below.” The forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
H. The Sutra of the Bodhisattva Dwelling in the Womb—Two Citations
Both correspond to T12n0384.
First 〔0116c08–0116c09〕: 「蓮華生者，非胎、卵、濕、化之化生也」 tr. “One born from a lotus does not undergo the transformation birth included among birth from a womb, an egg, moisture, or transformation.” Tolerant-marker searches of the received text for 「蓮華生者」 tr. “one born from a lotus” and 「非胎卵濕化」 tr. “not womb, egg, moisture, or transformation” both yield zero matches. The result is recorded without supplying a conjectural source. The Wenjuji explains the phrase as 「不同界內四生中之化生」 tr. “unlike transformation birth among the four modes within the realms” 〔T34n1719 0314a09–0314a10〕.
Second 〔0117a21–0117a22〕: 「魔梵釋女皆不捨身不受身，悉於現身得成佛故」 tr. “Māra, Brahmā, Śakra, and women neither relinquish the body nor receive another body; all attain buddhahood in their present bodies.” The continuous phrase 「魔梵釋女」 tr. “Māra, Brahmā, Śakra, and women” yields zero matches in the received text. A structural review of the scene, however, shows that the received text at 〔1035a05–1035c09〕 contains four parallel passages corresponding respectively to the four figures summarized by the root treatise:
| Figure raised by the root treatise | Verbatim received text | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| Brahmā | 「是謂梵天王不捨身、受身、現身得成佛道」 tr. “This is called the Brahmā king not relinquishing the body, receiving a body, and attaining the Buddha-path in the present body” | T12n0384 〔1035a09–1035a10〕 |
| Māra | 「是為害惡大天王，不捨身受身而成佛道」 tr. “This is the great deva king who harms evil, not relinquishing the body, receiving a body, and accomplishing the Buddha-path” | 〔1035a26–1035a27〕 |
| Śakra | 「是謂天帝釋不捨身受身而成佛道」 tr. “This is called Śakra, lord of devas, not relinquishing the body, receiving a body, and accomplishing the Buddha-path” | 〔1035b24–1035b25〕 |
| Women | 「彼土人民悉受女身」 tr. “the people of that land all receive female bodies” … 「是謂不捨身受身而成佛道」 tr. “this is called not relinquishing the body, receiving a body, and accomplishing the Buddha-path” | 〔1035b29〕 〔1035c08–1035c09〕 |
The five graphs 「現身得成佛」 tr. “attaining buddhahood in the present body” match verbatim at 〔1035a10〕. The root treatise therefore summarizes four consecutive received passages into one sentence rather than citing another source. All four received passages have 「不捨身受身」 tr. “not relinquishing the body and receiving a body,” while the root treatise has 「不捨身不受身」 tr. “neither relinquishing the body nor receiving a body,” adding one graph 「不」 tr. “not.” The forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
I. The Sutra on Invoking Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva to Dispel and Overcome Poison and Harm—Verbatim Match
「《請觀音》云「蓮華化生為父母」」 tr. “The Sutra on Invoking Avalokiteśvara says: ‘Birth by transformation from a lotus takes the lotus as father and mother’” 〔0116c10〕. The received text matches verbatim: 「蓮華化生為父母」 tr. “birth by transformation from a lotus takes the lotus as father and mother” 〔T20n1043 0037c03〕.
J. The Contemplation of Amitāyus—Zero Match in the Received Text
「《無量壽觀》云「處華臺久者為胎生，實非胎也，例蓮華生者亦稱濕卵，而非濕卵」〔云云〕」 tr. “The Contemplation of Amitāyus says: ‘One who remains upon the lotus dais for a long time is called womb-born, though it is not truly a womb. By analogy, one born from a lotus may be called moisture-born or egg-born, though it is neither moisture-born nor egg-born’ [and so forth]” 〔0116c11–0116c13〕. Tolerant-marker searches of the received Contemplation of Amitāyus Buddha, T12n0365, for 「處華臺」 tr. “remaining upon the lotus dais,” 「華臺」 tr. “lotus dais,” and 「胎生」 tr. “womb-born” yield zero matches for all phrases. The sutra has only 「不處胞胎」 tr. “not dwelling in a womb” at 〔0344b11〕, which does not correspond in wording or meaning. The title in the root treatise may refer to another work; the result is recorded without supplying a conjectural source.
K. The Larger Prajñāpāramitā Sutra—Zero Match in the Received Text
「如《大品》明：欲得一切法當學般若，如得如意珠也」 tr. “As the Larger Prajñāpāramitā explains: one who wishes to obtain all dharmas should study prajñā, as though obtaining a wish-fulfilling jewel” 〔0117a14–0117a15〕. Searches of the received Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sutra, T08n0223, for 「欲得一切法當學般若」 tr. “one who wishes to obtain all dharmas should study prajñā” and 「如意珠」 tr. “wish-fulfilling jewel” yield zero matches. The formula 「當學般若波羅蜜」 tr. “should study the perfection of prajñā,” however, occurs eighty-eight times in the sutra, including successive instances in “Introduction” and “Exhortation to Study” from 〔0219a27〕 onward. The root treatise summarizes this formula rather than citing a single sentence. The result is recorded as such.
IV. Essential Explanations from the Wenjuji [the Mirror]
The Mirror explanation of this chapter is among the most textually exacting passages in the Wenjuji 〔T34n1719 0312b14–0314c07〕. It has nine essentials.
First · Omission and completion within the fourfold interpretation. At the outset Zhanran observes that in the transmitted annotation beneath the chapter title 「四釋中唯無觀心」 tr. “among the four interpretations only contemplation of mind is absent” 〔0312b15〕. He then supplies the four siddhāntas through his own question and answer: viewers rejoice that they themselves do not commit such deeds = worldly; not committing them generates goodness = for the person; not approaching the side of evil = counteraction; no obstruction to the matter of the fruit = ultimate meaning 〔0312b18–0312b20〕. He also asks 「惡人出世何名感應？」 tr. “How can an evil person’s appearance in the world be called stimulus and response?” and answers 「令無量人不敢造惡」 tr. “It causes immeasurable people not to dare commit evil” 〔0312b16–0312b17〕.
Second · Judgment in terms of the teaching. He explains the root treatise’s 「因行逆而理順」 tr. “conduct contrary yet principle accordant” as follows: 「理順即圓教，事逆即三教，唯圓教意逆即是順，自餘三教逆順定故」 tr. “Accord in principle is the Perfect Teaching; contrariety in events is the three teachings. Only in the Perfect Teaching is what is contrary itself accordant, because in all the other three teachings contrariety and accord are fixed” 〔0312b20–0312b22〕.
Third · Three proofs in terms of Origin and Trace. To explain the root treatise’s 「同眾生病」 tr. “sharing the illness of sentient beings,” the Mirror cites three sutras: the Great Nirvāṇa Sutra says 「提婆達多必不破僧」 tr. “Devadatta certainly did not split the Saṅgha” 〔0312b23〕; the Sutra on Requiting Kindness says 「若有人言提婆達多實是惡人入阿鼻獄者，無有是處」 tr. “There can be no case in which someone says Devadatta truly was an evil person who entered the Avīci hell” 〔0312b24–0312b25〕; and the Great Cloud Sutra says 「提婆達多不可思議，所修行業同於如來」 tr. “Devadatta is inconceivable; the deeds he cultivated were the same as the Tathāgata’s” 〔0312b25–0312b26〕.
Fourth · The full history of the chapter’s placement, conflicting with the root treatise’s citation. Zhanran separately records one history of the chapter’s appearance and disappearance: 「諸新舊章皆云什譯元無此品」 tr. “all new and old commentaries say that Kumārajīva’s translation originally lacked this chapter” 〔0312b26〕. According to the Qi and Song catalogues, 「上定林寺釋法獻於于闐國得梵本來」 tr. “Fawian of Upper Dinglin Monastery obtained a Sanskrit manuscript in Khotan and brought it back” 〔0312b27–0312b28〕, and 「瓦官寺沙門釋法意，齊永明八年十二月譯訖，仍自別行」 tr. “the monk Fayi of Waguan Monastery completed its translation in the twelfth month of the eighth year of Yongming under the Qi, after which it circulated separately” 〔0312b28–0312b29〕. 「至梁初有滿法師講經百遍，於寺燒身，乃以此品置〈持品〉前，亦未行天下」 tr. “At the beginning of the Liang, Dharma Master Man lectured on the sutra one hundred times and burned his body at the monastery, then placed this chapter before ‘Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra’; it too did not circulate throughout the realm” 〔0312b29–0312c02〕. 「至梁末有西天竺國沙門拘羅那陀，此云真諦，重譯此品置〈寶塔〉後」 tr. “At the end of the Liang, the monk Kulanātha from western India, rendered here as Paramārtha, retranslated this chapter and placed it after ‘Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa’” 〔0312c02–0312c04〕.
This conflicts with the root treatise’s citation of the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang in two places. Zhanran himself identifies one. The root treatise has 「陳有南嶽禪師，次此品在〈寶塔〉之後」 tr. “In the Chen there was Chan Master Nanyue, who placed this chapter after ‘Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa’” 〔0114c28–0114c29〕, whereas the Record attributes the act to Paramārtha and therefore says 「今文不云真諦重譯，復云南嶽私安」 tr. “The present text does not say that Paramārtha retranslated it, but instead says that Nanyue placed it there privately” 〔0312c12–0312c13〕. It judges: 「乃成三人俱契經理，望嘉祥三義，全不可依」 tr. “This makes three persons who all accorded with the scripture’s principle; viewed against Jizang’s three meanings, none can be relied upon” 〔0312c14–0312c15〕. Zhanran does not identify the second discrepancy: the root treatise says Dharma Master Man 「於長沙郡燒身」 tr. “burned his body in Changsha Commandery” 〔0114c27〕, whereas the Record says 「於寺燒身」 tr. “burned his body at the monastery” 〔0312c01〕. The two discrepancies are recorded side by side without adjudication.
Fifth · Complete list of the nine tracks. The root treatise says only 「叡開為九轍」 tr. “Sengrui opened the text into nine tracks” 〔0114c24〕. The Record lists their names one by one: the benighted and the sage mutually striking; entering the teaching and returning to truth; raising categories and latent disclosure; recounting exhaustion and penetration in the past; manifesting causes and advancing awakening; praising the equipment of practice; Origin and Trace unborn; raising causes and examining fruits; and praising distant deliverance 〔0313a02–0313a14〕. It judges: 「名目甚美而宗體不顯」 tr. “The names are exceedingly fine, but the doctrinal substance is not manifest” 〔0313a14〕. It further explains the root treatise’s 「四瀆」 tr. “four great rivers” as 「江、河、准、濟」 tr. “the Yangzi, Yellow, Huai, and Ji Rivers,” saying 「意云天下大同」 tr. “the meaning is that the realm was greatly unified” 〔0313a17〕.
Sixth · Investigation of the five heinous transgressions. The Mirror cites the names of the five from the Abhidharmakośa 〔0313a18–0313a19〕. For 「出血」 tr. “drawing blood,” it cites the past-life account from the Sutra on the Arising of Practice in which Sumati pushed his younger brother to the bottom of a cliff 〔0313a20–0313b04〕. It records that the mountain spirit was named Pīra, that he caught the boulder in his hand, and that a small fragment flew off and injured the Buddha’s great toe. It then cites a verse from the “Karma” chapter of the Abhidharmakośa 〔0313b05–0313b09〕 and distinguishes acts similar to the five heinous transgressions without treating the released elephant or poisoned nails as similar acts: 「彼是方便，非同類故」 tr. “Those were preparatory means, not similar acts” 〔0313b14–0313b15〕. It further cites a question and answer from the Treatise on Entering the Great Vehicle: 「彼提婆達多世世為佛怨，云何而言是大菩薩？」 tr. “That Devadatta was the Buddha’s enemy life after life; how can he be called a great bodhisattva?” The answer is 「若是怨者，云何而得世世相值？如二人行東西各去步步轉遠，豈得為伴？」 tr. “If he were truly an enemy, how could they meet life after life? If two people walk east and west, each step takes them farther apart; how could they remain companions?” 〔0313b15–0313b18〕.
Seventh · Judgment concerning the six perfections. The Record says that, in the Great Treatise’s extensive explanation of the six perfections 「始從十五終二十一」 tr. “beginning with Fascicle Fifteen and ending with Fascicle Twenty-one,” the root treatise 「攢其大略」 tr. “gathers the broad outline”〔0313b24–0313b26〕; it says 「六各十者，名出《地持》、《華嚴》」 tr. “the names for ten under each of the six come from the Stages Sutra and the Avataṃsaka” 〔0313c07〕. Whereas the root treatise takes the Avataṃsaka’s seventh ground as characteristics of the six perfections in the Perfect Teaching, Zhanran gives another judgment: 「借彼教道深位以證圓人初心」 tr. “borrowing a profound stage on the path of teaching there to verify the initial mind of a person of the Perfect Teaching”; and 「驗知《華嚴》存於教道，別義明矣。若圓極說，豈至七地方具十耶？」 tr. “This verifies that the Avataṃsaka retains the path of teaching and that the Distinct meaning is clear. If speaking from the ultimate Perfect Teaching, how could the ten be possessed only upon reaching the seventh ground?” 〔0313c10–0313c13〕. He further states: 「若念念具十，何行何念而不具十？一行一切行斯之謂也」 tr. “If every thought possesses the ten, what practice and what thought would not possess them? One practice being all practices is precisely what this means” 〔0313c14–0313c15〕. This judgment differs from the root treatise’s classification: the root treatise presents the ten perfections at the seventh ground as Perfect Teaching characteristics, while the Record says the seventh ground belongs to the path of teaching and is borrowed to verify the initial mind of a person of the Perfect Teaching. The two are recorded side by side without adjudication.
Eighth · Collation of the thirty-two marks with the Sequence of the Dharma Realm. The Record says that the root treatise’s list 「今剩有二相」 tr. “now has two excess marks”; it further says that the five marks 「足跟直、踝不現、項光、萬字、青髮」 tr. “straight heels, unprotruding ankles, radiance behind the neck, the svastika, and blue hair” are absent from the Sequence of the Dharma Realm, while the two marks 「丈光、喉中津液」 tr. “a fathom of radiance and fluid in the throat” found there are absent from the present text 〔0314a04–0314a08〕. Its text of the eighty minor characteristics likewise differs; 「秖是經論譯異」 tr. “these are merely differences among translations of sutras and treatises” 〔0314a08–0314a09〕.
Ninth · Birth from a lotus and the provisional and real dimensions of the dragon girl. It explains 「非胎卵濕化之化生」 tr. “not the transformation birth among womb, egg, moisture, and transformation” as 「不同界內四生中之化生」 tr. “unlike transformation birth among the four modes within the realms.” It cites “Medicine King,” 「於淨德王家忽然化生」 tr. “suddenly born by transformation in the house of King Pure Virtue” 〔0314a11–0314a12〕, and the eight dharmas beginning with the Mahāratnakūṭa’s 「菩薩成就八法，於諸佛前蓮華化生」 tr. “a bodhisattva who accomplishes eight dharmas is born from a lotus before the buddhas” 〔0314a14–0314a19〕. Concerning the doubt over Mañjuśrī’s arrival from the ocean, it offers three explanations 〔0314b02〕 and cites the Vimalakīrti Sutra: 「移置他土，都不使人有往來相」 tr. “moving them to another land without causing anyone to have the appearance of coming or going” 〔0314b08–0314b09〕. It cautions the reader: 「豈以凡情而度聖境？」 tr. “How could one measure a sage’s domain by ordinary sentiment?” 〔0314a24–0314a25〕. Concerning the dragon girl’s buddhahood, it judges: 「今龍女文從權而說，以證圓經成佛速疾」 tr. “The present passage on the dragon girl speaks from expedient manifestation to verify the swiftness of buddhahood through the perfect sutra” 〔0314b24–0314b25〕, and 「若實得者，從六根淨得無生忍」 tr. “If speaking of actual attainment, she obtains the patience of nonarising from purification of the six faculties” 〔0314b27〕. It explains the root treatise’s 「權巧」 tr. “expedient skill” by saying 「不必一向唯作權釋，秖云龍女已得無生，則約體用而論權巧」 tr. “It need not be interpreted one-sidedly as only provisional; saying merely that the dragon girl had already attained nonarising discusses expedient skill in terms of essence and function” 〔0314c03–0314c04〕. Finally, it refutes other explanations: 「或云七地十地等者，不能顯經力用故也」 tr. “Those who say the seventh ground, the tenth ground, and so forth cannot reveal the sutra’s power and function” 〔0314c06–0314c07〕.
V. Explanations of Various Masters
This unit records two masters, both cited by the root treatise from the Scripture Catalogue of Baochang, and adds a judgment:
First · Dharma Master Man: 「梁有滿法師，講經一百遍，於長沙郡燒身，仍以此品安〈持品〉之前，彼自私安未聞天下。」 tr. “In the Liang there was Dharma Master Man, who lectured on this sutra one hundred times and burned his body in Changsha Commandery. He placed this chapter before ‘Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra,’ but this was his own private placement and was not known throughout the realm” 〔0114c26–0114c28〕.
Second · Chan Master Nanyue: 「陳有南嶽禪師，次此品在〈寶塔〉之後，晚以《正法華》勘之，甚相應。」 tr. “In the Chen there was Chan Master Nanyue, who placed this chapter after ‘Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa.’ When he later checked it against the True Dharma Lotus, it corresponded very closely” 〔0114c28–0115a01〕.
The root treatise does not refute either master. Instead, it judges: 「今四瀆混和，見長安舊本，故知二師深得經意。」 tr. “Now that the four great rivers have mingled and the old Chang’an text has been seen, we know that the two masters deeply grasped the sutra’s purport” 〔0115a01–0115a02〕. Once the realm was unified, the old Chang’an text proved to correspond with the placement chosen by both masters, and the root treatise therefore praises them.
The Mirror records five further masters or positions, all belonging to the Wenjuji and not rewritten as accounts in the root treatise: Fawian and Fayi (obtaining a Sanskrit manuscript in Khotan and completing a separate translation in the eighth year of Yongming under the Qi) 〔0312b27–0312b29〕; Kulanātha Paramārtha (retranslating the chapter at the end of the Liang and placing it after “Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa”) 〔0312c02–0312c04〕; Jizang’s three reasons (many foreign transmissions beyond the desert lacked this chapter; Kumārajīva often preserved the abbreviated form when translating scriptures; and inserting “Devadatta” between “Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa” and “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra” makes it entirely a superfluous chapter) 〔0312c06–0312c12〕; Dharma Master She, who says 「不合安此，〈授記〉、〈調達〉應安〈授學無學記品〉中，後智積後應安〈神力品〉內。」 tr. “It should not be placed here. ‘Prediction’ and ‘Devadatta’ should be placed within ‘Predictions for Those in Training and Beyond Training,’ while the material after Wisdom Accumulation should be placed within ‘The Supernormal Powers’” 〔0312c15–0312c17〕; and Daoliang of Wuqiu, who says 「有五本，四如前，更有《薩雲分陀利》本，既存於世，乃成三存。」 tr. “There are five texts: the four described above plus the Sayun-fentuoli text. Since it survives in the world, this makes three surviving texts” 〔0313a01–0313a02〕. Zhanran refutes Jizang’s three reasons one by one and also refutes Dharma Master She. Concerning Paramārtha he preserves doubt, saying 「若必真諦重譯不虛，何妨本譯江東未有」 tr. “If it is certainly true that Paramārtha retranslated it, what prevents the original translation from having been absent in Jiangdong?” 〔0312c13–0312c14〕.
The Mirror further records three accounts of the date when the translation was completed: the root treatise says it was translated in the fifth year; Dharma Master Dong’an says it was completed on the sixteenth day of the third month in the seventh year, as does Huiyuan’s scripture preface; another account says it was completed in the second month of the tenth year of Hongshi. The Record itself says 「不同之事未可追尋」 tr. “These differing matters can no longer be traced” 〔0312c21–0312c24〕. They are recorded side by side without adjudication.
VI. Terminology
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Devadatta · Dadu · Heavenly Heat | Devadatta is also called Dadu, rendered here as Heavenly Heat. Because the conduct he was to perform was contrary, the hearts of humans and devas burned at his birth, and he was named from this 〔0115a02–0115a10〕. |
| Conduct contrary yet principle accordant | A phrase in the transmitted note beneath the chapter title: conduct at the causal stage is contrary while in principle it is accordant; this is the meaning of the Perfect Teaching, not that of the other teachings 〔0114c17〕. The Mirror explains: 「理順即圓教，事逆即三教」 tr. “Accord in principle is the Perfect Teaching; contrariety in events is the three teachings” 〔T34n1719 0312b21〕. |
| Five heinous transgressions | Splitting the Saṅgha; hurling a boulder and drawing blood from the Buddha; inciting King Ajātaśatru to release a drunken elephant; beating the Bhikṣuṇī Utpalavarṇā; and placing poison beneath all ten fingernails. The root treatise adds: 「若作三逆，教王、毒爪並害佛攝」 tr. “If counted as three heinous transgressions, inciting the king and the poisoned nails are both included under harming the Buddha” 〔0115a03–0115a09〕. |
| Characteristics of the six perfections in the four teachings | Four interpretations of each perfection: Tripiṭaka (relinquishing dependent and primary recompenses is dāna, and so forth); Shared (the three factors all empty is dāna, and so forth); Distinct (ten benefits and four matters for cultivating each); Perfect (cultivation through ultimate meaning in the Moon Treasury and ten perfections at the seventh ground in the Avataṃsaka) 〔0115b08–0116b02; the closing sentence of each of the four passages appears at its end〕. |
| Bases of the marks in the four teachings | Bases of the thirty-two marks: Tripiṭaka = precepts and diligence; Shared = emptiness and nonarising; Distinct = knowledge of the varieties of paths; Perfect = the true mark 〔0116b22–0116b26〕. |
| Birth by transformation from a lotus | Not the transformation birth included among the four modes of womb, egg, moisture, and transformation; 「非化而言化耳，實不如四生中之化生也」 tr. “It is not transformation, yet is called transformation; in reality it is unlike transformation birth among the four modes” 〔0116c08–0116c09〕. |
| Five obstacles | They follow Śāriputra’s general challenge to belief. The root treatise marks only 「後釋出五礙」 tr. “afterward the five obstacles are set forth” 〔0117a16–0117a17〕 and does not list them. |
| Offering the jewel represents perfect understanding | The round jewel represents the perfect cause attained through cultivation; presenting it to the Buddha directs the cause toward bringing the fruit to fruition; the Buddha’s swift acceptance represents swift attainment of the fruit; this is sitting at the site of awakening in a single thought 〔0117a18–0117a19〕. |
| Deep penetration · Universal illumination | 「罪福」 tr. “transgression and merit” are successively fabricated for people of the seven expedient means; the present verse deeply penetrates that there is neither transgression nor merit and enters the one true mark, and is therefore called 「深達」 tr. “deep penetration.” 「十方」 tr. “the ten directions” are the ten Dharma realms; illuminating them all with real wisdom is called 「遍照」 tr. “universal illumination” 〔0117a10–0117a13〕. |
| Power of expedient skill · Samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies | Conditions in the south were mature, so it was fitting to accomplish the path through the eight marks; conditions in this land were meager, so only the dragon girl was used to teach and transform—this is the power of expedient skill. Obtaining one body is obtaining all bodies: this is the samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies 〔0117a26–0117a28〕. |
| Four great rivers | The root treatise uses 「四瀆混和」 tr. “the four great rivers mingling” as a metaphor for unification of the realm 〔0115a01〕; the Mirror identifies them as the Yangzi, Yellow, Huai, and Ji Rivers 〔T34n1719 0313a17〕. |
| Nine tracks | Sengrui opened the Lotus into nine tracks; the root treatise gives only the number 〔0114c24〕. The nine titles appear in full in the Mirror 〔T34n1719 0313a02–0313a14〕. |
VII. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
This unit establishes no new simile of its own but is structured by two impossibilities: the person who split the Saṅgha and harmed the Buddha receives a prediction of buddhahood, while an eight-year-old female animal becomes a buddha before the assembly. The root treatise does not treat them merely as wonders but ties each to a doctrinal meaning. The former is connected to 「因行逆而理順」 tr. “conduct contrary yet principle accordant,” in which contrary conduct is itself accordant within the meaning of the Perfect Teaching. The latter is connected to bringing the fruit to fruition through offering the jewel, in which the perfect cause means sitting at the site of awakening in a single thought. The two explicit sets of similes come from other scriptures: the Moon Treasury’s spark, breath, and lotus filament show the incapacity of a conventional mind to fulfill bodhi 〔0116a05–0116a06〕; birth from a lotus distinguishes generation through the perfect cause from transformation birth among the four modes 〔0116c08–0116c09〕.
Cross-read with “Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa”: at the end of the preceding chapter Śākyamuni recruits someone to 「付囑有在」 tr. “entrust it where there is someone.” The present chapter answers with two events, Devadatta transmitting the sutra in the past and Mañjuśrī transmitting it today. Entrustment is possible precisely because people in both past and present have transmitted the sutra and obtained benefit. The root treatise states this expressly: 「此品來意引古弘經傳益非謬，明今宣化事驗不虛，舉往勸今使流通也」 tr. “The purpose of this chapter is to cite ancient propagators of the sutra and show that the benefit they transmitted was not false; to show through present evidence that today’s proclamation and transformation are not false; and to raise the past to exhort the present and cause circulation” 〔0115a12–0115a13〕. The stūpa opens in the preceding chapter; evidence is established in this one.
Cross-read with “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra”: after the present chapter has raised its two forms of evidence, past and present, the bodhisattvas and nuns immediately vow to uphold the sutra. In its explanation of that chapter, the Mirror constructs a chain: 「〈寶塔〉慕覓用方軌人，〈達多〉引往用方軌者，釋迦即是稟方軌眾」 tr. “‘Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa’ seeks persons who can employ the rules; ‘Devadatta’ cites someone in the past who employed the rules; Śākyamuni himself is one of the assembly who received the rules” 〔T34n1719 0314c26–0314c27〕. At the Mirror level, the three chapters become a sequence of seeking people, presenting evidence, and making vows.
Cross-read with “Entrustment”: the controversy over this chapter’s location—Dharma Master Man placing it before “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra” and Chan Master Nanyue after “Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa”—belongs to the same family as the great chapter-order dispute in the Mirror layer of 22_zhulei, where Cien, Anguo, and Xiugong hold that “Entrustment” should be moved after “Encouragement of Samantabhadra,” and Zhanran refutes them through eight impossibilities. Yet the judgments differ: the root treatise praises the two masters here as having 「深得經意」 tr. “deeply grasped the sutra’s purport,” whereas Zhanran refutes each of the three masters there point by point. Read together, the two passages show that this edition does not reject every divergent account of chapter order indiscriminately.
Cross-read with “The Parable of the Conjured City”: the Tripiṭaka characteristics of the six perfections here share a source with the Tripiṭaka Teaching explained across the 07 subunits. What distinguishes the present chapter is that the characteristics of all four teachings are juxtaposed within one passage, making it one of the fullest treatments of the six perfections through the four teachings in the work.
Carrying forward: this unit ends with 「得一身一切身，普現色身三昧也」 tr. “Obtaining one body is obtaining all bodies: this is the samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies” 〔0117a27–0117a28〕. Below it, in “Exhortation to Uphold the Sutra,” the nuns receive predictions and the bodhisattvas make vows. The reading path turns from “in past and present there have been people able to transmit this sutra” to “who, then, is willing to go now?”
VIII. Placement of the Editions
The strict domain contains twenty locations in the main text bearing textual-critical information: eighteen directly juxtapose the Taishō and recension A; one is a CBETA correction; and one is an asterisk callback. There is no one-sided critical note and no note giving a number of omitted graphs.
| No. | Textual-variant locus | Taishō | Recension A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0114c18 | 病 | 病之 |
| 2 | 0114c20 | 法 | absent in recension A |
| 3 | 0114c27 | 百 | 百八 |
| 4 | 0115a01 | 四 | absent in recension A |
| 5 | 0115a11 | 示 | 亦 |
| 6 | 0115a12 | 經 | 縛 |
| 7 | 0115a15 | 多 | absent in recension A |
| 8 | 0115a17 | 達 | 達多 |
| 9 | 0115b23 | 般 | 波 |
| 10 | 0115b24 | 伏慳 | 慳伏 |
| 11 | 0115c09 | 熟 | 就 |
| 12 | 0115c10 | 不 | absent in recension A |
| 13 | 0115c18 | 悔恨 | 恨悔 |
| 14 | 0116b03 | 足 | 足下 |
| 15 | 0116b12 | 相 | 二相 |
| 16 | 0116c17 | 拘 | 物 |
| 17 | 0116c23 | 如 | 如文 |
| 18 | 0117a03 | 歎 | 讚 |
Two further locations do not use direct Taishō/recension-A juxtaposition and are recorded separately:
| Locus | Form | Content |
|---|---|---|
| 0116b09 | CBETA correction | In the main-text 「鹿膞腸相」 tr. “the mark of antelope-like calves,” the graph 「膞」 tr. “calf” is 「膞」 tr. “calf” in CB and the Northern Canon-CB but 「膊」 tr. “upper arm” in the Taishō; one submitted correction is attached |
| 0117a27 | Asterisk callback | In 「此土緣薄秖以龍女教化」 tr. “conditions in this land were meager, so only the dragon girl was used to teach and transform,” the graph 「秖」 tr. “only” is 「秖」 tr. “only” in the Taishō while recension A has 「只」 tr. “only” |
Four deserve specific notice. The ninth 〔0115b23〕 falls in the Shared Teaching conclusion 「非智非愚名般若」 tr. “neither wise nor foolish is called prajñā,” specifically on the graph 「般」 tr. “ban”; recension A has 「波」 tr. “bo” (boruo). It has the same form and receives the same treatment as the seventh variant in the preceding 11_jianbaota. The sixteenth 〔0116c17〕 falls in the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra citation’s 「般若拘羅」 tr. “Borejuluo,” precisely on the graph 「拘」 tr. “ku”; recension A has 「物」 tr. “wu,” while the received Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sutra has 「般若拘」 tr. “Boreju” without the graph 「羅」 tr. “luo” (see Section III.G). The base text, recension A, and received sutra therefore preserve three forms of the name. The eighteenth 〔0117a03〕 falls on 「歎」 tr. “praise” in Wisdom Accumulation’s verse; recension A has 「讚」 tr. “praise.” The twentieth 〔0117a27〕 has the forms 秖 and 只, the same pair as the third variant in 11_jianbaota at 〔0112c26〕; both appear through either an asterisk callback or direct juxtaposition and are recorded.
One character in the strict domain lies outside the common character library: CB02334 at 〔0116c01〕, constructed as [月*叉] and mapped in the received text to Unicode U+2E30B, 『𮌋』. It appears in the list of the eighty minor excellent characteristics: 「兩鼻孔額兩𮌋兩耳頭圓」 tr. “the two nostrils, forehead, two cheek areas, two ears, and round head” 〔0116c01–0116c02〕. The reader layer presents the character as it appears in the received source, without silently substituting a similar graph or deleting it.
The two forms of chapter title—「序品」 tr. “Introduction” without the “explanation” prefix, and the remaining twenty-seven chapters as 「釋Ｘ品」 tr. “Explanation of Chapter X”—are represented here by 「釋提婆達多品」 tr. “Explanation of ‘Devadatta’” 〔0114c17〕. The transmitted interlinear note beneath the title is preserved; see Section I.