妙法蓮華經文句 釋藥王菩薩本事品
有一位菩薩，名字叫一切眾生喜見。
他聽到了《法華經》，得了普現色身三昧。他想報答佛的恩，先用神通力供養，用了很久；然後覺得還不夠。
於是他喝下香油，用天衣纏身，點燃了自己。
那道光照亮了八十億恒河沙那麼多的世界。諸佛同聲讚歎他：這才是真正的供養。
火燒了一千二百年。
後來他再生為王子，又到佛前，燒了兩隻手臂，燒了七萬二千年。
——這是《法華經》第二十三品的故事。
讀到這裡，人多半會有兩種反應。一種是被震住：竟然可以捨到這個地步。另一種是不安：這是在鼓勵什麼？
本論兩種都沒有。它只問了一句話。
它問：誰在燒？
經文說這叫「真法供養」。本論就從這個「真」字下手。它說：真，不在火，在內在運起的那個觀——觀煩惱的因、觀煩惱的果，用空慧一併蕩掉。
然後它再往前一步：
若身、若火，能供養的、所供養的，統統都是實相。
那麼——誰在燒？誰被燒？
能供的不可得，所供的也不可得。
所以叫真法。
這一問把整場火翻轉了。
它不是在說那場火不重要。它是在說：火之所以是供養，不是因為它燒得徹底，而是因為燒的時候有一雙眼睛醒著。
鏡層在這裡補了一句更硬的話：若不是這樣，就成了無益的苦行；佛有明明白白的誡文，實在應該先想清楚。
它甚至替後人設想了一個很實際的問題：戒律裡明明說燒身有罪，這一品卻在讚歎，怎麼辦？
它的答案不是選邊，是換問題——
心正，行才正；智若邪，事就邪。
行不可以廢掉，智也不可以丟失。
而最後那句話說得最平實：自己掂量自己的德，在境上觀自己的心；心相應了，再談該怎麼做。
於是這一品就不再是一個關於燒不燒的故事。
它問的是：你手上正在做的那件事——不管是苦行、是布施、是熬夜、是忍耐、是為誰付出——
那雙眼睛，醒著嗎？
同一件事，有觀是供養，無觀是自傷。
外表看起來，兩者一模一樣。
There was once a bodhisattva named Gladly Seen by All Beings.
He heard the Lotus Sūtra and attained the samādhi of manifesting all physical forms. Wishing to repay the Buddha’s kindness, he first made offerings through supernormal power for a very long time; then he felt that this was still not enough.
So he drank fragrant oil, wrapped his body in heavenly robes, and set himself alight.
The radiance illuminated worlds as numerous as the sands of eighty koṭis of Ganges Rivers. The buddhas praised him in one voice: this alone was a genuine offering.
The fire burned for twelve hundred years.
He was later reborn as a prince, returned before the Buddha, and burned both arms for seventy-two thousand years.
—This is the story told in chapter twenty-three of the Lotus Sūtra.
Most people have one of two reactions on reading it. One is shock: could someone truly relinquish so much? The other is unease: what is this encouraging?
The treatise does neither. It asks only one question.
It asks: Who is burning?
The scripture calls this “a true Dharma offering.” The treatise begins with the character zhen (“true”). The truth is not in the fire, but in the contemplation internally set in motion: contemplate the causes and fruits of affliction and sweep them all away with the wisdom of emptiness.
It then goes one step further:
Whether body or fire, that which makes the offering and that to which it is offered—all are the true mark.
Then—who is burning? Who is being burned?
Neither the giver nor the recipient can be obtained.
That is why it is called true Dharma.
This question turns the entire fire around.
It does not say that the fire is unimportant. It says: the fire becomes an offering not because it burns completely, but because a pair of eyes remains awake while it burns.
The mirror layer adds a harder sentence: without this, it becomes useless asceticism; the Buddha has explicit admonitions, and one must truly think first.
It even anticipates a practical question for later readers: the precepts clearly say that burning the body is an offense, while this chapter offers praise. What then?
Its answer does not take sides. It changes the question—
When the mind is right, the action is right; when wisdom is deviant, the deed is deviant.
Practice cannot be discarded, nor can wisdom be lost.
Its final statement is the most practical: weigh your own virtue, contemplate your mind amid conditions, and only after the mind corresponds should you speak of what is to be done.
This chapter is therefore no longer a story about whether one should burn.
It asks about the thing you are doing now—whether ascetic practice, generosity, staying awake through the night, endurance, or giving yourself for someone—
Are those eyes awake?
The same action, with contemplation, is an offering; without contemplation, it is self-injury.
From the outside, they look exactly alike.
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 0143a10〕。段/行首〔T34 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T34 0143a10〕釋藥王菩薩本事品 《觀經》曰「昔名星光，從尊者日藏聞說佛慧，以雪山上藥供養眾僧，願我未來能治眾生身心兩病，舉世歡喜號曰藥王。」此文明一切眾生喜見，頓捨一身復燒兩臂，輕生重法命殞道存，舉昔顯今，故言「本事品」也。若推此義，星光應在喜見之後，從捨藥發誓已來名藥王故〔云云〕。此下五品皆是化他流通，今品明化他之師，唯願大法大得弘宣，大願眾生獲大饒益，所以竭其神力盡其形命，殷殷虔虔志猶未已，庶令弟子宗法如師，我傳爾明、爾復傳明，明明無已師之志也，故知此品勗弘法之師也。下如〈妙音〉、〈觀音〉兩品，明他方大士奉命弘經，普現色身形無定準，不可牛羊眼看，不可以凡庸識度，於所聞處勿生輕想，輕想則法不染心，故知下品勗受法弟子也。有人言，上諸品諸佛為佛事，此品下菩薩為佛事。此一往耳，上品亦有菩薩，此下品亦有諸佛〔云云〕。今明〈方便品〉開三顯一圓因已竟，〈安樂行品〉明乘乘之法，〈壽量〉明乘果已竟，此品下明乘乘之人，故《十二門論》云「大乘者，普賢、文殊大人之所乘也」，〈藥王〉以苦行乘乘，〈妙音〉、〈觀音〉以三昧乘乘，〈陀羅尼〉以總持乘乘，〈妙莊嚴〉以誓願乘乘，〈普賢〉以神通乘乘，作此解者，於化他流通義便也。 文為四：一、問，二、答，三、利益，四、多寶稱善。問為三：一、通問遊化，二、別問苦行，三、請答，如文。二、答，為二：一、但答苦行者，遊化則指色身三昧，或指下二品也；二、歎經，答苦行中，先明事本，次明本事、事本，為三，謂時節有佛聲聞國土等，悉如文；本事為三，一、佛說法，二、修供養，三、結會。然佛普為一切，何獨喜見？其是對揚，須付流通，如今之身子寄一而言諸耳。苦行又二：一、現在，二、未來。現在又二：一、修行得法，二、作念報恩。報恩又二：一、三昧力，二、正報身力。身力為三：一、燒身，二、佛稱歎，三、時節。「真法供養」者，當是內運智觀觀煩惱因果，皆用空慧蕩之，故言真法也。又觀若身若火、能供所供皆是實相，誰燒誰然？能供所供皆不可得，故名真法也。「一切眾生」下，未來苦行，又為五：一、生王家，二、說本事，三、往佛所，四、如來付囑，五、奉命任持。悉如文。任持又四：一、起塔，二、燒臂，三、利益，四、現報。悉如文。「佛告」下，是第三，結會古今。又為二：一、結會，二、勸修。勸修者，能然一指勝捨外身，外輕內重故功福有異。文云「妻子」者，外身也；「國城」等，外財也。從「若復有人以七寶」下，歎經：先歎能持者，次歎所持法，後明持福深。七寶奉四聖，不如持一偈，法是聖師，能生能養能成能榮莫過於法，故人輕法重也。「宿王」下，第二，歎所持法，又二：初、歎法體，次、歎法用。「川流江河諸水之中海為第一」者，《無量義》云「四水譬教，藥草喻中一雲能雨譬說」，今更諸水總一切教別舉四者，譬乳酪生熟四味教也。此法華教譬醍醐海也，說窮本地為「深」，遍一切處為「大」，純明佛法不說餘法為鹹，「最為深大」其義如是。十寶山名，出《華嚴》及眾經〔云云〕。土、黑、鐵圍故非是寶；十山雖寶，或一或二神龍雜居；須彌四寶所成，純天所住，譬餘教說能依十地四十心或凡或賢或聖說，所依或俗或真或中，是為卑下；此《法華經》所說諦理常樂我淨，如四寶所成，開示悟入者之所依，是故此義最為高上。星月同是陰精俱於夜現，星無虧盈不及於月，諸經說權智不得自在，此經明權即實、實即權，盈虧相指不二而二，如此說權智勝餘教也。日是陽精獨能破闇，諸經明實智破惑，尚不及即實而權，那得並即權而實？故知此經明實智最為第一。輪王號令止在四域，釋齊三十三，梵號令總上冠下，譬餘經說三諦三昧各不相收不得自在。此經所說以實相入真，決了聲聞法，是諸經之王；實相入俗，一切治生產業不相違背；實相入中，諸法無非佛法。文云「一切學無學及發菩薩心者之父」，其義如是。「一切凡夫四果支佛第一」者，此明任運無功用也。餘經要因功用乃得入流，如四果人因聞思修方乃得悟；此經明無作四諦不雜方便，自然流入薩婆若海，如大白牛肥壯多力其疾如風〔云云〕。聲聞、支佛、菩薩為第一者，此明因第一也。餘經明因是七方便；今經明因出方便外，故因第一也。如來第一者，此明果也。餘經明果近在寂場；此經明果遠指本地，故最第一。「此經能救」下，歎法用，初、歎拔苦用，次、十二事歎與樂用，後、結。皆如文。從「若人得聞」下，明持經福深。先、舉全聞經福，次、舉聞品福。有格量、有囑累，如文。口出香是現報，餘是後報。得聞是經不老不死者，此須觀解，不老是樂、不死是常，聞於此經得常樂之解，坦然在懷無所畏忌。 〔T34 0144a14〕「說是」下，是第三，聞品得益，如文。 第四，多寶稱善，如文。
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
《觀經》說：『從前名叫星光，從尊者日藏聽聞解說佛的智慧，把雪山上的藥供養眾僧，發願說：願我未來能治眾生身心兩種病，舉世歡喜，號為藥王。』
這段文說明一切眾生喜見菩薩頓然捨去一身，又燒兩臂——輕生命而重佛法，性命殞落而道業長存。舉往昔以顯今日，所以說〈本事品〉。
若推究這個義理，星光應當在喜見之後——從捨藥發誓以來才名叫藥王的緣故〔云云〕。
二、五品之判：師與弟子
以下五品都是化他的流通。今品說明化他之師：唯願大法得以廣大弘揚宣說，大願眾生獲得大饒益，所以竭盡他的神通力、盡捨他的形壽性命，殷殷懇懇而志向猶未止息。庶幾使弟子尊崇法如同尊崇師——我把明傳給你，你又把明傳下去，明明無盡，這就是師的志向。所以知道這一品是勉勵弘法之師。
以下如〈妙音〉〈觀音〉兩品，說明他方大士奉命弘經，普現色身而形貌沒有定準——不可以用牛羊的眼睛去看，不可以用凡庸的識見去衡量，在所聽聞之處不要生輕視之想；輕視之想一生，法就不染入心。所以知道下面的品是勉勵受法的弟子。
有人說：上面諸品是諸佛作佛事，這一品以下是菩薩作佛事。這只是一往之說罷了——上面的品也有菩薩，這以下的品也有諸佛〔云云〕。
三、乘乘之判
如今〈方便品〉開三顯一，圓因已經說完；〈安樂行品〉說明所乘之法；〈壽量品〉說明所乘之果已經說完；這一品以下說明乘於所乘的人。
所以《十二門論》說：『大乘，是普賢、文殊這樣的大人所乘的。』
〈藥王〉是以苦行乘於所乘，〈妙音〉〈觀音〉是以三昧乘於所乘，〈陀羅尼〉是以總持乘於所乘，〈妙莊嚴〉是以誓願乘於所乘，〈普賢〉是以神通乘於所乘。作這樣的解釋，對於化他流通的義理就便當了。
四、分文為四
文分為四：一是問，二是答，三是利益，四是多寶稱善。
問分為三：一是通問遊化，二是別問苦行，三是請答，如經文所說。
二、答，分為二：一是只答苦行——遊化則指色身三昧，或者指下面兩品；二是歎經。
答苦行之中，先說明事之本，其次說明本事。事本分為三，就是時節、有佛、聲聞、國土等等，都如經文所說。本事分為三：一是佛說法，二是修供養，三是結會。
然而佛普遍為一切眾生，為什麼獨獨為喜見？因為他是對揚之人，必須付與流通——如同今日的舍利弗，寄託一人而說諸人。
五、苦行：現在
苦行又分二：一是現在，二是未來。
現在又分二：一是修行得法，二是作念報恩。
報恩又分二：一是三昧力，二是正報身力。身力分為三：一是燒身，二是佛稱歎，三是時節。
「真法供養」——應當是內在運起智觀，觀照煩惱的因與果，都用空慧蕩除它，所以說真法。又觀照：若身、若火，能供養的、所供養的都是實相——誰在燒？誰被燒？能供所供都不可得，所以名為真法。
六、苦行：未來
「一切眾生」以下是未來的苦行，又分為五：一是生在王家，二是說本事，三是前往佛所，四是如來付囑，五是奉命任持。都如經文所說。
任持又分四：一是起塔，二是燒臂，三是利益，四是現報。都如經文所說。
七、結會古今與勸修
「佛告」以下是第三，結會古今。又分為二：一是結會，二是勸修。
勸修——能燃一指勝過捨棄外身：外者輕、內者重，所以功德福報有差異。經文說「妻子」是外身，「國城」等等是外財。
八、歎經：先歎能持者
從「若復有人以七寶」以下是歎經：先歎能持的人，其次歎所持的法，後說明持經之福深厚。
以七寶奉獻四種聖人，不如受持一偈——法是聖者之師；能生、能養、能成、能榮，沒有超過法的，所以人輕而法重。
九、歎所持法：法體·海喻
「宿王」以下是第二，歎所持的法，又分二：先歎法的體，其次歎法的用。
「川流江河諸水之中海為第一」——《無量義》說『四水譬喻教法，藥草喻中一雲能雨譬喻說法』。如今又以諸水總括一切教法，別舉四者，是譬喻乳、酪、生蘇、熟蘇四味之教。
這《法華》之教譬如醍醐之海：說到窮盡本地叫作「深」，遍於一切處叫作「大」，純粹說明佛法而不說其餘的法叫作「鹹」——「最為深大」，它的義理就是這樣。
十、山喻
十座寶山的名字，出自《華嚴》及眾經〔云云〕。土山、黑山、鐵圍山所以不是寶；十山雖然是寶，或者一寶或者二寶所成，又有神龍雜居；須彌山則是四寶所成，純粹是天人所住。
這譬喻其餘的教法所說，能依的是十地、四十心，或凡或賢或聖；所依的或是俗諦、或是真諦、或是中道——這是卑下的。這《法華經》所說的諦理是常樂我淨，如同四寶所成，是開示悟入之人所依，所以這個義理最為高上。
十一、月喻與日喻
星與月同樣是陰精，都在夜間出現；星沒有虧盈，比不上月。諸經解說權智不得自在；此經說明權就是實、實就是權，盈與虧互相指涉，不二而二——像這樣說權智，勝過其餘的教。
日是陽精，獨能破除黑暗。諸經說明實智破除惑，尚且比不上「即實而權」，哪裡談得上「即權而實」？所以知道此經說明實智最為第一。
十二、輪王梵釋喻
轉輪王的號令只及於四域，帝釋齊於三十三天，梵王的號令總攝上界而冠於下界。這譬喻其餘的經所說三諦三昧各不相收、不得自在。
此經所說：以實相入真諦，「決了聲聞法」，「是諸經之王」；實相入俗諦，一切治生產業不相違背；實相入中道，諸法無非佛法。經文說「一切學無學及發菩薩心者之父」，它的義理就是這樣。
十三、四種第一
「一切凡夫四果支佛第一」——這是說明任運而無功用。其餘的經需要藉著功用才得以入流，如同四果之人因為聞、思、修才得以開悟；此經說明無作四諦不夾雜方便，自然流入薩婆若海，如同大白牛肥壯多力、其疾如風〔云云〕。
聲聞、支佛、菩薩為第一——這是說明因第一。其餘的經說明因是七方便；今經說明因超出方便之外，所以因第一。
如來第一——這是說明果。其餘的經說明果近在寂滅道場；此經說明果遠指本地，所以最為第一。
十四、歎法用
「此經能救」以下是歎法的用：先歎拔苦之用，其次以十二事歎與樂之用，後作結。都如經文所說。
十五、持經福深
從「若人得聞」以下，說明持經之福深厚。先舉全部聽聞此經之福，其次舉聽聞此品之福。有格量、有囑累，如經文所說。
口中出香是現世之報，其餘的是後世之報。
「得聞是經不老不死」——這須要作觀行的理解：不老是樂、不死是常。聽聞此經而得到常與樂的理解，坦然存於胸懷而無所畏忌。
十六、聞品得益與多寶稱善
「說是」以下是第三，聞品得益，如經文所說。
第四，多寶稱善，如經文所說。
I. Explanation of the Chapter Title
The Contemplation Sūtra says: “Formerly he was named Starlight. He heard the Buddha’s wisdom explained by the Venerable Sun Treasury, offered medicinal herbs from Snow Mountain to the community of monks, and vowed: May I in the future cure the two illnesses of body and mind in living beings, so that the whole world rejoices and I am called Medicine King.”
This passage explains how the Bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Beings suddenly relinquished one body and then burned his two arms—holding life lightly and the Buddha-Dharma in esteem, losing life while preserving the work of the path. The past is raised to disclose the present, and therefore the chapter is called Former Affairs.
If the meaning is pursued, Starlight should come after Gladly Seen: only after relinquishing medicine and making his vow was he named Medicine King [and so forth].
II. Classification of the Five Chapters: Teacher and Disciples
The following five chapters all concern circulation through transforming others. The present chapter explains the teacher who transforms others: his sole wish is that the great Dharma be widely propagated and proclaimed, his great vow that living beings receive great benefit. He therefore exhausts his supernormal powers and completely relinquishes physical life itself, earnestly devoted, his resolve never coming to rest. He hopes that the disciples will revere the Dharma as they revere the teacher—I transmit illumination to you, you transmit illumination onward, and illumination continues without end. This is the teacher’s resolve. Thus this chapter is known to exhort teachers who propagate the Dharma.
The following chapters, Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, explain great beings from other lands who receive commands to propagate the scripture and universally manifest physical forms without any fixed appearance. One must not view them with the eyes of cattle and sheep or measure them through ordinary understanding. Do not give rise to thoughts of contempt where you hear the Dharma: once contempt arises, the Dharma does not permeate the mind. Thus the chapters below are known to exhort disciples who receive the Dharma.
Someone says that in the preceding chapters the buddhas perform buddha-work, whereas from the present chapter onward bodhisattvas perform buddha-work. This is only a provisional statement: the chapters above also contain bodhisattvas, and those below also contain buddhas [and so forth].
III. Classification of Riding the Vehicle
The Skillful Means chapter has completed opening the three to reveal the one, and the perfect cause has been explained. Peaceful Practices explains the Dharma that is ridden. The Lifespan chapter completes the fruit that is ridden. From the present chapter onward, what is explained is the person who rides what is ridden.
Thus the Treatise of the Twelve Gates says: “The Great Vehicle is what great persons such as Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī ride.”
Medicine King rides the vehicle through ascetic practice; Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds ride it through samādhi; Dhāraṇī through retention; King Wonderful-Adornment through vows; and Samantabhadra through supernormal powers. Explained in this way, the meaning of circulation through transforming others becomes readily intelligible.
IV. Four Divisions of the Text
The text has four parts: first a question, second an answer, third benefit, and fourth Prabhūtaratna’s praise.
The question has three parts: first a general question about journeying and transforming, second a specific question about ascetic practice, and third a request for an answer, as stated in the scripture.
Second, the answer has two parts: first only the ascetic practice is answered—journeying and transforming may refer to the samādhi of physical forms or to the following two chapters—and second the scripture is praised.
The answer concerning ascetic practice first explains the basis of the event and then the former affair itself. The basis of the event has three parts: the period, the presence of a buddha, and the śrāvakas, land, and so forth, all as stated in the scripture. The former affair has three parts: first the Buddha teaches the Dharma, second offerings are cultivated, and third past and present are joined.
But the Buddha teaches universally for all living beings. Why only for Gladly Seen? Because he is the person who receives and responds to the teaching and must be entrusted with its circulation—just as Śāriputra is today, one person standing in for the many.
V. Ascetic Practice: The Present
Ascetic practice is further divided into two: first the present and second the future.
The present is further divided into two: first cultivating practice and attaining Dharma, and second forming the thought of repaying kindness.
Repaying kindness is further divided into two: first the power of samādhi and second the power of the body as direct recompense. Bodily power has three parts: first burning the body, second praise by the buddhas, and third the length of time.
“True Dharma offering”—internally one should set wisdom and contemplation in motion, contemplate the causes and fruits of affliction, and sweep them all away with the wisdom of emptiness; therefore it is called true Dharma. Further contemplate: whether body or fire, the giver and recipient of the offering are all the true mark—who is burning, and who is being burned? Neither giver nor recipient can be obtained, and therefore it is named true Dharma.
VI. Ascetic Practice: The Future
The passage below “all living beings” concerns ascetic practice in the future and has five parts: first birth in the royal family, second recounting the former affair, third going before the Buddha, fourth entrustment by the Tathāgata, and fifth accepting the command and taking responsibility for upholding the Dharma. All are as stated in the scripture.
Taking responsibility for upholding the Dharma has four parts: first raising a stūpa, second burning the arms, third benefit, and fourth present recompense. All are as stated in the scripture.
VII. Joining Past and Present and Exhorting Cultivation
The passage below “the Buddha told” is the third part, joining past and present. It is further divided into two: first the joining and second the exhortation to cultivate.
In the exhortation to cultivate, burning a single finger surpasses relinquishing the external body: what is external is light and what is internal is weighty, and therefore their merit and blessing differ. The scripture’s “wife and children” are the external body, while “realm and city” and so forth are external wealth.
VIII. Praise of the Scripture: First Praising the Upholder
The passage below “if, furthermore, someone with the seven treasures” is praise of the scripture: first the person able to uphold it is praised, then the Dharma upheld, and finally the depth of the merit of upholding the scripture is explained.
Offering the seven treasures to the four kinds of noble persons is inferior to receiving and upholding one verse. Dharma is the teacher of the noble ones; nothing surpasses it in being able to give birth, nurture, bring to completion, and bring to glory. Thus persons are light and Dharma is weighty.
IX. Praise of the Dharma Upheld: Dharma-Essence and the Ocean Simile
The passage below “Constellation King” is the second part, praising the Dharma upheld, and has two divisions: first praising the essence of the Dharma and then praising its function.
“Among streams, currents, rivers, and all waters, the ocean is foremost”—the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings says, “Four waters are similes for the teaching; in the parable of medicinal herbs, one cloud able to rain is a simile for teaching the Dharma.” Here, all waters are again used to gather every teaching, while four are separately raised as similes for the teachings of the four flavors: milk, cream, raw butter, and clarified butter.
The teaching of this Lotus is like the ocean of ghee. Speaking to the exhaustion of the original ground is called “profound”; pervading every place is called “vast”; purely explaining the Buddha-Dharma without teaching other dharmas is called “salty.” Its being “most profound and vast” has this meaning.
X. The Mountain Simile
The names of the ten jeweled mountains come from the Flower Garland Sūtra and various other scriptures [and so forth]. Earthen Mountain, Black Mountain, and Iron Ring Mountain are not jeweled. Although the ten mountains are jeweled, some are formed of one treasure and some of two, and divine dragons dwell among them. Mount Sumeru is formed of four treasures and inhabited exclusively by devas.
This is a simile for what the other teachings explain. Those who rely are the ten grounds and forty minds—ordinary, worthy, or noble—while what they rely upon may be conventional truth, true truth, or the middle way; these are lower. The truth explained by the Lotus Sūtra is permanence, bliss, self, and purity, like something formed of four treasures, and it is relied upon by persons who open, reveal, awaken to, and enter. This meaning is therefore highest.
XI. The Moon and Sun Similes
Stars and moon alike are formed of the yin essence and appear at night, but stars neither wane nor wax and therefore do not equal the moon. The other scriptures explain provisional wisdom without mastery; the present scripture explains that the provisional is precisely the real and the real precisely the provisional, that waxing and waning mutually indicate one another, nondual yet dual. In explaining provisional wisdom this way, it surpasses the other teachings.
The sun is formed of the yang essence and alone can dispel darkness. The other scriptures explain that real wisdom dispels delusion, yet do not even equal “the real is precisely the provisional”; how much less can they speak of “the provisional is precisely the real”? Thus one knows that this scripture’s explanation of real wisdom is foremost.
XII. Similes of the Wheel-Turning King, Brahmā, and Śakra
The command of a wheel-turning king reaches only the four regions; Śakra’s reaches the Heaven of the Thirty-Three; Brahmā’s command gathers the upper realm and stands above the lower. This is a simile for how the three truths and three samādhis explained in other scriptures do not include one another and lack mastery.
The present scripture explains that the true mark enters true truth—“decisively clarifying the śrāvaka Dharma” and becoming “king of the scriptures”; that the true mark enters conventional truth, so every livelihood and productive activity is without contradiction; and that the true mark enters the middle way, so no dharma is other than the Buddha-Dharma. The scripture says it is “father of all those in training and beyond training and those who have generated the bodhisattva resolve”; this is its meaning.
XIII. Four Kinds of Foremost
“Foremost among all ordinary beings, those of the four fruits, and pratyekabuddhas”—this explains natural functioning without deliberate effort. The other scriptures require deliberate effort before one can enter the stream, just as persons of the four fruits awaken through hearing, reflection, and cultivation. The present scripture explains the four truths of nonaction without admixture of skillful means and naturally flows into the ocean of sarvajñā, like the great white ox, sturdy and powerful, swift as the wind [and so forth].
Foremost among śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas—this explains that the cause is foremost. Other scriptures explain the cause as the seven skillful means; the present scripture explains a cause that passes beyond skillful means, and therefore its cause is foremost.
The Tathāgata is foremost—this explains the fruit. Other scriptures explain the fruit as near, at the quiescent site of awakening; the present scripture explains the fruit as pointing far back to the original ground, and therefore it is foremost.
XIV. Praise of the Dharma’s Function
The passage below “this scripture can save” praises the function of the Dharma: first its function in removing suffering is praised, then its function in giving happiness is praised through twelve matters, and finally the passage concludes. All are as stated in the scripture.
XV. The Profound Merit of Upholding the Scripture
The passage below “if a person hears” explains the profound merit of upholding the scripture. First it raises the merit of hearing this entire scripture, then the merit of hearing this chapter. There are a comparison and an entrustment, as stated in the scripture.
Fragrance issuing from the mouth is present-life recompense; the other benefits are later-life recompense.
“Hearing this scripture, one neither ages nor dies”—this must be understood as contemplative practice: not aging is bliss and not dying is permanence. One hears this scripture and gains an understanding of permanence and bliss, holding it openly within the breast and fearing nothing.
XVI. Benefit from Hearing the Chapter and Prabhūtaratna’s Praise
The passage below “when this was taught” is the third part, benefit from hearing the chapter, as stated in the scripture.
Fourth is Prabhūtaratna’s praise, as stated in the scripture.
前面二十二品講完了。塔開了，經交出去了，佛摩了頂，法會該散的都散了。
可是經還有六品。
本論在這一品開頭把這六品的性質一次說清：「此下五品皆是化他流通，今品明化他之師」——從這裡起是化他的流通，而這一品講的是弘法的人。
接著它把六品分成兩半。本品講師：「故知此品勗弘法之師也」。下面幾品講弟子：「故知下品勗受法弟子也」。
一半勉勵傳法的人，一半勉勵受法的人。
一、五個人，五種乘法
本論在這裡下了一個貫穿全部六品的判語。
它說：〈方便品〉開三顯一，圓因講完了；〈安樂行品〉講所乘之法；〈壽量品〉講所乘之果；那麼這以下講的就是乘於所乘的人。
然後一品配一法：
〈藥王〉「以苦行乘乘」。〈妙音〉〈觀音〉「以三昧乘乘」。〈陀羅尼〉「以總持乘乘」。〈妙莊嚴〉「以誓願乘乘」。〈普賢〉「以神通乘乘」。
五個人，五種上車的方式。
這個判語要緊的地方在於：車只有一輛。所乘之體是同一個實相，所乘之事是同一個一乘因果；不同的只是各人憑什麼上去。有人憑苦行，有人憑三昧，有人憑總持，有人憑誓願，有人憑神通。
於是這六品就不是六段各不相干的傳記，而是同一輛車的六個上車口。
二、不可用牛羊的眼睛去看
本論在講到下面幾品時，插了一句很硬的話。
它說：〈妙音〉〈觀音〉這些他方大士奉命弘經，普現色身而形貌沒有定準——「不可牛羊眼看，不可以凡庸識度，於所聞處勿生輕想」。
然後補了理由：輕想一生，法就不染心。
這句話是對受法的人說的。你聽法的時候如果先看說法的人像不像個說法的人，那麼法就進不去了——不是法不肯進，是你自己把門關上了。
本論用「牛羊眼」三個字，說得相當不客氣。牛羊看東西只看得見眼前的草。
而這句話放在化他流通的開頭，位置也選得極準：在講「怎麼傳」之前，先講「怎麼收」。傳法這件事有兩頭，說的人固然要捨命，聽的人也得先把那雙眼睛換掉。
三、「真法供養」——本論把整場火讀成了一次觀
這一品最有名的一段，是一切眾生喜見菩薩燒身供佛。經文說這叫「真法供養」。
大部分讀者會停在「真」字上：真心、真誠、真的捨得。
本論不這樣讀。它問的是：真在哪裡？
第一層：「當是內運智觀觀煩惱因果，皆用空慧蕩之，故言真法也」。真法之所以真，不在火，在內在運起的那個智觀——觀煩惱的因、觀煩惱的果，用空慧一併蕩掉。
第二層更狠：「又觀若身若火、能供所供皆是實相，誰燒誰然」。
——誰在燒？誰被燒？
身是實相，火是實相，能供的是實相，所供的也是實相。既然都是實相，那個「燒」就無處安放。本論最後說：能供所供都不可得，所以名為真法。
這一問把整場火從一件壯烈的事，轉成了一次現場的觀。
而這個處理有一個很重要的後果：它使得這一品不能被讀成鼓勵自殘。若真法之真在於火的烈度，那麼燒得越徹底就越真；可本論說真在於觀，那麼沒有那個觀，火燒得再大也不是真法供養——只是一場沒有意義的痛。
本論不廢其事，但它一定要立其觀。
四、一根指頭，勝過一座城
結會古今之後是勸修，而本論在這裡下了一句乍看違反常識的話。
它說：「能然一指勝捨外身，外輕內重故功福有異」——燃一根指頭，勝過捨去外身。
為什麼？本論隨即把「外身」拆開：經文說的「妻子」是外身，「國城」等等是外財。
於是這句話的意思就清楚了。捨國城妻子，捨的是身外之物——再多也還在外面；燃一指，動的是自己這一副身。輕重不按數量算，按遠近算。
這個判準值得留意，因為它與一般的功德觀念正好相反。一般人算功德算的是量：捨得越多越好。本論算的是離自己有多近。一座城比一根指頭大得多，可是城在外面，指頭在身上。
而這一句放在燒身之後說，也自有它的分寸。前面本論才剛把整場火讀成一次觀，這裡又說一指勝過一城——兩句合看，本論真正在說的是：分量不在事的大小，在那件事離不離得開你。
五、五個比喻，同一種手法
後半歎所持之法，本論一連用了五個比喻——海、山、月、日、輪王與梵釋。
每一個比喻的結構完全一樣：先說其餘的經到哪裡為止，再說此經為什麼過之。
海：諸水之中海為第一。此經之為海，有三個意思——說到窮盡本地叫「深」，遍於一切處叫「大」，純說佛法不說餘法叫「鹹」。
山：十座寶山雖然是寶，或一寶或二寶所成，還有神龍雜居；須彌是四寶所成，純粹天人所住。其餘的教所依或俗或真或中，是卑下的；此經所說常樂我淨，如四寶所成。
月：星與月都在夜裡出現，可是星沒有虧盈。其餘的經說權智不得自在；「此經明權即實、實即權，盈虧相指不二而二」。
日：日能獨破黑暗。其餘的經說實智破惑，尚且比不上「即實而權」，何況「即權而實」？
輪王：轉輪王的號令只到四域，帝釋齊三十三天，梵王總攝上下。其餘的經三諦三昧各不相收；此經以實相入真、入俗、入中。
五個比喻讀完會發現：本論所有的「過之」都落在同一個字上——「即」。
不是此經講得更多、更高、更玄。是別的經把權與實放成兩件事，而此經說它們是一件事的兩面。
六、不老不死，其實是常與樂
品末經文說：得聞是經者不老不死。
這句話很容易被讀成長生的許諾。本論只用了一句話把它接住：「不老是樂、不死是常」。
不老不是身體不衰，是樂；不死不是壽命無盡，是常。
然後它補了一句很樸素的話：聽聞此經而得到常與樂的理解，坦然存於胸懷而無所畏忌。
所以那個「不死」，是心裡不再有那件事可以怕。
七、承衍：師講完了，接著講弟子
本單元止於多寶稱善。
其下〈妙音菩薩品〉，他方大士奉命而來——本論在本品開頭已經說明，那是講給受法弟子聽的。
而本論之所以要在此處分師與弟子，也有一層現實：傳法這件事，從來不是一個人的事。上一品佛把經交出去了，可是交出去之後有兩件事同時要成立——有人肯捨命去說，也得有人肯低頭去聽。少了任何一邊，付囑都落空。
所以本論在講完師的捨身之後，立刻轉去講弟子的眼睛。二十三品問『給得出去嗎』，二十四品以下問『接得住嗎』。
讀路由『弘法之師如何捨身』，轉入『受法弟子如何識人』。
文句記之眼
鏡層讀這一品，最見力氣的是兩處：一處替本論把「真法供養」推到底，一處替本論處理一個很現實的難題。
先說推到底。本論說身火能所皆是實相、誰燒誰然，鏡層把它拆成法空與生空兩層：既然就是實相，而實相無所謂燒，那麼身與火、能與所，哪裡還有燒、哪裡還有能所？——這是法空。不但身等都是實相，連身等的宰主也一概沒有，所以才說一個「誰」字——這是生空。
拆完之後鏡層下了一句總收：以不二之觀，觀不二之境，成不二之行，會不二之空。
然後是那句誡語：若不這樣，就成了無益苦行，佛有明白的誡文，實在應該先想清楚。
再說那個現實的難題。
鏡層自己設了一問：戒律裡制定燒身得偷蘭遮、燒指得突吉羅，而這一品卻在讚歎燒——這怎麼說？
它的回答分兩層。第一層是教法層面：大乘小乘的開與制本來不同，小乘制之為過，大乘卻制令燒，《梵網》甚至說不燒的不算出家菩薩。第二層才是它真正要說的話：
「心正行正、智邪事邪，行不可廢、智不可亡」
心正，行才正；智若邪，事就邪。行不可以廢掉，智也不可以丟失。
末了它給出判準：「但自揣己德歷境觀心，與心相應當順開制」——自己掂量自己的德，在境上觀自己的心；心相應了，再談順不順開制。
這一段是鏡層自出的，本論沒有。而它之所以珍貴，是因為它把一個看起來只能二選一的問題（該燒還是不該燒）換成了另一個問題：你憑什麼？
同樣一場火，有觀是供養，無觀是自傷。經文所讚的從來不是那把火。
鏡層另有一處小而漂亮的補釋。本論說法「能生能養能成能榮」，鏡層以父母養子的四種護持為比：發心由法而來是「生」，始終隨逐是「養」，令滿極果是「成」，能應法界是「榮」；四者雖然不同，都以法為本。
而它隨即指出：這四法就是四悉檀。
一句尋常的讚歎，被讀成了一套完整的教化次第。
The preceding twenty-two chapters have been completed. The stūpa was opened, the scripture handed over, the Buddha stroked the crowns, and those at the assembly who were to disperse have dispersed.
Yet six chapters remain.
At the opening of the present chapter, the treatise states the character of these six chapters at once: “The following five chapters all concern circulation through transforming others; the present chapter explains the teacher who transforms others”. From here onward comes circulation through transforming others, and this chapter concerns the person who propagates the Dharma.
It then divides the six chapters into two halves. The present chapter concerns the teacher: “Thus one knows that this chapter exhorts teachers who propagate the Dharma.” The following chapters concern disciples: “Thus one knows that the chapters below exhort disciples who receive the Dharma.”
One half encourages those who transmit the Dharma; the other encourages those who receive it.
I. Five Persons, Five Ways of Riding
Here the treatise makes a judgment that runs through all six chapters.
It says that the Skillful Means chapter completed opening the three to reveal the one, completing the perfect cause; Peaceful Practices explained the Dharma that is ridden; and the Lifespan chapter completed the fruit that is ridden. What the chapters below explain, then, is the person who rides what is ridden.
It next assigns one Dharma to each chapter:
Medicine King “rides the vehicle through ascetic practice.” Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds “ride the vehicle through samādhi.” Dhāraṇī “rides the vehicle through retention.” King Wonderful-Adornment “rides the vehicle through vows.” Samantabhadra “rides the vehicle through supernormal powers.”
Five persons, five ways of mounting the vehicle.
What matters in this judgment is that there is only one vehicle. The essence that is ridden is the same true mark, and the matter that is ridden is the same cause and fruit of the one vehicle; only that by which each person mounts it differs. One does so through ascetic practice, another through samādhi, another through retention, another through vows, and another through supernormal powers.
These six chapters are therefore not six unrelated biographies, but six entrances into the same vehicle.
II. Do Not Look with the Eyes of Cattle and Sheep
While discussing the following chapters, the treatise inserts a hard sentence.
It says that great beings from other lands, such as Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, receive commands to propagate the scripture and universally manifest forms without fixed appearance: “One must not view them with the eyes of cattle and sheep, must not measure them through ordinary understanding, and must not give rise to thoughts of contempt where one hears the Dharma.”
It then gives the reason: once contempt arises, the Dharma does not permeate the mind.
This sentence addresses the person receiving the Dharma. If, while listening, you first inspect whether the speaker looks like someone who should teach, the Dharma cannot enter—not because the Dharma refuses, but because you have closed the door yourself.
The treatise’s three characters “eyes of cattle and sheep” are decidedly blunt. Cattle and sheep see only the grass before them.
The placement of this sentence at the beginning of circulation through transforming others is exact: before discussing “how to transmit,” it first discusses “how to receive.” Dharma transmission has two ends. The speaker may have to relinquish life, but the listener must first exchange those eyes.
III. “True Dharma Offering”—The Treatise Reads the Entire Fire as a Contemplation
The best-known passage in this chapter is the Bodhisattva Gladly Seen by All Beings burning his body as an offering to the Buddha. The scripture calls it “a true Dharma offering.”
Most readers stop at the character zhen (“true”): a true mind, true sincerity, truly willing to relinquish.
The treatise does not read it this way. It asks: where does the truth lie?
The first level: “One should internally set wisdom and contemplation in motion, contemplate the causes and fruits of affliction, and sweep them all away with the wisdom of emptiness; therefore it is called true Dharma.” The truth of true Dharma does not lie in the fire, but in the contemplation set in motion within—contemplating the causes of affliction and its fruits and sweeping both away with the wisdom of emptiness.
The second level is more severe: “Further contemplate: whether body or fire, giver or recipient of the offering, all are the true mark—who is burning and who is being burned?”
—Who is burning? Who is being burned?
The body is the true mark, the fire is the true mark, the giver is the true mark, and the recipient too is the true mark. Since all are the true mark, the act of “burning” has nowhere to be placed. The treatise finally says that giver and recipient are both unobtainable, and therefore it is called true Dharma.
This question turns the entire fire from a heroic deed into a contemplation performed on the spot.
That move has an important consequence: the chapter cannot be read as encouraging self-injury. If the truth of true Dharma lay in the intensity of the fire, the more completely one burned, the truer it would be. But the treatise says that truth lies in contemplation. Without that contemplation, however great the fire, it is not a true Dharma offering—only meaningless pain.
The treatise does not discard the deed, but it insists on establishing the contemplation.
IV. One Finger Surpasses a City
After past and present are joined comes the exhortation to cultivate, where the treatise makes a statement that at first seems contrary to common sense.
It says: “Being able to burn one finger surpasses relinquishing the external body; because the external is light and the internal weighty, their merit and blessing differ”—burning one finger surpasses relinquishing the external body.
Why? The treatise immediately analyzes “external body”: the scripture’s “wife and children” are the external body, while “realm and city” and so forth are external wealth.
The meaning is then clear. Relinquishing a realm, city, wife, and children is relinquishing things outside one’s body—however many, they remain external. Burning a finger touches one’s own body. Weight is measured not by quantity but by nearness.
This criterion merits attention because it reverses the ordinary calculation of merit. Ordinary people calculate quantity: the more one gives away, the better. The treatise measures how close the thing is to oneself. A city is far larger than a finger, but the city is outside and the finger is on the body.
The statement also has its own restraint when placed after the burning of the body. The treatise has just read the entire fire as a contemplation, and now says that one finger surpasses a city. Read together, the two passages say: the measure does not lie in the deed’s size, but in whether the deed can be separated from you.
V. Five Similes, One Method
In the latter half, praising the Dharma upheld, the treatise uses five similes in succession—the ocean, mountain, moon, sun, and wheel-turning king with Brahmā and Śakra.
Every simile has exactly the same structure: first state the reach of the other scriptures, then state why the present scripture surpasses them.
Ocean: among all waters the ocean is foremost. The present scripture as ocean has three meanings—speaking to the exhaustion of the original ground is called “profound”; pervading every place is called “vast”; purely explaining the Buddha-Dharma without teaching other dharmas is called “salty.”
Mountain: although the ten jeweled mountains are treasures, some are formed of one treasure and some of two, and divine dragons dwell among them; Sumeru is formed of four treasures and inhabited exclusively by devas. What the other teachings rely upon may be conventional, true, or middle and is lower; the permanence, bliss, self, and purity taught by the present scripture are like four treasures.
Moon: both stars and moon appear at night, but stars neither wane nor wax. The other scriptures explain provisional wisdom without mastery; “the present scripture explains that the provisional is precisely the real and the real precisely the provisional, that waxing and waning mutually indicate one another, nondual yet dual.”
Sun: the sun alone can dispel darkness. The other scriptures explain real wisdom dispelling delusion, but do not even equal “the real is precisely the provisional,” much less “the provisional is precisely the real.”
Wheel-turning king: his command reaches only the four regions, Śakra’s the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, while Brahmā gathers above and below. In the other scriptures, the three truths and three samādhis do not include one another; the present scripture enters true, conventional, and middle through the true mark.
After reading the five similes, one sees that every instance of “surpassing them” in the treatise rests on one character—ji (“precisely”).
It is not that this scripture speaks of more, higher, or more abstruse things. Other scriptures place provisional and real as two things, while this scripture says they are two aspects of one.
VI. Neither Aging nor Dying Means Permanence and Bliss
Near the end of the chapter the scripture says that one who hears this scripture neither ages nor dies.
The statement can easily be read as a promise of physical immortality. The treatise receives it with a single sentence: “Not aging is bliss; not dying is permanence.”
Not aging does not mean that the body never declines; it is bliss. Not dying does not mean endless longevity; it is permanence.
The treatise then adds a plain statement: one hears this scripture and gains an understanding of permanence and bliss, holding it openly within the breast and fearing nothing.
Thus “not dying” means that nothing remains in the heart that one need fear.
VII. Carrying Forward: The Teacher Has Been Explained; Next Come the Disciples
This unit ends with Prabhūtaratna’s praise.
In the following chapter, The Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound, a great being from another land arrives under command. At the opening of the present chapter the treatise has already said that this is addressed to disciples who receive the Dharma.
The treatise’s reason for distinguishing teacher from disciple here also has a practical dimension: Dharma transmission has never been the work of one person alone. In the preceding chapter, the Buddha handed the scripture over. For the entrustment not to fail, two things must now be true at once—someone must be willing to relinquish life in order to speak, and someone else must be willing to lower the head and listen.
Thus immediately after explaining the teacher’s relinquishment of the body, the treatise turns to the disciples’ eyes. Chapter twenty-three asks, “Can it be given?” Chapters twenty-four onward ask, “Can it be received?”
The reading path turns from “how the teacher who propagates Dharma relinquishes the body” to “how the disciples who receive Dharma recognize the person.”
Through the Eye of the Wenjuji
The mirror layer shows its greatest force in two places in this chapter: one carries the treatise’s “true Dharma offering” to its furthest point, and the other resolves a very practical difficulty for it.
First, carrying the point through. The treatise says that body and fire, giver and recipient, are all the true mark and asks who burns and who is burned. The mirror divides this into emptiness of dharmas and emptiness of beings. Since all are precisely the true mark and the true mark is not burned, where among body, fire, giver, or recipient could burning or giver and recipient remain?—this is emptiness of dharmas. Not only are body and the rest all the true mark; no master of body or anything else exists at all. This is why the single character shui (“who”) is used—this is emptiness of beings.
Having made the division, the mirror gathers it into one statement: with nondual contemplation, contemplate the nondual object, accomplish nondual practice, and coincide with nondual emptiness.
Then comes the admonition: Without this, it becomes useless asceticism; the Buddha has explicit admonitions, and one must truly think first.
Next comes the practical difficulty.
The mirror itself poses a question: the vinaya establishes that burning the body incurs a sthūlātyaya offense and burning a finger a duṣkṛta, yet this chapter praises burning. How can this be explained?
Its answer has two levels. First is the level of teaching: the permissions and prohibitions of Great and Lesser Vehicles differ. The Lesser prohibits the act as an offense, while the Great enjoins burning; the Brahmā’s Net Sūtra even says that one who does not burn is not a monastic bodhisattva. The second level is what the mirror actually wants to say:
“When the mind is right, the action is right; when wisdom is deviant, the deed is deviant. Practice cannot be discarded, nor can wisdom be lost.”
When the mind is right, the action is right; when wisdom is deviant, the deed is deviant. Practice cannot be discarded, nor can wisdom be lost.
Finally it gives a criterion: “Only weigh your own virtue, contemplate the mind amid conditions, and when it corresponds with the mind, act in accord with permission or prohibition.” Weigh your own virtue, contemplate your own mind amid conditions, and only when the mind corresponds speak of how permission and prohibition should apply.
This passage originates in the mirror layer and is absent from the root treatise. Its value lies in replacing what appears to be an either-or question—should one burn or not?—with another question: On what basis?
The same fire, with contemplation, is an offering; without contemplation, it is self-injury. The scripture never praises the fire itself.
The mirror adds another small and elegant explanation. For the treatise’s phrase “able to give birth, nurture, bring to completion, and bring to glory,” it uses the four ways parents protect a child: the resolve arises through Dharma and this is “birth”; Dharma follows from beginning to end and this is “nurture”; it brings the ultimate fruit to fulfillment and this is “completion”; it enables response throughout the Dharma realm and this is “glory.” Though the four differ, all take Dharma as their basis.
It immediately points out that these four dharmas are the four siddhāntas.
An ordinary expression of praise is thereby read as a complete sequence of teaching and transformation.
考據Apparatus
本品是化他流通五品之首。本論先引《觀經》釋藥王得名之由，次判此下五品各以一法「乘乘」（藥王苦行・妙音觀音三昧・陀羅尼總持・妙莊嚴誓願・普賢神通），並分五品為二用——本品勗弘法之師，其下勗受法弟子。次逐科釋喜見菩薩燒身燒臂之本事，於「真法供養」一句立內觀之釋；後半歎所持之法，以海、山、月、日、輪王四喻格出此經之最。所引四家：《觀經》《十二門論》《無量義》《華嚴》。
一、科判定位
本品屬本門（15–28）流通之末段，為化他流通五品之首——本論明言「此下五品皆是化他流通，今品明化他之師」〔0143a17–0143a18〕。嚴格域為 T34n1718〔0143a10–0144a15〕：起於品題「釋藥王菩薩本事品」〔0143a10〕，止於「第四，多寶稱善，如文」〔0144a15〕。全域實有一千四百八十五個漢字。本單元不跨卷界（在卷第十下之內）。
| 次第 | 本論自科 | 行域與內容 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 釋品名 | 引《觀經》星光本事；輕生重法命殞道存，舉昔顯今〔0143a11–0143a16〕 |
| 二 | 五品之判 | 此下五品皆化他流通；本品勗弘法之師，下品勗受法弟子〔0143a17–0143a27〕 |
| 三 | 駁「有人言」 | 上諸品諸佛為佛事、此品下菩薩為佛事——本論判「此一往耳」〔0143a27–0143a29〕 |
| 四 | 乘乘之判 | 引《十二門論》；藥王苦行・妙音觀音三昧・陀羅尼總持・妙莊嚴誓願・普賢神通各以一法乘乘〔0143b01–0143b06〕 |
| 五 | 分文為四 | 問・答・利益・多寶稱善；問三答二〔0143b06–0143b13〕 |
| 六 | 苦行·現在 | 修行得法・作念報恩（三昧力・正報身力）；燒身・佛稱歎・時節〔0143b13–0143b17〕 |
| 七 | 「真法供養」之釋 | 內運智觀觀煩惱因果皆用空慧蕩之；身火能所皆實相，誰燒誰然〔0143b17–0143b21〕 |
| 八 | 苦行·未來 | 生王家・說本事・往佛所・如來付囑・奉命任持（起塔・燒臂・利益・現報）〔0143b21–0143b25〕 |
| 九 | 結會古今與勸修 | 能然一指勝捨外身，外輕內重故功福有異〔0143b25–0143b29〕 |
| 十 | 歎經·歎能持者 | 七寶奉四聖不如持一偈；人輕法重〔0143b29–0143c03〕 |
| 十一 | 歎法體·海喻 | 引《無量義》四水譬教；深大鹹三義〔0143c03–0143c09〕 |
| 十二 | 歎法體·山喻 | 十寶山出《華嚴》及眾經；須彌四寶所成純天所住〔0143c09–0143c15〕 |
| 十三 | 歎法體·月喻日喻 | 諸經權智不自在；此經權即實實即權・實智第一〔0143c15–0143c22〕 |
| 十四 | 歎法體·輪王梵釋喻 | 實相入真入俗入中；一切學無學及發菩薩心者之父〔0143c22–0143c28〕 |
| 十五 | 歎法體·四第一 | 凡夫四果支佛第一（無功用）・因第一・果第一〔0143c28–0144a06〕 |
| 十六 | 歎法用 | 拔苦用・十二事歎與樂用・結〔0144a06–0144a09〕 |
| 十七 | 持經福深 | 全聞經福・聞品福；口出香是現報；不老是樂、不死是常〔0144a09–0144a14〕 |
| 十八 | 聞品得益·多寶稱善 | 皆如文〔0144a14–0144a15〕 |
《文句記》對位：T34n1719〔0354a22–0355b14〕，起於品題「釋藥王品」〔0354a22〕，訖於「但在機感」〔0355b14〕；記之品題作「釋藥王品」而本論作「釋藥王菩薩本事品」，二形並錄不判。
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。
三、所帖經文與所引
（一）所帖根經：〈藥王菩薩本事品〉
| 本論所標 | 根經逐字 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 「真法供養」 | 「是名真法供養如來」 | T09n0262〔0053b11–0053b12〕 |
| 「國城」・「妻子」 | 「假使國城、妻子布施，亦所不及」 | 〔0053b14–0053b15〕 |
| 「川流江河諸水之中海為第一」 | 「譬如一切川流江河，諸水之中海為第一」 | 〔0054a19–0054a20〕 |
| 「一切學無學及發菩薩心者之父」 | 「發菩薩心者之父」 | 〔0054b03〕 |
| 「是諸經之王」 | 「是諸經之王」 | 〔0032a16〕〈法師品〉 |
（二）本論所引：《觀藥王藥上二菩薩經》——今本作「星宿光」
「《觀經》曰「昔名星光，從尊者日藏聞說佛慧，以雪山上藥供養眾僧，願我未來能治眾生身心兩病，舉世歡喜號曰藥王。」」〔0143a11–0143a14〕。所繫為《佛說觀藥王藥上二菩薩經》T20n1161。今本相應段見〔0665a08–0665b19〕，逐條對錨如下：
| 本論所作 | 今本逐字 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 「昔名星光」 | 「爾時眾中有一長者名星宿光」 | T20n1161〔0665a12〕 |
| 「從尊者日藏聞說佛慧」 | 「爾時眾中有一比丘名曰日藏」・「我聞仁者說佛慧藥」 | 〔0665a09〕〔0665a20–0665a21〕 |
| 「以雪山上藥供養眾僧」 | 「今持雪山良藥奉上仁者并及眾僧」 | 〔0665a21–0665a22〕 |
| 「願我未來能治眾生身心兩病」 | 今本作三願除三種病苦：身中四百四病・邪見愚癡惡道苦・三惡趣名 | 〔0665a26–0665b04〕 |
| 「舉世歡喜號曰藥王」 | 今本此段零命中；「名曰藥王」別見 | 〔0665c17〕 |
是本論撮長段為一句，人名一字之異（星光／星宿光），末二句今本不作此語。並錄不判。
（三）本論所引：《十二門論》——今本無「普賢」
「故《十二門論》云「大乘者，普賢、文殊大人之所乘也」」〔0143b01–0143b03〕。今本《十二門論》T30n1568 相應段作「諸佛大人乘是乘故，故名為大」〔0159c16〕、「又觀世音、得大勢、文殊師利、彌勒菩薩等，是諸大士之所乘故，故名為大」〔0159c18–0159c19〕——今本所列四菩薩中無「普賢」，且作「諸大士」而本論作「大人」（「大人」二字別見上句）。是本論撮二句為一而易其人名，並錄不判。
（四）本論所引：《無量義經》——今本列七水
「《無量義》云「四水譬教，藥草喻中一雲能雨譬說」」〔0143c04–0143c05〕。今本《無量義經》T09n0276 作「法譬如水，能洗垢穢，若井、若池、若江，若河、溪、渠、大海」〔0386b03–0386b04〕，復云「江、河、井、池、溪、渠、大海各各別異」〔0386b06〕——今本列七種水而本論作「四水」，並錄不判。本論所繫之「藥草喻中一雲能雨」屬本經〈藥草喻品〉而非《無量義》，本論以二喻並舉。
（五）本論所引：《華嚴經》及眾經——十寶山名
「十寶山名，出《華嚴》及眾經〔云云〕」〔0143c09–0143c10〕。本論自標其出處為泛指（「及眾經」），不指卷品，故不逐條對錨。《文句記》於此指「具如《止觀》第五記」〔T34n1719 0355a18〕，並引《俱舍》釋「或一或二」〔0355a18–0355a20〕。
四、文句記釋要〔鏡〕
本品之鏡釋見 T34n1719〔0354a22–0355b14〕。其要有五。
其一·四悉之判。鏡開卷即判本論釋名之屬：「釋品引《觀經》釋名即世界也」〔0354a23〕；又謂「若推」一段「明得名前後，非四悉意」〔0354a24–0354a25〕。
其二·「乘乘」之義。釋本論五品各以一法乘乘，鏡申其義：「真如實相是所乘之體，一乘因果是所乘之事，苦行等是乘乘之緣」〔0354b06–0354b08〕，末結「以依一實立因果故，乘於所乘以利物故，故曰乘乘」〔0354b09–0354b10〕。
其三·「真法供養」之申釋。鏡以法空生空二重釋之：「既即實相實相無燒，身火能所安得有燒有能所耶？」〔0354b27–0354b28〕為法空；「身等宰主一切皆無，故名為「誰」」〔0354b28–0354b29〕為生空。末以「境智不二能所斯亡，以不二觀觀不二境」〔0354c03–0354c04〕收之，並誡曰「若不爾者，成無益苦行，佛有誠誡實可先思」〔0354c05–0354c06〕。
其四·燒身大小乘開制之辨。鏡自設問答：「有人問云：律制燒身得蘭，燒指得吉，此中讚燒其事如何？」〔0354c11–0354c12〕答以「大小開制教法不同，小制結過、大制令燒」〔0354c13–0354c14〕，並引《梵網》「若不燒者非出家菩薩」〔0354c14〕；末乃申一總則——「心正行正、智邪事邪，行不可廢、智不可亡」〔0354c10–0354c11〕，「但自揣己德歷境觀心，與心相應當順開制」〔0354c24–0354c25〕。此為鏡自出之論，本論所無。
其五·能生能養之四悉配。釋本論「能生能養能成能榮」，鏡以父母四護為喻：「今發心由法為「生」，始終隨逐為「養」，令滿極果為「成」，能應法界為「榮」」〔0354c26–0355a10 間〕，並謂「此四法即四悉檀」〔0355a10–0355a11〕。
五、諸家異釋
本單元錄有一家，本論自錄：
有人言：「上諸品諸佛為佛事，此品下菩薩為佛事。」〔0143a26–0143a28〕本論判之曰：「此一往耳，上品亦有菩薩，此下品亦有諸佛〔云云〕。」〔0143a27–0143a29〕
《文句記》承此而補其實：「「下品亦有佛」者，雲雷音王佛、寶威德上王佛等」〔0354a29–0354b01〕，並自出一折衷之判——「上品有菩薩，佛事為正；下品有佛，菩薩事為正」〔0354b02–0354b03〕。此判為鏡自出，另署鏡層。
六、術語
| 語 | 釋 |
|---|---|
| 本事 | 舉昔以顯今；喜見菩薩頓捨一身復燒兩臂，輕生重法命殞道存〔0143a14–0143a16〕。 |
| 乘乘 | 以一法乘於所乘：藥王「以苦行乘乘」〔0143b03〕・妙音觀音「以三昧乘乘」〔0143b04〕・陀羅尼「以總持乘乘」〔0143b04〕・妙莊嚴「以誓願乘乘」〔0143b05〕・普賢「以神通乘乘」〔0143b05〕。 |
| 真法供養 | 內運智觀觀煩惱因果，皆用空慧蕩之〔0143b18–0143b19〕；又觀身火能供所供皆是實相，誰燒誰然〔0143b19–0143b20〕。 |
| 外輕內重 | 能然一指勝捨外身；「妻子」是外身、「國城」等是外財〔0143b26–0143b29〕。 |
| 海之三義 | 說窮本地為深・遍一切處為大・純明佛法不說餘法為鹹〔0143c07–0143c09〕。 |
| 權即實·實即權 | 諸經說權智不得自在；此經明權即實、實即權，盈虧相指不二而二〔0143c16–0143c18〕。 |
| 不老不死 | 不老是樂、不死是常；聞於此經得常樂之解，坦然在懷無所畏忌〔0144a12–0144a14〕。 |
七、譬喻・互讀・承衍
本單元之意象為燒身燒臂，而本論之釋不落於事相：它先問誰燒誰然，把身與火、能供與所供一併讀成實相，於是「真法供養」之「真」不在燒之烈，而在觀之不二。這是本帙處理苦行文本的定法——不廢其事，而必立其觀。
本單元後半另有一組五喻：海（諸水第一）・山（十寶山與須彌）・月（星月）・日（陽精破闇）・輪王梵釋（號令所及）。五喻同一手法——先說餘教之所及，再說此經之所以過之；而過之之由一律歸於「即」字：即實而權、即權而實。
與〈妙音〉〈觀音〉互讀：本論於本品判五品之分工，明言下二品「明他方大士奉命弘經，普現色身形無定準」〔0143a23–0143a24〕，並誡「不可牛羊眼看，不可以凡庸識度」〔0143a24–0143a25〕。24、25 二品之讀法於此已被預先定調。
與〈陀羅尼〉〈妙莊嚴王〉〈普賢〉互讀：五品各以一法乘乘之判〔0143b03–0143b06〕，是 23–28 六品之總綱；26、27、28 之定位皆出於此。
承衍：本單元止於多寶稱善〔0144a15〕。其下〈妙音菩薩品〉他方大士奉命而來；讀路由『弘法之師如何捨身』，轉入『受法弟子如何識人』。
八、校本定位
本單元嚴格域內有九個校勘正文位置，皆為【大】【甲】對舉之單邊校記；無星號回指、無省略字數式校記、無 CBETA 校改。
| 次 | 位置 | 【大】 | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0143a14 | 復 | 次 |
| 二 | 0143a26 | 知 | 亦 |
| 三 | 0143b11 | 本 | 甲本缺 |
| 四 | 0143b14 | 揚 | 楊 |
| 五 | 0143b28 | 有 | 甲本缺 |
| 六 | 0143c14 | 下 | 下法說 |
| 七 | 0143c22 | 域 | 城 |
| 八 | 0144a09 | 得 | 甲本缺 |
| 九 | 0144a10 | 經 | 甲本缺 |
其中二枚值得誌明。第四枚〔0143b14〕落在「對揚」之「揚」，甲本作「楊」，形近之異，並錄。第七枚〔0143c22〕落在輪王喻「輪王號令止在四域」之「域」，甲本作「城」——「四域」與「四城」義有廣狹，並錄不判。
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「釋藥王菩薩本事品」〔0143a10〕。
This chapter is the first of the five chapters on circulation through transforming others. The treatise first cites the Contemplation Sūtra to explain how Medicine King received his name, then judges that each of the five chapters uses one Dharma to 「乘乘」 tr. “ride the vehicle” (Medicine King through ascetic practice; Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds through samādhi; Dhāraṇī through retention; King Wonderful-Adornment through vows; Samantabhadra through supernormal powers), and divides the five chapters between two functions—the present chapter exhorts the teacher who propagates the Dharma, while those below exhort disciples who receive it. It next explains section by section the former affairs in which the Bodhisattva Gladly Seen burned his body and arms, establishing an inward-contemplation reading of 「真法供養」 tr. “true Dharma offering.” The latter half praises the Dharma upheld, using the ocean, mountain, moon, sun, and wheel-turning king as four classes of simile to distinguish the supremacy of this scripture. Four works are cited: the Contemplation Sūtra, Treatise of the Twelve Gates, Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings, and Flower Garland Sūtra.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
This chapter belongs to the final circulation section of the Origin Gate (chapters 15–28) and is the first of the five chapters on circulation through transforming others. The treatise expressly says 「此下五品皆是化他流通，今品明化他之師」 tr. “The following five chapters all concern circulation through transforming others; the present chapter explains the teacher who transforms others”〔0143a17–0143a18〕. Its strict domain is T34n1718〔0143a10–0144a15〕, beginning with the chapter title 「釋藥王菩薩本事品」 tr. “Explanation of the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King Chapter”〔0143a10〕 and ending with 「第四，多寶稱善，如文」 tr. “Fourth, Prabhūtaratna praises it, as stated in the text”〔0144a15〕. The complete domain contains 1,485 Han characters. This unit does not cross a fascicle boundary, remaining within Fascicle Ten, Lower.
| Sequence | The Treatise’s Own Division | Line Domain and Content |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explanation of the chapter title | Cites Starlight’s former affair from the Contemplation Sūtra; holding life lightly and Dharma in esteem, life is lost while the path remains; the past discloses the present〔0143a11–0143a16〕 |
| 2 | Classification of the five chapters | The following five chapters all concern circulation through transforming others; the present chapter exhorts teachers who propagate the Dharma and those below exhort disciples who receive it〔0143a17–0143a27〕 |
| 3 | Refutation of 「有人言」 tr. “someone says” | The preceding chapters present the buddhas performing buddha-work and those below bodhisattvas performing buddha-work—the treatise judges 「此一往耳」 tr. “this is only a provisional statement”〔0143a27–0143a29〕 |
| 4 | Classification of riding the vehicle | Cites the Treatise of the Twelve Gates; Medicine King through ascetic practice, Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds through samādhi, Dhāraṇī through retention, King Wonderful-Adornment through vows, and Samantabhadra through supernormal powers each ride the vehicle by means of one Dharma〔0143b01–0143b06〕 |
| 5 | Four divisions of the text | Question, answer, benefit, and Prabhūtaratna’s praise; the question has three divisions and the answer two〔0143b06–0143b13〕 |
| 6 | Ascetic practice: present | Cultivating practice and attaining Dharma; forming the thought of repaying kindness (power of samādhi and power of the body as direct recompense); burning the body, praise by buddhas, and duration〔0143b13–0143b17〕 |
| 7 | Explanation of 「真法供養」 tr. “true Dharma offering” | Internally set wisdom and contemplation in motion, contemplate the causes and fruits of affliction, and sweep them away through emptiness-wisdom; body and fire, giver and recipient, are all the true mark—who burns and who is burned?〔0143b17–0143b21〕 |
| 8 | Ascetic practice: future | Birth in a royal family; telling the former affair; going before the Buddha; the Tathāgata’s entrustment; accepting the command and taking responsibility (raising a stūpa, burning the arms, benefit, and present recompense)〔0143b21–0143b25〕 |
| 9 | Joining past and present and exhorting cultivation | Burning one finger surpasses relinquishing the external body; because the external is light and the internal weighty, merit and blessing differ〔0143b25–0143b29〕 |
| 10 | Praise of the scripture: praising the upholder | Offering seven treasures to four kinds of noble persons is inferior to upholding one verse; persons are light and Dharma weighty〔0143b29–0143c03〕 |
| 11 | Praise of Dharma-essence: ocean simile | Cites the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings on four waters as similes for teaching; the three meanings profound, vast, and salty〔0143c03–0143c09〕 |
| 12 | Praise of Dharma-essence: mountain simile | The ten jeweled mountains come from the Flower Garland and various scriptures; Sumeru is made of four treasures and inhabited exclusively by devas〔0143c09–0143c15〕 |
| 13 | Praise of Dharma-essence: moon and sun similes | Other scriptures’ provisional wisdom lacks mastery; in this scripture the provisional is precisely the real and the real precisely the provisional, and real wisdom is foremost〔0143c15–0143c22〕 |
| 14 | Praise of Dharma-essence: wheel-turning king, Brahmā, and Śakra | The true mark enters true, conventional, and middle; father of all in training, beyond training, and those who have generated the bodhisattva resolve〔0143c22–0143c28〕 |
| 15 | Praise of Dharma-essence: four kinds of foremost | Foremost among ordinary beings, those of the four fruits, and pratyekabuddhas (without deliberate effort); foremost in cause; foremost in fruit〔0143c28–0144a06〕 |
| 16 | Praise of the Dharma’s function | Function in removing suffering; twelve matters praising its function of giving happiness; conclusion〔0144a06–0144a09〕 |
| 17 | Profound merit of upholding the scripture | Merit of hearing the whole scripture and of hearing this chapter; fragrance from the mouth is present recompense; not aging is bliss and not dying permanence〔0144a09–0144a14〕 |
| 18 | Benefit from hearing the chapter; Prabhūtaratna’s praise | Both are as stated in the text〔0144a14–0144a15〕 |
Corresponding Wenjuji passage: T34n1719〔0354a22–0355b14〕, beginning with the title 「釋藥王品」 tr. “Explanation of the Medicine King Chapter”〔0354a22〕 and ending with 「但在機感」 tr. “it lies only in the response of capacities”〔0355b14〕. The Wenjuji title reads 「釋藥王品」 tr. “Explanation of the Medicine King Chapter,” while the root treatise reads 「釋藥王菩薩本事品」 tr. “Explanation of the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King Chapter”; the two forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
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 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: The Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King
| Label in the Treatise | Verbatim Root Scripture | Line Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 「真法供養」 tr. “True Dharma offering” | 「是名真法供養如來」 tr. “This is called a true Dharma offering to the Tathāgata” | T09n0262〔0053b11–0053b12〕 |
| 「國城」 tr. “realm and city”; 「妻子」 tr. “wife and children” | 「假使國城、妻子布施，亦所不及」 tr. “Even if one were to give away realm, city, wife, and children, it would still not equal this” | 〔0053b14–0053b15〕 |
| 「川流江河諸水之中海為第一」 tr. “Among streams, currents, rivers, and all waters, the ocean is foremost” | 「譬如一切川流江河，諸水之中海為第一」 tr. “Just as among all streams, currents, rivers, and all waters, the ocean is foremost” | 〔0054a19–0054a20〕 |
| 「一切學無學及發菩薩心者之父」 tr. “father of all those in training and beyond training and those who have generated the bodhisattva resolve” | 「發菩薩心者之父」 tr. “father of those who have generated the bodhisattva resolve” | 〔0054b03〕 |
| 「是諸經之王」 tr. “king of the scriptures” | 「是諸經之王」 tr. “king of the scriptures” | 〔0032a16〕, Dharma Teacher chapter |
B. Work Cited by the Treatise: Sūtra of the Contemplation of the Two Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Superior Medicine—the Present Text Reads 「星宿光」 tr. “Constellation Light”
The treatise reads 「《觀經》曰「昔名星光，從尊者日藏聞說佛慧，以雪山上藥供養眾僧，願我未來能治眾生身心兩病，舉世歡喜號曰藥王。」」 tr. “The Contemplation Sūtra says: ‘Formerly he was named Starlight. He heard the Buddha’s wisdom explained by the Venerable Sun Treasury, offered medicinal herbs from Snow Mountain to the community of monks, and vowed: May I in the future cure the two illnesses of body and mind in living beings, so that the whole world rejoices and I am called Medicine King’”〔0143a11–0143a14〕. The cited work is the Sūtra of the Contemplation of the Two Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Superior Medicine, T20n1161. The corresponding present passage appears at〔0665a08–0665b19〕; its points are aligned below:
| Form in the Treatise | Verbatim Present Text | Line Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| 「昔名星光」 tr. “formerly named Starlight” | 「爾時眾中有一長者名星宿光」 tr. “At that time in the assembly was an elder named Constellation Light” | T20n1161〔0665a12〕 |
| 「從尊者日藏聞說佛慧」 tr. “heard the Buddha’s wisdom explained by the Venerable Sun Treasury” | 「爾時眾中有一比丘名曰日藏」 tr. “At that time in the assembly was a monk named Sun Treasury”; 「我聞仁者說佛慧藥」 tr. “I heard the worthy one teach the medicine of Buddha-wisdom” | 〔0665a09〕〔0665a20–0665a21〕 |
| 「以雪山上藥供養眾僧」 tr. “offered medicinal herbs from Snow Mountain to the community of monks” | 「今持雪山良藥奉上仁者并及眾僧」 tr. “I now bring fine medicine from Snow Mountain and present it to the worthy one and the community of monks” | 〔0665a21–0665a22〕 |
| 「願我未來能治眾生身心兩病」 tr. “may I in the future cure the two illnesses of body and mind in living beings” | The present text gives three vows to remove three kinds of painful illness: 404 bodily illnesses; the suffering of wrong views, delusion, and evil paths; and the names of the three evil destinies | 〔0665a26–0665b04〕 |
| 「舉世歡喜號曰藥王」 tr. “so that the whole world rejoices and I am called Medicine King” | The present passage yields zero matches for this wording; 「名曰藥王」 tr. “named Medicine King” appears separately | 〔0665c17〕 |
The treatise condenses a long passage into one sentence. The personal name differs by one character (Starlight / Constellation Light), and the final two clauses do not appear in this form in the present text. They are recorded side by side without adjudication.
C. Work Cited by the Treatise: Treatise of the Twelve Gates—No 「普賢」 tr. “Samantabhadra” in the Present Text
The treatise reads 「故《十二門論》云「大乘者，普賢、文殊大人之所乘也」」 tr. “Thus the Treatise of the Twelve Gates says, ‘The Great Vehicle is what great persons Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī ride’”〔0143b01–0143b03〕. The corresponding passage in the present Treatise of the Twelve Gates, T30n1568, reads 「諸佛大人乘是乘故，故名為大」 tr. “Because the buddhas, those great persons, ride this vehicle, it is called great”〔0159c16〕, and 「又觀世音、得大勢、文殊師利、彌勒菩薩等，是諸大士之所乘故，故名為大」 tr. “Further, because it is what great beings such as Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Mañjuśrī, and Maitreya ride, it is called great”〔0159c18–0159c19〕. Among the four bodhisattvas listed in the present text there is no 「普賢」 tr. “Samantabhadra,” and it reads 「諸大士」 tr. “great beings” where the treatise reads 「大人」 tr. “great persons” (the characters 「大人」 tr. “great persons” occur separately in the preceding sentence). The treatise condenses two statements into one and changes the personal name; the forms are recorded side by side without adjudication.
D. Work Cited by the Treatise: Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings—the Present Text Lists Seven Waters
The treatise reads 「《無量義》云「四水譬教，藥草喻中一雲能雨譬說」」 tr. “The Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings says, ‘Four waters are similes for teaching; in the parable of medicinal herbs, one cloud able to rain is a simile for teaching’”〔0143c04–0143c05〕. The present Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings, T09n0276, reads 「法譬如水，能洗垢穢，若井、若池、若江，若河、溪、渠、大海」 tr. “Dharma is like water, able to wash away filth: a well, pond, river, stream, brook, canal, or ocean”〔0386b03–0386b04〕, and again 「江、河、井、池、溪、渠、大海各各別異」 tr. “Rivers, streams, wells, ponds, brooks, canals, and oceans are each distinct”〔0386b06〕. The present text lists seven kinds of water where the treatise reads 「四水」 tr. “four waters”; both are recorded without adjudication. The treatise’s phrase 「藥草喻中一雲能雨」 tr. “in the parable of medicinal herbs, one cloud able to rain” belongs to the Medicinal Herbs chapter of the present scripture rather than to the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings; the treatise raises the two similes together.
E. Works Cited by the Treatise: Flower Garland Sūtra and Various Scriptures—the Names of Ten Jeweled Mountains
The treatise reads 「十寶山名，出《華嚴》及眾經〔云云〕」 tr. “The names of the ten jeweled mountains come from the Flower Garland and various scriptures [and so forth]”〔0143c09–0143c10〕. The source is itself marked in general terms—「及眾經」 tr. “and various scriptures”—without fascicle or chapter, so no item-by-item locus is fabricated. Here the Wenjuji directs the reader to 「具如《止觀》第五記」 tr. “the full account in the commentary on the fifth fascicle of the Mohe Zhiguan”〔T34n1719 0355a18〕 and cites the Abhidharmakośa to explain 「或一或二」 tr. “some one and some two”〔0355a18–0355a20〕.
IV. Essential Explanations from the Wenjuji [the Mirror]
The mirror explanation of this chapter appears at T34n1719〔0354a22–0355b14〕. It has five essentials.
First: assignment to the four siddhāntas. At the opening, the mirror classifies the treatise’s title explanation: 「釋品引《觀經》釋名即世界也」 tr. “In explaining the chapter, citing the Contemplation Sūtra to explain the name is the worldly siddhānta”〔0354a23〕. It further says that the passage beginning 「若推」 tr. “if one pursues” 「明得名前後，非四悉意」 tr. “clarifies the before and after of receiving the name and is not the intent of the four siddhāntas”〔0354a24–0354a25〕.
Second: the meaning of 「乘乘」 tr. “riding the vehicle.” In explaining how each of the five chapters rides through one Dharma, the mirror states: 「真如實相是所乘之體，一乘因果是所乘之事，苦行等是乘乘之緣」 tr. “Suchness and the true mark are the essence that is ridden; the cause and fruit of the one vehicle are the matter that is ridden; ascetic practice and the rest are the conditions for riding the vehicle”〔0354b06–0354b08〕. It concludes: 「以依一實立因果故，乘於所乘以利物故，故曰乘乘」 tr. “Because cause and fruit are established in reliance on the one reality, and because one rides what is ridden to benefit beings, it is called riding the vehicle”〔0354b09–0354b10〕.
Third: further explanation of 「真法供養」 tr. “true Dharma offering.” The mirror explains it through the two levels of emptiness of dharmas and emptiness of beings. 「既即實相實相無燒，身火能所安得有燒有能所耶？」 tr. “Since all are precisely the true mark and the true mark is not burned, how could body and fire, giver and recipient, possess burning or giver and recipient?”〔0354b27–0354b28〕 is emptiness of dharmas. 「身等宰主一切皆無，故名為「誰」」 tr. “No master of body or anything else exists at all; therefore it is called ‘who’”〔0354b28–0354b29〕 is emptiness of beings. It gathers the point with 「境智不二能所斯亡，以不二觀觀不二境」 tr. “Object and wisdom are nondual, and giver and recipient thereby vanish; through nondual contemplation, contemplate the nondual object”〔0354c03–0354c04〕, and admonishes: 「若不爾者，成無益苦行，佛有誠誡實可先思」 tr. “If it were not so, this would become useless asceticism. The Buddha has sincere admonitions, and one truly should think first”〔0354c05–0354c06〕.
Fourth: debate over Great and Lesser Vehicle permissions and prohibitions concerning burning the body. The mirror poses its own question and answer: 「有人問云：律制燒身得蘭，燒指得吉，此中讚燒其事如何？」 tr. “Someone asks: The vinaya establishes that burning the body incurs a sthūlātyaya offense and burning a finger a duṣkṛta. Yet burning is praised here—how should this be understood?”〔0354c11–0354c12〕. It answers that 「大小開制教法不同，小制結過、大制令燒」 tr. “the permissions and prohibitions in the teachings of the Great and Lesser Vehicles differ: the Lesser prohibits it and establishes an offense; the Great enjoins burning”〔0354c13–0354c14〕, and cites the Brahmā’s Net Sūtra: 「若不燒者非出家菩薩」 tr. “one who does not burn is not a monastic bodhisattva”〔0354c14〕. It then states a general principle: 「心正行正、智邪事邪，行不可廢、智不可亡」 tr. “When the mind is right, the action is right; when wisdom is deviant, the deed is deviant. Practice cannot be discarded, nor can wisdom be lost”〔0354c10–0354c11〕, and 「但自揣己德歷境觀心，與心相應當順開制」 tr. “Only weigh your own virtue, contemplate the mind amid conditions, and when it corresponds with the mind, act in accord with permission or prohibition”〔0354c24–0354c25〕. This is an argument originating in the mirror and is absent from the root treatise.
Fifth: alignment of giving birth and nurturing with the four siddhāntas. Explaining the treatise’s 「能生能養能成能榮」 tr. “able to give birth, nurture, bring to completion, and bring to glory,” the mirror uses the four ways parents protect a child as a simile: 「今發心由法為「生」，始終隨逐為「養」，令滿極果為「成」，能應法界為「榮」」 tr. “Here the resolve arises through Dharma and is ‘birth’; Dharma follows from beginning to end and is ‘nurture’; it brings the ultimate fruit to fulfillment and is ‘completion’; it enables response throughout the Dharma realm and is ‘glory’”〔0354c26–0355a10〕. It then says 「此四法即四悉檀」 tr. “these four dharmas are precisely the four siddhāntas”〔0355a10–0355a11〕.
V. Explanations of Various Masters
This unit records one interpretation, quoted by the root treatise:
Someone says: 「上諸品諸佛為佛事，此品下菩薩為佛事。」 tr. “In the preceding chapters the buddhas perform buddha-work; from the present chapter onward bodhisattvas perform buddha-work”〔0143a26–0143a28〕. The treatise judges: 「此一往耳，上品亦有菩薩，此下品亦有諸佛〔云云〕。」 tr. “This is only a provisional statement. The chapters above also contain bodhisattvas, and those below also contain buddhas [and so forth]”〔0143a27–0143a29〕.
The Wenjuji continues this by supplying examples: 「「下品亦有佛」者，雲雷音王佛、寶威德上王佛等」 tr. “‘Those below also contain buddhas’ means Buddha King Cloud-Thunder-Sound, Buddha King Superior Jewel-Majesty, and others”〔0354a29–0354b01〕. It then gives its own reconciliatory judgment: 「上品有菩薩，佛事為正；下品有佛，菩薩事為正」 tr. “The chapters above contain bodhisattvas, but buddha-work is primary; the chapters below contain buddhas, but bodhisattva-work is primary”〔0354b02–0354b03〕. This judgment originates in the mirror and remains expressly attributed to that layer.
VI. Terminology
| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Former affairs | Raises the past to disclose the present: the Bodhisattva Gladly Seen suddenly relinquished one body and then burned both arms, holding life lightly and Dharma in esteem, losing life while the path remained〔0143a14–0143a16〕. |
| Riding the vehicle | Rides what is ridden through one Dharma: Medicine King 「以苦行乘乘」 tr. “rides through ascetic practice”〔0143b03〕; Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds 「以三昧乘乘」 tr. “ride through samādhi”〔0143b04〕; Dhāraṇī 「以總持乘乘」 tr. “rides through retention”〔0143b04〕; King Wonderful-Adornment 「以誓願乘乘」 tr. “rides through vows”〔0143b05〕; Samantabhadra 「以神通乘乘」 tr. “rides through supernormal powers”〔0143b05〕. |
| True Dharma offering | Internally set wisdom and contemplation in motion, contemplate the causes and fruits of affliction, and sweep them all away with emptiness-wisdom〔0143b18–0143b19〕; further contemplate body and fire, giver and recipient, as all the true mark—who burns and who is burned?〔0143b19–0143b20〕. |
| External light, internal weighty | Burning one finger surpasses relinquishing the external body; 「妻子」 tr. “wife and children” are the external body, while 「國城」 tr. “realm and city” and so forth are external wealth〔0143b26–0143b29〕. |
| Three meanings of the ocean | Speaking to the exhaustion of the original ground is profound; pervading all places is vast; purely explaining the Buddha-Dharma without teaching other dharmas is salty〔0143c07–0143c09〕. |
| The provisional is precisely the real; the real precisely the provisional | The other scriptures explain provisional wisdom without mastery; the present scripture explains that the provisional is precisely the real and the real precisely the provisional, that waxing and waning mutually indicate one another, nondual yet dual〔0143c16–0143c18〕. |
| Neither aging nor dying | Not aging is bliss and not dying permanence; hearing this scripture, one gains the understanding of permanence and bliss, holding it openly within the breast and fearing nothing〔0144a12–0144a14〕. |
VII. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
This unit’s governing image is burning the body and arms, yet the treatise’s explanation does not remain at the level of the event. It first asks who burns and who is burned, reading body and fire, giver and recipient, together as the true mark. The phrase 「真法供養」 tr. “true Dharma offering” therefore derives its 「真」 tr. “truth” not from the intensity of burning but from nondual contemplation. This is the settled method by which the present edition handles texts of ascetic practice—it does not discard the event, but it must establish the contemplation.
The latter half of the unit contains another group of five similes: ocean (foremost among all waters), mountain (the ten jeweled mountains and Sumeru), moon (stars and moon), sun (the yang essence dispelling darkness), and wheel-turning king with Brahmā and Śakra (the reach of commands). The five use one method—first state the reach of other teachings, then state why the present scripture surpasses them. The reason for surpassing them always returns to the character 「即」 tr. “precisely”: the real is precisely the provisional, and the provisional precisely the real.
Read with Wonderful Sound and Perceiver of the World’s Sounds: in the present chapter the treatise assigns the work of the five chapters, expressly saying that the following two 「明他方大士奉命弘經，普現色身形無定準」 tr. “explain great beings from other lands who receive commands to propagate the scripture and universally manifest physical forms without fixed appearance”〔0143a23–0143a24〕, and admonishing 「不可牛羊眼看，不可以凡庸識度」 tr. “one must not view them with the eyes of cattle and sheep or measure them through ordinary understanding”〔0143a24–0143a25〕. The reading of chapters 24 and 25 is already keyed here.
Read with Dhāraṇī, King Wonderful-Adornment, and Samantabhadra: the judgment that each of the five chapters rides through one Dharma〔0143b03–0143b06〕 is the general framework for the six chapters from 23 through 28; the placement of chapters 26, 27, and 28 all derives from here.
Carrying forward: this unit ends with Prabhūtaratna’s praise〔0144a15〕. In the following chapter, The Bodhisattva Wonderful Sound, a great being from another land arrives under command; the reading path turns from “how the teacher who propagates Dharma relinquishes the body” to “how the disciples who receive Dharma recognize the person.”
VIII. Placement of the Editions
Within the strict domain of this unit are nine critical-text positions, all one-sided notes juxtaposing Taishō and edition A. There are no asterisk back-references, omission-count notes, or CBETA corrections.
| No. | Position | Taishō | Edition A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0143a14 | again | next |
| 2 | 0143a26 | know | also |
| 3 | 0143b11 | basis | omitted in edition A |
| 4 | 0143b14 | proclaim | poplar |
| 5 | 0143b28 | possess | omitted in edition A |
| 6 | 0143c14 | lower | explanation of the lower Dharma |
| 7 | 0143c22 | region | city |
| 8 | 0144a09 | attain | omitted in edition A |
| 9 | 0144a10 | scripture | omitted in edition A |
Two warrant explicit notice. The fourth 〔0143b14〕 falls in 「對揚」 tr. “receive and respond to the teaching,” specifically on 「揚」 tr. “proclaim”; edition A reads 「楊」 tr. “poplar,” a graphically similar variant, and both are recorded. The seventh 〔0143c22〕 falls in the wheel-turning-king simile 「輪王號令止在四域」 tr. “the wheel-turning king’s command reaches only the four regions,” specifically on 「域」 tr. “region”; edition A reads 「城」 tr. “city.” Because 「四域」 tr. “four regions” and 「四城」 tr. “four cities” differ in breadth, both are recorded side by side without adjudication.
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 「釋藥王菩薩本事品」 tr. “Explanation of the Former Affairs of the Bodhisattva Medicine King Chapter”〔0143a10〕.