妙法蓮華經文句 釋囑累品
這一品很短。短到本論用全書最少的字數處理它——七百多字，二十九個單元裡最短的一個。
事情也簡單。佛從座位上起身，伸出右手，摩無量菩薩的頭頂，說了一段話。同樣的動作做了三次。
然後大眾曲身低頭，一齊出聲說：照世尊的教勅，我們必定完全奉行，願世尊不必掛慮。
就這樣。
可是「囑累」這兩個字值得停一停。
「囑」好懂，是付囑、託付。「累」字才是關鍵——它本來就有勞煩、麻煩的意思。
本論解了三遍。
從佛那邊看：「囑」是佛所付囑，「累」是煩勞你們宣揚傳布。翻成今天的話，就是：麻煩你們了。
從菩薩那邊看：「囑」是頂受所囑之法，「累」是甘而弗勞——甘心承擔，不覺得是勞煩。
第三遍把兩邊合起來：「囑」是如來金口所囑，「累」是菩薩以赤誠之心頂戴荷擔。
同一個字。在給的一方是歉意，在接的一方是甘願。
真正的交付大概都是這樣的。給的人知道這是負擔，所以說『麻煩你了』；接的人知道對方知道，所以說『不麻煩』。兩邊都清楚這件事的重量，才交得下去。
還有一個細節。
本論說，佛用的是「權智善巧之手」，摩的是菩薩的「實智之頂」。如來授與道法而化度他人，所以手屬權智；菩薩自行修道而承受道法，所以頂屬實智。
那隻手和那個頭頂，不是同一種東西相碰。是能給的智慧，觸到能接的智慧。
所以摩頂不只是一個表示親愛的動作。它是一次很準確的對接——佛得伸手，弟子得低頭；兩邊都要動。
至於交出去的是什麼，佛自己說了：我在無量劫中修習這難得之法，如今付囑你們。
本論在這裡讀出了一句經文沒有明說的話：這是從先前的佛承受學來的，如今交付給你們，你們應當再交付他人——三世相繼承嗣。
也就是說，佛不是這條線的起點。祂也是接過來的。
於是『麻煩你們了』這句話裡，有一種很深的東西：祂當年也被這樣麻煩過，而祂甘而弗勞地扛了那麼久。
所以讀這一品，最要緊的也許不是那三次摩頂，而是：有沒有什麼東西，是別人鄭重交到我手上、而我甘心承擔至今的？
如果有，我大概已經知道「累」字為什麼要那樣解了。
This chapter is very short. The root treatise handles it in fewer words than any other chapter in the work: a little over seven hundred characters, the shortest of its twenty-nine units.
The event is simple. The Buddha rises from his seat, extends his right hand, strokes the crowns of immeasurable bodhisattvas, and speaks. He performs the same action three times.
Then the assembly bends forward and lowers their heads, saying with one voice: “In accordance with the World-Honored One’s command, we will surely carry it out in full. May the World-Honored One have no concern.”
That is all.
But the two graphs zhulei (“entrustment”) deserve a pause.
“to entrust” is easy to understand: it is handing something over and charging another with it. “to trouble” is the key—it originally carries the sense of burdening or troubling someone.
The root treatise explains them three times.
Seen from the Buddha’s side, “entrust” is what the Buddha hands over, while “trouble” means burdening them with proclaiming and circulating it. In today’s words: “I must trouble you with this.”
Seen from the bodhisattvas’ side, “entrust” is receiving the entrusted Dharma upon the crown, while “trouble” means gladly taking it up without weariness—willingly bearing it and not finding it burdensome.
The third explanation joins both sides: “entrust” is what the Tathāgata charges them with through his golden mouth, while “bearing the burden” is the bodhisattvas’ receiving it on their crowns and carrying it with sincere hearts.
The same graph. On the giving side it is an apology; on the receiving side, willingness.
Perhaps every genuine entrustment is like this. The giver knows it is a burden and therefore says, “I must trouble you”; the recipient knows that the giver knows and therefore says, “It is no trouble.” Only when both understand the weight can it truly be handed over.
There is one more detail.
The root treatise says that the Buddha uses “the skillful hand of provisional wisdom” to stroke “the crown of real wisdom” of the bodhisattvas. The Tathāgata bestows the Dharma of the way and transforms others, so the hand belongs to provisional wisdom; the bodhisattvas cultivate the way themselves and receive that Dharma, so the crown belongs to real wisdom.
The hand and the crown are not two things of the same kind touching. The wisdom able to give touches the wisdom able to receive.
Stroking the crown is therefore more than a gesture of affection. It is an exact connection: the Buddha must reach out, the disciple must bow, and both sides must move.
As for what is handed over, the Buddha says it himself: “Throughout immeasurable aeons I cultivated this difficult-to-attain Dharma; now I entrust it to you.”
Here the root treatise reads a statement that the sutra does not explicitly make: it was received and learned from former buddhas, is now handed to you, and should in turn be handed by you to others—the succession of inheritance through the three times.
The Buddha is therefore not the beginning of this line. He too received it.
Thus “I must trouble you” contains something profound: he too was once troubled in this way, and gladly bore it without weariness for so long.
Perhaps the most important question in reading this chapter is not the three crown-strokings, but this: is there anything another person solemnly placed in my hands that I have willingly carried until today?
If so, I probably already know why “bearing the burden” is explained this way.
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 0142b20〕。段/行首〔T34 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T34 0142b20〕釋囑累品 「囑」是佛所付囑，「累」是煩爾宣傳，此從聖旨得名，故言「囑累」。「囑」是頂受所囑，「累」是甘而弗勞，此從菩薩敬順得名，故言「囑累」。「囑」是如來金口所囑，「累」是菩薩丹心頂荷，此從授受合論，故言「囑累品」也。是故如來躬從座起，申手摩頂授以難得之法，大眾曲躬合掌，如世尊勅當具奉行殷勤授受，故名「囑累品」也。 文為二，初、付囑，次、時眾歡喜。初為三：一、如來付囑，二、菩薩領受，三、事畢唱散。初又三：一、正付，二、釋付，三、誡付。正付者，佛以一權智善巧之手，摩三千三百那由他國土側塞虛空諸菩薩實智之頂。如來授道化他故，名權智手也；菩薩自行受道故，名實智頂也。若申手摩頂，即身付囑也。權智臨實智，即意付囑也。「而作是言」者，即口付囑也。文有四悉檀意，「我於無量劫修是難得之法」者，此從前佛受學，今以付爾，爾當授彼，三世繼嗣，即世界悉檀也。「一心流布」，即為人悉檀也。「廣令增」者，即對治悉檀也。「益」者，即第一義悉檀也。「所以者何」下，釋付也。「有大慈悲」者，如來室也；「無諸慳悋」者，如來衣也；「亦無所畏」者，如來座也。「佛之智慧」者，一切智也；「如來智慧」者，道種智也；「自然智慧」者，一切種智也。於如來室中，能施眾生三種智慧，乃至座中亦復如是，如是施主故無慳悋、故無所畏，汝等當學如來此法，是名釋出佛意而付囑之。從「於未來世」下是誡付者，若根深智利直說佛慧，若不堪者，於餘深法中示教利喜。佛慧是深而非餘，六方便是餘而非深，別教次第是餘亦是深，汝能以餘深，助申佛慧者，即善巧報佛之恩，是名誡付囑也。 從「時諸菩薩」下，是第二領受。歡喜意領受，「曲躬低頭」是身領受；「俱發聲言」是口領受，兼得意領受也。「如世尊勅」者，領受大施主如來室意；「當具奉行」領受無慳悋如來衣意；「願不有慮」領受無所畏如來座意。佛既三付，菩薩三受，皆如文。 「爾時釋迦」下，是第三唱散。多寶為證經故來，今迹本二門已訖，故須敬遣如故。分身為開塔故集，開塔事了故令分身還本。塔不可重開，故分身去而不現，塔猶聽法故閉而尚在。 〔T34 0143a03〕問： 塔若聽法，亦應不閉。 答： 證正已故閉，聽流通故在〔云云〕。 從「說是語時」下，是大眾歡喜。諸佛為化他事遂故喜，菩薩為自行得法故喜。又說人清淨故喜，佛是也；聞清淨法故喜，妙經是也；聞法獲證故喜，現在未來得益者是也。三事具足，故大歡喜〔云云〕。
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、三重解釋品名
『囑』是佛所付囑，『累』是煩勞你們宣揚傳布——這是從佛的旨意得名，所以稱為〈囑累〉。
『囑』是頂受所囑之法，『累』是甘心承擔而不以為勞——這是從菩薩的敬順得名，所以稱為〈囑累〉。
『囑』是如來金口所囑，『累』是菩薩以赤誠之心頂戴荷擔——這是把授與受合起來說，所以稱為〈囑累品〉。
因此，如來親自從座位起身，伸手摩頂，把難得之法交付出去；大眾曲身合掌，說『照世尊的教勅，我們必定完全奉行』——授與受都極其殷勤，所以名為〈囑累品〉。
二、正付：權智之手摩實智之頂
經文分兩部分：先是付囑，其次是時眾歡喜。
付囑又分三層：一是如來付囑，二是菩薩領受，三是事畢唱散。
如來付囑又分三層：一是正式付囑，二是解釋付囑，三是誡勅付囑。
正式付囑：佛以一隻權智善巧之手，摩三千三百那由他國土之中、側身充塞虛空的諸菩薩實智之頂。如來授與道法而化度他人，所以名為權智之手；菩薩自行修道而承受道法，所以名為實智之頂。
伸手摩頂，就是身付囑。權智臨於實智，就是意付囑。『而作是言』，就是口付囑。
三、四悉檀之意
這段文字含有四悉檀之意。
『我在無量劫中修習這難得之法』——這是從先前的佛承受學來，如今交付給你們，你們應當再交付他人，三世相繼承嗣，這就是世界悉檀。
『一心流布』，就是為人悉檀。『廣令增』，就是對治悉檀。『益』，就是第一義悉檀。
四、釋付：室、衣、座與三智
『所以者何』以下是解釋付囑。
『有大慈悲』，就是如來之室；『沒有各種慳吝』，就是如來之衣；『也沒有畏懼』，就是如來之座。
『佛的智慧』，就是一切智；『如來的智慧』，就是道種智；『自然的智慧』，就是一切種智。
在如來室中，能布施給眾生這三種智慧，乃至在座中也是如此。這樣的施主所以沒有慳吝、所以沒有畏懼。你們應當學習如來的這種作法——這叫作解釋出佛的用意而付囑他們。
五、誡付
從『在未來世』以下是誡勅付囑。
若是根性深、智慧利的人，就直接為他宣說佛慧；若是不堪承受的人，就在其餘的深法之中示教利喜。
佛慧是深而不是餘，六種方便是餘而不是深，別教的次第則既是餘也是深。你們若能用「餘」中之「深」來助成申明佛慧，就是善巧地報答佛恩——這叫作誡勅付囑。
六、菩薩三領受
從『那時諸菩薩』以下，是第二層領受。
歡喜是意領受，『曲身低頭』是身領受，『一齊發聲說』是口領受，同時也兼含意領受。
『照世尊的教勅』一句，是領受大施主如來室之意；『必定完全奉行』一句，是領受無慳吝如來衣之意；『願世尊不必掛慮』一句，是領受無畏懼如來座之意。
佛既然三度付囑，菩薩也就三度領受，都如經文所示。
七、事畢唱散
『那時釋迦』以下，是第三層唱散。
多寶佛為了作證此經而來，如今迹門與本門二門都已說完，所以須要恭敬地遣送他如故。分身諸佛為了開塔而聚集，開塔之事既已了結，所以令分身各還本土。塔不可以重新開啟，所以分身離去而不再示現；塔還要繼續聽法，所以雖然關閉而仍然留在那裡。
問：塔既然還要聽法，也應當不關閉才對。
答：作證之事已經完成，所以關閉；聽流通之法，所以留存。
八、大眾歡喜
從『說這番話時』以下，是大眾歡喜。
諸佛因為化度他人之事已經成就而歡喜，菩薩因為自行修道而得法所以歡喜。
又：因為說法之人清淨而歡喜——說法的是佛；因為所聽之法清淨而歡喜——所聽的是此妙經；因為聞法而獲得證悟所以歡喜——現在與未來得益的人就是。三件事都具足，所以大為歡喜。
I. Three Explanations of the Chapter Title
“Entrust” is what the Buddha hands over, while “burden” means troubling you to proclaim and circulate it. The title “Entrustment” is therefore named from the Buddha’s intent.
“Entrust” is receiving the entrusted Dharma upon the crown, while “burden” means gladly undertaking it without finding it wearying. The title is therefore named from the bodhisattvas’ reverent accord.
“Entrust” is what the Tathāgata charges them with through his golden mouth, while “burden” is the bodhisattvas’ receiving it on their crowns and carrying it with sincere hearts. The title “Entrustment” therefore joins giving and receiving.
The Tathāgata accordingly rises from his seat in person, reaches out to stroke their crowns, and hands over the difficult-to-attain Dharma. The assembly bends forward, joins their palms, and says, “In accordance with the World-Honored One’s command, we will surely carry it out in full.” Giving and receiving are both deeply earnest, so the chapter is called “Entrustment.”
II. The Formal Entrustment: The Hand of Provisional Wisdom Strokes the Crown of Real Wisdom
The sutra text has two parts: first entrustment, then the assembly’s rejoicing.
Entrustment has three levels: first the Tathāgata entrusts; second the bodhisattvas receive; third, when the affair is complete, the assembly is dismissed.
The Tathāgata’s entrustment also has three levels: the formal entrustment, its explanation, and its admonitory charge.
Formal entrustment: with one skillful hand of provisional wisdom, the Buddha strokes the crowns of real wisdom of the bodhisattvas who fill empty space, standing sideways, throughout three thousand three hundred nayutas of lands. The Tathāgata bestows the Dharma of the way and transforms others, so it is called the hand of provisional wisdom; the bodhisattvas cultivate the way themselves and receive that Dharma, so it is called the crown of real wisdom.
Reaching out to stroke their crowns is bodily entrustment. Provisional wisdom descending upon real wisdom is mental entrustment. The phrase “and spoke these words” is verbal entrustment.
III. The Intent of the Four Siddhāntas
This passage contains the intent of the four siddhāntas.
“Throughout immeasurable aeons I cultivated this difficult-to-attain Dharma”: it was received and learned from former buddhas, is now handed to you, and should in turn be handed by you to others, a succession of inheritance through the three times. This is the worldly siddhānta.
“Single-mindedly circulate it” is the for-person siddhānta. “Widely cause increase” is the counteractive siddhānta. “Benefit” is the ultimate-truth siddhānta.
IV. Explaining the Entrustment: Room, Robe, Seat, and the Three Wisdoms
The passage beginning “Why is this?” explains the entrustment.
“Possessing great kindness and compassion” is the Tathāgata’s room; “without any stinginess” is the Tathāgata’s robe; “without fear” is the Tathāgata’s seat.
“The Buddha’s wisdom” is all-wisdom; “the Tathāgata’s wisdom” is wisdom of the varieties of the path; “natural wisdom” is wisdom of all modes.
Within the Tathāgata’s room, these three wisdoms can be given to sentient beings; the same holds through the seat. Such a donor is without stinginess and without fear. You should learn this way of the Tathāgata. This is called explaining the Buddha’s intent and entrusting it to them.
V. The Admonitory Charge
The passage beginning “In future ages” is the admonitory charge.
For those whose capacities are deep and whose wisdom is sharp, directly teach buddha-wisdom; for those unable to bear it, demonstrate, teach, benefit, and delight them through the remaining profound dharmas.
Buddha-wisdom is profound but not remaining; the six expedient means are remaining but not profound; the sequential teaching of the Separate Teaching is both remaining and profound. If, through what is “remaining” and “profound,” you can aid and clarify buddha-wisdom, you skillfully repay the Buddha’s kindness. This is called the admonitory charge.
VI. The Bodhisattvas’ Threefold Reception
The passage beginning “At that time the bodhisattvas” is the second level, reception.
Joy is mental reception, “bending their bodies and lowering their heads” is bodily reception, and “speaking together with one voice” is verbal reception, while also including mental reception.
The phrase “in accordance with the World-Honored One’s command” receives the intent of the Tathāgata’s room as the great donor; “we will surely carry it out in full” receives the intent of the Tathāgata’s robe without stinginess; and “may the World-Honored One have no concern” receives the intent of the Tathāgata’s seat without fear.
Since the Buddha entrusts three times, the bodhisattvas likewise receive three times, just as the sutra states.
VII. Dismissal When the Affair Is Complete
The passage beginning “At that time Śākyamuni” is the third level, dismissal.
The Buddha Many Jewels came to bear witness to this sutra. Now that the Trace Gate and Origin Gate have both been taught, he should be reverently sent back as before. The emanation-buddhas gathered to open the stūpa; since that work is complete, each is told to return to his own land. The stūpa cannot be opened again, so the emanations depart and do not appear again; the stūpa must still hear the Dharma, so although closed it remains in place.
Question: If the stūpa must still hear the Dharma, should it not also remain open?
Answer: The work of bearing witness is complete, so it closes; it remains in order to hear the Dharma of circulation.
VIII. The Assembly Rejoices
The passage beginning “When these words were spoken” is the assembly’s rejoicing.
The buddhas rejoice because the work of transforming others has been accomplished; the bodhisattvas rejoice because, through cultivating the way themselves, they have attained the Dharma.
Further, they rejoice because the person teaching the Dharma is pure—the teacher is the Buddha; because the Dharma heard is pure—the Dharma heard is this wondrous sutra; and because hearing the Dharma brings realization—the beneficiaries in the present and future are the persons meant. Since all three matters are complete, they rejoice greatly.
前一品，菩薩發誓弘經，佛現十種神力作為擔保。本品，佛從座位起身，伸出右手，摩無量菩薩的頭頂，然後說話。同樣的動作做了三次，同樣的話說了三次。
本論在全帙之中，用最短的一篇處理這一刻——全域只有七百六十五個字，是二十九個單元裡最短的一個。
短，卻不是輕。本論一連用三重解釋品名，又把摩頂拆成身、口、意三重付囑，再把佛所說的一句話拆進四悉檀。動作愈簡單，讀得愈細。
一、同一個品名，為何要釋三遍？
「囑累」二字，本論釋了三次。
第一次從佛這邊說：『囑』是佛所付囑，『累』是煩勞你們宣揚傳布。第二次從菩薩那邊說：『囑』是頂受所囑之法，『累』是甘心承擔而不以為勞。第三次把兩邊合起來說：『囑』是如來金口所囑，『累』是菩薩以赤誠之心頂戴荷擔。
三次不是同義反覆。關鍵在「累」字——它本來就有麻煩、勞煩的意思。從佛這邊看，這是『煩你們了』；從菩薩那邊看，這是「甘而弗勞」，甘心承受而不覺得是勞煩。
於是同一個字，在授的一方是歉意，在受的一方是甘願。第三次把兩邊合起來，這件事才完整：交付不是一個人把擔子放下，是兩個人在同一刻對這副擔子有了不同的心情，而彼此都知道對方的心情。
本論隨即補了一句實景：如來親自從座位起身，伸手摩頂；大眾曲身合掌，說照世尊的教勅必定完全奉行。殷勤在兩邊，所以名為囑累。
二、摩頂為何要拆成三重？
摩頂是一個動作。本論卻從中讀出三重付囑。
伸手摩頂，是身付囑。權智臨於實智，是意付囑。經文接著寫的『而作是言』，是口付囑。
三重之中，第二重最不明顯，也最要緊。本論說：佛用的是「一權智善巧之手」，摩的是諸菩薩的「實智之頂」。如來授與道法而化度他人，所以手屬權智；菩薩自行修道而承受道法，所以頂屬實智。
於是那隻手與那個頭頂並不是同一種東西相碰。權智是善巧接引之智，實智是自證之智；佛以能化之智，觸到弟子能受之智——交接發生在兩種智的接觸點上。
這個讀法把「摩頂」從一個表示親愛的動作，變成了一次精確的對接。而它也解釋了為什麼經文要特別寫出「以右手摩」而不只說「付囑」：付囑若只是言語，意與口就夠了；加上身，是因為要有一個實際的觸點。
三、一句話裡，為何塞得下四悉檀？
佛摩頂之後說的話很短，本論卻把它逐句配進四悉檀。
『我在無量劫中修習這難得之法』——本論解為：這是從先前的佛承受學來的，如今交付給你們，你們應當再交付他人，三世相繼承嗣。這是世界悉檀。
『一心流布』是為人悉檀，『廣令增』是對治悉檀，『益』是第一義悉檀。
最值得留意的是第一句的讀法。經文只說佛自己修習了很久，本論卻讀出一條三世相承的線：佛也是從前佛那裡接過來的。這一步把付囑從『師父傳給徒弟』擴大成『一條沒有起點的傳遞』——佛不是這條線的源頭，只是其中一環。
而後三句被拆得極細：本論把今本連寫的「廣令增益」四個字，拆成「廣令增」與「益」兩項，分配給對治與第一義兩個悉檀。這種拆法是本論釋經時常見的手法——不是為了湊數，而是因為「增」是就對治煩惱說，「益」是就究竟利益說，兩者確實不同層。
四、如來的室、衣、座，為何在這裡再出現一次？
解釋付囑時，本論把經文三句對上了如來的室、衣、座：『有大慈悲』是室，『沒有各種慳吝』是衣，『也沒有畏懼』是座。
這三名在前面〈法師品〉裡出現過，那時說的是弘經之人應當入如來室、著如來衣、坐如來座。如今同一組名相回來了，位置卻換了——那時是弟子應當進去的地方，此刻是佛自身之德。
這個對稱很有意思。佛之所以能交付，正因為祂自己具足室、衣、座；而弟子之所以能承接，也正因為要進入同一組室、衣、座。所付與所受，用的是同一副名相。
菩薩領受時，本論把這個對稱補完了。菩薩說了三句話：『照世尊的教勅』『必定完全奉行』『願世尊不必掛慮』。本論分別配上——第一句領受大施主如來室之意，第二句領受無慳吝如來衣之意，第三句領受無畏懼如來座之意。
佛三度付囑，菩薩三度領受；佛以室衣座付，菩薩以室衣座受。這一場交接，兩邊說的是同一種語言。
五、「餘」與「深」，為何要交叉成三句？
誡勅付囑一節很短，卻立了一個精細的分判。
本論說：若是根性深、智慧利的人，就直接為他宣說佛慧；若是不堪承受的人，就在其餘的深法之中示教利喜。
然後它把「餘」與「深」交叉成三句：佛慧是深而不是餘，六種方便是餘而不是深，別教的次第則既是餘也是深。
三句排完，結論才出來：你們若能用「餘」中之「深」來助成申明佛慧，就是善巧地報答佛恩。
這是一個很實用的指導。受了付囑的人出去弘法，必然遇到聽不懂佛慧的人。這時候怎麼辦？不能硬說，也不能隨便換一套不相干的法敷衍。本論給的答案是：找那個既是「餘」又是「深」的位置——它不是佛慧本身，卻能通向佛慧。
所以付囑之後緊接著誡勅，誡的不是懈怠，是方法。
六、承衍：塔為什麼關上了卻還留著？
本品最後一層是唱散。多寶佛為證經而來，如今二門說完，恭敬遣送如故；分身諸佛為開塔而集，開塔之事已了，令其各還本土。
本論在此下了一個細緻的分判：塔不可以重新開啟，所以分身離去而不再示現；塔還要繼續聽法，所以雖然關閉而仍然留在那裡。
它隨即自設問答：塔既然還要聽法，也應當不關閉才對？答案只有兩句——作證之事已經完成，所以關閉；聽流通之法，所以留存。
十個字說完了一件事：關閉與留存不衝突，因為它們回應的是兩件不同的事。多寶塔的第一個任務是作證（證此經真實），那件事完了，所以閉；第二個任務是聽（法還要繼續流通），那件事沒完，所以在。
而本品的收尾是大眾歡喜。本論把歡喜也分了三重：因為說法之人清淨而喜——說的是佛；因為所聽之法清淨而喜——聽的是此經；因為聞法獲證而喜——現在與未來得益的人就是。三事具足，所以大歡喜。
其下〈藥王菩薩本事品〉以下五品，本論在前面已判為就化他而勸流通。讀路由『佛把法交出去』，轉入『受法的人如何以身命行之』。交付結束了，接下來要看的是接的人怎麼做。
七、為何三次付囑、三次領受？
經文寫得很整齊：佛摩頂三次，每次說同樣的話；菩薩也三度領受。本論順著這個節奏，把三度說得更明白——佛既然三度付囑，菩薩也就三度領受。
三這個數目在本品有兩處落點。一處是動作的重複：摩頂三次。另一處是內容的三分：室、衣、座三名，佛以此三者付，菩薩以三語受。
兩處合看，重複就不只是鄭重其事。第一度是身，第二度是意，第三度是口——本論拆付囑為三重時，正是這樣的次序；而菩薩領受時也分身、口、意三重。付與受各有三重，三度摩頂便剛好把三重都走過一遍。
這也解釋了經文為什麼要把同一段話寫三遍。若只是強調，寫一次加上「殷勤」二字就夠了；寫三遍，是因為每一遍所交所受的層面不同。
八、為何本論在此品用字最少？
一個值得注意的事實：這是全帙最短的一個單元，而它處理的卻是全經最重的一刻——法的正式交付。
短不是因為簡單。本論在這七百多字裡做了四件密度極高的事：三重釋名、三重付囑、四悉檀配當、室衣座與三智的雙重配當。平均下來，幾乎每兩三句就立一個分判。
之所以能這麼省，是因為本品所用的名相前面全都立過了。室、衣、座出自〈法師品〉，四悉檀是全書一貫的釋例，權智實智、三智之分也早已說定。到了這一刻，本論只需要把已有的架構套上去，不必再解釋任何一個名詞。
這其實反映了付囑這件事本身的性質。交付之所以能在一個動作裡完成，是因為該講的都已經講完了；若還要重新說明什麼是慈悲、什麼是佛慧，那就不是交付，是還在教學。
於是本品的短，正是本門說完了的證據。
九、大眾為何要在此處歡喜？
本品收在「大眾歡喜」。這看起來像是經文的套語，本論卻分了三重來讀。
第一重最直接：諸佛因為化度他人之事已經成就而歡喜，菩薩因為自行修道而得法所以歡喜。一邊是化他成就，一邊是自行有得。
第二重更細：因為說法之人清淨而歡喜——說的是佛；因為所聽之法清淨而歡喜——聽的是此妙經；因為聞法而獲得證悟所以歡喜——現在與未來得益的人就是。本論說，三件事都具足，所以大為歡喜。
這第二重的三事值得留意，因為它把『未來得益的人』也算了進去。也就是說，此刻的歡喜不只為在場的人而發——它包含了尚未出生、將來才會讀到這部經的人。
於是歡喜與前一品的十神力遙相呼應：那裡以後五相表未來的機、教、人、行、理，這裡以第三事把未來得益者納入歡喜之中。付囑既然是為了未來，收尾的歡喜自然也要延伸到未來。
文句記之眼
湛然對本品的鏡釋，結構與其他各品完全不同。他開篇就說：解釋這一品，先辨他人對品次前後的判定，然後才是今文正釋。
於是整段鏡釋的前半，處理的是一場本論隻字未提的爭議——慈恩、安國兩家都主張把〈囑累品〉移到〈勸發品〉之後，也就是移到全經的最末；近人秀公的《法華圓鏡》又廣立難勢支持此說。
湛然的回應分兩層。先是總救，一口氣列出八個「不可」，全部從經文自身的敘事連貫性著眼：出塔以後凡提到多寶都說「塔中」而不說「見佛」，移到後面就沒有出塔之處；分身散去以後所述唯論佛塔而不涉分身，移到後面佛就沒有遣散分身之處；〈囑累〉文中佛把土地散為穢相，以下經文再不涉及淨土，移到後面就沒有復穢之處；法會本在地上、因塔而升空，佛遣散後文又在地，移到後面就沒有還地之處；〈囑累〉之後經文未盡，所以只說眾人歡喜而不說「而去」，移到後面就得添「而去」二字；〈勸發〉之後沒有別的文字，經既已終所以說「而去」，移到後面就得刪掉「而去」；本迹二門佛事既畢須有所付，移到後面則法無所歸；囑累之後所說是乘與乘人、弘經本事都需要先有囑累，移到後面則師弟參雜。
八條之中沒有一條訴諸權威，全部是『若移，則此處文脈斷』。這是很硬的論證方式。
總救之後是別救，逐條回應對方所舉的理由。第一條最有份量：對方說《正法華》與隋代崛多的《添品法華》此品都在經末。湛然沒有否認——他救的是「二本譯人既異，所見各別，若令盡同此不可也」，並引南山《內典錄》說崛多是「擅移」，又說羅什遍遊五竺、久居長安，豈會沒見過梵本與法護所譯而仍然再譯不用？結論是「今依什譯理可準憑」。他末了還說了一句很重的話：若不能測知旨歸，仰信就是了，怎能用凡夫的見識拿斗尺去量大海虛空？
第二條回應《法華論》。對方引《論》護法力中「如〈普賢勸發品〉及後品」，說「後品」就是〈囑累〉。湛然說《論》也是人譯的，譯的時間又在《正法華》之後，只是譯者順著《正法華》罷了。他還錄了秀公另一種說法——「後品」指的是《普賢觀經》——並判「此亦是一見」，錄而不採。
第三條回應『諸經付囑都在經末』之說。湛然舉了三個反例：《大品》中間有〈累教品〉而經末又有〈囑累品〉，《大寶積》四十九會會會都有付囑之文，《金剛經》的問名問持也在經中。
其下還有兩端，都是就多寶塔閉而在、分身散而去二事逐一辯明，與本論那兩句「塔不可重開」「塔猶聽法」同旨，卻遠為詳盡。
這一整段的意義，不只在結論。它讓讀者看見一件事：本論只用兩句話帶過的塔閉、分身散，在鏡層是一場延續數代的公案；而湛然守住羅什譯本品次的方式，是把經文前後的每一個動作接起來看有沒有斷裂。這種讀法本身，就是對『文脈即證據』的一次示範。
In the preceding chapter, the bodhisattvas vowed to propagate the scripture, and the Buddha manifested ten kinds of supernormal power as assurance. In this chapter, the Buddha rises from his seat, extends his right hand, strokes the crowns of immeasurable bodhisattvas, and then speaks. The same action is performed three times, and the same words are spoken three times.
Within this entire edition, the present treatise handles this moment in its shortest unit—the complete domain contains only 765 Han characters, making it the shortest of the twenty-nine units.
It is short, but not slight. The treatise gives three successive explanations of the chapter title, analyzes the stroking of crowns as three forms of entrustment through body, speech, and mind, and then distributes a single statement of the Buddha across the four siddhāntas. The simpler the action, the finer the reading.
I. Why Is the Same Chapter Title Explained Three Times?
The two characters zhulei (“entrustment”) are explained three times in the treatise.
The first explanation speaks from the Buddha’s side: “entrust” means what the Buddha entrusts, while “burden” means troubling the bodhisattvas to proclaim and transmit it. The second speaks from the bodhisattvas’ side: “entrust” means receiving upon the crown the Dharma entrusted to them, while “burden” means willingly taking it on without regarding it as toil. The third joins both sides: “entrust” is what the Tathāgata entrusts with his golden mouth, while “burden” is what the bodhisattvas bear upon their crowns with wholehearted sincerity.
The three are not synonymous repetition. The key lies in the character lei (“burden”)—a word that can itself mean troubling or imposing labor upon someone. Seen from the Buddha’s side, it says, “I must trouble you with this.” Seen from the bodhisattvas’ side, it is “willingly accepted and not regarded as toil.”
Thus the same character is an apology on the side that gives and a willing acceptance on the side that receives. Only the third explanation, which joins the two sides, completes the event: entrustment is not one person setting down a burden. It is two parties experiencing that burden differently in the same moment, each knowing the mind of the other.
The treatise immediately adds the enacted scene. The Tathāgata personally rises from his seat and strokes their crowns; the assembly bends forward, joins palms, and says it will fully carry out the World-Honored One’s command. Earnestness belongs to both sides, and therefore the chapter is called Entrustment.
II. Why Is the Stroking of Crowns Analyzed in Three Forms?
Stroking the crown is one action. The treatise nevertheless reads three forms of entrustment within it.
Extending the hand and stroking the crown is entrustment through the body. Provisional wisdom coming over real wisdom is entrustment through the mind. The scripture’s next words, “and spoke these words,” are entrustment through speech.
The second of the three is the least visible and the most crucial. The treatise says that the Buddha uses “a single skillful hand of provisional wisdom” to stroke “the crowns of real wisdom” of the bodhisattvas. Because the Tathāgata confers the path and transforms others, the hand belongs to provisional wisdom; because the bodhisattvas cultivate the path themselves and receive it, their crowns belong to real wisdom.
The hand and the crown that meet are therefore not two things of the same kind. Provisional wisdom is the wisdom of skillful guidance; real wisdom is the wisdom of personal realization. The Buddha touches, with the wisdom capable of transforming, the wisdom in the disciples capable of receiving—the transfer occurs at the point where these two wisdoms meet.
This reading transforms “stroking the crown” from an affectionate gesture into a precise joining. It also explains why the scripture specifically writes “stroked with his right hand,” instead of saying only “entrusted.” If entrustment were merely verbal, mind and speech would suffice; the body is added because there must be an actual point of contact.
III. How Can One Statement Hold All Four Siddhāntas?
What the Buddha says after stroking their crowns is brief, yet the treatise assigns its clauses one by one to the four siddhāntas.
“I cultivated this hard-to-obtain Dharma for immeasurable kalpas”—the treatise explains that it was received and learned from former buddhas, is now entrusted to these bodhisattvas, and should in turn be entrusted by them to others, so that succession continues through the three times. This is the worldly siddhānta.
“Circulate it single-mindedly” is the individual siddhānta; “extensively cause increase” is the counteractive siddhānta; and “benefit” is the siddhānta of ultimate meaning.
The reading of the first clause deserves particular attention. The scripture says only that the Buddha himself cultivated for a very long time, but the treatise reads a line of succession through the three times: the Buddha too received it from earlier buddhas. This expands entrustment from “a master transmits to a disciple” into “a transmission without a discoverable first point.” The Buddha is not the origin of this line but one link within it.
The next three clauses are divided with great precision. The treatise separates the four characters of the present text, “extensively cause increase and benefit,” into “extensively cause increase” and “benefit,” assigning them respectively to the counteractive and ultimate-meaning siddhāntas. Such division is characteristic of the treatise’s scriptural interpretation. It does not merely fill out a numerical scheme: “increase” concerns counteracting afflictions, whereas “benefit” concerns ultimate benefit, and the two indeed occupy different levels.
IV. Why Do the Tathāgata’s Room, Robe, and Seat Appear Again Here?
In explaining the entrustment, the treatise aligns three scriptural clauses with the Tathāgata’s room, robe, and seat: “possessing great loving-kindness and compassion” is the room; “without any stinginess” is the robe; and “also without fear” is the seat.
These three names appeared earlier in the Dharma Teacher chapter, where one who propagates the scripture was told to enter the Tathāgata’s room, put on the Tathāgata’s robe, and sit on the Tathāgata’s seat. The same set now returns, but its position has changed: there they were places the disciple should enter; here they are the Buddha’s own virtues.
The symmetry is instructive. The Buddha can entrust the Dharma precisely because he himself possesses the room, robe, and seat. The disciples can receive it precisely because they are to enter that same room, robe, and seat. What is given and what receives it share the same set of names.
When the bodhisattvas accept the charge, the treatise completes the symmetry. They speak three clauses: “According to the World-Honored One’s command,” “We shall certainly carry it out completely,” and “May the World-Honored One have no concern.” The treatise aligns these respectively with receiving the intent of the great donor’s Tathāgata-room, receiving the intent of the Tathāgata-robe free of stinginess, and receiving the intent of the fearless Tathāgata-seat.
The Buddha entrusts three times and the bodhisattvas accept three times; the Buddha gives by means of room, robe, and seat, and the bodhisattvas receive by means of room, robe, and seat. Both sides of this transmission speak the same language.
V. Why Are “Other” and “Profound” Crossed into Three Statements?
The passage of admonitory entrustment is brief, yet it establishes a refined analysis.
The treatise says that those of profound faculties and keen wisdom should be taught the Buddha-wisdom directly. Those unable to bear it should be instructed, benefited, and gladdened within other profound teachings.
It then crosses “other” and “profound” into three statements: Buddha-wisdom is profound but not other; the six skillful means are other but not profound; and the sequential teaching is both other and profound.
Only after arranging these three does the conclusion emerge: if one can use the “other” teachings in their “profound” dimension to assist in elucidating Buddha-wisdom, one skillfully repays the Buddha’s kindness.
This is practical guidance. Those who receive the entrustment and go forth to teach will inevitably meet people unable to understand Buddha-wisdom. What should they do? They cannot force the direct teaching upon them, nor can they substitute an unrelated Dharma merely to placate them. The treatise’s answer is to find the place that is both “other” and “profound”: it is not itself Buddha-wisdom, but it can lead toward Buddha-wisdom.
Thus admonition follows immediately after entrustment. What is admonished is not laziness but method.
VI. Carrying Forward: Why Is the Stūpa Closed Yet Left in Place?
The final level of this chapter is the dismissal. Prabhūtaratna Buddha came to attest the scripture; now that the two gates have been taught, he is respectfully sent off as before. The emanation buddhas assembled to open the stūpa; the opening complete, they are told to return to their respective lands.
The treatise makes a subtle distinction here: the stūpa cannot be opened again, so the emanations depart and no longer appear; the stūpa must still continue listening to the Dharma, so although closed it remains in place.
It immediately raises and answers a question: if the stūpa remains in order to hear the Dharma, should it not also remain open? The answer has only two clauses—the attestation completed, it closes; to hear the Dharma of transmission, it remains.
Ten Chinese characters settle the matter: closing and remaining do not conflict because they answer to two different tasks. Prabhūtaratna’s stūpa had a first task, attesting that this scripture is true; that task was completed, so it closes. Its second task is listening; the Dharma must still be circulated, and that task is not complete, so the stūpa remains.
The chapter ends with the great assembly rejoicing. The treatise analyzes this rejoicing in three ways: joy because the person who teaches is pure—the Buddha; joy because the Dharma heard is pure—this scripture; and joy because hearing the Dharma brings realization—those who benefit now and in the future. Since all three matters are complete, there is great joy.
The five chapters below, beginning with The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King, have already been classified by the treatise as exhorting circulation in terms of transforming others. The reading path turns from “the Buddha hands the Dharma over” to “how those who receive it enact it with body and life.” The entrustment is complete; what follows shows what its recipients do.
VII. Why Three Entrustments and Three Receptions?
The scripture writes with exact symmetry: the Buddha strokes their crowns three times and repeats the same statement each time; the bodhisattvas likewise receive it three times. Following this rhythm, the treatise makes the threefold sequence explicit—the Buddha entrusts three times, and therefore the bodhisattvas receive three times.
The number three has two points of application in this chapter. One is repetition of the action: the crowns are stroked three times. The other is the threefold content: room, robe, and seat, the three names by which the Buddha gives and to which the bodhisattvas respond in three statements.
Read together, these two applications show that repetition is more than solemn emphasis. The first is body, the second mind, and the third speech—the same order in which the treatise analyzes the three forms of entrustment. The bodhisattvas’ reception is likewise divided among body, speech, and mind. Giving and receiving each have three aspects, so the three strokes of the crown take the transfer through all three.
This also explains why the scripture writes the same statement three times. If the purpose were emphasis alone, one occurrence with the word yinqin (“earnest”) would suffice. It is written three times because what is given and received on each occasion belongs to a different channel.
VIII. Why Does the Treatise Use the Fewest Words for This Chapter?
One fact merits attention: this is the shortest unit in the entire edition, yet it treats the weightiest moment of the scripture—the formal handing over of the Dharma.
It is not short because it is simple. In a little more than seven hundred characters, the treatise performs four densely layered operations: three explanations of the title, three forms of entrustment, an alignment with the four siddhāntas, and a double alignment of room, robe, and seat with the three wisdoms. On average, almost every two or three sentences establish a new distinction.
Such economy is possible because all the categories employed here have already been established. Room, robe, and seat come from the Dharma Teacher chapter; the four siddhāntas are used throughout the work; and the distinctions between provisional and real wisdom and among the three wisdoms were settled earlier. At this moment, the treatise needs only to apply existing structures, without explaining any of the terms anew.
This reflects the nature of entrustment itself. The transmission can be completed in one gesture because everything that had to be taught has already been taught. If one still needed to explain loving-kindness and compassion or Buddha-wisdom all over again, this would not yet be entrustment; teaching would still be under way.
The brevity of the chapter is therefore evidence that the Origin Gate has been fully taught.
IX. Why Does the Assembly Rejoice Here?
The chapter closes with “the great assembly rejoiced.” This may look like a scriptural formula, but the treatise reads it on three levels.
The first is most direct: the buddhas rejoice because the work of transforming others has been accomplished, while the bodhisattvas rejoice because through cultivating the path themselves they have obtained the Dharma. On one side, transforming others is accomplished; on the other, personal cultivation has gained something.
The second is more precise: joy because the person who teaches the Dharma is pure—the Buddha; joy because the Dharma heard is pure—this wondrous scripture; and joy because hearing the Dharma brings realization—those who benefit now and in the future. The treatise says that all three matters are complete and therefore there is great joy.
The third item in this second reading deserves attention because it includes “those who will benefit in the future.” The joy at this moment is not only for those present—it includes people not yet born, who will encounter this scripture only later.
Rejoicing thus answers from afar the ten supernormal powers of the preceding chapter. There the latter five signs represented the future capacities, teaching, people, practice, and principle; here the third matter includes future beneficiaries within the joy. Since entrustment is for the future, the rejoicing at its close must also extend into the future.
Through the Eye of the Wenjuji
Zhanran’s mirror explanation of this chapter is structured unlike that of any other chapter. At the outset he says that, in explaining this chapter, one first distinguishes other scholars’ judgments concerning its placement before and after other chapters, and only then turns to the present text’s proper explanation.
The first half of the mirror passage accordingly addresses a controversy that the root treatise never mentions: both the Ci’en and An’guo schools maintained that Entrustment should be moved after Encouragement of Samantabhadra, to the very end of the scripture; the more recent Master Xiu’s Perfect Mirror of the Lotus elaborated arguments in support.
Zhanran responds on two levels. His general defense gives eight impossibilities, each marked “impossible,” and grounds them in narrative continuity. After the stūpa appears, Prabhūtaratna is always “within the stūpa,” not one whom the assembly “sees as a buddha”; moving the chapter would erase his emergence. The text after the emanations disperse mentions only the Buddha and stūpa; moving it would erase their dispersal. Entrustment restores the lands to impurity, after which pure lands are no longer discussed; moving it would erase that restoration. The assembly rose from the ground because of the stūpa and is back on the ground after the dismissal; moving it would erase the return. Since the scripture continues after Entrustment, it omits “and departed,” so moving the chapter to the end would require adding “and departed.” Since the scripture ends after Encouragement of Samantabhadra, that chapter includes “and departed,” so inserting Entrustment after it would require deleting “and departed.” The completed Trace and Origin gates require an entrustment, or the Dharma has no recipient; and the later teaching on vehicles, their riders, and propagation presupposes that entrustment, or master and disciples are confounded.
Not one of these eight arguments appeals to authority. Each says, in effect, “If the chapter is moved, the narrative sequence breaks here.” It is a rigorous mode of argument.
After the general defense come particular defenses addressing the opponent’s reasons one by one. The first has the greatest weight: the opponent notes that in both the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Dharma and Jñānagupta’s Sui-dynasty Supplemented Lotus Sūtra, Entrustment stands at the end. Zhanran does not deny it. His defense is “The translators of the two versions differed, and what they saw was distinct; it is impossible to require them to be entirely the same.” He cites Daoxuan’s Inner Canon Records as saying that Jñānagupta “moved [the chapter] on his own authority,” and asks whether Kumārajīva—who traveled throughout the five regions of India and long resided in Chang’an—could have failed to see Sanskrit manuscripts and Dharmarakṣa’s translation, yet still retranslated the scripture without following them. His conclusion is “It is reasonable now to take Kumārajīva’s translation as the reliable standard.” He ends with a forceful statement: if one cannot fathom the purport, one should simply look up in trust; how could an ordinary person use measuring vessels and rulers to gauge the ocean and empty space?
The second defense concerns the Treatise on the Lotus. The opponent cites the phrase “as in the Encouragement of Samantabhadra chapter and the later chapter” in its discussion of the power to protect the Dharma, maintaining that “later chapter” means Entrustment. Zhanran replies that the Treatise too was translated by human beings, after the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Dharma, and its translators merely followed that earlier version. He also records Master Xiu’s alternative—that “later chapter” means the Sūtra of the Contemplation of Samantabhadra—but judges it “this too is only one view,” recording it without adopting it.
The third defense answers the claim that entrustment occurs at the end of all scriptures. Zhanran gives three counterexamples: the Large Perfection of Wisdom has an Entrusting the Teaching chapter in its middle and another Entrustment chapter at its end; the Mahāratnakūṭa has words of entrustment in each of its forty-nine assemblies; and the Diamond Sūtra asks about the scripture’s name and how it should be upheld while the scripture is still under way.
Two further defenses separately clarify why Prabhūtaratna’s stūpa closes yet remains and why the emanations disperse and depart. They agree in purport with the root treatise’s two phrases “the stūpa cannot be opened again” and “the stūpa must still hear the Dharma,” but are much more detailed.
More than its conclusion, the passage shows that the stūpa’s closing and the emanations’ dispersal—two sentences in the root treatise—became a multigenerational mirror-layer case. Zhanran defends the chapter order of Kumārajīva’s translation by joining every surrounding action and testing the continuity. The method demonstrates that narrative sequence is evidence.
考據Apparatus
本單元是本門付囑之正文。本論以三重釋品名（從聖旨、從菩薩敬順、從授受合論），其下敘如來三摩頂付囑、菩薩三領受、事畢唱散。本文之三重釋名、身口意三付囑、四悉檀配當、如來室衣座配當等語，都是《文句》本身明說。《文句記》於本品另有一場品次之諍——湛然立八不可並逐條別救，駁慈恩、安國、秀公『〈囑累〉當移於〈勸發〉後』之說；此諍本論全無，一律另署鏡層，不倒入本論。
一、科判定位
本品屬本門（15–28），是付囑流通之正文。嚴格域為 T34n1718〔0142b20–0143a09〕：起於品題「釋囑累品」，止於末句「三事具足，故大歡喜〔云云〕」〔0143a08–0143a09〕。全域實有七百六十五個漢字——為全帙最短之單元。本單元不跨卷界（承前品同在卷第十下）。
| 次第 | 本論自科 | 行域與內容 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 三重釋品名 | 從聖旨〔0142b21〕・從菩薩敬順〔0142b22〕・從授受合論〔0142b23〕；末以摩頂授受總結〔0142b25–0142b27〕 |
| 二 | 本品二分 | 「文為二，初、付囑，次、時眾歡喜。」〔0142b28〕 |
| 三 | 付囑三分 | 如來付囑・菩薩領受・事畢唱散〔0142b28–0142b29〕 |
| 四 | 正付：權智手摩實智頂 | 「佛以一權智善巧之手」摩諸菩薩實智之頂〔0142c01–0142c04〕 |
| 五 | 身口意三付囑 | 申手摩頂為身、權智臨實智為意、「而作是言」為口〔0142c05–0142c07〕 |
| 六 | 四悉檀配當 | 三世繼嗣＝世界・一心流布＝為人・廣令增＝對治・益＝第一義〔0142c07–0142c11〕 |
| 七 | 釋付：室衣座與三智 | 大慈悲＝室・無慳悋＝衣・無所畏＝座〔0142c11–0142c13〕；佛之智慧＝一切智・如來智慧＝道種智・自然智慧＝一切種智〔0142c13–0142c15〕 |
| 八 | 誡付 | 根深智利直說佛慧，不堪者於餘深法中示教利喜；「佛慧是深而非餘，六方便是餘而非深」〔0142c18–0142c22〕 |
| 九 | 菩薩三領受 | 意・身（曲躬低頭）・口（俱發聲言）；三語各領室衣座三意〔0142c23–0142c27〕 |
| 十 | 事畢唱散 | 多寶為證經而來、分身為開塔而集；塔閉而在、分身去而不現〔0142c28–0143a02〕 |
| 十一 | 問答·塔若聽法亦應不閉 | 「證正已故閉，聽流通故在」〔0143a04〕 |
| 十二 | 大眾歡喜三事 | 說人清淨・聞清淨法・聞法獲證；三事具足故大歡喜〔0143a05–0143a09〕 |
《文句記》對位：見 T34n1719「釋囑累品」〔0350b21〕起，其上〔0350b18〕為記之卷第十下開卷題與「唐天台沙門湛然述」〔0350b20〕。
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；卷首題署天台智者大師說〔0001b20〕，本品承前品同在卷第十下〔0141c04〕。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。
三、所帖經文與所引
（一）所帖根經：〈囑累品〉
| 本論所標 | 根經逐字 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 正付之相 | 「爾時，釋迦牟尼佛從法座起，現大神力，以右手摩無量菩薩摩訶薩頂」 | T09n0262〔0052c04–0052c05〕 |
| 口付囑 | 「而作是言」 | 〔0052c05〕 |
| 世界悉檀 | 「我於無量百千萬億阿僧祇劫，修習是難得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法，今以付囑汝等」 | 〔0052c05–0052c07〕 |
| 為人・對治・第一義 | 「汝等應當一心流布此法，廣令增益。」 | 〔0052c07–0052c08〕 |
| 三摩頂 | 「如是三摩諸菩薩摩訶薩頂」 | 〔0052c08〕 |
| 釋付·室衣座 | 「有大慈悲」・「無諸慳悋」・「亦無所畏」 | 〔0052c13〕 |
| 釋付·三智 | 「佛之智慧」・「如來智慧」・「自然智慧」 | 〔0052c14〕 |
| 菩薩身領受 | 「曲躬低頭」 | 〔0052c22〕 |
| 菩薩口領受 | 「俱發聲言」 | 〔0052c23〕 |
| 三語領受 | 「如世尊勅」・「當具奉行」・「願不有慮」 | 〔0052c23〕〔0052c23〕〔0052c24〕 |
本論所作「我於無量劫修是難得之法」〔0142c07–0142c08〕係今本「我於無量百千萬億阿僧祇劫，修習是難得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法」〔0052c05–0052c07〕之撮引；「廣令增」與「益」〔0142c10–0142c11〕則是把今本「廣令增益」一語拆為二悉檀而分釋，二形並錄不判。
（二）本單元無他引
本論於本品未引他經他論，據實記之，不虛列。所用之如來室、衣、座三名承〈法師品〉而來，本論於此逕用而未標出處。
四、文句記釋要〔鏡〕
湛然於本單元之鏡釋，見 T34n1719〔0350b21〕起。其結構與他品迥異：「釋此品，先辯他人判品前後，次今文正釋。」〔0350b22〕——先用大量篇幅處理品次之諍，然後才釋文。
（一）品次之諍：八不可
記載慈恩、安國二家並主張把〈囑累品〉移到〈勸發品〉之後，近人秀公《法華圓鏡》復廣立難勢〔0350b23–0350b27〕。湛然總救之，立八不可〔0350b28–0350c13〕：
| 次 | 不可之由 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 〈出塔〉以後凡述多寶皆云「塔中」不云「見佛」，若移在後則無出塔處 | 〔0350b28–0350b29〕 |
| 二 | 分身散後所述唯論佛塔不涉分身，若移在後則佛無散處 | 〔0350c01–0350c02〕 |
| 三 | 〈囑累〉文中佛散土穢，以下經文言不涉淨，若移在後則無復穢處 | 〔0350c02–0350c04〕 |
| 四 | 會本居地、因塔升空，佛散出塔後文在地，若移在後則無還地處 | 〔0350c04–0350c06〕 |
| 五 | 〈囑累〉後經既未盡，但述眾喜不云「而去」，若移在後須加「而去」 | 〔0350c06–0350c07〕 |
| 六 | 〈勸發〉後無復餘文，經既已終則云「而去」，若移在後須除「而去」 | 〔0350c07–0350c09〕 |
| 七 | 本迹二門佛事既畢須有所付，若移在後則法無所歸 | 〔0350c09–0350c11〕 |
| 八 | 囑累已後明乘乘人、弘經本事事須囑累，若移在後則師弟參雜 | 〔0350c11–0350c13〕 |
（二）品次之諍：別救五端
其下逐條別救〔0350c13 起〕，本表錄其前三端與二本之關鍵：
一·眾本相違：對方以《正法華》及隋崛多《添品法華》此品皆在經末為據。湛然救曰二本譯人各別，所見不同，不可令盡同；又引南山《內典錄》「崛多擅移〈囑累〉著後」，並判「《正》、《妙》二本譯人既異」「今依什譯理可準憑」〔0350c14–0350c25〕。二本之實測：《正法華經》T09n0263 之〈囑累品〉確在末〔0134a19〕，其前為〈樂普賢品〉〔0134a17〕；《添品妙法蓮華經》T09n0264 之〈囑累品〉亦在末〔0195c09〕，其前為〈普賢菩薩勸發品〉〔0194b24〕——記所述二本之品次屬實。
二·經論相違：對方引《法華論》護法力中「如〈普賢勸發品〉及後品」，謂「後品」即〈囑累〉。湛然救曰《論》亦是人譯，譯時在《正法華》之後，只是譯者順《正法華》而已〔0351a01–0351a11〕。今本實測：「及後品」一語 T26n1519〔0010b10〕與 T26n1520〔0019c04〕二譯皆有，皆在護法力段。記又錄秀公之異說：「後品」是《普賢觀經》〔0351a12–0351a15〕，並判「此亦是一見」而不採。
三·諸教相違：對方謂諸經付囑並在經末。湛然舉《大品》中間有〈累教品〉而經末復有〈囑累品〉、《大寶積》四十九會會會皆有付囑之文、《金剛經》問名問持乃在經中為反例〔0351a16–0351a24〕。
其下四（二事乖角）、五（二命不齊）二端，皆就多寶塔閉而在、分身散去二事逐一辯之〔0351a24–0351c10〕，與本論「塔不可重開，故分身去而不現，塔猶聽法故閉而尚在」〔0143a02–0143a03〕同旨而遠為詳盡。
（三）鏡引叡公語——與今本三處字異
記引叡公云：「梵音錯者正之以天竺，秦言謬者正之以字義，不可譯者即而書之。」〔0350c26–0350c27〕今本《出三藏記集》〈大品經序〉作：「胡音失者。正之以天竺。秦名謬者。定之以字義。不可變者。即而書之。」〔T55n2145 0053b23–0053b25〕——三處字異（胡音失／梵音錯・秦名謬定之／秦言謬正之・不可變／不可譯），二形並錄不判。
又記所引南山《內典錄》「崛多擅移〈囑累〉著後」一語，今本 T55n2149 以標記容錯法檢「擅移」二字零命中，據實誌之，不代擬他處。
五、諸家異釋
本論於本品未錄諸師異解，據實記之，不虛列；本論自設問答一處（塔若聽法亦應不閉〔0143a03〕），自問自答，非錄他家。
鏡層則錄有四家，皆屬品次之諍，非本論所錄：慈恩・安國（並主張移於〈勸發〉後）〔0350b23〕・秀公《法華圓鏡》（廣立難勢）〔0350b26〕・秀公另說「後品」是《普賢觀經》〔0351a12〕。湛然於前三家逐條駁之，於第四說錄而不採（「此亦是一見」〔0351a15〕）。此四家一律不倒寫為本論已列之異解。
六、術語
| 語 | 釋 |
|---|---|
| 囑累（三重釋） | 從聖旨：「囑」是佛所付囑、「累」是煩爾宣傳〔0142b21〕；從菩薩敬順：「囑」是頂受所囑、「累」是甘而弗勞〔0142b22〕；從授受合論：「囑」是如來金口所囑、「累」是菩薩丹心頂荷〔0142b23–0142b24〕。 |
| 權智手・實智頂 | 如來授道化他故名權智手，菩薩自行受道故名實智頂〔0142c03–0142c05〕。 |
| 身口意三付囑 | 申手摩頂為身付囑、權智臨實智為意付囑、「而作是言」為口付囑〔0142c05–0142c07〕。 |
| 如來室・衣・座 | 大慈悲為室、無諸慳悋為衣、亦無所畏為座〔0142c11–0142c13〕。 |
| 三智 | 佛之智慧＝一切智、如來智慧＝道種智、自然智慧＝一切種智〔0142c13–0142c15〕。 |
| 餘深 | 佛慧是深而非餘，六方便是餘而非深，別教次第是餘亦是深；以餘深助申佛慧即善巧報佛之恩〔0142c20–0142c23〕。 |
| 唱散 | 多寶為證經而來、分身為開塔而集；事畢故敬遣如故〔0142c28–0143a02〕。 |
七、譬喻・互讀・承衍
本單元之意象為摩頂。本論不把它讀作單純的儀節，而拆為身、口、意三重付囑，又以權智之手與實智之頂相對——授與受各有其智，交付因此不是單向的給予。
與〈如來神力品〉互讀：前品菩薩受命自誓，本品如來親手交付；本論於前品品首已預告「今品明菩薩受命弘經，次品如來摩頂付累」〔0141c09〕。二品合成付囑之一事。
與〈法師品〉互讀：本論釋付囑時所用之如來室、衣、座三名承彼品而來，於此逕用而未標出處；三名在彼為弘經者所應入所應著所應坐，在此則為如來自身之德——所付與所受同用一組名相。
與〈見寶塔品〉互讀：本品唱散之議（塔閉而在、分身去而不現）全繫於彼品之開塔；《文句記》之品次八不可，更有五條直接以出塔、散身、土淨穢、還地諸事為據。
承衍：本單元止於大眾歡喜三事〔0143a09〕。其下〈藥王菩薩本事品〉以下五品，本論已於前文判為「約化他勸流通」；讀路由『佛把法交出去』，轉入『受法的人如何以身命行之』。
八、校本定位
本單元嚴格域內有兩個校勘正文位置，全屬【大】【甲】直接對舉；沒有星號回指、單邊校記與省略字數式校記：
| 次 | 校勘正文位置 | 【大】 | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0142b22 | 囑 | 甲本缺 |
| 二 | 0142c21 | 深 | 深法 |
第一枚〔0142b22〕落在三重釋名之第二重「「囑」是頂受所囑」句首，甲本無此「囑」字。第二枚〔0142c21〕落在誡付之「六方便是餘而非深」句，甲本作「深法」。二處皆並錄，讀者層守大正本形。
本單元嚴格域內無通用字庫外字。品題兩形之例（「序品」無釋冠、餘二十七品作「釋Ｘ品」）於本品見「釋囑累品」〔0142b20〕。
This unit is the principal text of entrustment in the Origin Gate. The treatise itself explicitly states its three explanations of the chapter title—from the Sage’s intent, from the bodhisattvas’ reverent compliance, and from giving and receiving considered together—as well as the Tathāgata’s three strokes of the crown and entrustment, the bodhisattvas’ three receptions, and the dismissal when the work is complete. Its three explanations of the title, three forms of entrustment through body, speech, and mind, alignment with the four siddhāntas, and alignment with the Tathāgata’s room, robe, and seat all belong to the Wenju itself. In this chapter the Wenjuji separately preserves a controversy over chapter order: Zhanran advances eight impossibilities and then gives particular defenses against the claim of Ci’en, An’guo, and Master Xiu that Entrustment should be moved after Encouragement of Samantabhadra. The root treatise says nothing of this controversy; it is always identified as mirror-layer material and never folded into the root text.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
This chapter belongs to the Origin Gate (chapters 15–28) and is the principal text of entrustment and circulation. Its strict domain is T34n1718〔0142b20–0143a09〕, beginning with the chapter title 「釋囑累品」 tr. “Explanation of the Entrustment Chapter” and ending with 「三事具足，故大歡喜〔云云〕」 tr. “The three matters are complete, and therefore there is great rejoicing [and so forth]”〔0143a08–0143a09〕. The complete domain contains 765 Han characters—the shortest unit in the entire edition. It does not cross a fascicle boundary, continuing from the preceding chapter in Fascicle Ten, Lower.
| Sequence | The Treatise’s Own Division | Line Domain and Content |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Three explanations of the chapter title | From the Sage’s intent〔0142b21〕; from the bodhisattvas’ reverent compliance〔0142b22〕; from giving and receiving considered together〔0142b23〕; concluding with crown-stroking, giving, and receiving〔0142b25–0142b27〕 |
| 2 | Two divisions of the chapter | 「文為二，初、付囑，次、時眾歡喜。」 tr. “The text has two parts: first entrustment, and next the assembly’s rejoicing”〔0142b28〕 |
| 3 | Three divisions of entrustment | The Tathāgata entrusts; the bodhisattvas receive; the work completed, the assembly is dismissed〔0142b28–0142b29〕 |
| 4 | Formal entrustment: the hand of provisional wisdom strokes the crowns of real wisdom | 「佛以一權智善巧之手」 tr. “The Buddha, with a single skillful hand of provisional wisdom,” strokes the crowns of real wisdom of the bodhisattvas〔0142c01–0142c04〕 |
| 5 | Three forms of entrustment through body, speech, and mind | Extending the hand and stroking the crown is bodily; provisional wisdom coming over real wisdom is mental; 「而作是言」 tr. “and spoke these words” is verbal〔0142c05–0142c07〕 |
| 6 | Alignment with the four siddhāntas | Succession through the three times = worldly; single-minded circulation = individual; extensively causing increase = counteractive; benefit = ultimate meaning〔0142c07–0142c11〕 |
| 7 | Explanation of what is entrusted: room, robe, and seat with the three wisdoms | Great loving-kindness and compassion = room; absence of stinginess = robe; absence of fear = seat〔0142c11–0142c13〕; the Buddha’s wisdom = all-wisdom; the Tathāgata’s wisdom = wisdom of the varieties of the path; natural wisdom = wisdom of all modes〔0142c13–0142c15〕 |
| 8 | Admonitory entrustment | For those of profound faculties and keen wisdom, directly teach Buddha-wisdom; for those unable to bear it, instruct, benefit, and gladden them within other profound teachings; 「佛慧是深而非餘，六方便是餘而非深」 tr. “Buddha-wisdom is profound but not other; the six skillful means are other but not profound”〔0142c18–0142c22〕 |
| 9 | The bodhisattvas’ three receptions | Mind; body (bending forward and lowering the head); and speech (speaking in unison); their three statements respectively receive the three intents of room, robe, and seat〔0142c23–0142c27〕 |
| 10 | The work complete, the assembly dismissed | Prabhūtaratna came to attest the scripture and the emanations assembled to open the stūpa; the stūpa closes yet remains, while the emanations depart and no longer appear〔0142c28–0143a02〕 |
| 11 | Question and answer: if the stūpa hears the Dharma, should it not remain open? | 「證正已故閉，聽流通故在」 tr. “The attestation completed, it closes; to hear the Dharma of circulation, it remains”〔0143a04〕 |
| 12 | Three matters in the great assembly’s rejoicing | The speaker is pure; a pure Dharma is heard; hearing the Dharma brings realization; because the three matters are complete, there is great rejoicing〔0143a05–0143a09〕 |
Corresponding Wenjuji passage: see T34n1719, beginning with 「釋囑累品」 tr. “Explanation of the Entrustment Chapter”〔0350b21〕; above it,〔0350b18〕 gives the title of Fascicle Ten, Lower, and 「唐天台沙門湛然述」 tr. “composed by the Tang Tiantai śramaṇa Zhanran”〔0350b20〕.
II. Formation and Transmission
The fascicle preface records that Dharma Master Guanding privately recorded the teaching and combined it into twenty fascicles〔0001a23–0001a24〕, and further records its arrangement by Master Lang in the wuxu year of the Tianbao era; the fascicle heading attributes the teaching to Tiantai Great Master Zhizhe〔0001b20〕, and the present chapter follows the preceding one within Fascicle Ten, Lower〔0141c04〕. The doctrinal teaching is attributed to Zhiyi, the record to Guanding, and the received wording was later settled by Master Lang. Shenjiong’s preface, Master Lang’s editorial settlement, and Zhanran’s Wenjuji belong respectively to transmission or mirror-explanation layers; none is rewritten as Zhiyi’s root text.
III. Sutra Passages Explained and Works Cited
A. Root Scripture Attached to the Commentary: Entrustment
| Label in the Treatise | Verbatim Root Scripture | Line Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Sign of formal entrustment | 「爾時，釋迦牟尼佛從法座起，現大神力，以右手摩無量菩薩摩訶薩頂」 tr. “At that time Śākyamuni Buddha rose from the Dharma seat, manifested great supernormal power, and with his right hand stroked the crowns of immeasurable bodhisattva-mahāsattvas” | T09n0262〔0052c04–0052c05〕 |
| Verbal entrustment | 「而作是言」 tr. “and spoke these words” | 〔0052c05〕 |
| Worldly siddhānta | 「我於無量百千萬億阿僧祇劫，修習是難得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法，今以付囑汝等」 tr. “For immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of asaṃkhyeya kalpas, I cultivated this hard-to-obtain Dharma of unsurpassed complete awakening; I now entrust it to all of you” | 〔0052c05–0052c07〕 |
| Individual, counteractive, and ultimate meaning | 「汝等應當一心流布此法，廣令增益。」 tr. “You should single-mindedly circulate this Dharma, extensively causing increase and benefit” | 〔0052c07–0052c08〕 |
| Three strokes of the crown | 「如是三摩諸菩薩摩訶薩頂」 tr. “In this way he stroked the crowns of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas three times” | 〔0052c08〕 |
| Explanation of what is entrusted: room, robe, and seat | 「有大慈悲」 tr. “possessing great loving-kindness and compassion”; 「無諸慳悋」 tr. “without any stinginess”; 「亦無所畏」 tr. “also without fear” | 〔0052c13〕 |
| Explanation of what is entrusted: three wisdoms | 「佛之智慧」 tr. “the Buddha’s wisdom”; 「如來智慧」 tr. “the Tathāgata’s wisdom”; 「自然智慧」 tr. “natural wisdom” | 〔0052c14〕 |
| Bodily reception by the bodhisattvas | 「曲躬低頭」 tr. “bent forward and lowered their heads” | 〔0052c22〕 |
| Verbal reception by the bodhisattvas | 「俱發聲言」 tr. “spoke in unison” | 〔0052c23〕 |
| Three statements of reception | 「如世尊勅」 tr. “according to the World-Honored One’s command”; 「當具奉行」 tr. “we shall certainly carry it out completely”; 「願不有慮」 tr. “may you have no concern” | 〔0052c23〕〔0052c23〕〔0052c24〕 |
The treatise’s 「我於無量劫修是難得之法」 tr. “for immeasurable kalpas I cultivated this hard-to-obtain Dharma”〔0142c07–0142c08〕 is a condensed citation of the present text’s 「我於無量百千萬億阿僧祇劫，修習是難得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提法」 tr. “for immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of asaṃkhyeya kalpas, I cultivated this hard-to-obtain Dharma of unsurpassed complete awakening”〔0052c05–0052c07〕. The forms 「廣令增」 tr. “extensively cause increase” and 「益」 tr. “benefit”〔0142c10–0142c11〕 divide the present text’s single phrase 「廣令增益」 tr. “extensively cause increase and benefit” between two siddhāntas. The two forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
B. No Other Citation in This Unit
The treatise cites no other scripture or treatise in this chapter. This absence is recorded as such, without padding the inventory. Its names of the Tathāgata’s room, robe, and seat are carried forward from the Dharma Teacher chapter, but the treatise uses them here without naming that source.
IV. Essential Explanations from the Wenjuji [the Mirror]
Zhanran’s mirror explanation for this unit begins at T34n1719〔0350b21〕. Its structure differs markedly from the other chapters: 「釋此品，先辯他人判品前後，次今文正釋。」 tr. “In explaining this chapter, first distinguish others’ judgments about its placement before and after, and next properly explain the present text”〔0350b22〕—a lengthy controversy over chapter order comes first, and only afterward does the direct explanation begin.
A. The Chapter-Order Controversy: Eight Impossibilities
The record says that both the Ci’en and An’guo schools maintained that Entrustment should be moved after Encouragement of Samantabhadra, and that the more recent Master Xiu’s Perfect Mirror of the Lotus further elaborated arguments for this position〔0350b23–0350b27〕. Zhanran gives a general defense through eight impossibilities〔0350b28–0350c13〕:
| No. | Reason It Is Impossible | Line Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | After Emerging from the Stūpa, every reference to Prabhūtaratna says he is 「塔中」 tr. “within the stūpa,” not that one 「見佛」 tr. “sees the Buddha”; if Entrustment were moved later, there would be no place for him to emerge from the stūpa | 〔0350b28–0350b29〕 |
| 2 | After the emanations disperse, the text discusses only the Buddha and stūpa and does not involve the emanations; if Entrustment were moved later, the Buddha would have no point at which to disperse them | 〔0350c01–0350c02〕 |
| 3 | In Entrustment the Buddha releases the lands back into impurity, and below it the scripture no longer speaks of purity; if Entrustment were moved later, there would be no return to impurity | 〔0350c02–0350c04〕 |
| 4 | The assembly originally occupies the ground and rises into the air because of the stūpa; after the Buddha dismisses the assembly from the stūpa, the text takes place on the ground; if Entrustment were moved later, there would be no return to the ground | 〔0350c04–0350c06〕 |
| 5 | Because the scripture is not yet finished after Entrustment, it merely states that the assembly rejoiced and does not say 「而去」 tr. “and departed”; moving it later would require adding 「而去」 tr. “and departed” | 〔0350c06–0350c07〕 |
| 6 | No text remains after Encouragement of Samantabhadra, and because the scripture has ended it says 「而去」 tr. “and departed”; moving Entrustment later would require deleting 「而去」 tr. “and departed” | 〔0350c07–0350c09〕 |
| 7 | When the Buddha’s work in the Trace and Origin gates is complete, there must be an entrustment; moving it later would leave the Dharma with nowhere to return | 〔0350c09–0350c11〕 |
| 8 | What follows Entrustment explains vehicles and those who ride them, while the acts involved in propagating the scripture require a prior entrustment; moving it later would confound master and disciples | 〔0350c11–0350c13〕 |
B. The Chapter-Order Controversy: Five Particular Defenses
The following passage gives particular defenses one by one〔beginning at 0350c13〕. This table records the first three and the key evidence from the two editions:
1. Conflict among editions: the opponent adduces the fact that Entrustment appears at the end in both the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Dharma and Jñānagupta’s Sui-dynasty Supplemented Lotus Sūtra. Zhanran replies that the translators of the two versions differed and what they saw was distinct, so one cannot require them all to agree. He further cites Daoxuan’s Inner Canon Records for 「崛多擅移〈囑累〉著後」 tr. “Jñānagupta moved Entrustment to the end on his own authority,” and judges 「《正》、《妙》二本譯人既異」 tr. “the translators of the Correct and Wondrous versions differed” and 「今依什譯理可準憑」 tr. “it is reasonable now to take Kumārajīva’s translation as the reliable standard”〔0350c14–0350c25〕. Direct measurement of the two editions: Entrustment does indeed appear last in the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Dharma, T09n0263〔0134a19〕, preceded by the Joy in Samantabhadra chapter〔0134a17〕; Entrustment likewise appears last in the Supplemented Lotus Sūtra, T09n0264〔0195c09〕, preceded by Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra〔0194b24〕. The chapter order reported by the Wenjuji is therefore borne out in both editions.
2. Conflict with the treatise: the opponent cites 「如〈普賢勸發品〉及後品」 tr. “as in the Encouragement of Samantabhadra chapter and the later chapter” in the Treatise on the Lotus’s discussion of the power to protect the Dharma and takes 「後品」 tr. “later chapter” to mean Entrustment. Zhanran replies that the Treatise too was translated by people, after the Lotus Sutra of the Correct Dharma, and that its translators merely followed the latter〔0351a01–0351a11〕. Direct measurement of the present texts: the phrase 「及後品」 tr. “and the later chapter” occurs in both translations, T26n1519〔0010b10〕 and T26n1520〔0019c04〕, in their discussions of the power to protect the Dharma. The Wenjuji further records Master Xiu’s alternative that 「後品」 tr. “later chapter” means the Sūtra of the Contemplation of Samantabhadra〔0351a12–0351a15〕, but judges it 「此亦是一見」 tr. “this too is only one view” and does not adopt it.
3. Conflict with other teachings: the opponent says that entrustment occurs at the end of all scriptures. Zhanran gives counterexamples: the Large Perfection of Wisdom has an Entrusting the Teaching chapter in its middle and another Entrustment chapter at the end; the Mahāratnakūṭa has words of entrustment in each of its forty-nine assemblies; and the Diamond Sūtra’s questions about the name and how to uphold it occur while the scripture is still under way〔0351a16–0351a24〕.
The following fourth (two matters at cross-purposes) and fifth (two commands not parallel) defenses separately debate the closing yet remaining of Prabhūtaratna’s stūpa and the dispersal of the emanations〔0351a24–0351c10〕. They agree with but greatly expand the root treatise’s statement 「塔不可重開，故分身去而不現，塔猶聽法故閉而尚在」 tr. “The stūpa cannot be opened again, so the emanations depart and no longer appear; the stūpa must still hear the Dharma, so although closed it remains”〔0143a02–0143a03〕.
C. The Mirror’s Citation of Master Rui—Three Wording Differences from the Present Text
The Wenjuji cites Master Rui: 「梵音錯者正之以天竺，秦言謬者正之以字義，不可譯者即而書之。」 tr. “What was mistaken in the Sanskrit sounds was corrected by reference to India; what was erroneous in the Qin wording was corrected by reference to the meaning of the characters; what could not be translated was written as it stood”〔0350c26–0350c27〕. The present Collection of Records Concerning the Tripiṭaka, Preface to the Large Perfection of Wisdom, instead reads 「胡音失者。正之以天竺。秦名謬者。定之以字義。不可變者。即而書之。」 tr. “What was lost in the foreign sounds was corrected by reference to India. What was erroneous in the Qin names was settled by reference to the meaning of the characters. What could not be changed was written as it stood”〔T55n2145 0053b23–0053b25〕—three sets of characters differ (foreign sounds lost / Sanskrit sounds mistaken; Qin names erroneous, settled / Qin wording erroneous, corrected; cannot be changed / cannot be translated). The two forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
The phrase 「崛多擅移〈囑累〉著後」 tr. “Jñānagupta moved Entrustment to the end on his own authority,” which the Wenjuji attributes to Daoxuan’s Inner Canon Records, yields zero matches for the two characters 「擅移」 tr. “moved on his own authority” in the present T55n2149 under marker-tolerant search. This is recorded as measured; no substitute locus is invented.
V. Explanations of Various Masters
The root treatise records no differing explanations by other masters in this chapter. This absence is recorded as such, without padding the inventory. The treatise poses one question of its own—if the stūpa hears the Dharma, it should not remain closed〔0143a03〕—and answers it itself; this is not another master’s interpretation.
The mirror layer, by contrast, records four authorities, all within the chapter-order controversy rather than as interpretations listed by the root treatise: Ci’en and An’guo, both of whom advocate moving Entrustment after Encouragement of Samantabhadra〔0350b23〕; Master Xiu’s Perfect Mirror of the Lotus, which extensively develops objections〔0350b26〕; and Master Xiu’s additional claim that 「後品」 tr. “later chapter” means the Sūtra of the Contemplation of Samantabhadra〔0351a12〕. Zhanran refutes the first three positions point by point and records but does not adopt the fourth, judging 「此亦是一見」 tr. “this too is only one view”〔0351a15〕. None of these four is retrojected as an interpretation already listed by the root treatise.
VI. Terminology
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Entrustment (three explanations) | From the Sage’s intent: 「囑」 tr. “entrust” is what the Buddha entrusts, and 「累」 tr. “burden” is troubling the bodhisattvas to transmit it〔0142b21〕. From the bodhisattvas’ reverent compliance: 「囑」 tr. “entrust” is receiving the entrusted teaching upon the crown, and 「累」 tr. “burden” is willingly accepting it without regarding it as toil〔0142b22〕. From giving and receiving considered together: 「囑」 tr. “entrust” is what the Tathāgata entrusts with his golden mouth, and 「累」 tr. “burden” is what the bodhisattvas bear upon their crowns with wholehearted sincerity〔0142b23–0142b24〕. |
| Hand of provisional wisdom; crown of real wisdom | Because the Tathāgata confers the path and transforms others, his hand is named the hand of provisional wisdom; because the bodhisattvas cultivate the path themselves and receive it, their crowns are named the crowns of real wisdom〔0142c03–0142c05〕. |
| Three forms of entrustment through body, speech, and mind | Extending the hand and stroking the crown is bodily entrustment; provisional wisdom coming over real wisdom is mental entrustment; 「而作是言」 tr. “and spoke these words” is verbal entrustment〔0142c05–0142c07〕. |
| Tathāgata’s room, robe, and seat | Great loving-kindness and compassion are the room; absence of stinginess is the robe; absence of fear is the seat〔0142c11–0142c13〕. |
| Three wisdoms | The Buddha’s wisdom = all-wisdom; the Tathāgata’s wisdom = wisdom of the varieties of the path; natural wisdom = wisdom of all modes〔0142c13–0142c15〕. |
| Other and profound | Buddha-wisdom is profound but not other; the six skillful means are other but not profound; the sequential teaching is both other and profound. Using what is profound among other teachings to assist in elucidating Buddha-wisdom is skillfully repaying the Buddha’s kindness〔0142c20–0142c23〕. |
| Dismissal | Prabhūtaratna came to attest the scripture, and the emanations assembled to open the stūpa; the work complete, they are respectfully sent off as before〔0142c28–0143a02〕. |
VII. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
This unit’s governing image is stroking the crown. The treatise does not read it as ritual alone, but analyzes it into three forms of entrustment through body, speech, and mind, while pairing the hand of provisional wisdom with the crown of real wisdom. Giving and receiving each possess their own wisdom, so entrustment is not a one-directional transfer.
Read with The Supernormal Powers of the Tathāgata: in the preceding chapter, the bodhisattvas accept the charge and make their vow; here the Tathāgata personally entrusts it. At the start of the preceding chapter, the treatise already announced 「今品明菩薩受命弘經，次品如來摩頂付累」 tr. “The present chapter explains the bodhisattvas’ acceptance of the charge to propagate the scripture; the next chapter presents the Tathāgata’s stroking of their crowns and entrustment”〔0141c09〕. Together the two chapters constitute a single act of entrustment.
Read with the Dharma Teacher chapter: the names of the Tathāgata’s room, robe, and seat used here to explain what is entrusted are carried forward from that chapter, though the treatise does not name the source here. There the three are what propagators of the scripture should enter, wear, and sit upon; here they are the Tathāgata’s own virtues—what gives and what receives employ the same names.
Read with Beholding the Jeweled Stūpa: the dismissal debated here—the stūpa closing yet remaining, the emanations departing and no longer appearing—depends entirely on the opening of the stūpa in that chapter. In the Wenjuji’s eight impossibilities concerning chapter order, five directly appeal to emergence from the stūpa, dispersal of emanations, purity and impurity of lands, and return to the ground.
Carrying forward: this unit ends with the three matters in the great assembly’s rejoicing〔0143a09〕. The treatise has already classified the five chapters below, beginning with The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King, as 「約化他勸流通」 tr. “exhorting circulation in terms of transforming others.” The reading path turns from “the Buddha hands the Dharma over” to “how those who receive it enact it with body and life.”
VIII. Placement of the Editions
Within the strict domain of this unit there are two critical-text positions, both direct juxtapositions of the Taishō and edition A readings. There are no asterisk back-references, one-sided notes, or omission-count notes:
| No. | Critical-Text Position | Taishō | Edition A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0142b22 | entrust | omitted in edition A |
| 2 | 0142c21 | profound | profound Dharma |
The first 〔0142b22〕 occurs at the beginning of the second of the three explanations of the title, in the sentence 「「囑」是頂受所囑」 tr. “‘Entrust’ is receiving the entrusted teaching upon the crown,” where edition A lacks the character 「囑」 tr. “entrust.” The second 〔0142c21〕 occurs in the admonitory entrustment phrase 「六方便是餘而非深」 tr. “the six skillful means are other but not profound,” where edition A reads 「深法」 tr. “profound Dharma.” Both readings are recorded; the reader layer retains the Taishō form.
There are no characters outside the common character inventory within the unit’s strict domain. The two forms of chapter heading—「序品」 tr. “Introduction Chapter,” without an initial “explanation,” and the other twenty-seven chapters as 「釋Ｘ品」 tr. “Explanation of Chapter X”—appear here as 「釋囑累品」 tr. “Explanation of the Entrustment Chapter”〔0142b20〕.