辯中邊論辯無上乘品第七（連續

心要Essence

大乘常自稱「無上」——沒有哪一乘能高過它。這是一句尊崇的口號，還是說得出道理來？

《辯中邊論》的最後一品「辯無上乘品」，就是來把這道理說清楚的。彌勒菩薩造頌、世親菩薩造釋，前面六品一路講了諸法之相、遮蔽相的障、實相、對治、階位、果；走到這最後一品，論主要做一件總收的事：交代以上這整條大乘之道，何以當得起「無上」二字。

答案是「三無上」：所修的行無上、所觀的境無上、所經所證的修與果無上——行、境、果三面都無上，這一乘才稱得上無上。其中「行」這一條最廣，再開為六種正行；而六種裡，最深的一段講的正是唯識的觀法：二取本無、亂識似現、如幻、法界本淨——並以一則「幻師喻」收束：由唯識遣去外境，再由境之無遣去唯識，境識俱泯。這，就是這部論名為「辯中邊」的那個「中道」，最分明的一處。

於是全論在末偈回頭點題：所謂「辯中邊」，辯的就是虛妄分別的「處中」與二取的「二邊」，辯的就是離兩邊的中道。第一品開宗所立的，與這末偈，首尾相印——原來整部論，自始至終只講了一個「中道」。

如果「大乘憑什麼無上」這個問題曾在你心裡掠過，義疏層會牽著你把這條線——三無上、六正行、所緣、修證，一段一段走到全論的末偈。想再深入，還有逐頌原文、世親釋與古德考據。但你不必一開始就跳進去——先在這裡，把「無上，究竟憑什麼」這一問，放在心上。

The Great Vehicle calls itself "unsurpassed" — with nothing standing higher than it. Is that a term of reverence only, or is there a reason that can be spelled out?

The last chapter of the Madhyāntavibhāga, "The Unsurpassed Vehicle," is where the reason is spelled out. Maitreya composed the verses and Vasubandhu the commentary; the first six chapters treated, in turn, the characteristics of things, the obscurations that veil them, reality, the antidotes, the stages, and the fruit. Arriving at this last chapter, the author does one summarizing thing: he shows why this whole road of the Great Vehicle earns the word "unsurpassed."

The answer is the three unsurpasseds: the practice cultivated is unsurpassed, the object contemplated is unsurpassed, and the cultivation-and-realization passed through is unsurpassed — practice, object, fruit, all three unsurpassed, and only so is this vehicle unsurpassed. The first thread, "practice," is the broadest, and opens into six kinds; and the deepest stretch among them is the Yogācāra contemplation itself — the two-grasping is, of itself, absent; the deluded consciousness merely appears; all is like an illusion; the dharma-realm is originally pure — sealed by a single "illusionist simile": by consciousness-only one casts off the outer object, and by the object's absence one casts off consciousness-only in turn, until object and consciousness are both effaced. This is where the "middle" that gives the treatise its name — Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes — shows most plainly of all.

And so, in its final verse, the treatise turns back to name itself: what it "distinguishes" is false imagining's being-in-the-middle from the two-grasping's two extremes — the middle way free of both. What the first chapter set up and this last verse say answer each other end to end: the whole treatise, it turns out, has spoken of one middle way from beginning to end.

If the question "what makes the Great Vehicle unsurpassed?" has ever crossed your mind, the exposition layer will walk you down this thread — the three unsurpasseds, the six kinds of practice, the object, the cultivation-realization — one stretch at a time, all the way to the treatise's final verse. To go deeper, there are the verses themselves, Vasubandhu's commentary, and the ancient masters' findings. But you need not leap in at once — for now, just here, let the one question settle in you: unsurpassed — by what right, exactly?

原典Canonical · verbatim

彌勒菩薩頌 · 世親菩薩釋《辯中邊論》· T31n1600 · 大唐三藏法師玄奘奉詔譯（661）。本品頌曰／論曰逐字錄自 CBETA，一仍其舊，非詮釋。

已辯得果，無上乘今當說。

頌曰：總由三無上，說為無上乘，謂正行、所緣，及修證無上。

論曰：此大乘中總由三種無上義故名無上乘。三無上者，一正行無上、二所緣無上、三修證無上。此中正行無上者，謂十波羅蜜多行。此正行相云何應知？

頌曰：正行有六種，謂最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別。

論曰：即於十種波羅蜜多隨修差別有六正行，一最勝正行、二作意正行、三隨法正行、四離二邊正行、五差別正行、六無差別正行。最勝正行，其相云何？

頌曰：最勝有十二，謂廣大、長時、依處及無盡、無間、無難性、自在、攝、發起、得、等流、究竟，由斯說十度，名波羅蜜多。

論曰：最勝正行有十二種，一廣大最勝、二長時最勝、三依處最勝、四無盡最勝、五無間最勝、六無難最勝、七自在最勝、八攝受最勝、九發起最勝、十至得最勝、十一等流最勝、十二究竟最勝。此中廣大最勝者，終不欣樂一切世間富樂自在，志高遠故。長時最勝者，三無數劫熏習成故。依處最勝者，普為利樂一切有情為依處故。無盡最勝者，迴向無上正等菩提無窮盡故。無間最勝者，由得自他平等勝解，於諸有情發起施等波羅蜜多速圓滿故。無難最勝者，於他有情所修善法但深隨喜，令自施等波羅蜜多速圓滿故。自在最勝者，由虛空藏等三摩地力，令所修施等速圓滿故。攝受最勝者，無分別智之所攝受，能令施等極清淨故。發起最勝者，在勝解行地最上品忍中。至得最勝者，在極喜地。等流最勝者，在次八地。究竟最勝者，在第十地及佛地中，菩薩如來因果滿故。由施等十波羅蜜多皆有如斯十二最勝，是故皆得到彼岸名。何等名為十到彼岸？

頌曰：十波羅蜜多，謂施、戒、安忍、精進、定、般若、方便、願、力、智。

論曰：此顯施等十度別名。施等云何各別作業？

頌曰：饒益、不害、受、增德、能入、脫、無盡、常起、定、受用成熟他。

論曰：此顯施等十到彼岸各別事業，如次應知。謂諸菩薩由布施波羅蜜多故，於諸有情普能饒益。由淨戒波羅蜜多故，於諸有情不為損害。由安忍波羅蜜多故，他損害時深能忍受。由精進波羅蜜多故，增長功德。由靜慮波羅蜜多故，起神通等能引有情令入正法。由般若波羅蜜多故，能正教授教誡有情令得解脫。由方便善巧波羅蜜多故，迴向無上正等菩提，能令施等功德無盡。由願波羅蜜多故，攝受隨順施等勝生，一切生中恒得值佛，恭敬供養常起施等。由力波羅蜜多故，具足思擇、修習二力伏滅諸障，能令施等常決定轉。由智波羅蜜多故，離如聞言諸法迷謬，受用施等增上法樂，無倒成熟一切有情。如是已說最勝正行，作意正行其相云何？

頌曰：菩薩以三慧，恒思惟大乘，如所施設法，名作意正行。

論曰：若諸菩薩以聞思修所成妙慧，數數作意思惟大乘，依布施等如所施設契經等法，如是名為作意正行。此諸菩薩以三妙慧思惟大乘有何功德？

頌曰：此增長善界，入義及事成。

論曰：聞所成慧思惟大乘，能令善根界得增長。思所成慧思惟大乘，能正悟入所聞實義。修所成慧思惟大乘，能令所求事業成滿，謂能趣入修治地故。作意正行有何助伴？

頌曰：此助伴應知，即十種法行。

論曰：應知如是作意正行，由十法行之所攝受。何等名為十種法行？

頌曰：謂書寫、供養、施他、聽、披讀、受持、正開演、諷誦及思、修。

論曰：於此大乘有十法行，一書寫、二供養、三施他、四若他誦讀專心諦聽、五自披讀、六受持、七正為他開演文義、八諷誦、九思惟、十修習行。十法行獲幾所福？

頌曰：行十法行者，獲福聚無量。

論曰：修行如是十種法行，所獲福聚其量無邊。何故但於大乘經等說修法行獲最大果，於聲聞乘不如是說？

頌曰：勝故、無盡故，由攝他不息。

論曰：於此大乘修諸法行，由二緣故獲最大果，一最勝故、二無盡故。由能攝益他諸有情，是故大乘說為最勝。由雖證得無餘涅槃，利益他事而恒不息，是故大乘說為無盡。如是已說作意正行，隨法正行其相云何？

頌曰：隨法行二種，謂諸無散亂、無顛倒轉變，諸菩薩應知。

論曰：隨法正行略有二種，一無散亂轉變、二無顛倒轉變，菩薩於此應正了知。此中六種散亂無故，名無散亂。六散亂者，一自性散亂、二外散亂、三內散亂、四相散亂、五麁重散亂、六作意散亂。此六種相云何應知？

頌曰：出定、於境流、味沈掉、矯示、我執、心下劣，諸智者應知。

論曰：此中出定由五識身，當知即是自性散亂。於境流者，馳散外緣，即外散亂。味沈掉者，味著等持惛沈掉舉，即內散亂。矯示者，即相散亂，矯現相已修定加行故。我執者，即麁重散亂，由麁重力我慢現行故。心下劣者，即作意散亂，依下劣乘起作意故。菩薩於此六散亂相，應遍了知當速除滅。如是已說無散亂轉變，無顛倒轉變云何應知？

頌曰：智見於文義，作意及不動，二相染淨客，無怖高無倒。

論曰：依十事中如實智見，應知建立十無倒名。此中云何於文無倒？

頌曰：知但由相應、串習或翻此，有義及非有，是於文無倒。

論曰：若於諸文能無間斷次第宣唱，說名相應。共許此名唯目此事，展轉憶念名為串習。但由此二，成有義文；與此相，違文成無義。如實知見此二文者，應知是名於文無倒。於義無倒其相云何？

頌曰：似二性顯現，如現實非有，知離有非有，是於義無倒。

論曰：似二性顯現者，謂似所取能取性現，亂識似彼行相生故。如現實非有者，謂如所顯現，實不如是有。離有者，謂此義所取能取性非有故。離非有者，謂彼亂識現似有故。如實知見此中義者，應知是名於義無倒。於作意無倒者，

頌曰：於作意無倒，知彼言熏習，言作意彼依，現似二因故。

論曰：所取能取言所熏習名言作意，即此作意是所能取分別所依，是能現似二取因故。由此作意是戲論想之所熏習名言作意，如實知見此作意者，應知是於作意無倒。於不動無倒者，

頌曰：於不動無倒，謂知義非有，非無如幻等，有無不動故。

論曰：前說諸義離有非有。此如幻等非有無故。謂如幻作諸象馬等彼非實有，象馬等性亦非全無，亂識似彼諸象馬等而顯現故。如是諸義無如現似所取能取定實有性亦非全無，亂識似彼所取能取而顯現，故等聲顯示陽焰夢境及水月等，如應當知。以能諦觀義如幻等，於有無品心不動散，如實知見此不動者，應知是於不動無倒。於二相無倒者，謂於自相及共相中俱無顛倒。於自相無倒者，

頌曰：於自相無倒，知一切唯名，離一切分別，依勝義自相。

論曰：如實知見一切眼色乃至意法皆唯有名，即能對治一切分別，應知是於自相無倒。此依勝義自相而說。若依世俗非但有名可取，種種差別相故。於共相無倒者，

頌曰：以離真法界，無別有一法，故通達此者，於共相無倒。

論曰：以無一法離法無我者故，真法界諸法共相攝。如實知見此共相者，應知是於共相無倒。於染淨無倒者，

頌曰：知顛倒作意，未滅及已滅，於法界雜染，清淨無顛倒。

論曰：若未斷滅顛倒作意，爾時法界說為雜染，已斷滅時說為清淨。如實知見此染淨者，如次是於染淨無倒。於客無倒，其相云何？

頌曰：知法界本性，清淨如虛空，故染淨非主，是於客無倒。

論曰：法界本性淨若虛空，由此應知先染後淨二差別相是客非主。如實知見此客相者，應知是名於客無倒。於無怖無高俱無顛倒者，

頌曰：有情法無故，染淨性俱無，知此無怖高，是於二無倒。

論曰：有情及法俱非有故，彼染淨性亦俱非有。以染淨義俱不可得，故染淨品無減無增，由此於中無怖無慢。如實知見無怖高者，應知是名於二無倒。無倒行總義者，謂由文無倒，能正通達止觀二相；由義無倒，能正通達諸顛倒相；由作意無倒，於倒因緣能正遠離；由不動無倒，善取彼相；由自相無倒，修彼對治無分別道；由共相無倒，能正通達本性清淨；由染淨無倒，了知未斷及已斷障；由客無倒，如實了知染淨二相；由無怖無高二種無倒，諸障斷滅得永出離。此十無倒如次安立於彼十種金剛句中。何等名為十金剛句？謂有非有無顛倒。所依幻等喻無分別。本性清淨雜染清淨。虛空喻無減無增。為攝如是十金剛句，有二頌言：「應知有非有，無顛倒所依，幻等無分別，本性常清淨，及雜染清淨，性淨喻虛空，無減亦無增，是十金剛句。」且初安立十金剛句。自性者，謂自性故、所緣故，無分別故、釋難故。自性故者，謂三自性，即圓成實、遍計所執及依他起。是初三句，如次應知。所緣故者，即三自性。無分別故者，謂由此無分別，即無分別智；及於此無分別，即本性清淨。如次應知安立境智，謂三自性及無分別。釋難故者，謂所餘句。且有難言：遍計所執、依他起相，若實是無，云何可得？若實是有，不應諸法本性清淨。為釋此難，說幻等喻，如幻事等雖實是無而現可得。復有難言：若一切法本性清淨，如何得有先染後淨？為釋此難，說有染淨及虛空喻，謂如虛空雖本性淨，而有雜染及清淨時。復有難言：有無量佛出現於世，一一能度無量有情，令出生死入於涅槃。云何生死無斷滅失、涅槃界中無增益過？為釋此難，說染及淨無減無增。又有情界及清淨品俱無量故。第二安立彼自性者，如有頌言：「亂境自性因，無亂自性境，亂無亂二果，及彼二邊際。」如是已說隨法正行。離二邊正行云何應知？如《寶積經》所說中道行。此行遠離何等二邊？

頌曰：異性與一性，外道及聲聞，增益損減邊，有情法各二。所治及能治，常住與斷滅，所取能取邊，染淨二三種。分別二邊性，應知復有七，謂有非有邊，所能寂怖畏，所能取正邪，有用并無用，不起及時等，是分別二邊。

論曰：若於色等執我有異、或執是一，各為一邊；為離此執說中道行，謂觀無我乃至儒童，見有我者定起此執，我異於身、或即身故。若於色等執為常住是外道邊，執無常者是聲聞邊；為離此執說中道行，謂觀色等非常無常。定執有我是增益有情邊，定執無我是損減有情邊，彼亦撥無假有情故；為離此執說中道行，謂我無我二邊中智。定執心有實是增益法邊，定執心無實是損減法邊；為離此執說中道行，謂於是處無心無思無意無識。執有不善等諸雜染法是所治邊，執有善等諸清淨法是能治邊；為離此執說中道行，謂於二邊不隨觀說。於有情法定執為有是常住邊，定執非有是斷滅邊；為離此執說中道行，謂即於此二邊中智。執有無明所取能取各為一邊，若執有明所取能取各為一邊。如是執有所治諸行、能治無為，乃至老死及能滅彼諸對治道所取能取各為一邊。此所能治所取能取，即是黑品白品差別。為離此執說中道行，謂明與無明無二無二分，乃至廣說，明無明等所取能取皆非有故。雜染有三，謂煩惱雜染、業雜染、生雜染。煩惱雜染復有三種：一諸見、二貪瞋癡相、三後有願。此能對治，謂空智、無相智、無願智。業雜染，謂所作善惡業。此能對治，謂不作智。生雜染有三種：一後有生、二生已心心所念念起、三後有相續。此能對治，謂無生智、無起智、無自性智。如是三種雜染除滅，說為清淨。空等智境，謂空等法。三種雜染隨其所應，非空等智令作空等，由彼本性是空性等，法界本來性無染故。若於法界或執雜染或執清淨各為一邊，本性無染，非染淨故。為離此執說中道行，謂不由空能空於法，法性自空，乃至廣說。復有七種分別二邊。何等為七？謂分別有、分別非有各為一邊。彼執實有補特伽羅以為壞滅，立空性故。或於無我分別為無，為離如是二邊分別說中道行，謂不為滅補特伽羅方立空性，然彼空性本性自空，前際亦空、後際亦空、中際亦空，乃至廣說。分別所寂、分別能寂各為一邊。執有所斷及有能斷，怖畏空故。為離如是二邊分別，說虛空喻。分別所怖、分別從彼所生可畏各為一邊。執有遍計所執色等可生怖故，執有從彼所生苦法可生畏故。為離如是二邊分別，說畫師喻。前虛空喻為聲聞說，今畫師喻為菩薩說。分別所取、分別能取各為一邊。為離如是二邊分別，說幻師喻。由唯識智無境智生，由無境智生復捨唯識。智境既非有，識亦是無，要託所緣識方生故。由斯所喻與喻同法。分別正性、分別邪性各為一邊。執如實觀為正為邪，二種性故。為離如是二邊分別，說兩木生火喻。謂如兩木雖無火相，由相鑽截而能生火，火既生已還燒兩木。此如實觀亦復如是，雖無聖道正性之相，而能發生正性聖慧。如是正性聖慧生已，復能除遣此如實觀。由斯所喻與喻同法。然如實觀雖無正性相，順正性故亦無邪性相。分別有用、分別無用各為一邊。彼執聖智要先分別方能除染，或全無用。為離如是二邊分別，說初燈喻。分別不起、分別時等各為一邊。彼執能治畢竟不起，或執與染應等時長。為離如是二邊分別，說後燈喻。如是已說離二邊正行。差別、無差別正行云何？

頌曰：差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。

論曰：於十地中十到彼岸隨一增上而修集者，應知說為差別正行。於一切地皆等修集布施等十波羅蜜多，如是正行名無差別。六正行總義者，謂即如是品類最勝，由此思惟如所施設大乘法等，由如是品無亂轉變修奢摩他，及無倒轉變修毘鉢舍那，為如是義修中道行而求出離，於十地中修習差別無差別行。如是已說正行無上。所緣無上其相云何？

頌曰：所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達，增、證、運、最勝。

論曰：如是所緣有十二種，一安立法施設所緣、二法界所緣、三所立所緣、四能立所緣、五任持所緣、六印持所緣、七內持所緣、八通達所緣、九增長所緣、十分證所緣、十一等運所緣、十二最勝所緣。此中最初謂所安立到彼岸等差別法門；第二謂真如；第三第四如次應知，即前二種到彼岸等差別法門，要由通達法界成故；第五謂聞所成慧境，任持文故；第六謂思所成慧境，印持義故；第七謂修所成慧境，內別持故；第八謂初地中見道境；第九謂修道中乃至七地境；第十謂即七地中世出世道品類差別分分證境；第十一謂第八地境；第十二謂第九第十如來地境。應知此中即初第二，隨諸義位得彼彼名。如是已說所緣無上。修證無上其相云何？

頌曰：修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。

論曰：如是修證總有十種，一種性修證，緣無闕故。二信解修證，不謗毀大乘故。三發心修證，非下劣乘所擾動故。四正行修證，波羅蜜多得圓滿故。五入離生修證，起聖道故。六成熟有情修證，堅固善根長時集故。七淨土修證，心調柔故。八得不退地受記修證，以不住著生死涅槃，非此二種所退轉故。九佛地修證，無二障故。十示現菩提修證，無休息故。無上乘總義者，略有三種無上乘義，謂正行無上故、正行持無上故、正行果無上故。何故此論名「辯中邊」？

頌曰：此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。

論曰：此論能辯中邊行故，名辯中邊，即是顯了處中二邊能緣行義。又此能辯中邊境故，名辯中邊，即是顯了處中二邊所緣境義。或此正辯離初後邊中道法故，名辯中邊。此論所辯是深密義，非諸尋思所行處故。是堅實義，能摧他辯非彼伏故。是廣大義，能辯利樂自他事故。是一切義，普能決了三乘法故。又能除滅諸不吉祥，永斷煩惱所知障故。我辯此論諸功德，咸持普施群生類，令獲勝生增福慧，疾證廣大三菩提。

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.

白話Plain reading

本品辨大乘所以為無上：立三無上（正行、所緣、修證），廣開正行六種，攝十波羅蜜、十法行、隨法行（無散亂、無顛倒）。末以結頌總攝全論。本檔為全品 30 偈 [84]–[113]。

〔一〕三無上

頌曰：

總由三無上，說為無上乘，謂正行、所緣，及修證無上。

辨大乘所以名「無上乘」，總由三種無上：正行無上（所修之行最勝）、所緣無上（所緣之境最廣，謂一切法／法界）、修證無上（所修所證最究竟）。具此三無上，故獨稱無上乘。下廣辨正行。

〔二〕正行六種

頌曰：

正行有六種，謂最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別。

正行無上復開六種：一最勝正行、二作意正行、三隨法正行、四離二邊正行、五差別正行、六無差別正行。下依次辨之。

〔三〕最勝正行十二相

頌曰：

最勝有十二，謂廣大、長時、依處及無盡、無間、無難性、自在、攝、發起、得、等流、究竟，由斯說十度，名波羅蜜多。

最勝正行具十二相（十二殊勝）：廣大（心境廣大）、長時（歷三大阿僧祇）、依處（依一切有情為所依處）、無盡（迴向菩提故無盡）、無間（自他展轉無間）、無難（隨喜他善故無難）、自在（攝持成熟自在）、攝（攝大菩提）、發起（念念發起）、得（證得）、等流（後後等流）、究竟（至極圓滿）。由此十二殊勝故，說（施等）十度，名「波羅蜜多」（到彼岸）——具此殊勝乃成其「最勝」「波羅蜜」之名。

〔四〕十波羅蜜

頌曰：

十波羅蜜多，謂施、戒、安忍、精進、定、般若、方便、願、力、智。

正列十波羅蜜多：施（布施）、戒（淨戒）、安忍（忍辱）、精進、定（靜慮）、般若（智慧）、方便（方便善巧）、願（大願）、力（十力之力）、智（受用法樂、成熟有情之智）。前六為共，後四為大乘不共之增上。

〔五〕十波羅蜜之用

頌曰：

饒益、不害、受、增德、能入、脫、無盡、常起、定、受用成熟他。

辨十度各別之用，如次配當：施——饒益（財法饒益有情）；戒——不害（不損惱於他）；安忍——受（堪受怨害不報）；精進——增德（功德增長）；定——能入（令心趣入專一）；般若——脫（解脫生死）；方便——無盡（迴向令善無盡）；願——常起（願力令善恆起）；力——定（堅定不為屈伏）；智——受用成熟他（自受法樂、成熟有情）。十度一一有用，缺一不成最勝。

〔六〕作意正行

頌曰：

菩薩以三慧，恒思惟大乘，如所施設法，名作意正行。

作意正行者：菩薩以聞、思、修三慧，恆思惟大乘之教，如其所施設（安立）之法而作意——是名作意正行。三慧緣大乘法相續作意，即此正行之體。

〔七〕作意之果與十法行

頌曰：

此增長善界，入義及事成。此助伴應知，即十種法行。

此作意能增長善界（長養出世善法種子）、入義（悟入法義）、及事成（成辦所作）。此（作意）之助伴，即十種法行——作意為正，十法行為其資助。

〔八〕十法行

頌曰：

謂書寫、供養、施他、聽、披讀、受持、正開演、諷誦及思、修。

十法行者，於正法所作之十事：一書寫（書寫經法）、二供養（供養經卷）、三施他（以法施人）、四聽（聽聞）、五披讀（披閱誦讀）、六受持（領受憶持）、七正開演（為他正說）、八諷誦（諷誦流通）、九思（思惟其義）、十修（如義修習）。十行助成作意正行。

〔九〕行十法行之福

頌曰：

行十法行者，獲福聚無量。勝故、無盡故，由攝他不息。

行此十法行者，獲無量福聚。所以福聚無量者三：勝故（大乘法殊勝）、無盡故（迴向菩提故其福無盡）、由攝他不息（恆攝化有情而不止息）。三義故，福不可量。

〔十〕隨法正行——二種

頌曰：

隨法行二種，謂諸無散亂、無顛倒轉變，諸菩薩應知。

隨法正行有二種：一無散亂（心不散動）、二無顛倒轉變（於文義等如實不倒）。諸菩薩應知此二，下別辨之。

〔十一〕無散亂——離六散亂

頌曰：

出定、於境流、味沈掉、矯示、我執、心下劣，諸智者應知。

無散亂者，謂離六種散亂，諸智者應知而離之：一出定散亂（五識逐境而出定，自性散亂）、二於境流散亂（心流逸外境，外散亂）、三味（沈掉）散亂（耽味定境、沈掉間雜，內散亂）、四矯示散亂（矯現勝相以圖名利，相散亂）、五我執散亂（起我我所執，麁重散亂）、六心下劣散亂（以二乘下劣作意而修，作意散亂）。離此六，是無散亂。

〔十二〕無倒——於文無倒

頌曰：

智見於文義，作意及不動，二相染淨客，無怖高無倒。知但由相應、串習或翻此，有義及非有，是於文無倒。

無顛倒者，謂以智正見於十處而不倒：於文、於義、於作意、於不動、於二相（自相、共相）、於染、於淨、於客（客塵）、於無怖、於無高——是為十無倒。下逐一辨。先於文無倒：知文（名言）但由（名義）相應、串習而詮義，或翻此（不相應、未串習則不詮）；以是故，文有（所詮）義亦有非（所詮）有（文非定能詮，亦非定不能詮）——如實知此，是於文無倒。

〔十三〕無倒——於義無倒

頌曰：

似二性顯現，如現實非有，知離有非有，是於義無倒。

於義無倒：義（所詮境）似（能所）二性而顯現，然如其所現，實非有（所現二取本無）；知其離（增益之）有、離（損減之）非有——如實知此，是於義無倒。

〔十四〕無倒——於作意無倒

頌曰：

於作意無倒，知彼言熏習，言作意彼依，現似二因故。

於作意無倒：知彼（似二之顯現）由言（名言）熏習而起，言作意彼（熏習）依（作意所緣即依此名言習氣）——以名言習氣為現似（能所）二之因故。如實知作意所依在名言熏習，是於作意無倒。

〔十五〕無倒——於不動無倒

頌曰：

於不動無倒，謂知義非有，非無如幻等，有無不動故。

於不動無倒：謂知義（境）非（實）有，然亦非（全）無，如幻事等（似有而非實，非實而非無）；以於有、無二邊俱不動故——不執實有、不撥全無，是於不動無倒。

〔十六〕無倒——於自相無倒

頌曰：

於自相無倒，知一切唯名，離一切分別，依勝義自相。

於自相無倒：知一切法唯名（唯假名安立）、離一切分別（自相非分別所行），依勝義自相（依勝義諦所顯之自相）而觀——如實知諸法自相唯名離分別，是於自相無倒。

〔十七〕無倒——於共相無倒

頌曰：

以離真法界，無別有一法，故通達此者，於共相無倒。

於共相無倒：以離真法界，無別有一法（一切法之共相即真如法界，無一法在法界外別有自體）；故通達此（共相即法界）者，於共相無倒——了知諸法共相不外法界，是於共相無倒。

〔十八〕無倒——於染淨無倒

頌曰：

知顛倒作意，未滅及已滅，於法界雜染，清淨無顛倒。

於染、淨無倒：知顛倒作意未滅時，法界現為雜染；已滅時，法界現為清淨——染淨惟隨顛倒作意之滅未滅而立，非法界自性有染淨。如實知此，於法界之雜染、清淨二者無顛倒。

〔十九〕無倒——於客無倒

頌曰：

知法界本性，清淨如虛空，故染淨非主，是於客無倒。

於客無倒：知法界本性清淨，猶如虛空（本淨不為染汙）；故染、淨非（其）主（非法界之自性主體，乃客塵之來去）——了知染淨皆客非主，是於客（塵）無倒。

〔二十〕無倒——於無怖無高無倒

頌曰：

有情法無故，染淨性俱無，知此無怖高，是於二無倒。

於無怖、無高無倒：以有情（人）、法俱無（實性）故，染、淨之性俱無（既無實染可斷、亦無實淨可得）；知此而無怖（不以無染可斷而生怖畏）、無高（不以得淨而生高慢）——是於無怖、無高二者無倒。十無倒備，無顛倒轉變圓。

〔廿一〕離二邊正行——一異・常斷・染淨諸邊

頌曰：

異性與一性，外道及聲聞，增益損減邊，有情法各二。所治及能治，常住與斷滅，所取能取邊，染淨二三種。

離二邊正行者，遠離種種墮邊之見而行中道。所離諸邊：異性與一性邊（執我與蘊一、或執異）、外道（增益）與聲聞（損減）之邊、增益、損減邊——於有情（人）與法，各有此二邊。復有：所治與能治邊、常住與斷滅邊、所取與能取邊、染與淨邊。如是諸邊，二二相對，三類（人法增損／治常取／染淨）並列，皆所應離。

〔廿二〕離二邊正行——七種分別二邊

頌曰：

分別二邊性，應知復有七，謂有非有邊，所能寂怖畏，所能取正邪，有用并無用，不起及時等，是分別二邊。

分別二邊之性，應知復有七種（七對）：一有／非有邊、二所寂／能寂邊（所應寂與能寂者）、三怖畏邊（所怖／能怖）、四所取／能取邊、五正／邪邊（正行與邪行）、六有用／無用邊、七不起／時（起）等邊。是為七種分別二邊——一一以中道離之，方成離二邊正行。

〔廿三〕差別與無差別正行

頌曰：

差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。

差別正行與無差別正行，應知於十地、十波羅蜜多上見：差別者，於十地中，各以十度之一隨一增上而修（如初地施增上、二地戒增上）；無差別者，於一切地皆平等修集十波羅蜜多。隨地有所主，而諸地無不齊修——是此二正行。六正行至此辨竟。

〔廿四〕所緣無上

頌曰：

所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達、增、證、運、最勝。

次所緣無上。大乘所緣最廣最勝，謂：安立（所安立之大乘教法）、法界、所立能立（所成立義與能成立量）、任持（任持正法）、印持（印定決了）、內持（內自證持）、通達（通達真實）、增（長）、證（得）、運（轉）、最勝（究竟最勝）。緣此諸境而修，故所緣無上。

〔廿五〕修證無上

頌曰：

修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。

次修證無上。所修所證最究竟，謂：無闕（資糧無缺）、不毀動（不為違緣所毀動）、圓滿（福智圓滿）、起（念念能起）、堅固（不退堅固）、調柔（心得調柔）、不住（不住生死涅槃）、無障息（無障而相續不息）。具此故修證無上。三無上既圓，無上乘義成。

〔廿六〕結頌

頌曰：

此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。

結頌總攝全論。 此論辨「中」與「邊」（分辨中道於增益損減二邊之間），其義深密（理趣幽深隱密）、堅實（不可傾動破壞）、廣大（統攝一切法義無遺）；能除諸不吉祥（盡遣顛倒、障染、生死之不安隱）。一部七品——相、障、真實、修對治、修分位、得果、無上乘——至此圓畢。辨中邊之旨，盡於是矣。

This chapter sets out why the Great Vehicle is unsurpassed: it establishes the three unsurpasseds (practice, object, cultivation-realization) and unfolds the six kinds of practice, gathering in the ten perfections, the ten dharma-practices, and the practice-according-to-dharma (non-distraction, non-perversion). It closes with a summary verse for the whole treatise. All 30 verses [84]–[113] are covered.

〔1〕The three unsurpasseds

總由三無上，說為無上乘，謂正行、所緣，及修證無上。

Why the Great Vehicle is called the "unsurpassed vehicle": by reason of three unsurpasseds in sum: unsurpassed practice (the practice cultivated is supreme), unsurpassed object (the object taken is the broadest — all phenomena / the dharma-realm), and unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization (what is cultivated and realized is most ultimate). Having these three, it alone is called unsurpassed. The practice is now expounded at length.

〔2〕The six kinds of practice

正行有六種，謂最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別。

Unsurpassed practice opens further into six kinds: (1) supreme practice, (2) practice of attention, (3) practice according to dharma, (4) practice free of the two extremes, (5) differentiated practice, (6) undifferentiated practice. These are treated in turn.

〔3〕Supreme practice in twelve aspects

最勝有十二，謂廣大、長時、依處及無盡、無間、無難性、自在、攝、發起、得、等流、究竟，由斯說十度，名波羅蜜多。

Supreme practice has twelve aspects (twelve superiorities): vast (vast in mind and object), long-time (over the three immeasurable eons), based (resting on all beings as its basis), inexhaustible (inexhaustible through dedication to awakening), uninterrupted (unbroken in the interchange of self and other), without difficulty (made easy by rejoicing in others' good), masterful (mastery in sustaining and maturing), embracing (embracing great awakening), initiating (initiated moment after moment), attaining (realized), outflowing (each later one an outflow of the prior), ultimate (perfect to the very limit). By these twelve superiorities the ten [perfections] of giving and the rest are spoken of and named "perfection" (going to the far shore) — having these superiorities, they earn the names "supreme" and "perfection."

〔4〕The ten perfections

十波羅蜜多，謂施、戒、安忍、精進、定、般若、方便、願、力、智。

The ten perfections listed directly: giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration, wisdom, skillful means, vow, power, and knowledge. The first six are shared; the latter four are the distinctively Mahāyāna increments.

〔5〕The functions of the ten perfections

饒益、不害、受、增德、能入、脫、無盡、常起、定、受用成熟他。

The distinct function of each perfection, in order: giving — to benefit (enriching beings with goods and Dharma); morality — non-harm (not injuring others); patience — to endure (bearing harm without retaliation); vigor — to increase virtue (the growth of qualities); concentration — to enable entry (leading the mind to one-pointed entry); wisdom — to liberate (release from saṃsāra); skillful means — inexhaustibility (dedication making the good inexhaustible); vow — constant arising (the power of vow keeping the good ever-arising); power — steadfastness (unshaken, unsubdued); knowledge — enjoying and maturing others (one's own enjoyment of the Dharma's savor, and the maturing of beings). Each of the ten has its function; lacking one, supremacy is not accomplished.

〔6〕The practice of attention

菩薩以三慧，恒思惟大乘，如所施設法，名作意正行。

The practice of attention: the bodhisattva, by the three wisdoms (of learning, reflection, and cultivation), constantly contemplates the teaching of the Great Vehicle, attending to the dharmas as they have been set forth — this is the practice of attention. The three wisdoms attending continuously to the Mahāyāna teaching constitute the substance of this practice.

〔7〕The fruit of attention and the ten dharma-practices

此增長善界，入義及事成。此助伴應知，即十種法行。

This attention is able to increase the wholesome realm (nourishing the seeds of supramundane good), to enter the meaning (penetrating the sense of the teaching), and to accomplish the matter (bringing the task to completion). Its aids are to be known as the ten dharma-practices — attention being the principal, the ten dharma-practices its support.

〔8〕The ten dharma-practices

謂書寫、供養、施他、聽、披讀、受持、正開演、諷誦及思、修。

The ten dharma-practices, ten activities performed toward the true Dharma: (1) copying (writing out the scripture), (2) making offerings (to the scripture), (3) giving to others (the gift of Dharma), (4) listening, (5) reading (perusing and reciting), (6) upholding (receiving and retaining in memory), (7) expounding (rightly teaching it to others), (8) reciting (chanting and circulating), (9) reflecting (pondering its meaning), and (10) cultivating (practicing in accord with the meaning). The ten support and accomplish the practice of attention.

〔9〕The merit of the ten dharma-practices

行十法行者，獲福聚無量。勝故、無盡故，由攝他不息。

One who performs these ten dharma-practices gains an immeasurable mass of merit. The merit is immeasurable for three reasons: because [the Mahāyāna teaching] is superior, because [its merit] is inexhaustible (inexhaustible through dedication to awakening), and because one embraces others ceaselessly (continually attracting and maturing beings without rest). For these three, the merit cannot be measured.

〔10〕Practice according to dharma — two kinds

隨法行二種，謂諸無散亂、無顛倒轉變，諸菩薩應知。

Practice according to dharma has two kinds: (1) non-distraction (the mind unscattered) and (2) non-perverted transformation (no perversion regarding the letter, the meaning, and so on). Bodhisattvas should know these two; they are treated separately below.

〔11〕Non-distraction — free of the six distractions

出定、於境流、味沈掉、矯示、我執、心下劣，諸智者應知。

Non-distraction means being free of the six distractions, which the wise should know and avoid: (1) the distraction of going out from concentration (the five sense-consciousnesses chasing objects and leaving concentration — distraction of own-nature), (2) the distraction of flowing toward objects (the mind straying to external objects — outward distraction), (3) the distraction of relishing (with sinking and agitation) (savoring meditative states, sinking and agitation intermixed — inward distraction), (4) the distraction of false display (feigning marks of attainment to gain fame and gain — distraction of marks), (5) the distraction of self-grasping (giving rise to the clinging to "I" and "mine" — distraction of coarseness), (6) the distraction of inferior mind (cultivating with the inferior attention of the two vehicles — distraction of attention). Free of these six, there is non-distraction.

〔12〕Non-perversion — non-perversion regarding the letter

智見於文義，作意及不動，二相染淨客，無怖高無倒。知但由相應、串習或翻此，有義及非有，是於文無倒。

Non-perversion means that, with wisdom, one rightly sees and is not perverted with respect to ten loci: the letter, the meaning, attention, immovability, the two characteristics (own-mark and shared-mark), defilement, purity, the adventitious, non-fear, and non-exaltation — these are the ten non-perversions, treated one by one below. First, non-perversion regarding the letter: knowing that the letter (verbal designation) conveys meaning only through the conjunction [of word and sense] and habituation, or the reverse (where unconjoined or un-habituated, it conveys nothing); therefore the letter both has [signified] meaning and has non-[signified] being (the letter neither necessarily signifies nor necessarily fails to signify) — knowing this as it is, is non-perversion regarding the letter.

〔13〕Non-perversion — non-perversion regarding the meaning

似二性顯現，如現實非有，知離有非有，是於義無倒。

Non-perversion regarding the meaning: the meaning (the signified object) appears as having the nature of the two (appearing as grasper and grasped), yet as it appears, it is really nonexistent (the appearing duality never was); knowing it as free of [superimposed] existence and of [denied] nonexistence — knowing this as it is, is non-perversion regarding the meaning.

〔14〕Non-perversion — regarding attention

於作意無倒，知彼言熏習，言作意彼依，現似二因故。

Non-perversion regarding attention: knowing that the appearing of the two arises from the habituation of language (the impregnation by names), and that attention rests on that verbal latency (attention's object depends on these linguistic latencies) — because the verbal latency is the cause of the appearing-as-two. Knowing as it is that attention rests on verbal habituation, is non-perversion regarding attention.

〔15〕Non-perversion — regarding immovability

於不動無倒，謂知義非有，非無如幻等，有無不動故。

Non-perversion regarding immovability: knowing that the meaning (object) is not [substantially] existent, yet not [utterly] nonexistent, like an illusion and the like (seeming-but-not-real, unreal-but-not-nothing); because one is unmoved by either existence or nonexistence — not clinging to substantial existence, not denying into sheer nothing — this is non-perversion regarding immovability.

〔16〕Non-perversion — regarding own-characteristic

於自相無倒，知一切唯名，離一切分別，依勝義自相。

Non-perversion regarding own-characteristic: knowing that all phenomena are only name (merely nominal positing), free of all discrimination (the own-characteristic is not the range of discrimination), and contemplating in reliance on the ultimate own-characteristic (the own-mark disclosed at the level of ultimate truth) — knowing as it is that the own-characteristic of phenomena is merely nominal and free of discrimination, is non-perversion regarding own-characteristic.

〔17〕Non-perversion — regarding shared-characteristic

以離真法界，無別有一法，故通達此者，於共相無倒。

Non-perversion regarding shared-characteristic: because apart from the true dharma-realm there is no separate single dharma (the shared-characteristic of all phenomena just is the suchness-dharma-realm, no dharma having its own substance outside the dharma-realm); therefore one who penetrates this — that the shared-characteristic is the dharma-realm — is non-perverted regarding shared-characteristic.

〔18〕Non-perversion — regarding defilement and purity

知顛倒作意，未滅及已滅，於法界雜染，清淨無顛倒。

Non-perversion regarding defilement and purity: knowing that when perverted attention has not yet ceased the dharma-realm appears as defiled, and when it has already ceased the dharma-realm appears as pure — defilement and purity are posited only according to whether perverted attention has ceased or not, not because the dharma-realm's own nature has defilement or purity. Knowing this as it is, one is non-perverted regarding both the defilement and the purity of the dharma-realm.

〔19〕Non-perversion — regarding the adventitious

知法界本性，清淨如虛空，故染淨非主，是於客無倒。

Non-perversion regarding the adventitious: knowing that the dharma-realm's nature is originally pure, like space (primordially pure, not made defiled); hence defilement and purity are not the master (not the intrinsic substance of the dharma-realm, but the coming-and-going of adventitious dust) — knowing that both defilement and purity are adventitious, not the master, is non-perversion regarding the adventitious.

〔20〕Non-perversion — regarding non-fear and non-exaltation

有情法無故，染淨性俱無，知此無怖高，是於二無倒。

Non-perversion regarding non-fear and non-exaltation: because person and dharma are both without [real nature], the natures of defilement and purity are both absent (there being neither a real defilement to remove nor a real purity to gain); knowing this, one neither fears (no dread at there being no defilement to remove) nor is exalted (no pride at a purity gained) — this is non-perversion regarding the two, non-fear and non-exaltation. With the ten non-perversions complete, non-perverted transformation is fulfilled.

〔21〕Practice free of the two extremes — the extremes of identity-and-difference, eternalism-and-annihilation, defilement-and-purity, and the rest

異性與一性，外道及聲聞，增益損減邊，有情法各二。所治及能治，常住與斷滅，所取能取邊，染淨二三種。

Practice free of the two extremes means treading the middle way, free of the various views that fall into an extreme. The extremes to be left: the extreme of difference and identity (clinging to self as identical with the aggregates, or as different), the extreme of the outsiders (superimposition) and the śrāvakas (denial), the extremes of superimposition and denial — regarding both person and dharma, each has these two extremes. Further: the extreme of the to-be-countered and the counteragent, of eternalism and annihilation, of the grasped and the grasper, and of defilement and purity. All such extremes, paired two by two and ranged in their classes, are to be abandoned.

〔22〕Practice free of the two extremes — the seven discriminations of two extremes

分別二邊性，應知復有七，謂有非有邊，所能寂怖畏，所能取正邪，有用并無用，不起及時等，是分別二邊。

The nature of the discrimination of two extremes should be known to have, further, seven kinds (seven pairs): (1) the extreme of existence / nonexistence, (2) the extreme of the to-be-pacified / the pacifier, (3) the extreme of fear (the feared / the fearer), (4) the extreme of the grasped / the grasper, (5) the extreme of right / wrong (right conduct and wrong conduct), (6) the extreme of the useful / the useless, and (7) the extreme of non-arising / arising-in-time and the like. These are the seven discriminations of two extremes — each left behind by the middle way, completing the practice free of the two extremes.

〔23〕Differentiated and undifferentiated practice

差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。

The differentiated practice and the undifferentiated practice should be known with respect to the ten grounds and the ten perfections: as differentiated practice, on each of the ten grounds one of the ten perfections is cultivated as dominant (giving dominant on the first ground, discipline on the second); as undifferentiated practice, on every ground all ten perfections are cultivated equally. Each ground has its emphasis, yet no ground omits the full cultivation — such are the two practices. With this the six kinds of practice are fully expounded.

〔24〕The unsurpassed object

所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達、增、證、運、最勝。

Next, the unsurpassed object. The object of the Great Vehicle is the broadest and most excellent, namely: the established (the established teaching of the Great Vehicle), the dharma-realm, the established-and-establisher (the thesis to be proved and the means of proving it), sustaining (sustaining the true Dharma), sealing (decisive certitude), inner holding (inwardly self-realized holding), penetration (penetrating reality), increase, realization, conveying, and the supreme (the ultimate, most excellent). Cultivating with these as object, the object is unsurpassed.

〔25〕The unsurpassed cultivation-realization

修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。

Next, the unsurpassed cultivation-realization. What is cultivated and realized is most ultimate, namely: without lack (the provisions undeficient), unbroken and unmoved (not damaged or moved by adverse conditions), complete (merit and wisdom perfected), arising (able to arise moment after moment), firm (firm, non-regressing), pliant (the mind grown supple), non-abiding (abiding in neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa), and without obstruction or cessation (unobstructed and continuing without end). Having these, the cultivation-realization is unsurpassed. The three unsurpasseds complete, the meaning of the unsurpassed vehicle is established.

〔26〕Closing verse

此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。

The closing verse gathers the whole treatise. This treatise distinguishes the "middle" from the "extremes" (discerning the middle way between superimposition and denial); its meaning is profound and hidden (deep and subtle in import), firm and solid (not to be toppled or broken), and vast (embracing the meaning of all phenomena without remainder); and it can dispel all that is inauspicious (clearing away every distortion, obscuration, defilement, and the unrest of saṃsāra). The seven chapters of the whole — characteristics, obscurations, reality, the cultivation of antidotes, the stages of cultivation, the attainment of fruit, and the unsurpassed vehicle — are herewith complete. The purport of distinguishing the middle from the extremes is, in this, fully told.

義疏Exposition

本篇講的是《辯中邊論》的最後一品——辯無上乘品，全品三十頌。它要回答一個收束全論的問題：這條從「相」一路走到「果」的大乘之路，憑什麼稱得上「無上」？ 答案是「三無上」：正行無上、所緣無上、修證無上。本篇就順著這三條線，把一品講到底。

《辯中邊論》是彌勒菩薩造頌、世親菩薩造釋的一部論，玄奘譯本分作七品。前六品依次講了：諸法之相、遮蔽相的障、實相之所依的真實、對治障的修對治、修所經歷的分位、依修所得的果。古德把這七品收成「境、行、果」三段：前二品是所觀之境，中三品是能修之行，後二品是所證之果。

走到第七品「辯無上乘品」，論主要做一件總收的事：說清楚以上這整條道，何以是「無上」的大乘。「無上」就是「沒有更在它之上的」——再沒有哪一乘能高過它。憑什麼？總由三無上：

正行無上——所修的「行」無上（這一條最廣，下開「六正行」：最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別）。
所緣無上——所觀的「境」無上（十二所緣）。
修證無上——所經、所證的「修與果」無上（十修證）。

正行、所緣、修證，正好就是「行、境、果」三面。三面都無上，所以這一乘無上。下面就從「標目」起，一段一段把這三條線講開——最後以全論的末偈作結。

〔標目〕三無上與六正行：無上乘的綱

總由三無上，說為無上乘，謂正行、所緣，及修證無上。正行有六種，謂最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別。

辯得果品把「果」辯竟，到了這最後一品——辯無上乘品。前面六品一路走下來：諸法之相、遮蔽相的障、實相之所依、對治障的修、修所經歷的階位、依修所得的果。這一品要回答的，是收束全論的一個問題：這條從相到果走下來的大乘之路，憑什麼稱得上「無上」？「無上」就是「沒有更在它之上的」——再沒有哪一乘能高過它、能超過它。

要先說清楚一句：大乘之所以「無上」，並不是因為它另外有一個特別高妙的東西擺在那裡。它無上，是就著「十波羅蜜多」這條菩薩之行而說的——而這條行，從三個地方看，樣樣都無上。這三處，就叫三無上：

正行無上——「正行」就是真正修上去的那條行，指的正是十波羅蜜多之行（也就是布施、持戒……乃至智，這十種「到彼岸」的修行）。這條行本身無上。
所緣無上——「所緣」就是修行時所對、所緣的那個境。菩薩所緣的境，也無上（這一處後文〔到所緣那一段〕再廣說）。
修證無上——「修證」就是修行與所證。菩薩這一路的修與證，同樣無上（也留待後文廣說）。

所以要記住：無上乘不是別有一個體，而是「十度之行、所緣、修證」這三樣都無上。三處皆無上，合起來，才說它是無上乘。這就是這一品的總綱。

三無上裡，頭一個「正行無上」最廣、最要緊，所以第二頌緊接著就把它再開成六條，叫六正行：

最勝正行——
作意正行——
隨法正行——
離二邊正行——
差別正行——
無差別正行——

這六條都不是憑空另立的名目，而是「在十波羅蜜多上隨著怎麼修，分出來的六種差別」——同樣一套十度，從「修得最殊勝」這面看，是最勝正行；從「該起什麼樣的作意」這面看，是作意正行；如此類推，一直到差別、無差別。所以六正行，是十度之行的六個側面，是「正行無上」這四個字的骨架。

把這標目段記牢，後面就好走了：整部論的末品，就是先立「三無上」為大綱，再把其中的「正行無上」拆成「六正行」為細目；六正行一條一條講開，這一品也就一段一段展開。我們先進第一條——最勝正行。

一、最勝正行：十二種最勝，與十波羅蜜

最勝有十二，謂廣大、長時、依處及無盡、無間、無難性、自在、攝、發起、得、等流、究竟，由斯說十度，名波羅蜜多。十波羅蜜多，謂施、戒、安忍、精進、定、般若、方便、願、力、智。饒益、不害、受、增德、能入、脫、無盡、常起、定、受用成熟他。

六正行的第一條，是最勝正行。要先解這個名字。所謂「最勝」，就是「最為殊勝、無可比擬」。為什麼布施、持戒這些修行，到了菩薩手上會變成「最勝」？因為菩薩所修的這十種行，樣樣都具備十二種殊勝之相；正因為具足這十二最勝，這十種修行才當得起「波羅蜜多」這個名。「波羅蜜多」翻成今天的話，就是「到彼岸」——能把人從生死此岸渡到涅槃彼岸。

這十二最勝，依世親的解釋，逐一是這樣的：

廣大最勝——修這些行時，心始終不貪戀世間的富樂、自在，志向高遠。不是為了人天福報而修，所以叫廣大。
長時最勝——這是經過三大無數劫，長時熏習而成的。不是一時一地的功夫。
依處最勝——它普遍以利樂一切有情為依止之處。修行所立足的地方，是整個眾生界，不是一己。
無盡最勝——把所修的一切，迴向無上正等菩提，於是永無窮盡。迴向到佛果，功德就不會用完。
無間最勝——由於得了「自他平等」的勝解（深信自己與一切眾生平等無二），對眾生發起布施等行時，能很快圓滿，中間沒有間斷。
無難最勝——對別人所修的善法，只是深深地隨喜（不嫉妒、不較量），這樣反過來能讓自己的施等行很快圓滿，修起來不覺其難。
自在最勝——憑著「虛空藏」等三摩地（深定）之力，能讓所修的施等迅速圓滿，做得自在。
攝受最勝——由「無分別智」所攝持，能讓施等行極為清淨。智一攝受，行就純了。
發起最勝——這一條是配在「勝解行地」的最上品忍位上說的（後面第十、十一、十二也都配著菩薩的階位）。
至得最勝——配在極喜地，也就是菩薩的初地。
等流最勝——配在初地之後的八地，也就是二地到九地。
究竟最勝——配在第十地以及佛地——到這裡，菩薩因與如來果都圓滿了。

這裡要特別留意後面四個（發起、至得、等流、究竟）。它們不只是四種性質，更是配著菩薩修行的階位、一級一級往上排的：發起在勝解行地的最上品忍、至得在初地、等流在二至九地、究竟在十地與佛地。可見十度的「到彼岸」，不是泛泛一句口號，而是歷經階位、漸漸圓滿、直到因果圓極的真實過程。由於施等十波羅蜜多樣樣都有這十二最勝，所以它們都得了「到彼岸」這個名。

接著，頌把這十種「到彼岸」的名目一一數出來，這就是十波羅蜜多：

施、戒、安忍、精進、定（靜慮）、般若、方便（善巧）、願、力、智。

前面六個（施、戒、忍、進、定、般若）是常聽到的「六度」；後面再加方便、願、力、智，合成「十度」。

每一度，各有它專屬的事業——也就是這一度具體成就什麼。世親逐一點明（這叫「十度別業」）：

布施——能普遍饒益一切有情（拿東西利益眾生）。
持戒——對眾生不作損害（守住不傷人）。
安忍——別人來損害時，深深能忍受。
精進——能增長功德。
靜慮（定）——能起神通等等，引導有情、令他們入於正法。
般若——能正確地教授、教誡有情，令他們得解脫。
方便善巧——把功德迴向無上菩提，使施等的功德無有窮盡。
願——攝受、隨順施等的殊勝來生，生生世世常得遇佛，恭敬供養、常起施等。
力——具足「思擇」「修習」這二種力，伏滅種種障，使施等能恆常決定地相續運轉。
智——遠離「只照著聽來的言句而生的種種迷謬」，受用施等帶來的增上法樂，並無顛倒地成熟一切有情。

這裡要點出一層關係：前面六度（施、戒、忍、進、定、般若），是菩薩自行的根本；後面四度（方便、願、力、智），其實是前六度的「差別」——它們的作用，是去扶持、成全前六度：方便令前六的功德無盡、願令前六常起（生生遇佛而恆修）、力令前六決定（不退轉地相續）、智令前六能成熟他（無倒地度化眾生）。所以十度不是平鋪的十件事，而是「六為本、四為輔」——後四度回過頭來，把前六度修得無盡、常起、決定、又能成熟眾生。這，就是最勝正行的全貌。

二、作意正行：三慧思惟大乘，與十法行

六種正行的第二種，叫作意正行。「作意」就是把心提起來、安住在所緣上，使它不散逸；「正行」是依著大乘正法去修。合起來說，作意正行就是：菩薩不停地、一遍又一遍地把心安住在大乘法上去思惟。

菩薩以三慧，恒思惟大乘，如所施設法，名作意正行。此增長善界，入義及事成。此助伴應知，即十種法行。謂書寫、供養、施他、聽、披讀、受持、正開演、諷誦及思、修。行十法行者，獲福聚無量。勝故、無盡故，由攝他不息。

先講菩薩拿什麼來思惟。頌說「以三慧，恒思惟大乘」。三慧，是三種智慧，依著它們生起的次第與來源而分：

聞所成慧——從聽聞正法而成就的智慧。聽聞、讀誦大乘法，由此而生的領解，就是聞慧。
思所成慧——從反覆思量、抉擇所聞的義理而成就的智慧。聽進來之後不囫圇吞下，而是仔細推求它真正的意思，由此而生的明了，就是思慧。
修所成慧——從實地修習、定中觀照而成就的智慧。把思惟確定下來的義理，放到止觀裡去現量地修，由此而成就的，就是修慧。

「恒思惟大乘」的「大乘」，不是泛泛一句，它有確指：是「依施等如所施設法」——也就是依著布施等六度，如佛所安立、所宣說的契經等大乘教法。菩薩拿三慧，一遍遍地把心安住在這些大乘法上思惟，這就是作意正行的體。

接著頌說這三慧思惟大乘，各有各的功用——這正是「此增長善界，入義及事成」一句：

聞慧思惟大乘，能令「善界增長」。「善界」就是內在善法的種子、善的根本；聞慧把它澆灌、培育，使善根一天天增長。
思慧思惟大乘，能「正悟入所聞實義」。「實義」是所聽聞的法真正的義理。思慧的功用，就是把聽來的話，真正地悟入它的實義，不停在表面字句。
修慧思惟大乘，能令「所求事業成滿」。「所求事業」指菩薩所要成辦的修行大事；修慧能使這事業圓滿成就——也就是「趣入修治地」，真正踏進地上修行的階位，把所修的地一一治成。

一句聞、一句思、一句修，正好是一條由淺入深的線：聞慧長善根、思慧入實義、修慧成事業。三慧是作意正行的體。

頌的後半，講作意正行的助伴——「此助伴應知，即十種法行」。「助伴」就是輔助、相隨而行的修法；作意正行以三慧思惟為主，而以十種法行為其相助。這十種，頌一一數出：

書寫——抄寫大乘經法。
供養——對經法恭敬供養。
施他——把經法布施給他人。
聽——他人誦讀時，專心諦聽。
披讀——自己披卷讀誦。
受持——領受在心、持守不失。
正開演——為他人開演經法的文與義。
諷誦——讀誦背念。
思——思惟其義（即思慧之行）。
修——修習（即修慧之行）。

這十種，從抄寫一部經，到為人講說、到自己思惟修習，把對待一部大乘法所能下的功夫都收盡了。它們是作意正行的助伴：三慧思惟是正，十法行是助，合起來才是大乘修學完整的「思惟加行持」。

最後一句最要緊：「行十法行者，獲福聚無量。勝故、無盡故，由攝他不息。」修這十法行，所得的福德無量無邊。但這句不只是說福多，它更點出大乘所以勝過二乘的兩個道理——這也是整品「辯無上乘」的眼：

勝——「由攝他」。二乘修行，主要是為了自己了脫；菩薩的十法行，卻處處是在攝受、利益其他有情。所為既廣，所以說它「勝」（最殊勝）。
無盡——「不息」。二乘證了無餘涅槃，事就了了；菩薩雖然也能證得無餘涅槃，卻利他之事恒不止息——不因自己已到岸，就停下度生的事。利他無有窮盡，所以說它「無盡」。

這一段的要義，可以收成一句話：作意正行，以三慧為體、以十法行為助；而它所感的福「勝」且「無盡」，正是菩薩道異於二乘自利的地方——一個攝益他人、利他不息的修行，自然不是只求自度的修行所能比的。

三、隨法正行（上）：止——離六種散亂

六種正行的第三種，叫隨法正行。「隨法」是隨順大乘正法而修；這一種正行，正是把前面「思惟」與「行持」落到實地止觀上的修。

隨法行二種，謂諸無散亂、無顛倒轉變，諸菩薩應知。出定、於境流、味沈掉、矯示、我執、心下劣，諸智者應知。智見於文義，作意及不動，二相染淨客，無怖高無倒。

頌一開頭就把隨法正行分成兩種：「無散亂轉變」與「無顛倒轉變」。「轉變」是說在修行過程中，心的轉移、變化都不離正軌。這兩種，菩薩都應當好好了知。

說得明白些，這兩面其實就是止與觀：

無散亂——是「止」這一面。心不散逸、不動亂，安定下來，就叫無散亂。
無顛倒——是「觀」這一面。心不顛倒、如實見法，就叫無顛倒。

這一段，先講第一面——無散亂；也就是「止」。所謂無散亂，就是把六種「散亂」一一離掉；六種散亂沒有了，才叫無散亂。頌的第二句「出定、於境流、味沈掉、矯示、我執、心下劣」，正是把這六種散亂逐一點出。今依世親的解釋，一一講開：

自性散亂——頌語「出定」。指出定之時，前五識（眼、耳、鼻、舌、身這五種了別之識）散開、流入各自的根門去攀緣外境。這是散亂的自性相，所以叫自性散亂。
外散亂——頌語「於境流」。指心向外馳散，流逐外面的境緣。心攀著外境跑，就是外散亂。
內散亂——頌語「味沈掉」。這裡含三樣：味著等持（貪著、耽味於所修的定境）、惛沈（心暗鈍、提不起來）、掉舉（心浮動、安不下來）。這三樣都是在修定當中，於內而起的擾亂，所以叫內散亂。
相散亂——頌語「矯示」。「矯」是矯飾、造作。指為了表現給人看，矯揉造作地現出一副入定的相，在修定的加行上弄虛作態。這是在「相」上起的散亂，所以叫相散亂。
麁重散亂——頌語「我執」。「麁重」是煩惱種子那股沉重、不調柔的力。由這麁重之力，使我慢（執我而自高）現起現行。這是麁重所牽起的散亂，所以叫麁重散亂。
作意散亂——頌語「心下劣」。指依著下劣的乘（如二乘等不究竟的法）而起作意。所緣既劣，心便墮在下劣處，這是作意上的散亂，所以叫作意散亂。

這六種，逐一離掉，就是「無散亂」；這正是隨法正行裡「止」的所離——把出定的散、外馳的散、內定的味沈掉、矯飾的相、麁重的我慢、下劣的作意，一一看清、一一遠離，心才真正安住不動。

頌的第三句「智見於文義，作意及不動，二相染淨客，無怖高無倒」，則是轉到第二面——無顛倒，也就是「觀」。無顛倒，即是十無倒：依十件事，如實地以智慧觀見，不起顛倒。這一句先把十無倒的名目一次標出：

文（於文無倒）
義（於義無倒）
作意（於作意無倒）
不動（於不動無倒）
自相（於自相無倒）
共相（於共相無倒）——此二合稱「二相」。
染淨（於染淨無倒）
客（於客無倒）
無怖（於無怖無倒）
無高（於無高無倒）

這十項，是依十件事各起如實的智見而立的；它們一一是怎麼觀、怎麼成其為「無倒」，留到下一段逐一別釋，這裡先把標目立好。

這一段的要義，可以這樣收：隨法正行有止、觀兩面——「無散亂」是定（止），「無顛倒」是慧（觀），二者雙運才是隨大乘法的正修。這一段講的是「止」這一面：把六種散亂一一離盡，心安住不動；同時把「觀」這一面的十無倒先標出名目。止離六散、觀立十無倒——這就是菩薩「隨大乘法」而修的正行。

四、隨法正行（下）：觀——十無倒與十金剛句

知但由相應、串習或翻此，有義及非有，是於文無倒。似二性顯現，如現實非有，知離有非有，是於義無倒。於作意無倒，知彼言熏習，言作意彼依，現似二因故。於不動無倒，謂知義非有，非無如幻等，有無不動故。於自相無倒，知一切唯名，離一切分別，依勝義自相。以離真法界，無別有一法，故通達此者，於共相無倒。知顛倒作意，未滅及已滅，於法界雜染，清淨無顛倒。知法界本性，清淨如虛空，故染淨非主，是於客無倒。有情法無故，染淨性俱無，知此無怖高，是於二無倒。

上一段講「隨法正行」的「止」這一面；這一段轉到「觀」這一面——也就是菩薩怎麼用智慧，把諸法看得沒有一點顛倒。

先說「無倒」二字。「倒」是顛倒，指看反了、看歪了——本來無的當成有，本來有的當成無，本來淨的當成染。「無倒」就是如實智見：對著一件事，智慧照上去，照得不偏不歪，原原本本看見它的樣子。這裡一口氣列出十件事，菩薩對這十件事各自離一種顛倒，合起來叫「十無倒」。

這十無倒，是整品義理最深的一段，因為它把唯識觀行的骨幹一次說盡——二取本無、亂識似現、諸法如幻、法界本淨。下面一一講開。要先記住：每一無倒，世親的講法都是「知道某件事的真相」，所以每一條都從「知」字下手。

一、文無倒——分清有義之文與無義之文

知但由相應、串習或翻此，有義及非有，是於文無倒。

第一件事是「文」，也就是語言文字。一段文字，憑什麼成為「有意義的文」？世親點出兩個條件：

相應——指文句「次第宣唱」，前後字句接得上、排得順，照著該有的次序講出來。
串習——指這套講法是大家「共許憶念」的，是約定俗成、彼此都認得、記得住的。

合乎這兩條，這段文就「有義」——是有意義的文。「或翻此」就是反過來：若不相應、不串習，那段文便「非有（無義）」——只是聲音字形的堆疊，不成意義。菩薩對這兩種文都看得清清楚楚——哪是有義之文、哪是無義之文，不被文字相所惑——這就叫「於文無倒」。

二、義無倒——這是全段的核心：二取無、亂識似現

似二性顯現，如現實非有，知離有非有，是於義無倒。

第二件事是「義」，也就是文字所指的境、所詮的內容。這一條是十無倒裡最要緊的一條，整個唯識觀的眼睛都在這裡。它要講的，就是辯相品早就立過的那句老話——二取本無、亂識似現——只是這裡說得更貼。世親的釋文一句一句把它拆開，我們也一句一句跟著看。

「似二性顯現」——「二性」就是所取（被取的一邊，像是境）與能取（能取的一邊，像是心）。一段「義」現起來時，總是現成「我這邊能取、境那邊所取」這麼一對。世親說，這是「亂識似彼行相生故」——是這股亂識（散亂顛倒的心識）自己變現出一個「彷彿有能取所取」的相，並不是真有一對能所擺在那裡。「似」字最要緊：是「像是」，看著像有，其實不如所見。
「如現實非有」——就照它所顯現的那個樣子去查，實在不是那樣有的。現出來像有能所，真去看卻沒有那一對能所——所現與實情對不上。
「知離有」——所以要「離有」：這個「義」上的所取、能取兩性，本來非有。這是破「增益」——本無二取，別硬說有。
「知離非有」——可是又不能說它「全然什麼都沒有」，所以還要「離非有」：那股亂識確實在「似有」地現著，這股似現本身不是無。這是破「損減」——亂識的似現不可一筆抹掉。

把這四句合起來：所取能取這一對沒有（離有），但「現似二取的這股亂識」有（離非有）。這正是唯識的命脈——空掉的是二取，保住的是亂識（依他）的似現。菩薩對這個「義」看得如此分明，所以叫「於義無倒」。後面好幾條無倒，其實都是這一條的展開。

三、作意無倒——找到二取分別的根

於作意無倒，知彼言熏習，言作意彼依，現似二因故。

既然知道「似二取」是亂識變出來的，接著要問：這股亂識憑什麼會變出二取相？第三件事「作意」就是回答這個根的。

「作意」是心的一種運作，是起心去注意、去緣某境的那股勁。世親說，這裡的作意是「二取言所熏習之名言作意」——意思是：我們無始以來不停地用「能取／所取」這套語言名相去說、去想，這些言說一次次「熏習」（薰染積習）進心裡，留下習氣；日後心一作意，就帶著這套言習，現出彷彿有能所二取的相來。

所以世親點明它兩個身分：作意是「二取分別所依」（二取的分別要依它才起得來），又是「現似二取之因」（現出似二取相的原因，就在這股帶著言習的作意）。菩薩看清「似二取的根原來在這帶言習的作意上」，不被牽著走——這就叫「於作意無倒」。

四、不動無倒——如幻喻：非有非無，心不動散

於不動無倒，謂知義非有，非無如幻等，有無不動故。

第四件事，是把第二條「義無倒」裡那個「非有又非無」的分寸，用一個比喻坐實，讓心在這分寸上站得穩、不被晃動。這個比喻就是有名的「如幻喻」。

世親的釋文講得很細。幻術師變出一群象馬：

這些象馬「非實有」——它們不是真的象馬，你牽不走、騎不得。
可是它們也「非全無」——眼前明明白白有那麼一幕象馬在動，是亂識「似彼諸象馬等而顯現」，不能說什麼都沒看見。

諸法的「義」正是這樣：現出來像有一對實實在在的能取所取（如幻象馬之現），真去查卻沒有那一對實性（如幻象馬之非實），而「似有能所」的這一幕又確實在亂識上顯現著（如幻象馬之非全無）。世親還補一句：除了幻象，「陽焰、夢境、水月」這些也都是同一個道理——陽焰似水而無水、夢中似境而無境、水中之月似月而無月，都是「似有而非實有、非全無」。

看懂了這個「非有非無、如幻如焰」，心就不會在「到底是有、還是無」這兩品上來回擺盪——這便是「有無不動」。不墮「執它實有」（增益），也不墮「撥它全無」（損減），心安住在如實見上，不動不散。菩薩這樣「諦觀義如幻等」，於有無之中心不動搖——這就叫「於不動無倒」。

五、自相無倒——一切唯名

於自相無倒，知一切唯名，離一切分別，依勝義自相。

前面講的是諸法的「共況」；第五件事「自相」，講的是每一法各自的相。「自相」就是一法之所以是這一法、與別法不同的那個自己的相。

世親說，從勝義（究竟、最高真實）上看，菩薩知道「一切唯名」——眼、色乃至意、法，這一切法的自相，不過是安立的名言而已，並沒有一個離開名言、獨自立著的實自相。既然只是名，便「離一切分別」——不再依著「這是這個、那是那個」的分別計度，去執取一個個實在的自相。要注意這是就勝義說；世俗諦上，諸法「非但有名」，還是各有施設、各有作用的，不是把世俗的差別也一概抹平。菩薩在勝義上看一切法自相「唯名」、不落分別，這就叫「於自相無倒」。

六、共相無倒——離真法界無別一法（法無我）

以離真法界，無別有一法，故通達此者，於共相無倒。

第六件事「共相」，是與「自相」相對的——「自相」是一法各別的相，「共相」是諸法共通的相。諸法千差萬別，但牠們有一個共通的底——就是「真法界」（諸法的真實體性、那離二取的空性）。

世親說：「離真法界，無別有一法」——除了這真法界之外，再也沒有另一個東西可得；換句話說，一切法的共相，都收攝在這真法界裡，沒有哪一法在真法界之外另立一個自己。這其實就是「法無我」——一切法都沒有一個獨立自存的「法的自體」，全歸於同一真法界。菩薩通達「諸法共相同歸真法界、法本無我」，就叫「於共相無倒」。

七、染淨無倒——分清障未斷與已斷

知顛倒作意，未滅及已滅，於法界雜染，清淨無顛倒。

第七件事，講的是同一個真法界上的染與淨。前面說真法界是諸法共底，那它怎麼會有染、有淨之別？關鍵在「顛倒作意」滅了沒有。

當那股顛倒的作意（前面講過的、帶二取言習而現似二取的妄動）還沒滅時，真法界就被它纏著，顯為「雜染」。
當顛倒作意已經滅了，真法界就還它本來，顯為「清淨」。

菩薩對這個分得清清楚楚——哪是「障未斷」的雜染位、哪是「障已斷」的清淨位，不會把染當淨、也不會把淨當染——這就叫「於染淨無倒」。要記住：染與淨的差別，只在顛倒作意的滅與未滅，不是真法界自己變了。這一點，下一條接著說透。

八、客無倒——法界本淨如虛空，染淨是客不是主

知法界本性，清淨如虛空，故染淨非主，是於客無倒。

第七條留下一個問：既然真法界會顯染顯淨，那「染」「淨」是不是它的本性？第八件事「客」就是回答這個的，而且回答得極要緊。

世親說，法界「本性清淨，如虛空」——它的本來體性是清淨的，就像虛空。虛空的譬喻很貼切：虛空本來明淨，雲煙塵霧來了，虛空看著像髒了；雲散了，虛空看著又乾淨了——但虛空自己從來沒被染過、也沒被新洗淨過，那雲霧塵埃只是「客」，來來去去，不是虛空的「主」（本性）。

法界也一樣。「先染後淨」這一染一淨的二相，是「客」——是客來的、外加的、暫現的；不是「主」——不是法界自家的本性。法界的本性，始終只是那一味清淨。所以菩薩知道「染淨是客、本淨是主」，不把客來的染淨當成法界的真身——這就叫「於客無倒」。這正接得上辯相品早講過的「心性本淨、客塵所染」：本淨是常住的主，染是無常的客。

九、無怖與無高——這兩條合為一段

有情法無故，染淨性俱無，知此無怖高，是於二無倒。

最後一條，其實是兩個無倒合在一頌裡講——「無怖」與「無高」。為什麼合講？因為它們是同一個道理推出來的一對。

這個道理，是把前面所有條一路逼到底：

「有情法無故」——連「有情」（眾生這個我）和「法」（種種法）究竟都不可得（人無我、法無我，前面共相無倒已立）。
「染淨性俱無」——我、法既然究竟無，那麼掛在我、法上的「染」與「淨」這兩種性，也就一同無有了（沒有一個實在的我、實在的法去當染淨的主人）。
染淨之性既俱無，那麼究竟上沒有什麼可減、也沒有什麼可增——煩惱染這一邊沒有真的減損掉一個實物，清淨這一邊也沒有真的增添出一個實物。

從這「無減無增」上，落出兩種無倒：

無怖——明知究竟「無減」，所以菩薩不害怕。怕什麼？凡夫怕「修到後來連自己、連一切都空掉、滅掉、損減掉了」，這是一種對「斷滅」的恐怖。菩薩知道究竟上根本沒有一個實物被減損，所以於此無所怖畏。
無高——明知究竟「無增」，所以菩薩不自高。高什麼？怕的是「我證得了、我多了一分清淨功德」的那種自舉。菩薩知道究竟上也沒有一個實物被增添，所以於此不生高舉。

於這「無減故無怖、無增故無高」看得如實，就叫「於二無倒」（無怖、無高二種無倒）。

收尾：無倒行的總義，與十金剛句

世親別釋完十無倒，又退一步，總說這「無倒行」整體有什麼用——也就是十無倒各自通向什麼：

文無倒，能正通達止觀二相；義無倒，能正通達諸顛倒相；作意無倒，能正遠離顛倒的因緣；不動無倒，能善取那如幻之相；自相無倒，修無分別道以對治分別；共相無倒，能正通達本性清淨；染淨無倒，了知障的未斷與已斷；客無倒，如實了知染淨二相（知它是客）；最後無怖、無高這二種無倒，能令諸障斷滅、得永出離。

可以看出，這十條不是十件零散的事，而是一條從看清語言、到看破二取、到照見如幻、到通達本淨、到障盡出離的完整觀行之路，步步相承。

世親末了還點出一件事：這十無倒，是「如次安立於十金剛句」的——也就是說，十無倒一條一條，正好對應、安立在「十金剛句」這個架構上（十金剛句即：有非有、無顛倒所依、幻等無分別、本性常清淨、雜染清淨、性淨喻虛空、無減無增等諸句）。

「金剛句」這名字，取的是金剛「最堅、能斷一切」之義。古德把這十句的內涵收成幾個關鍵：講自性（即三性）、講所緣（即三性）、講無分別（即無分別智、本性清淨），以及用三個比喻來「釋難」（化解難處）——用「如幻喻」解開「明明非有、卻又可得」的難，用「虛空喻」解開「本來清淨、卻又有染有淨」的難，用「無減無增」解開「度脫無量眾生而生死不滅、入大涅槃而涅槃不增」的難。

把這一整段收成一句話：十無倒，就是唯識「二取本無、唯識亂現、諸法如幻、法界本淨」這套觀法的完整展開，而牠們全都安立在十金剛句上。這是般若無分別智在大乘正行裡的骨幹——和辯相品講過的「識變四似」「心性本淨、客塵所染」是一條線貫下來的。隨法正行的「觀」這一面，到此圓滿。

五、離二邊正行：《寶積經》的中道與七喻

異性與一性，外道及聲聞，增益損減邊，有情法各二。所治及能治，常住與斷滅，所取能取邊，染淨二三種。分別二邊性，應知復有七，謂有非有邊，所能寂怖畏，所能取正邪，有用并無用，不起及時等，是分別二邊。

六種正行的第四種，叫離二邊正行——「正行」就是菩薩該走的正當修行，「離二邊」就是遠離兩種偏邪的見。這一種正行的內容，正是《寶積經》所說的「中道行」。前面辯相品立中道，是就一股虛妄分別立四句；這裡的中道，則是把佛在《寶積經》裡為弟子開示的種種「兩邊」，一一拈出來，再各立一個「中道智」去離它。所謂「中道智」，就是一種不落兩邊、如實而觀的智慧。

先看諸二邊。世親順著經文，舉了一組又一組相對的偏見，每一組都配一個離它的中道智。這裡不必把每一組都數盡，舉幾組講清那個「一一邊各以一中智離之」的做法就夠了：

異性與一性——有人執「我」和這身體是兩個各別的東西（異性），有人執「我」就是這身體（一性）。這兩種都從「先認定有個我」生出來。離它的中道智，是觀無我：根本沒有那個我，自然就不必去爭它和身體是一是異了。
常住與無常——外道執色等諸法是常住不變的，這是「外道邊」；聲聞行人執色等是無常生滅的，落到另一頭，這是「聲聞邊」。離它的中道智，是觀色等非常非無常：不一味說常，也不一味說斷滅變壞。
增益有情與損減有情——「增益」是本來沒有卻硬說它有，這裡指執實有一個「我」（有情）；「損減」是本來有卻硬抹掉，這裡指連假名安立的有情也一概撥無。離它的，是「我、無我」兩邊都不落的中智。
增益法與損減法——一邊執心識是實實在在地有，一邊執心識根本是無。

像這樣一組一組地離，就是諸二邊的中道行：佛說一種邊，便立一種智去離它。到「染淨」這一節，世親點出一個要旨：所謂「雜染」有三重（煩惱、業、生），相對地「對治（清淨）」也有三重；但法界的本性本來就不染——不是靠一個「空」去把諸法空掉，而是「法性自空」，諸法的體性本來就是空的。這就把「能治、所治」這一對邊也化掉了：不必執著有個「染」要除、有個「淨」能除。

再看七種分別二邊。「分別二邊」就是因虛妄分別而生的成對偏見，這裡細數有七種，世親各說一個譬喻來離它：

有與非有——有人執實有一個「人」（補特伽羅，就是流轉生死的那個假名個體），等它壞滅了才安立「空」。這是錯的：空性本來就自己空，過去、現在、未來三際都空，並不是為了「滅掉一個人」才立起空來的。
所寂與能寂——「寂」就是寂滅、息滅。有人執有一個「所斷」的東西、有一個「能斷」的力量，甚至因此而怖畏空。離它用虛空喻：空就像虛空，本無可斷、無可滅，沒什麼好怕的。這一喻是為聲聞說的。
所怖與能怖——「怖」就是怖畏。有人把遍計所執的色法當成可怕的、把苦法當成可畏的（「遍計所執」就是橫加計度而執出來、本來不成立的東西）。離它用畫師喻：就像畫師自己畫出一個可怖的相，再回頭被自己的畫嚇到——所怖的境其實是自心所現。這一喻是為菩薩說的。
所取與能取——「所取」是被執取的境，「能取」是去執取的心。離它用幻師喻，這是整段離二邊正行的骨幹，要講透。幻師，就是變幻術的人；他變出的象馬，看著像有、其實全無。修觀也有這麼一條次第：先由「唯識智」生起「無境智」——先安立「萬法唯識所現」，由此見到所取的外境並無可得；再由「無境智」回過頭來捨掉「唯識」——外境既已無可得，那能取的識也就立不住了，於是連「唯識」這個想也一併放下。一句話：唯識 → 無境 → 捨唯識，到最後境與識一同泯盡。為什麼能、所要一同泯？因為識一定是「託著所緣（境）才生得起來」的；所緣的境既然非有，能緣的識也就跟著是無。這「境識俱泯」，正是唯識觀「遣依他、證圓成」的三性中道——空掉依他起上所現的二取，便證入圓成實的真如。本論之所以叫「辯中邊」，這個「中道」在這裡顯得最清楚，也正與辯相品首段「入無相方便」是同一條線。
正性與邪性——有人執那「如實而觀」的觀行，要嘛一定是正的、要嘛一定是邪的。離它用兩木生火喻：就像兩根木頭相鑽生出火來，火一起，反把那兩根木頭燒掉——觀能生出聖者的智慧，智慧一生，反過來又把那能觀的「觀」也除遣了。所以不必死執那個觀是正是邪。
有用與無用——有人執聖者的智慧必須先一一分別、才能除染（有用），有人執它根本毫無作用（無用）。離它用初燈喻（初點的燈）。
不起與時等——有人執那能對治煩惱的智慧畢竟生不起來（不起），有人執它和染污是「同時、一樣長久」地存在（時等）。離它用後燈喻（後續的燈）。

把這七種合起來看，離二邊正行就是：佛隨眾生所執的每一種「兩邊」，各說一喻去離。而它的核心始終在幻師喻——由唯識遣境、再由境無遣識，到能、所一同泯盡，這就是中道智最徹底的落實。

六、差別與無差別正行：十地修十度（六正行總收）

差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。

六種正行的第五、第六種，是一對：差別正行與無差別正行。它們講的是菩薩在「十地」上修「十波羅蜜多」的兩種面向。先把這兩個名相說清：

十地——菩薩成佛之路所經歷的十重階位，從初地一路上去到第十地，一地比一地深。
十波羅蜜多——「波羅蜜多」就是「到彼岸」，指能載人從生死此岸渡到涅槃彼岸的十種行：布施、持戒、忍辱……等等，合稱十度。

明白這兩個名相，這一對正行就好懂了：

差別正行——在十地之中，每一地都以十度裡的某一度為主、特別增上地修。比方初地以「布施」為增上、第二地以「持戒」為增上……每一地各有所側重，這就是「差別」（有分別、有偏重）。
無差別正行——在一切地裡，都把布施等十度平等地、一齊修集，不偏在哪一度上。十度同修、沒有偏重，這就是「無差別」。

這兩種正行，正好講出菩薩在十地上修十度的兩面：一面是隨地各有所重（差別），一面是諸地通通平等齊修（無差別）。

到這裡，六種正行就講完整了。回顧這六種——最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別——世親在此處特地總收一筆，給出「六正行總義」，把六種一線貫起來講：

最勝——就那最殊勝的這一類，去思惟佛所施設的大乘法。
作意——「作意」就是把心專注地擺到所緣上；這裡指由前面那一類，去思惟大乘法。
隨法——隨順正法而修止觀，也就是「無亂轉變修奢摩他、無倒轉變修毘鉢舍那」：奢摩他就是「止」，把心安住不散亂（無亂）；毘鉢舍那就是「觀」，如實照見而不顛倒（無倒）。
離二邊——為著前面所說的義理，修那遠離兩邊的中道行，以求出離生死。
差別與無差別——就在這十地之中，修前面說的差別行與無差別行。

這樣一路收下來：以最勝品類思惟大乘法、修止與觀、修中道行而求出離、於十地修差別無差別行——這整條，就是「正行無上」的全部內容。「正行無上」是說：菩薩的正行，是無可再上的、最殊勝的。六種正行已經把菩薩該修的正行盡數收攝，菩薩正行之所以「無上」，到這裡就圓滿了。

七、所緣無上：十二所緣

三無上的第二種，叫所緣無上。前面講的「正行無上」，是說菩薩所修的「行」無上；這一種，則轉到所修之行所對的「境」上——說菩薩所緣的境無上。「所緣」就是心所對、所觀的對象；菩薩道從頭到尾，要觀的境一共有十二類，無一不無上，所以叫所緣無上。

所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達、增、證、運、最勝。

頌用最精簡的字，把十二種所緣一次數盡。今依世親的解釋，把這十二種一一講開——它們不是散列的十二樣，而是一條從「教」到「理」、歷「聞思修」、終於「佛地」的完整所緣之路：

安立法施設所緣——菩薩最初所緣的，是「所安立的種種法門」，也就是佛所安立、所施設的到彼岸（六度等）的差別教法。簡單說，這是以教為境：先緣佛所說的大乘法門。
法界所緣——所緣的是法界，也就是真如。教所要顯的那個理，是真如；所以在緣教之後，緣的是這個理。這是以理為境。
所立所緣與能立所緣——這兩種要合起來看，它們就是前面那「安立的差別法門」（到彼岸等）的兩面：被安立起來的法門是「所立」，能把這些法門成立起來的是「能立」。為什麼分這兩面？因為前面那些到彼岸的差別法門，要由通達法界（真如）才能真正成立——理通了，教才立得住。所以「所立」「能立」這一對，是接著法界（真如）來的：以通達真如，回過頭來成立所緣的種種教法。
任持所緣——這是聞所成慧的境。「任持」是任持文句——把所聞的法的文字任持在心，這是由聽聞而成的智慧所緣的境。
印持所緣——這是思所成慧的境。「印持」是印持義理——對所聞的義反覆思量、印定其義，這是由思惟而成的智慧所緣的境。
內持所緣——這是修所成慧的境。「內持」是於內別別任持——把思定的義收進止觀裡別別修持，這是由修習而成的智慧所緣的境。

這任持、印持、內持三種，恰恰就是聞、思、修三慧各自所緣的境：聞慧緣文、思慧緣義、修慧內修——三慧之境，一一無上。

接下來五種，是緣道位之境，順著地上修行的階位往上走：

通達所緣——是初地見道所緣的境。菩薩入初地、起見道，真正通達真如，這時所緣的，就是通達所緣。
增長所緣——是修道位中乃至第七地所緣的境。見道之後入修道，功德地地增長，這一段所緣的，就是增長所緣。
分證所緣——是第七地中、世間與出世間道種種品類、分分而證的境。到第七地，於世出世的道品一分一分地別別證入，這所緣的，就是分證所緣。
等運所緣——是第八地所緣的境。到第八地，行任運而轉、自然相續無功用，這時所緣的，就是等運所緣。
最勝所緣——是第九地、第十地以至如來地所緣的境。這是最後、最上的三位所緣，所以叫最勝。

把這十二種連起來看，正是一條完整的所緣之路：先緣教（安立法門）、再緣理（法界真如），由通達真如回成所立能立的教法；中間歷聞、思、修三慧之境（任持、印持、內持）；然後一路上道位——見道（通達）、修道乃至七地（增長）、七地分分而證（分證）、八地任運（等運）、九地十地以至佛地（最勝）。教、理、慧、位，無一不為菩薩所觀之境。

這一段的要義，可以收成一句話：所緣無上，就是大乘所觀的境無上。菩薩所緣，不止於一法一境，而是從佛所說的教、到教所顯的真如之理，歷聞思修三慧，盡見道、修道、十地以至佛地——這一整條所緣的全程，都攝在這十二種裡。所觀之境既如此廣大究竟，無有能過，所以說它無上。

八、修證無上：十修證（與「無上乘」總義）

三無上的第三種，叫修證無上。前面「正行無上」說的是所修之行、「所緣無上」說的是所緣之境；這一種，則說所成就的修證——從一開始的種性，到最後示現菩提，這一整條由因至果的證程，無一階不無上，所以叫修證無上。

修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。

頌仍是極簡的數法，把十種修證一次點盡。今依世親的解釋，把這十修證一一講開——它們是一條從凡入聖、從初發心到圓滿佛果的完整證程：

種性修證——所以成就，是因為「緣無闕」。「種性」是堪成大乘的根性、成佛的本錢；它的成就，在於成佛的因緣具足不缺。緣不缺，種性才立得起來。
信解修證——所以成就，是因為「不謗毀大乘」。對大乘正法生起信受、勝解，不去毀謗它——信解這一步，就在這「不謗毀」上成就。
發心修證——所以成就，是因為「非下劣乘所擾動」。發起菩提心之後，這顆心不被二乘等下劣的法所動搖、所牽走——發心的成就，就在這「不被擾動」上。
正行修證——所以成就，是因為「波羅蜜多得圓滿」。正行就是實地修六度等到彼岸之行；它的成就，在於諸波羅蜜多一一修到圓滿。
入離生修證——所以成就，是因為「起聖道」。「離生」是離開凡夫的生死性；「入離生」就是入見道、起聖道，第一次真正成為聖者——這一步的成就，就在「起聖道」上（也就是前面所緣無上裡「通達」見道的那一位）。
成熟有情修證——所以成就，是因為「堅固善根、長時積集」。菩薩入聖之後，要成熟一切有情；這要靠長時間積集堅固的善根，才能化導眾生、令其善根成熟。
淨土修證——所以成就，是因為「心調柔」。「淨土」是清淨佛土的成就；它的根本在於菩薩的心已經調伏、柔順——心淨，所感的土才淨。
不退地受記修證——所以成就，是因為「不住著生死涅槃」。到了不退轉地、蒙佛授記，這成就在於菩薩既不滯著生死、也不滯著涅槃——不被這生死、涅槃兩邊所退轉，才是真不退。
佛地修證——所以成就，是因為「無二障」。到了佛地，煩惱障與所知障這兩種障都已斷盡——「無二障」正是修證的極點，是成佛之所以為成佛。
示現菩提修證——所以成就，是因為「無休息」。成佛還不是終點：佛示現成等正覺、轉法度生，這度生之事永無休息——成佛而度生不止，這才是修證的最後一相。

把這十種連起來看，正是一條從因至果的完整證程：從種性（緣不缺）起步，歷信解（不謗毀）、發心（不被擾動）、正行（六度圓滿）、入離生（起聖道、見道）、成熟有情（長集善根）、淨土（心調柔）、不退受記（不住二邊）、佛地（斷盡二障），終於示現菩提（度生無息）——一線直到究竟。

講完十修證，世親接著把整品「辯無上乘」收成一個總義——這是收束全品的一句。他說：大乘所以稱為「無上乘」，總起來只有三種無上的道理：

正行無上——所修的「行」無上（就是前面講的六種正行）。
正行持無上——所修之行所對的「境」無上（也就是「所緣無上」，是行所任持、所緣的）。
正行果無上——所修之行所成的「果」無上（也就是這裡的「修證無上」，是行所證得的果）。

換句話說：把前面講過的正行、所緣、修證三種無上，正好對應到行、境、果三面——大乘的行、境、果，三者皆無上，所以才稱它為「無上乘」。

這一段的要義，可以這樣收：修證無上，就是菩薩所證的果無上——從種性發端，一階一階上去，到佛地斷盡煩惱、所知二障，再到示現菩提、度生不息，這一整條證程無有能過。而世親末後那一句總義，更把整品收緊：大乘以正行（行）、所緣（境）、修證（果）三皆無上，故名無上乘——「辯無上乘品」一品所辯的，至此圓滿。

結頌：釋「辯中邊」之名——全論的收束

這是《辯中邊論》的最後一頌，也是整部論的結頌。前面一百一十二頌，從第一品的「相」一路講到第七品的「無上乘」；到這最後一頌，論主回過頭來，解釋這部論為什麼叫「辯中邊」——以論名作結，把全論收攏。

此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。

「辯中邊」三個字，世親給出三層意思。要先記得：整部論的第一品，就立了「虛妄分別有、二取無、中道」這個根本——虛妄分別這股心識活動，是「處中」的（非空非有）；它所裂出的能取、所取二橛，是「二邊」；而離開常、斷、增、損這些偏邪，如實地看，就是中道。「辯中邊」三義，正是扣著這個根本來的：

辯中邊「行」——這部論能分辯「處中」與「二邊」的能緣行。「能緣行」是能去緣慮的那股心識活動，也就是虛妄分別本身：它自己是處中的，卻又裂現出二取的二邊。論辯這股行，所以叫辯中邊。
辯中邊「境」——這部論又能分辯「處中」與「二邊」的所緣境。「所緣境」是那能緣行所對的境。論辯這所緣的境，所以也叫辯中邊。
辯「中道」——這部論能正辯那離開「初邊、後邊」的中道之法。所謂初後二邊，就是常與斷、增益與損減這些偏執；論把這些偏邪都離掉，正辯出不落兩邊的中道，所以叫辯中邊。

一句「辯中邊」，行、境、中道三義都攝在裡頭——辯能緣的行、辯所緣的境、辯離邊的中道。

頌的後三句「深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥」，是世親標出本論所辯的四種義，加上它的一種功用：

深密——本論所辯，是深密之義：它不是粗淺的尋思所能到達的境界。一般的揣度、思量觸不到這裡，所以說它深密。
堅實——是堅實之義：它能摧破他人的異辯，自己卻不被對方所折伏。義理紮實不可動搖，所以說它堅實。
廣大——是廣大之義：它能分辯出利樂自己、也利樂他人的種種事。所被既廣，所以說它廣大。
一切——是一切之義：它能普遍地為人決了聲聞、緣覺、菩薩三乘的法。所通既遍，所以說它一切。
〔功用〕除不吉祥——末句「除諸不吉祥」，是說本論的功用：它能滅除種種不吉祥。所謂不吉祥，指的就是煩惱障與所知障這兩種障；本論能令人永斷這二障，所以說它能除諸不吉祥。

於是這一頌，把全論的名與實一齊收住：論名「辯中邊」（辯處中二邊之行境、辯離邊之中道），論義深密、堅實、廣大、遍通三乘，論用永斷二障、除諸不吉祥——名實相符，論旨周備。

把全論首尾合起來看，正可見一條貫通到底的線：第一品起手，便立「虛妄分別有、二取無、中道」為根本；中間六品，順著境、行、果，把這個中道一步步辯盡——辯相、辯障、辯真實、辯修對治、辯修分位、辯得果，直到這末品辯出大乘行、境、果三皆無上。而到這最後一頌，論主以「辯中邊」三字回扣首品：所辯的，正是虛妄分別之「處中」（非空非有）、二取之「二邊」，以及離常斷增損之中道——首品所立，末偈所結，首尾相印，如環之無端。其義深密堅實廣大而遍於三乘，其用永斷二障而除諸不吉祥。

立中道於篇首，辯中道於全篇，而以「辯中邊」之名收於篇末——《辯中邊論》一百一十三頌，至此圓滿。

結：無上乘的一條線

把這一品連起來看，是這樣一條線。

論主先立標目：大乘所以無上，總由三無上——正行、所緣、修證；正行再開為六種。接著就一條一條講這六正行：

最勝正行——施等十度因具「十二最勝」（從廣大、長時，到究竟），才稱得上「波羅蜜多（到彼岸）」；後四度（方便、願、力、智）又扶成前六，令它無盡、常起、決定、成熟眾生。
作意正行——以聞、思、修三慧恒思惟大乘，並以十法行（書寫、供養……乃至修習）為助；其福「勝」而「無盡」，正是菩薩道異於二乘自利之處。
隨法正行——分「止」「觀」兩面：止，是離六種散亂；觀，是十無倒（從文、義，到無怖、無高），收攝於十金剛句。這一段是唯識觀行的骨幹——二取本無、亂識似現、如幻、法界本淨。
離二邊正行——即《寶積經》的中道行，以七喻離七種分別二邊；骨在「幻師喻」：由唯識遣外境、再由境無遣唯識，境識俱泯，這就是「辯中邊」之「中道」最顯之處。
差別與無差別正行——於十地中修十波羅蜜，或隨一增上、或一切平等。到此六正行講竟，「正行無上」圓滿。

正行無上講完，再講另外兩條：所緣無上——菩薩所觀的境，從教、理到三慧境、見修道地地之境，共十二類，無一不無上；修證無上——菩薩所經、所證，從種性一路到示現菩提，共十修證，至佛地斷盡二障。行、境、果三面都無上，「無上乘」之名於是立定。

最後，全論以末偈作結，回頭點明「辯中邊」這個論名：辯虛妄分別之「處中」與二取之「二邊」、辯離常斷增損之「中道」。第一品開宗立的「虛妄分別有、二取無、中道」，與這末偈首尾相印——整部論，原來自始至終只講一個「中道」。

立三無上、開六正行、攝所緣與修證，終於回扣全論的中道——這就是辯無上乘品，給人的一條從「大乘何以無上」走到「全論何以名為辯中邊」的完整線索。

What follows covers the final chapter of the Madhyāntavibhāga — "The Unsurpassed Vehicle," all thirty verses. It answers a question that gathers up the whole treatise: this road that runs from "characteristics" all the way to "fruit" — by what right is it called "unsurpassed"? The answer is the three unsurpasseds: unsurpassed practice, unsurpassed object, unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization. This exposition follows those three threads, chapter's-end to chapter's-end.

The Madhyāntavibhāga is a treatise whose root verses were composed by the bodhisattva Maitreya and whose commentary (bhāṣya) was written by the bodhisattva Vasubandhu; Xuanzang's translation divides it into seven chapters. The first six chapters treated, in turn: the characteristics of all things, the obscurations that veil them, the reality on which they rest, the cultivation of the antidotes that counters those veils, the stages that cultivation passes through, and the fruit realized through it. The ancient masters gather these seven into three — object, practice, fruit: the first two chapters are the object to be contemplated, the middle three the practice to be undertaken, the last two the fruit to be realized.

Arriving at this seventh chapter, "The Unsurpassed Vehicle," the author does one summarizing thing: he makes plain why this whole road is the "unsurpassed" Great Vehicle. "Unsurpassed" (anuttara) means "with nothing higher above it" — no vehicle stands above it or surpasses it. By what right? By reason of three unsurpasseds in sum:

Unsurpassed practice — the practice cultivated is unsurpassed (this thread is the broadest: it opens into the six kinds of practice — supreme, attention, according-to-dharma, free of the two extremes, differentiated, undifferentiated).
Unsurpassed object — the object contemplated is unsurpassed (the twelve objects).
Unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization — the cultivating and the realizing are unsurpassed (the ten cultivation-realizations).

Practice, object, cultivation-realization are exactly the three faces of practice, object, fruit. All three unsurpassed — so this vehicle is unsurpassed. From the "heading" onward, we open these three threads one section at a time, and close with the treatise's final verse.

〔Heading〕The Three Unsurpasseds and the Six Kinds of Practice: The Frame of the Unsurpassed Vehicle

By three unsurpasseds in sum it is called the Unsurpassed Vehicle — namely, unsurpassed practice, unsurpassed object, and unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization. Practice is of six kinds: supreme, attention, according-to-dharma, free of the two extremes, differentiated, and undifferentiated.

The Attainment chapter, having finished distinguishing the "fruit," brings us to this final chapter — the chapter on the Unsurpassed Vehicle. The previous six chapters have walked us straight through: the characteristics of all things, the obscuration that veils those characteristics, the reality on which they rest, the cultivation that counters the obscuration, the stages that cultivation passes through, and the fruit attained by that cultivation. What this chapter must answer is the single question that draws the whole treatise to a close: this Great Vehicle road, walked from characteristics all the way to fruit — by what right is it called "unsurpassed"? "Unsurpassed" (anuttara-yāna) means "there is nothing higher standing above it" — no other vehicle can rise above it, can go beyond it.

One thing must be said plainly first: the Great Vehicle is "unsurpassed" not because it has some special, more exalted thing set apart somewhere of its own. It is unsurpassed as spoken of with reference to the bodhisattva's practice of "the ten perfections" — and this practice, looked at from three places, is unsurpassed in every respect. These three places are called the three unsurpasseds:

Unsurpassed practice — "practice" (prayoga) is the actual line of conduct one truly cultivates upward, and here it points precisely to the practice of the ten perfections (pāramitā) — that is, giving, morality, and so on, up to knowledge, the ten kinds of "going to the far shore." This practice itself is unsurpassed.
Unsurpassed object — "object" (ālambana) is the very domain one faces and takes hold of in cultivation. The object the bodhisattva takes is also unsurpassed (this place is treated at length later, at the section on the object).
Unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization — "cultivation-and-realization" is the cultivating done and the realization attained. The bodhisattva's cultivation and realization along this whole road are unsurpassed in the same way (this too is reserved for fuller treatment later).

So remember: the Unsurpassed Vehicle is not some separate substance, but the fact that "the practice of the ten perfections, its object, and its cultivation-and-realization" are all three unsurpassed. All three places being unsurpassed, taken together, is why it is called the Unsurpassed Vehicle. This is the master-frame of the chapter.

Among the three unsurpasseds, the first — unsurpassed practice — is the broadest and the most important, and so the second verse immediately opens it further into six, called the six kinds of practice:

Supreme practice
The practice of attention
The practice according to dharma
The practice free of the two extremes
Differentiated practice
Undifferentiated practice

None of these six is a fresh heading set up out of thin air. They are "six differentiations drawn out according to how one cultivates upon the ten perfections" — one and the same set of ten perfections, seen from the side of "cultivated most surpassingly," is supreme practice; seen from the side of "what kind of attention to arouse," is the practice of attention; and so on through differentiated and undifferentiated. So the six kinds of practice are six facets of the practice of the ten perfections — they are the skeleton of those four words, "unsurpassed practice."

Fix this heading section firmly and the rest of the road runs easily: the treatise's final chapter first sets up "the three unsurpasseds" as the master-frame, then takes the "unsurpassed practice" within it and unfolds it into "the six kinds of practice" as the detailed headings; as the six kinds of practice are explained one by one, this chapter, too, opens out section by section. Let us enter the first of them — supreme practice.

1. Supreme Practice: The Twelve Superiorities, and the Ten Perfections

The superiorities are twelve: vast, long-time, based, and inexhaustible; uninterrupted, without difficulty, masterful, embracing, initiating, attaining, outflowing, ultimate. By these the ten are called perfections. The ten perfections are: giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration, wisdom, skillful means, vow, power, knowledge. To benefit, non-harm, to endure, to increase virtue, to enable entry, to liberate; inexhaustibility, constant arising, steadfastness, enjoying-and-maturing-others.

The first of the six kinds of practice is supreme practice. We should first unpack the name. "Supreme" means "most surpassing, beyond all comparison." Why is it that giving, morality, and the rest of these cultivations, once they are in the bodhisattva's hands, become "supreme"? Because these ten kinds of practice the bodhisattva cultivates each possess twelve marks of superiority; and precisely because they are complete in these twelve superiorities, these ten cultivations earn the name "perfection" (pāramitā). "Perfection" rendered into today's language is "going to the far shore" — it can ferry a person from the near shore of birth-and-death across to the far shore of nirvāṇa.

The twelve superiorities, on Vasubandhu's explanation, run one by one as follows:

Vast — in cultivating these practices, the mind never craves or clings to the world's wealth, pleasure, and ease; the aspiration is lofty and far-reaching. One does not cultivate for the sake of human or heavenly rewards, and so it is called vast.
Long-time — this is accomplished by habituation over a long time, through the three immeasurable eons. It is no work of a single moment or a single place.
Based — it takes the benefit and welfare of all sentient beings everywhere as its basis (its place of resting). The ground on which the cultivation stands is the whole realm of beings, not oneself alone.
Inexhaustible — all that is cultivated is dedicated to unsurpassed perfect awakening, and so is forever without end. Dedicated to the buddha-fruit, the merit can never be used up.
Uninterrupted — by gaining the resolute conviction of "self-other equality" (a deep trust that oneself and all beings are equal and not-two), when one gives rise to giving and the other practices toward beings, they can be swiftly perfected, with no break in between.
Without difficulty — toward the good dharmas cultivated by others one simply rejoices deeply (without envy, without measuring oneself against them), and this in turn lets one's own giving and the rest be swiftly perfected, the cultivation never felt as hard.
Masterful — by the power of the "Space-Treasury" and other samādhis (deep concentrations), one can let the giving and the rest one cultivates be swiftly perfected, done with mastery and ease.
Embracing — held and sustained by "non-discriminating wisdom," giving and the rest can be made utterly pure. Once wisdom embraces the practice, the practice becomes unmixed.
Initiating — this one is spoken of as matched to the highest grade of forbearance at the level of resolute conduct (and the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth that follow are likewise matched to the bodhisattva's stations).
Attaining — matched to the Ground of Supreme Joy, that is, the bodhisattva's first ground.
Outflowing — matched to the eight grounds after the first, that is, the second through the ninth ground.
Ultimate — matched to the tenth ground and the buddha-ground — here the bodhisattva's cause and the tathāgata's fruit are both complete.

Here one should pay particular attention to the last four (initiating, attaining, outflowing, ultimate). They are not merely four qualities; they are matched to the bodhisattva's stations of cultivation and arranged in rank, one level at a time: initiating at the highest grade of forbearance on the ground of resolute conduct, attaining at the first ground, outflowing across the second through ninth, ultimate at the tenth ground and the buddha-ground. One can see that the "going to the far shore" of the ten perfections is no loose slogan, but a real process — passing through the stations, gradually perfected, all the way to the utmost fullness of cause and fruit. Because giving and the ten perfections each possess these twelve superiorities, they all earn the name "going to the far shore."

Next the verse counts out the names of these ten kinds of "going to the far shore" one by one — and these are the ten perfections:

Giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration (meditative absorption), wisdom, skillful means, vow, power, knowledge.

The first six (giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration, wisdom) are the familiar "six perfections"; adding skillful means, vow, power, and knowledge to these makes up the "ten perfections."

Each perfection has its own particular work — that is, what each one specifically accomplishes. Vasubandhu points each out in turn (this is called "the distinct functions of the ten perfections"):

Giving — to benefit all sentient beings everywhere (using things to benefit beings).
Morality — to work no harm to beings (holding to not injuring others).
Patience — when others come to do harm, deeply able to endure it.
Vigor — to increase virtue (the growth of merit).
Concentration — to arise supernormal powers and the like, leading beings on and bringing them into the true Dharma.
Wisdom — to rightly teach and admonish beings, bringing them to liberation.
Skillful means — to dedicate the merit to unsurpassed awakening, making the merit of giving and the rest inexhaustible.
Vow — to take up and accord with the excellent births that giving and the rest bring, so that birth after birth one ever meets the Buddha, reverently making offerings and constantly giving rise to giving and the rest.
Power — to be complete in the two powers of "discernment" and "cultivation," subduing and quelling every obstruction, so that giving and the rest proceed in unbroken, decided continuity.
Knowledge — to be free of the various delusions that arise merely from following words as heard, and to enjoy the surpassing Dharma-savor that giving and the rest bring, unerringly maturing all sentient beings.

Here one relationship deserves to be pointed out. The first six perfections (giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration, wisdom) are the root of the bodhisattva's own practice; the last four (skillful means, vow, power, knowledge) are in fact the "differentiations" of the first six — their work is to sustain and bring to completion the first six. Skillful means makes the merit of the first six inexhaustible; vow makes the first six ever-arising (meeting the Buddha birth after birth and cultivating without cease); power makes the first six decided (continuing in non-retreat); knowledge makes the first six able to mature others (delivering beings unerringly). So the ten perfections are not ten things laid out flat and side by side, but "six as root, four as support" — the last four turn back to make the first six inexhaustible, ever-arising, decided, and able to mature beings. This, then, is the full picture of supreme practice.

2. The Practice of Attention: Contemplating the Great Vehicle by the Three Wisdoms, and the Ten Dharma-Practices

The second of the six kinds of practice is called the practice of attention. "Attention" (manaskāra) means to take the mind up and settle it on its object, so that it does not scatter; "practice" means cultivating in accord with the right dharma of the Great Vehicle. Put together, the practice of attention is this: the bodhisattva, again and again without pause, settles the mind upon the dharma of the Great Vehicle and contemplates it.

By the three [kinds of] wisdom the bodhisattva constantly contemplates the Great Vehicle — the dharmas as they have been set forth. This is called the practice of attention. It makes the wholesome realm grow, brings entry into the real meaning, and brings the task to completion. Its aid, you should know, is just the ten dharma-practices: copying, making offerings, giving to others, listening, reading, upholding, rightly expounding, reciting, reflecting, and cultivating. One who performs the ten dharma-practices gains an immeasurable mass of merit — because it is superior, because it is inexhaustible, since the embracing of others never ceases.

First, with what does the bodhisattva contemplate? The verse says: "by the three wisdoms the bodhisattva constantly contemplates the Great Vehicle." The three [kinds of] wisdom are three kinds of higher knowing, divided according to the order in which they arise and the source from which each comes:

the wisdom born of learning (śrutamayī) — the wisdom accomplished by learning the right dharma. To listen to, read, and recite the dharma of the Great Vehicle, and the understanding that grows from it, is the wisdom born of learning.
the wisdom born of reflection (cintāmayī) — the wisdom accomplished by turning over and weighing again and again the meaning of what one has heard. After taking it in, one does not swallow it whole, but searches out carefully what it truly means; the clarity that grows from that is the wisdom born of reflection.
the wisdom born of cultivation (bhāvanāmayī) — the wisdom accomplished by actual practice, contemplating within meditative concentration. One takes the meaning that reflection has fixed and cultivates it directly within calm and insight; what is accomplished thereby is the wisdom born of cultivation.

The "Great Vehicle" in "constantly contemplates the Great Vehicle" is not a loose phrase; it has a definite reference. It means "the dharmas as they have been set forth" by way of giving and the rest — that is, the scriptures and other Great-Vehicle teachings on the six perfections, just as the Buddha established and proclaimed them. The bodhisattva takes the three wisdoms and again and again settles the mind upon these Great-Vehicle dharmas to contemplate them: this is the substance of the practice of attention.

The verse then says that this contemplation of the Great Vehicle by the three wisdoms has, for each wisdom, its own particular function — this is just the line "it makes the wholesome realm grow, brings entry into the real meaning, and brings the task to completion":

The wisdom born of learning, contemplating the Great Vehicle, makes the "wholesome realm grow." The "wholesome realm" is the inner seed of wholesome dharmas, the root of the good; the wisdom born of learning waters and nurtures it, so that the wholesome roots grow stronger day by day.
The wisdom born of reflection, contemplating the Great Vehicle, "rightly enters the real meaning of what was heard." The "real meaning" is the true sense of the dharma one has heard. The function of the wisdom born of reflection is to enter truly into the real meaning of what was heard, not stopping at the surface of the words.
The wisdom born of cultivation, contemplating the Great Vehicle, "brings the task sought to completion." The "task sought" is the great matter of practice that the bodhisattva must accomplish; the wisdom born of cultivation brings this task to full completion — that is, it "enters the cultivation-purifying grounds," truly setting foot in the stages of practice on the grounds, and working each ground to completion.

One line of learning, one of reflection, one of cultivation — exactly a single line running from the shallow into the deep: the wisdom born of learning grows the wholesome roots, the wisdom born of reflection enters the real meaning, the wisdom born of cultivation completes the task. The three wisdoms are the substance of the practice of attention.

The latter half of the verse speaks of the aid of the practice of attention — "its aid, you should know, is just the ten dharma-practices." An "aid" is a supporting practice that accompanies and runs alongside; the practice of attention takes contemplation by the three wisdoms as its main work, and takes the ten dharma-practices as its support. These ten the verse names one by one:

copying — copying out the scriptures and dharma of the Great Vehicle.
making offerings — reverently making offerings to the scriptures and dharma.
giving to others — giving the scriptures and dharma to others.
listening — listening attentively when another recites.
reading — perusing the scroll and reciting it oneself.
upholding — receiving it into the heart and keeping it without loss.
expounding — rightly setting out the letter and the meaning of the scripture for others.
reciting — reading aloud and bearing it in memory.
reflecting — reflecting on its meaning (that is, the practice of the wisdom born of reflection).
cultivating — cultivating it in practice (that is, the practice of the wisdom born of cultivation).

These ten — from copying out a scripture, to expounding it for others, to reflecting and cultivating it oneself — gather up the whole of what one can do in working with a single Great-Vehicle dharma. They are the aid of the practice of attention: contemplation by the three wisdoms is the main, the ten dharma-practices are the support, and taken together they are the complete "contemplating, plus observance" of Great-Vehicle learning and practice.

The final line is the most weighty: "One who performs the ten dharma-practices gains an immeasurable mass of merit — because it is superior, because it is inexhaustible, since the embracing of others never ceases." To cultivate these ten dharma-practices yields merit beyond all measure. But this line says more than "the merit is much"; it points out the two reasons why the Great Vehicle surpasses the two vehicles — and this is, in fact, the eye of the whole chapter, "Distinguishing the Unsurpassed Vehicle":

Superior — "because it embraces others." The two vehicles cultivate mainly for their own release; the bodhisattva's ten dharma-practices, however, are at every point a gathering-in and benefiting of other beings. Because their reach is so wide, they are called "superior" (the most excellent).
Inexhaustible — "because it never ceases." When the two vehicles realize the nirvāṇa without remainder, their work is over and done; the bodhisattva, though able likewise to realize the nirvāṇa without remainder, never lets the work of benefiting others come to rest — he does not stop the work of ferrying beings across just because he himself has reached the shore. The benefiting of others has no end, and so it is called "inexhaustible."

The essential point of this section can be drawn into a single sentence: the practice of attention has the three wisdoms for its substance and the ten dharma-practices for its aid; and the merit it draws down is both "superior" and "inexhaustible" — which is precisely where the bodhisattva path differs from the self-benefit of the two vehicles. A practice that gathers in and benefits others, and benefits them without cease, is plainly beyond what a practice seeking only one's own crossing-over can match.

3. Practice According to Dharma (i): Calm — Freedom from the Six Distractions

The third of the six kinds of practice is called practice according to dharma. "According to dharma" means cultivating in accord with the right dharma of the Great Vehicle; this practice is precisely where the foregoing "contemplating" and "observance" come down to actual ground, in calm and insight.

Practice according to dharma is of two kinds: free of distraction, and free of perversion — these the bodhisattvas should understand. [The distractions:] going out from concentration; flowing toward objects; relishing, sinking and agitation; false display; self-grasping; an inferior mind — these the wise should understand. [The non-perversions:] the wisdom that sees, regarding the letter and the meaning, attention, immovability, the two characteristics, defilement-and-purity, the adventitious, no-fear, no-arrogance.

At its very opening the verse divides practice according to dharma into two kinds: "free of distraction" and "free of perversion." "Transformation" here means that, throughout the course of practice, every shift and change of the mind keeps to the right track. Both of these the bodhisattva should understand well.

Said more plainly, these two faces are just calm and insight:

non-distraction — this is the side of calm (śamatha). When the mind does not scatter, does not stir into disorder, but settles down, this is called non-distraction.
non-perversion — this is the side of insight (vipaśyanā). When the mind is not perverted, but sees the dharmas as they really are, this is called non-perversion.

This section first treats the first face — non-distraction, that is, calm. Non-distraction means letting the six "distractions" fall away, one by one; only when the six distractions are gone is there what is called non-distraction. The second line of the verse — "going out from concentration; flowing toward objects; relishing, sinking and agitation; false display; self-grasping; an inferior mind" — points out exactly these six distractions, one by one. Following Vasubandhu's explanation, we open them out in turn:

the distraction of own-nature — the verse-phrase is "going out from concentration." It means that, on coming out of concentration, the first five consciousnesses (the cognizing consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body) scatter and flow out, each into its own sense-gate, to reach after outer objects. This is the very nature of distraction, and so it is called the distraction of own-nature.
outward distraction — the verse-phrase is "flowing toward objects." It means the mind runs and scatters outward, chasing after the conditions of the outer world. The mind clinging to outer objects and running off — that is outward distraction.
inward distraction — the verse-phrase is "relishing, sinking and agitation." This holds three things together: relishing the concentration (craving and savoring the meditative state one is cultivating), sinking (the mind dim and dull, unable to be lifted), and agitation (the mind restless, unable to settle). All three arise inwardly within the cultivation of concentration, as disturbances there, and so they are called inward distraction.
the distraction of marks — the verse-phrase is "false display." "False" means feigning, contriving. It means that, in order to make a display for others, one contrives a false show of being absorbed in concentration, playing false with the preparatory exercises of concentration. This is a distraction arising upon "marks," and so it is called the distraction of marks.
the distraction of coarseness — the verse-phrase is "self-grasping." "Coarseness" is that heavy, intractable force of the seeds of affliction. By the force of this coarseness, self-conceit (grasping a self and so exalting oneself) becomes active and operative. This is a distraction drawn up by coarseness, and so it is called the distraction of coarseness.
the distraction of attention — the verse-phrase is "an inferior mind." It means giving rise to attention in reliance on an inferior vehicle (such as the two vehicles and other unfinal dharmas). The object being inferior, the mind falls into an inferior place; this is a distraction upon attention, and so it is called the distraction of attention.

These six, let fall away one by one, are "non-distraction"; this is just what calm leaves behind in practice according to dharma — the scattering of coming out of concentration, the scattering of running outward, the relishing-sinking-agitation of inward concentration, the contrived show of marks, the self-conceit of coarseness, the attention upon an inferior vehicle: each seen through clearly, each set far away, and only then does the mind truly settle, unmoving.

The third line of the verse — "the wisdom that sees, regarding the letter and the meaning, attention, immovability, the two characteristics, defilement-and-purity, the adventitious, no-fear, no-arrogance" — then turns to the second face, non-perversion, that is, insight. Non-perversion is just the ten non-perversions: regarding ten matters, one sees with wisdom as things really are, and gives rise to no perversion. This line first sets out the names of the ten non-perversions, all at once:

the letter (non-perversion regarding the letter)
the meaning (non-perversion regarding the meaning)
attention (non-perversion regarding attention)
immovability (non-perversion regarding immovability)
own-character (non-perversion regarding own-character)
common-character (non-perversion regarding common-character) — these two together are called "the two characteristics."
defilement-and-purity (non-perversion regarding defilement-and-purity)
the adventitious (non-perversion regarding the adventitious)
no-fear (non-perversion regarding no-fear)
no-arrogance (non-perversion regarding no-arrogance)

These ten are established by giving rise, regarding ten matters, to a wisdom-seeing that accords with what is real. How each one is contemplated, and how it comes to be its particular "non-perversion," is left for the next section to set out one by one; here the names alone are first set up.

The essential point of this section may be gathered thus: practice according to dharma has two faces, calm and insight — "non-distraction" is concentration (calm), "non-perversion" is wisdom (insight), and only their coupled functioning is the true cultivation that accords with the dharma of the Great Vehicle. This section treats the face of "calm": letting the six distractions fall away to the last, so that the mind settles, unmoving; and at the same time it first sets out the names of the ten non-perversions, the face of "insight." Calm departing from the six distractions, insight establishing the ten non-perversions — this is the bodhisattva's practice cultivated "according to the dharma of the Great Vehicle."

4. Practice According to Dharma (ii): Insight — The Ten Non-Perversions and the Ten Adamantine Sentences

Knowing that [the letter] has meaning by conjunction and habituation, and is meaningless when these are reversed — this is non-perversion as to the letter. The meaning appears as if [having] a dual nature; as it appears, it is really non-existent; knowing it free of existence and of non-existence — this is non-perversion as to the meaning. As to non-perversion in attention: knowing the verbal latency, the name-and-language attention on which that [duality] depends, and the cause of its appearing-as-two. As to non-perversion in immovability: knowing the meaning to be non-existent, yet not nothing, like an illusion and so forth — unmoved before the existent and the non-existent. As to non-perversion in own-character: knowing all to be mere name, free of all discrimination, [yet resting] on the own-character by the ultimate. Because apart from the true dharma-realm there is no separate single dharma — one who penetrates this has non-perversion as to common-character. Knowing perverted attention not-yet-ceased and already-ceased — non-perverted as to the dharma-realm's defilement and purity. Knowing the dharma-realm's nature to be originally pure, like space — and so defilement and purity are not the master: this is non-perversion as to the adventitious. Because beings and dharmas are [without real nature], the natures of defilement and purity are both absent — knowing this, free of fear and arrogance: this is the two non-perversions.

The previous section treated the "calm" side of practice according to dharma; this one turns to the "insight" side — that is, how the bodhisattva uses wisdom to see all things without the slightest perversion.

First, the words "non-perversion." "Perversion" means seeing things backwards or askew — taking what is not there to be there, what is there to be not there, what is pure to be defiled. "Non-perversion," then, is wisdom that sees as it really is: wisdom turned on a thing sees it neither slanted nor warped, but exactly as it is. Here ten matters are listed in a single breath; with respect to each, the bodhisattva departs from one kind of perversion, and together these are called "the ten non-perversions."

These ten non-perversions are the deepest stretch of doctrine in the whole chapter, for they set out at once the whole skeleton of the consciousness-only contemplation — the two graspings originally absent, the disturbed consciousness arising in delusion, all things like an illusion, the dharma-realm originally pure. We will open them up one by one. Remember at the outset: for each non-perversion, Vasubandhu's wording is "knowing the truth of some matter," and so every one of the ten begins from the word "knowing."

1. Non-perversion as to the letter — telling meaningful letter from meaningless

Knowing that [the letter] has meaning by conjunction and habituation, and is meaningless when these are reversed — this is non-perversion as to the letter.

The first matter is "the letter," that is, language and the written word. On what does a stretch of language become a "letter that has meaning"? Vasubandhu names two conditions:

Conjunction — the phrasing is "enunciated in due order"; the words before and after join up and run in sequence, spoken in the order they ought to have.
Habituation — this way of speaking is "commonly agreed and remembered" by all; it is conventional, mutually recognized, and retained in memory.

A stretch of language meeting both conditions has meaning — it is a meaningful letter. "When these are reversed" is the contrary case: if it is neither conjoined nor habituated, that stretch of language is meaningless — a mere heap of sounds and shapes, amounting to no meaning. The bodhisattva sees both kinds clearly — which is meaningful letter and which is empty letter — and is not deceived by the mere marks of language. This is "non-perversion as to the letter."

2. Non-perversion as to the meaning — the core of the whole section: the two graspings absent, the disturbed consciousness appearing in delusion

The meaning appears as if [having] a dual nature; as it appears, it is really non-existent; knowing it free of existence and of non-existence — this is non-perversion as to the meaning.

The second matter is "the meaning," that is, the object that the letter points to, the content it signifies. This is the most essential of the ten non-perversions; the very eye of the consciousness-only contemplation is here. What it states is the old refrain that the Characteristics chapter long ago established — the two graspings originally absent, the disturbed consciousness appearing in delusion — only set down more closely. Vasubandhu's commentary takes it apart clause by clause, and we will follow it clause by clause.

"The meaning appears as if [having] a dual nature." The "dual nature" is the grasped-object (the side that is grasped at, like an object out there) and the grasper (the side that grasps, like a mind in here). When a "meaning" arises, it always arises already paired — "I, the grasper here; the object, the grasped there." Vasubandhu says this is "the disturbed consciousness arising with that aspect in its likeness" — it is this disturbed consciousness (the scattered, perverted mind) that itself conjures up an appearance "as if there were a grasper and a grasped," and there is not really a pair, grasper-and-grasped, set out there. The word "as if" is the crux: it is "in the likeness of," it looks as if it were there, yet it is not as it is seen.
"As it appears, it is really non-existent." Just inquire after the very way it shows itself, and it is really not existent in that way. It shows up looking like grasper and grasped; go and look, and there is no such pair — what appears does not match how things are.
"Free of existence." So one must be "free of existence": on this "meaning," the grasped and the grasper, both natures, are originally non-existent. This breaks reification — the two graspings never were; do not insist that they are.
"Free of non-existence." Yet neither can one say it is "altogether nothing," so one must also be "free of non-existence": that disturbed consciousness is indeed "appearing as if existent," and this appearing-in-likeness is itself not nothing. This breaks denial — the disturbed consciousness's appearing-in-likeness cannot be wiped away at a stroke.

Put the four clauses together: the pair grasped-and-grasper is absent (free of existence), but "the disturbed consciousness that appears in the likeness of the two graspings" is (free of non-existence). This is precisely the lifeline of consciousness-only — what is emptied is the two graspings; what is kept is the appearing-in-likeness of the disturbed consciousness (the other-dependent). The bodhisattva sees this "meaning" so clearly, and so it is called "non-perversion as to the meaning." Several of the non-perversions that follow are, in truth, only the unfolding of this one.

3. Non-perversion as to attention — finding the root of the discrimination of the two graspings

As to non-perversion in attention: knowing the verbal latency, the name-and-language attention on which that [duality] depends, and the cause of its appearing-as-two.

Now that we know the "as-if two graspings" is conjured by the disturbed consciousness, the next question is: on what does that disturbed consciousness conjure up the two-grasping appearance? The third matter, "attention," answers to this root.

"Attention" is one of the mind's operations — the impulse by which the mind stirs to notice and to take an object. Vasubandhu says the attention meant here is "the name-and-language attention impregnated by the verbal latency of the two graspings." That is: from time without beginning we have ceaselessly used the whole language of "grasper / grasped" to speak and to think; these sayings, over and over, "impregnate" the mind with latencies, leaving habit-energies behind; and thereafter, the moment the mind takes up attention, it carries this verbal habituation along and brings forth an appearance as if there were a grasper-and-grasped, the two graspings.

So Vasubandhu marks out its two roles: attention is the basis of the discrimination of the two graspings (the discrimination of the two graspings can arise only in dependence on it), and it is the cause of the appearing-as-two (the cause of bringing forth the appearance like the two graspings lies just in this verbally-habituated attention). The bodhisattva sees clearly that "the root of the as-if two graspings lies, after all, in this verbally-habituated attention," and is not led along by it. This is "non-perversion as to attention."

4. Non-perversion as to immovability — the illusion-simile: neither existent nor non-existent, the mind unmoved and unscattered

As to non-perversion in immovability: knowing the meaning to be non-existent, yet not nothing, like an illusion and so forth — unmoved before the existent and the non-existent.

The fourth matter takes that measured "neither existent nor non-existent" of the second non-perversion ("as to the meaning") and makes it firm with a simile, so that the mind can stand steady on that measure, unshaken. The simile is the famous "illusion-simile."

Vasubandhu's commentary spells it out finely. An illusionist conjures up a troop of elephants and horses:

These elephants and horses are not really existent — they are not actual elephants and horses; you cannot lead them away or ride them.
Yet neither are they wholly nothing — plainly there before you is that very scene of elephants and horses in motion; it is the disturbed consciousness "manifesting in the likeness of those elephants, horses, and so forth," and you cannot say you saw nothing at all.

The "meaning" of all things is just so: it shows up looking like a pair of real, actual grasper-and-grasped (as the illusory elephants and horses show themselves), yet go and inquire and there is no such pair with any real nature (as the illusory elephants and horses are not real), and the very scene "as if there were a grasper-and-grasped" does indeed manifest on the disturbed consciousness (as the illusory elephants and horses are not wholly nothing). Vasubandhu adds a further word: besides the illusion, "the mirage, the dream-realm, the moon-in-water" — these too all hold by the same principle. A mirage looks like water yet has no water; a dream presents an object yet has no object; the moon in the water looks like the moon yet is no moon — all of them "appearing-as-if-there yet not really existent, and not wholly nothing."

Having seen through this "neither existent nor non-existent, like an illusion, like a mirage," the mind no longer sways back and forth between the two classes of "is it, after all, existent — or non-existent?" This is "unmoved before the existent and the non-existent." It does not fall into "grasping it as really existent" (reification), nor into "dismissing it as wholly nothing" (denial); the mind rests in seeing-as-it-really-is, unmoved, unscattered. The bodhisattva who thus "truly contemplates the meaning as like an illusion and so forth," with mind unshaken amid existence and non-existence — this is "non-perversion as to immovability."

5. Non-perversion as to own-character — all is mere name

As to non-perversion in own-character: knowing all to be mere name, free of all discrimination, [yet resting] on the own-character by the ultimate.

What went before treated the "common condition" of all things; the fifth matter, "own-character," treats each single dharma's own particular mark — the mark by which this one dharma is this dharma and not another, its own distinguishing character.

Vasubandhu says that, viewed from the ultimate (the final, highest truth), the bodhisattva knows "all is mere name" — eye and form, on down to mind and dharmas, the own-character of every one of these dharmas is nothing but a posited name; there is no real own-character standing on its own apart from the name. Being only name, it is therefore "free of all discrimination" — one no longer reckons and grasps, in reliance on the parsing of "this is this, that is that," after one real own-character after another. Note that this is said with respect to the ultimate; in conventional truth, all things are "not merely names" — each still has its designation and its function, and one is not, by leveling, sweeping away the conventional distinctions as well. The bodhisattva, on the ultimate, sees the own-character of all things as "mere name" and does not fall to discrimination. This is "non-perversion as to own-character."

6. Non-perversion as to common-character — apart from the true dharma-realm there is no separate dharma (the no-self of dharmas)

Because apart from the true dharma-realm there is no separate single dharma — one who penetrates this has non-perversion as to common-character.

The sixth matter, "common-character," stands opposite "own-character": "own-character" is each dharma's particular mark, "common-character" is the mark all dharmas share. Things differ in a thousand ways, yet they have one common ground beneath them — the "true dharma-realm" (the true essence of all things, that emptiness free of the two graspings).

Vasubandhu says: "apart from the true dharma-realm there is no separate single dharma" — outside this true dharma-realm there is no other thing to be found; which is to say, the common-character of all dharmas is wholly gathered into this true dharma-realm, and there is no single dharma that sets up a self of its own outside the true dharma-realm. This is just "the no-self of dharmas" — no dharma has an independent, self-subsisting "self-body of the dharma"; all return to the one true dharma-realm. The bodhisattva who penetrates "the common-character of all dharmas alike returns to the true dharma-realm, dharmas being originally without self" — this is "non-perversion as to common-character."

7. Non-perversion as to defilement-and-purity — telling the obscuration not-yet-severed from the already-severed

Knowing perverted attention not-yet-ceased and already-ceased — non-perverted as to the dharma-realm's defilement and purity.

The seventh matter treats defilement and purity upon that one same true dharma-realm. If the true dharma-realm is the common ground of all things, how can it have a difference of defilement and of purity? The hinge is whether "perverted attention" has ceased or not.

While that perverted attention (the deluded stirring spoken of above, which carries the verbal habituation of the two graspings and appears as the two graspings) has not yet ceased, the true dharma-realm is bound up with it and shows as "defiled."
When perverted attention has already ceased, the true dharma-realm is restored to its own, and shows as "pure."

The bodhisattva tells these apart clearly — which is the defiled station where "the obscuration is not yet severed," and which the pure station where "the obscuration is already severed" — and will neither take defilement for purity nor purity for defilement. This is "non-perversion as to defilement-and-purity." Remember: the difference of defilement and purity lies only in whether perverted attention has ceased or not; it is not that the true dharma-realm itself has changed. This point the next non-perversion drives home.

8. Non-perversion as to the adventitious — the dharma-realm originally pure like space; defilement and purity are guests, not the master

Knowing the dharma-realm's nature to be originally pure, like space — and so defilement and purity are not the master: this is non-perversion as to the adventitious.

The seventh left a question standing: since the true dharma-realm shows now as defiled, now as pure, are "defilement" and "purity" its own nature? The eighth matter, "the adventitious," answers this — and answers it with the utmost weight.

Vasubandhu says the dharma-realm is "originally pure in nature, like space" — its original essence is pure, just as space is. The simile of space is apt: space is by nature bright and clean; clouds and smoke and dust come, and space looks as if soiled; the clouds disperse, and space looks clean again — but space was never itself defiled, nor newly washed clean; those clouds, mist, and dust are only "guests," coming and going, not the "master" (the original nature) of space.

So with the dharma-realm. The two marks "first defiled, then pure" are guests — adventitious, added on, briefly appearing; they are not the "master" — not the dharma-realm's own original nature. The dharma-realm's nature is, from first to last, just that one taste of purity. So the bodhisattva, knowing "defilement and purity are guests, the original purity is the master," does not take the guest-come defilement and purity for the dharma-realm's true body. This is "non-perversion as to the adventitious." This joins straight onto what the Characteristics chapter long ago taught — "mind's nature originally pure, defiled by adventitious dust": the original purity is the abiding master, defilement the impermanent guest.

9. Non-fear and non-arrogance — these two joined in one verse

Because beings and dharmas are [without real nature], the natures of defilement and purity are both absent — knowing this, free of fear and arrogance: this is the two non-perversions.

The last matter is in fact two non-perversions taught together in one stanza — "non-fear" and "non-arrogance." Why together? Because they are a pair drawn from one and the same principle.

That principle presses all the foregoing through to the very end:

"Beings and dharmas are [without real nature]." Even "beings" (the self that is a living being) and "dharmas" (the manifold things) are, in the last analysis, unobtainable (the no-self of persons, the no-self of dharmas — the latter already established under non-perversion as to common-character).
"The natures of defilement and purity are both absent." Self and dharmas being ultimately without [real nature], the two natures "defilement" and "purity" that hang upon self and dharmas are therefore alike without being (there is no real self, no real dharma, to be the owner of defilement-and-purity).
The natures of defilement and purity being alike absent, then ultimately there is nothing to decrease and nothing to increase — on the side of affliction's defilement, no real thing is actually diminished away; on the side of purity, no real thing is actually added.

From this "neither decreasing nor increasing" two non-perversions fall out:

Non-fear — knowing well that ultimately "nothing decreases," the bodhisattva is not afraid. Afraid of what? The ordinary person dreads that "cultivating on and on, self and everything will be emptied, extinguished, decreased away" — a terror of annihilation. The bodhisattva knows that ultimately no real thing whatever is diminished, and so has no dread of this.
Non-arrogance — knowing well that ultimately "nothing increases," the bodhisattva is not puffed up. Arrogant about what? The danger is the self-elation of "I have realized it, I have gained a measure of pure merit." The bodhisattva knows that ultimately no real thing whatever is added, and so gives rise to no exaltation.

To see truly this "no decrease, hence no fear; no increase, hence no arrogance" is "non-perversion as to the two" (the two non-perversions of non-fear and non-arrogance).

Closing: the general sense of the practice of non-perversion, and the ten adamantine sentences

Having treated the ten non-perversions one by one, Vasubandhu steps back and states, all together, what this "practice of non-perversion" as a whole is for — that is, what each of the ten leads to:

Non-perversion as to the letter rightly penetrates the two characteristics of calm-and-insight; non-perversion as to the meaning rightly penetrates the characteristics of perversion; non-perversion as to attention rightly departs from the causes and conditions of perversion; non-perversion as to immovability well apprehends that like-illusion characteristic; non-perversion as to own-character cultivates the path of non-discrimination as the counteragent to discrimination; non-perversion as to common-character rightly penetrates the purity of nature; non-perversion as to defilement-and-purity understands the obscuration not-yet-severed and already-severed; non-perversion as to the adventitious understands as it really is the two marks of defilement and purity (knowing them to be guests); and last, the two non-perversions of non-fear and non-arrogance bring the severance of all obscurations and final emergence into liberation.

One can see that these ten are not ten scattered matters but a single, complete road of contemplation — from seeing through language, to seeing through the two graspings, to beholding all as like an illusion, to penetrating the original purity, to the obscurations exhausted and liberation won — step succeeding step.

Vasubandhu points out one thing more at the close: these ten non-perversions are "established, in order, upon the ten adamantine sentences" — that is, the ten non-perversions, one by one, answer to and rest upon the framework called the "ten adamantine sentences" (vajra-pada) (namely: existent-and-non-existent · the basis without perversion · like-illusion and non-discrimination · originally and ever pure · defiled-and-pure · purity-of-nature likened to space · neither decreasing nor increasing, and the rest).

The name "adamantine sentence" takes the sense of the adamant (vajra) as "hardest of all, able to cut through anything." The ancient masters gather the burden of these ten sentences into a few heads: they speak of own-nature (which is the three natures), of the object (which is the three natures), of non-discrimination (which is non-discriminating wisdom, the purity of nature), and they use three similes to "resolve the difficulties" — the "illusion-simile" resolves the difficulty of "plainly non-existent, yet apprehensible"; the "space-simile" resolves the difficulty of "originally pure, yet bearing defilement and purity"; and "neither decreasing nor increasing" resolves the difficulty of "delivering measureless beings, yet saṃsāra does not perish; entering the great nirvāṇa, yet nirvāṇa does not increase."

Gather this whole section into one sentence: the ten non-perversions are the complete unfolding of the consciousness-only contemplation — "the two graspings originally absent, consciousness-only appearing in delusion, all things like an illusion, the dharma-realm originally pure" — and all of them are established upon the ten adamantine sentences. This is the very bone of the prajñā non-discriminating wisdom within the right practice of the Great Vehicle, running on one continuous line with the Characteristics chapter's "four appearances of consciousness-transformation" and "mind's nature originally pure, defiled by adventitious dust." The "insight" side of practice according to dharma is here brought to its fullness.

5. Practice Free of the Two Extremes: The Middle Way of the Ratnakūṭa, and the Seven Similes

Difference and identity; the outsiders' way and the disciples'; the extremes of reification and denial; the two extremes — each twofold — about beings and about dharmas; the to-be-counteracted and the counteragent; eternalism and annihilationism; the extremes of grasped and grasper; defilement and purity, taken in their two and three kinds. Know, further, that the discrimination of the two extremes has seven forms: the extreme of existence and non-existence; the to-be-pacified and the pacifier; the grasped and the grasper; right nature and wrong nature; the useful and the useless; non-arising and arising-in-time — these are the discriminations of the two extremes.

The fourth of the six kinds of practice is called practice free of the two extremes. "Practice" here means the proper cultivation a bodhisattva is to walk; "free of the two extremes" means keeping clear of two sorts of slanted, mistaken view. The content of this practice is exactly the middle way (madhyamā pratipad) taught in the *Ratnakūṭa* (the old translation records this scripture under the title Ratnacūḍa, 寶頂經; we keep "the Ratnakūṭa" throughout). In the Characteristics chapter, the middle way was set up upon a single false imagining, in four clauses. Here the middle way works differently: it takes the various "two extremes" the Buddha laid out for his disciples in the Ratnakūṭa, lifts each one up in turn, and sets a "cognition of the middle" against each to leave it behind. By a "cognition of the middle" is meant a wisdom that falls to neither extreme and sees a thing as it really is.

First, the various two extremes. Vasubandhu, following the scripture, sets out one paired slanted view after another, and matches to each a cognition of the middle that leaves it behind. There is no need to count every pair to the end; a few will make plain the method — for each single extreme, a cognition of the middle is raised to leave it:

Difference and identity — some grasp that "the self" and this body are two separate things (difference); some grasp that "the self" just is this body (identity). Both grow from a prior assumption that there is a self at all. The cognition of the middle that leaves them is the contemplation of no-self: there is no such self in the first place, and so there is no longer anything to dispute as one with the body or other than it.
Eternalism and annihilationism — the outsiders grasp that form and the other dharmas are eternal and unchanging — this is the "outsiders' extreme"; the disciples (the śrāvakas) grasp that form and the rest are impermanent, arising and perishing, falling to the other side — this is the "disciples' extreme." The cognition of the middle that leaves them is the contemplation of form and the rest as neither eternal nor impermanent: not flatly calling them eternal, and not flatly calling them annihilated and decaying.
Reifying beings and denying beings — "reification" is asserting that what is not there is there; here it means grasping a really existent "self" (a being). "Denial" is sweeping away what is there; here it means erasing even the conventionally named being. What leaves them is the cognition of the middle that falls to neither "self" nor "no-self."
Reifying dharmas and denying dharmas — one side grasps that mind and the cognitions are solidly, really existent; the other grasps that mind and the cognitions are altogether non-existent.

Leaving the pairs one by one in just this way is the middle-way practice for the various two extremes: the Buddha names an extreme, and a cognition is raised to leave it. At the pair of defilement and purity, Vasubandhu marks a key point. "Defilement" runs in three layers (affliction, action, and birth), and answering to them "the counteragent (purity)" runs in three layers as well; but the nature of the dharma-realm is, from the very first, undefiled — it is not that some "emptiness" is brought in to empty the dharmas away, but that the dharma-nature is empty of itself, the very substance of the dharmas being from the start empty. This dissolves the pair of "counteragent and to-be-counteracted" as well: one need not cling to a "defilement" that must be removed, nor to a "purity" able to remove it.

Now the seven discriminations of the two extremes. A "discrimination of the two extremes" is a paired slanted view born of false imagining; here they are counted out as seven, and Vasubandhu leaves each behind with a simile:

Existence and non-existence — some grasp a really existent "person" (pudgala, the conventionally named individual that runs on through birth-and-death), and wait until it perishes to set up "emptiness." This is mistaken: emptiness is empty of itself, empty across the three times — past, present, and future — and is not raised up only in order to "annihilate a person." (This discrimination is leftbehind not by a simile but by this very point.)
The to-be-pacified and the pacifier — "to pacify" is to still, to extinguish. Some grasp that there is a "thing to be severed" and a "force that severs," and so even come to dread emptiness. To leave this, the space simile is used: emptiness is like empty space — there is nothing in it to sever and nothing to extinguish, and so nothing to fear. This simile is spoken for the śrāvakas.
The feared and the fearer — "to fear" is to dread. Some take the form wholly-imagined by reckoning to be fearsome, and take the painful dharma to be dreadful (the "wholly-imagined" being what is fabricated by reckoning and never stood as a thing at all). To leave this, the painter simile is used: just as a painter himself paints a fearsome figure and then, turning back, is frightened by his own painting — the feared object is in truth a showing of one's own mind. This simile is spoken for the bodhisattvas.
The grasped and the grasper — "the grasped" is the object grasped at; "the grasper" is the mind that grasps. To leave this, the illusionist simile is used, and this is the spine of the whole practice free of the two extremes, to be opened up fully. The illusionist is one who works conjuring-tricks; the elephants and horses he conjures up look as if they were there and yet are wholly absent. Contemplation has just such a sequence. First, from the cognition of consciousness-only there arises the cognition of no-object — one first establishes that "the ten-thousand dharmas are only the showing of consciousness," and thereby sees that the grasped outer object cannot be attained. Then, by the cognition of no-object, one turns back and casts off "consciousness-only" in turn — the outer object once unattainable, the grasping consciousness too cannot stand, and so even the notion of "consciousness-only" is set down along with it. In one line: from consciousness-only arises [the cognition of] no-object, and by [the cognition of] no-object one casts off consciousness-only in turn — consciousness-only → no-object → casting off consciousness-only — until at last object and consciousness are effaced together. Why must grasper and grasped be effaced together? Because consciousness can only arise "in dependence on an object as its support"; the supporting object being non-existent, the consciousness that takes it as support is, in turn, non-existent. This "effacing object and consciousness alike" is precisely the three-nature middle way of consciousness-only contemplation — casting off the other-dependent, realizing the perfectly-accomplished — for to empty the two-grasping shown upon the other-dependent is to enter the perfectly-accomplished suchness. It is here that the "middle way" in this treatise's very name, Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes, stands out most plainly, of one line with the "expedient of entering signlessness" in the opening arc of the Characteristics chapter.
Right nature and wrong nature — some grasp that the contemplation "as it really is" must be either definitely right or definitely wrong. To leave this, the fire-from-two-sticks simile is used: just as two sticks drilled together give rise to fire, and the fire once arisen burns up the very two sticks — contemplation gives rise to the noble one's wisdom, and the wisdom once arisen turns back and removes the very contemplation that gave rise to it. So there is no need to cling rigidly to the contemplation as right or as wrong.
The useful and the useless — some grasp that the noble one's wisdom must first discriminate point by point before it can remove defilement (useful); some grasp that it has no working at all (useless). To leave this, the first-lamp simile is used (the lamp first lit).
Non-arising and arising-in-time — some grasp that the wisdom able to counter the afflictions can in the end never arise (non-arising); some grasp that it exists "at the same time, and just as long" as the defilement (arising-in-time). To leave this, the later-lamp simile is used (the lamp lit thereafter).

Taking the seven together: the practice free of the two extremes is this — to each kind of "two extremes" that beings grasp at, the Buddha speaks a simile to leave it. And the heart of it lies always in the illusionist simile — by consciousness-only dispelling the object, by the object's absence dispelling consciousness, until grasper and grasped are effaced together: this is the most thoroughgoing realization of the cognition of the middle.

6. Differentiated and Undifferentiated Practice: Cultivating the Ten Perfections across the Ten Grounds (the Six Practices gathered up)

Differentiated and undifferentiated — these are to be known upon the ten grounds: the cultivating-together of the ten perfections, now as dominant, now in equal measure.

The fifth and sixth of the six kinds of practice form a pair: differentiated practice and undifferentiated practice. They speak of two faces of the bodhisattva's cultivating of the ten perfections across the ten grounds. First let the two terms be made clear:

The ten grounds — the ten ascending stations the bodhisattva passes through on the road to buddhahood, from the first ground all the way up to the tenth, each ground deeper than the last.
The ten perfections — "perfection" (pāramitā) means "going to the far shore," naming ten practices able to carry one across from the near shore of birth-and-death to the far shore of nirvāṇa: giving, morality, patience, and the rest — the ten together.

With these two terms clear, the pair of practices is easily grasped:

Differentiated practice — within the ten grounds, each single ground takes some one of the ten perfections as its dominant, cultivating it with special emphasis. So the first ground takes "giving" as dominant, the second ground takes "morality" as dominant, and so on — each ground with its own particular weighting. This is the "differentiated" (the divided, the emphasized).
Undifferentiated practice — across all the grounds, giving and the other ten perfections are cultivated together, equally, with no leaning toward any one of them. The ten cultivated as one, with no emphasis — this is the "undifferentiated."

These two practices set out exactly the two faces of the bodhisattva's cultivating of the ten perfections across the ten grounds: on one face, each ground has its own emphasis (differentiated); on the other, all the grounds alike cultivate equally and together (undifferentiated).

At this point the six kinds of practice stand complete. Looking back over the six — supreme, attention, according-to-dharma, free of the two extremes, differentiated, and undifferentiated — Vasubandhu here gathers them in a single closing pass, the summary of the six practices, threading the six as one line:

Supreme — by that most excellent class one contemplates the established teaching of the Great Vehicle set forth by the Buddha.
Attention — "attention" is the settling of the mind, fixed upon its object; here it means contemplating, by that foregoing class, the dharma of the Great Vehicle.
According-to-dharma — cultivating calm-abiding and insight in accord with the right dharma, that is: "by non-distracted transformation one cultivates calm-abiding; by non-perverted transformation one cultivates insight." Calm-abiding (śamatha) is "stilling" — settling the mind so that it is not scattered (non-distracted); insight (vipaśyanā) is "contemplating" — seeing as it really is, without inversion (non-perverted).
Free of the two extremes — for the sake of the principle set out above, one cultivates the practice of the middle way that keeps clear of the two extremes, seeking emergence from birth-and-death.
Differentiated and undifferentiated — within these very ten grounds, one cultivates the differentiated and the undifferentiated practice set out above.

Gathered all the way down in this manner — contemplating the dharma of the Great Vehicle by the supreme class, cultivating calm-abiding and insight, cultivating the practice of the middle way and seeking emergence, cultivating differentiated and undifferentiated practice across the ten grounds — this whole stretch is the entire content of "unsurpassed practice." "Unsurpassed practice" means: the bodhisattva's proper practice is the most excellent, with nothing further above it. The six kinds of practice have now gathered up, exhaustively, all the practice a bodhisattva is to cultivate; and just here, the reason the bodhisattva's practice is "unsurpassed" comes round to its fullness.

7. The Unsurpassed Object: The Twelve Objects

The second of the three unsurpasseds is called the unsurpassed object. The preceding "unsurpassed practice" spoke of the unsurpassedness of the practice the bodhisattva undertakes; this one turns to the object that practice faces — it says the object the bodhisattva takes is unsurpassed. An "object" (ālambana) is simply what the mind faces, what it contemplates. From start to finish the bodhisattva-path has, in all, twelve classes of object to contemplate, and not one of them is anything but unsurpassed — hence the unsurpassed object.

The object: the established designation of dharmas, the dharma-realm, the established and the establishing, sustaining, impressing-and-holding, inwardly holding, penetration, increase, partial realization, even-flowing, and the supreme.

In the barest possible words the verse counts off all twelve objects at a stroke. Following Vasubandhu's commentary, let us open them out one by one — for they are not twelve scattered items, but a single complete road of contemplation running from teaching to principle, through learning-reflection-and-cultivation, and on to the buddha-ground:

The established designation of dharmas — the bodhisattva's very first object is "the diverse teaching-gateways that have been established," that is, the differentiated teachings that the Buddha set up and laid out for going to the far shore (the six perfections and the rest). Put simply, this takes teaching as object: first one contemplates the Great-Vehicle teaching-gateways the Buddha spoke.
The dharma-realm — the object here is the dharma-realm (dharma-dhātu), that is, thusness (tathatā). The principle those teachings are meant to disclose is thusness; so after contemplating the teaching, one contemplates this principle. This takes principle as object.
The established and the establishing — these two must be seen together: they are the two faces of the "established differentiated teaching-gateways" (going to the far shore, and so on) just mentioned. The gateways that have been set up are "the established"; that which can make these gateways stand and hold is "the establishing." Why divide it into two faces? Because those differentiated gateways for going to the far shore can be truly accomplished only by penetrating the dharma-realm (thusness) — once the principle is penetrated, the teaching has ground to stand on. So this pair, "the established" and "the establishing," follows directly upon the dharma-realm (thusness): by penetrating thusness, one turns back and makes the various teachings, as object, stand firm.
Sustaining — this is the object of the wisdom born of learning (śruta-mayī prajñā). "Sustaining" means sustaining the letter — holding in mind the very words of the dharma one has heard; this is the object of the wisdom that comes through listening.
Impressing-and-holding — this is the object of the wisdom born of reflection (cintā-mayī prajñā). "Impressing-and-holding" means impressing and holding the meaning — turning over again and again the meaning of what one has heard until that meaning is settled and stamped in; this is the object of the wisdom that comes through reflection.
Inwardly holding — this is the object of the wisdom born of cultivation (bhāvanā-mayī prajñā). "Inwardly holding" means holding, item by item, within: gathering the meaning one has reflected on and settled into calm-and-insight, cultivating it point by point; this is the object of the wisdom that comes through cultivation.

These three — sustaining, impressing-and-holding, inwardly holding — are precisely the respective objects of the three wisdoms of learning, reflection, and cultivation: the wisdom of learning takes the letter as its object, the wisdom of reflection the meaning, the wisdom of cultivation cultivates inwardly. Each of the three wisdoms' objects, every one, is unsurpassed.

The next five are the objects contemplated on the path-stages, climbing upward along the levels of practice on the grounds:

Penetration — the object of the path of seeing on the first ground (darśana-mārga). When the bodhisattva enters the first ground and raises the path of seeing, truly penetrating thusness, what is then contemplated is the object of penetration.
Increase — the object of the path of cultivation, up through the seventh ground. After the path of seeing one enters the path of cultivation, and the qualities grow ground after ground; what is contemplated along this stretch is the object of increase.
Partial realization — the object that, on the seventh ground, is realized portion by portion, class by class, of the various kinds of the mundane and supramundane path. Reaching the seventh ground, one realizes the path-categories — both worldly and world-transcending — bit by bit, item by item; what is contemplated here is the object of partial realization.
Even-flowing — the object of the eighth ground. Reaching the eighth ground, practice turns of itself and flows on, continuing naturally and effortlessly; what is contemplated then is the object of even-flowing.
The supreme — the object of the ninth ground, the tenth ground, and on up to the Tathāgata-ground. This is the last and highest object of the final three stations, and so it is called the supreme.

Taken all together, these twelve form one complete road of objects: first one contemplates the teaching (the established gateways), then the principle (the dharma-realm, thusness), and by penetrating thusness one turns back to make the established and the establishing — the teachings — stand firm; in between come the objects of the three wisdoms of learning, reflection, and cultivation (sustaining, impressing-and-holding, inwardly holding); and then, all the way up the path-stages — the path of seeing (penetration), the path of cultivation up through the seventh ground (increase), the seventh ground's portion-by-portion realizing (partial realization), the eighth ground's effortless flow (even-flowing), and the ninth and tenth grounds on up to the buddha-ground (the supreme). Teaching, principle, wisdom, and stage — there is not one of them that is not the bodhisattva's object of contemplation.

The pith of this section can be gathered into a single sentence: the unsurpassed object is just the unsurpassedness of the object the Great Vehicle contemplates. What the bodhisattva takes as object is not confined to one dharma or one field; it runs from the teaching the Buddha spoke, to the principle of thusness that teaching discloses, through the three wisdoms of learning, reflection, and cultivation, and exhausts the path of seeing, the path of cultivation, the ten grounds, and on up to the buddha-ground — this whole course of the object, from end to end, is gathered into these twelve. The object contemplated being thus vast and ultimate, with nothing able to surpass it, it is therefore said to be unsurpassed.

8. Unsurpassed Cultivation-and-Realization: The Ten Cultivation-Realizations (and the summary of the "Unsurpassed Vehicle")

The third of the three unsurpasseds is called unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization. "Unsurpassed practice" spoke of the practice undertaken, and "the unsurpassed object" of the object contemplated; this one speaks of what is accomplished — the cultivation-and-realization itself. From the lineage at the very beginning to the manifesting of awakening at the very end, this whole course of realization from cause to fruit has not a single station that is anything but unsurpassed — hence unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization.

Cultivation-and-realization: through being without lack, through not being slandered or shaken, through fullness, through arising, through firmness, through being made pliant, through not abiding, and through being without obscuration and without rest.

The verse, still in the most economical counting, points to all ten cultivation-realizations at once. Following Vasubandhu's commentary, let us open out these ten — they are one complete course of realization running from the ordinary into the noble, from the first arousing of the mind to the perfect buddha-fruit:

The cultivation-realization of lineage — its accomplishment is because the cause is without lack. "Lineage" (gotra) is the capacity to become a vessel of the Great Vehicle, the very stock of buddhahood; its accomplishment lies in the causes and conditions for becoming a buddha being complete and unbroken. Only when the causes are not lacking can the lineage stand up.
The cultivation-realization of resolute faith — its accomplishment is because one does not slander the Great Vehicle. To rouse trust and acceptance and resolute conviction (adhimukti) toward the true dharma of the Great Vehicle, and not to slander it — this step of resolute faith is accomplished precisely in this "not slandering."
The cultivation-realization of arousing the mind — its accomplishment is because one is not shaken by the inferior vehicles. Once the mind set on awakening (cittotpāda) has been roused, this mind is not shaken or drawn aside by the inferior dharmas of the two vehicles and the like — the accomplishment of arousing the mind lies in this "not being shaken."
The cultivation-realization of practice — its accomplishment is because the perfections are brought to completion. Practice is the actual, on-the-ground cultivation of the six perfections and the rest, the practices of going to the far shore; its accomplishment lies in cultivating each of the perfections to the full.
The cultivation-realization of entering the [stage] free from [ordinary] birth — its accomplishment is because the noble path arises. "Free from birth" means leaving behind the birth-and-death nature of the ordinary person; "entering the [stage] free from [ordinary] birth" is to enter the path of seeing and raise the noble path (ārya-mārga), becoming for the first time truly a noble one — and the accomplishment of this step lies in "the noble path arising" (which is just that station of "penetration," the path of seeing, in the unsurpassed object above).
The cultivation-realization of maturing beings — its accomplishment is because firm wholesome roots are gathered over the long span. Having entered the noble state, the bodhisattva must mature all beings; this depends on gathering firm wholesome roots over a long stretch of time, so as to guide beings and ripen their wholesome roots.
The cultivation-realization of [purifying] the buddha-field — its accomplishment is because the mind is grown pliant. The "buddha-field" is the accomplishing of a pure buddha-land; its root lies in the bodhisattva's mind having been tamed and made supple — the mind being pure, the land it draws forth is pure.
The cultivation-realization of the irreversible-ground prophecy — its accomplishment is because one does not abide in saṃsāra or nirvāṇa. Reaching the irreversible ground and receiving the Buddha's prophecy, this accomplishment lies in the bodhisattva's neither sinking into saṃsāra nor settling into nirvāṇa — only when one is not turned back by either of these two extremes, birth-and-death or nirvāṇa, is one truly irreversible.
The cultivation-realization of the buddha-ground — its accomplishment is because it is free of the two obscurations. At the buddha-ground (buddha-bhūmi), both the afflictive obscuration and the cognitive obscuration have been severed and exhausted — "free of the two obscurations" is precisely the summit of cultivation-and-realization, that by which a buddha is a buddha.
The cultivation-realization of manifesting awakening — its accomplishment is because it is without rest. Becoming a buddha is not yet the end: the Buddha manifests the realizing of perfect awakening, turns the dharma-wheel, and delivers beings — and this delivering of beings is forever without rest. To become a buddha and yet never cease delivering beings — this is the last mark of cultivation-and-realization.

Taken all together, these ten form one complete course of realization from cause to fruit: setting out from lineage (the cause without lack), passing through resolute faith (not slandering), arousing the mind (not being shaken), practice (the perfections brought to fullness), entering the [stage] free from [ordinary] birth (the noble path arising, the path of seeing), maturing beings (long-gathered wholesome roots), [purifying] the buddha-field (the mind made pliant), the irreversible prophecy (not abiding in the two extremes), the buddha-ground (the two obscurations severed and exhausted), and arriving at last at manifesting awakening (delivering beings without rest) — a single line straight through to the ultimate.

Having finished the ten cultivation-realizations, Vasubandhu then gathers the whole chapter, "Distinguishing the Unsurpassed Vehicle," into a single summary — the one sentence that draws the chapter closed. He says: the reason the Great Vehicle is called the "unsurpassed vehicle" comes, in sum, to just three unsurpassed principles:

Unsurpassed practice — the practice undertaken is unsurpassed (the six kinds of practice spoken of above).
Unsurpassed support-of-practice — the object that practice faces is unsurpassed (that is, "the unsurpassed object," which practice sustains and takes as its object).
Unsurpassed fruit-of-practice — the fruit that practice accomplishes is unsurpassed (that is, this "unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization," the fruit that practice realizes).

In other words: the three unsurpasseds spoken of above — practice, object, and cultivation-realization — answer exactly to the three faces of practice, object, and fruit. The Great Vehicle's practice, object, and fruit are all three unsurpassed, and it is for this that it is called the "unsurpassed vehicle."

The pith of this section may be gathered thus: unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization is just the unsurpassedness of the fruit the bodhisattva realizes — beginning from the lineage, climbing station by station, on up to the buddha-ground where the two obscurations, afflictive and cognitive, are severed and exhausted, and then on to the manifesting of awakening and the unresting deliverance of beings; this whole course of realization has nothing that can surpass it. And Vasubandhu's closing summary draws the whole chapter tighter still: the Great Vehicle, being unsurpassed in all three — practice (practice), object (object), and cultivation-realization (fruit) — is therefore named the unsurpassed vehicle. All that the chapter "Distinguishing the Unsurpassed Vehicle" sets out to distinguish is herewith brought to completion.

The Concluding Verse: Explaining the Name "Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes" — the Close of the Whole Treatise

This is the final verse of the Madhyāntavibhāga, and the concluding verse of the whole treatise. The one hundred and twelve verses before it have carried us from the "characteristics" of the first chapter all the way to the "unsurpassed vehicle" of the seventh; and now, at this last verse, the author turns back to explain why this treatise is called "Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes" (madhyānta-vibhāga) — closing the whole work with its own title.

This treatise distinguishes the middle from the extremes; its sense is profound and firm, vast and all-encompassing; and it removes all that is inauspicious.

To the three words "distinguishing the middle from the extremes," Vasubandhu gives three layers of meaning. First, recall the root the treatise's first chapter set up: "false imagining exists, the two graspings are absent, the middle." That ongoing activity of mind-and-consciousness, false imagining, is what "stands in the middle" (neither empty nor existent); the grasper and the grasped that it splits open are the "two extremes"; and to see truly, apart from eternalism, annihilation, reification, and denial, is the middle way. The three senses of "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" all hold fast to this root:

Distinguishing the "practice" of middle-and-extremes — this treatise can distinguish the subject-practice that takes as object the "middle" and the "two extremes." The subject-practice is that ongoing activity of mind-and-consciousness that goes out and takes things as object — false imagining itself: standing of itself in the middle, yet splitting open the two extremes of the two graspings. The treatise distinguishes this practice, and so it is called distinguishing the middle from the extremes.
Distinguishing the "object" of middle-and-extremes — this treatise can also distinguish the object that is "middle-and-extremes," the object that the subject-practice faces. The treatise distinguishes this object, and so it too is called distinguishing the middle from the extremes.
Distinguishing the "middle way" — this treatise can rightly distinguish the middle-way dharma free of the "first extreme and last extreme." The first and last extremes are eternalism and annihilation, reification and denial — these one-sided graspings; the treatise lets all such crookedness fall away and rightly distinguishes the middle way that falls to neither side, and so it is called distinguishing the middle from the extremes.

In the single phrase "distinguishing the middle from the extremes," all three senses are gathered — distinguishing the subject-practice, distinguishing the object, and distinguishing the middle way free of the extremes.

The verse's last three lines — "its sense is profound and firm, vast and all-encompassing, and it removes all that is inauspicious" — mark out the four senses of what this treatise distinguishes, together with its one function:

Profound — what this treatise distinguishes is a profound (gambhīra) sense: it is not a realm that shallow ratiocination can reach. Ordinary conjecture and reasoning cannot touch this, and so it is called profound.
Firm — it is a firm (dṛḍha) sense: it can overthrow the contrary arguments of others, while it is not itself subdued by any opponent. Its meaning is solid and not to be shaken, and so it is called firm.
Vast — it is a vast (udāra) sense: it can distinguish the manifold matters that benefit and bring ease both to oneself and to others. Its reach being so wide, it is called vast.
All-encompassing — it is an all-encompassing (sarva) sense: it can universally determine, for all, the dharmas of the three vehicles — those of the disciples, the solitary buddhas, and the bodhisattvas. Its compass being so complete, it is called all-encompassing.
〔Function〕Removing the inauspicious — the last line, "it removes all that is inauspicious," states the treatise's function: it can extinguish every kind of inauspiciousness. What is meant by "the inauspicious" is just the two obscurations, the afflictive and the cognitive; the treatise can bring one to sever these two obscurations forever, and so it is said to remove all that is inauspicious.

And so this one verse draws the treatise's name and substance together at once: its name is "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" (distinguishing the practice-and-object of the middle and the two extremes, distinguishing the middle way free of the extremes); its sense is profound, firm, vast, and pervades the three vehicles; its function forever severs the two obscurations and removes all that is inauspicious — name and substance according, the treatise's purport complete.

Set the whole treatise's beginning and end side by side, and a single line is seen running clear through to the last. The first chapter begins by setting up "false imagining exists, the two graspings are absent, the middle" as the root; the six chapters between, following object, practice, and fruit, distinguish this middle way step by step to the end — distinguishing the characteristics, the obscurations, the real, the cultivating of the antidotes, the stages of that cultivation, the attaining of the fruit — down to this last chapter, which distinguishes the Great Vehicle's practice, object, and fruit as all three unsurpassed. And at this final verse, the author folds it back upon the first chapter with the three words "distinguishing the middle from the extremes": what is distinguished is precisely false imagining's "standing in the middle" (neither empty nor existent), the two graspings' "two extremes," and the middle way free of eternalism, annihilation, reification, and denial. What the first chapter set up, the last verse seals; beginning and end answer to one another, like a ring that has no break. Its sense is profound, firm, vast, and pervasive through the three vehicles; its function forever severs the two obscurations and removes all that is inauspicious.

Setting up the middle way at the opening of the work, distinguishing the middle way through the whole of the work, and closing the work at its end under the name "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" — the Madhyāntavibhāga, in its one hundred and thirteen verses, is herewith complete.

In Closing: The One Thread of the Unsurpassed Vehicle

Seen as a whole, this chapter runs as a single thread.

The author first sets the heading: the Great Vehicle is unsurpassed by reason of three unsurpasseds in sum — practice, object, cultivation-realization; and practice opens further into six kinds. He then expounds these six kinds of practice one by one:

Supreme practice — the ten perfections (pāramitā) earn the name "perfection" ("going to the far shore") because each carries the "twelve superiorities" (from vastness and long duration to the ultimate); and the latter four perfections (skillful means, vow, power, knowledge) sustain the first six, making them inexhaustible, ever-arising, settled, and maturing of beings.
Practice of attention — cultivating constant attention to the Great Vehicle by the three kinds of wisdom (born of learning, of reflection, of cultivation), aided by the ten dharma-practices (copying, offering … through to cultivating); its merit is "supreme" and "inexhaustible," precisely where the bodhisattva path differs from the two vehicles' self-benefit.
Practice according to dharma — in two faces, calm and insight: calm (śamatha) is freedom from the six distractions; insight (vipaśyanā) is the ten non-perversions (from letter and meaning through to no-fear and no-arrogance), gathered into the ten adamantine sentences. This stretch is the very skeleton of the Yogācāra contemplation — the two-grasping is absent, the deluded consciousness merely appears, like an illusion, the dharma-realm originally pure.
Practice free of the two extremes — the middle-way practice taught in the Ratnakūṭa, which casts off seven discriminated pairs of extremes by seven similes; its core is the illusionist simile: by consciousness-only one casts off the outer object, and by the object's absence one casts off consciousness-only in turn, so that object and consciousness are both effaced — this is where the "middle" of "distinguishing the middle" shows most plainly.
Differentiated and undifferentiated practice — cultivating the ten perfections across the ten grounds, now one predominating, now all equally. With this the six kinds of practice are complete, and "unsurpassed practice" is fulfilled.

Unsurpassed practice told, the other two threads follow: unsurpassed object — the object the bodhisattva contemplates, from teaching and principle to the objects of the three wisdoms and the ground-by-ground objects of the paths of seeing and cultivation, twelve kinds in all, none not unsurpassed; unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization — what the bodhisattva passes through and realizes, from lineage all the way to the manifesting of awakening, ten cultivation-realizations, ending at the buddha-ground where the two obscurations are severed. Practice, object, fruit — all three faces unsurpassed: and so the name "Unsurpassed Vehicle" is fixed.

Finally, the treatise closes with its last verse, turning back to name itself: "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" — distinguishing false imagining's "being-in-the-middle" from the two-grasping's "two extremes," distinguishing the middle way free of eternalism and annihilation, of reification and denial. What the first chapter set up — "false imagining exists, the two-grasping is absent, the middle" — and this final verse answer each other end to end: the whole treatise, it turns out, has spoken of one middle way from beginning to end.

Establishing the three unsurpasseds, opening the six kinds of practice, gathering in object and cultivation-realization, and at last folding back into the treatise's middle way — this is the thread that "The Unsurpassed Vehicle" offers: a complete line of thought from "why the Great Vehicle is unsurpassed" to "why the whole treatise is named Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes."

考據Apparatus

辯無上乘品共 30 偈（[084]–[113]）·全論最長品。genus 分段：三無上·六正行標目[084]–[085] · 最勝正行·十度[086]–[089] · 作意正行·十法行[090]–[093] · 隨法正行·六散亂·十無倒[094]–[105] · 離二邊·七分別[106]–[109] · 差別無差別[110] · 所緣無上[111] · 修證無上[112] · 結頌[113]。

科判定位（窺基《述記》T1835·卷中–卷下）

本品 genus 段聚偈所依之古德科判——窺基《辯中邊論述記》(T44n1835) 之科文，逐字錄並對位玄奘頌。〔科判＝詮釋史座標·顯既有段結構之古德權威·非新立義。〕

品入正釋：[0028c10]「此即第二依問正釋。於中總有二十九頌。雖有三十頌。末後結釋頌非此品義。今此二十九頌總為二段。初之一頌總標由三義名無上乘。下二十八頌別解三義名無上乘。」

二十八頌三分：[0029a01]「初二十六頌廣明六種正行。次有一頌廣明十二所緣。次有一頌廣解十種修證。」

六正行二十五頌→五段：[0029a20]「二十五頌別解六行中合為五段。以差別無差別合為一明。初以四頌釋最勝。次有四頌明作意。次有十二頌明隨法。次有四頌明離二邊。次有一頌明差別無差別。」

窺基科判	頌數	玄奘頌	genus 段
三無上·六正行標目	1＋1	[084]–[085]	標目
最勝正行（十二最勝·十度）	4	[086]–[089]	最勝正行
作意正行（三慧·十法行）	4	[090]–[093]	作意正行
隨法正行（六散亂·十無倒·十金剛句）	12	[094]–[105]	隨法／十無倒別釋
離二邊正行	4	[106]–[109]	離二邊正行
差別·無差別正行	1	[110]	差別·無差別
所緣無上（十二所緣）	1	[111]	所緣無上
修證無上（十修證）	1	[112]	修證無上
全論結頌·釋名	末頌	[113]	全論結頌

〔分歧（神實記·不代斷）：(1) 窺基科文於「離二邊正行」[106]–[109] 作八二邊＋七二邊（[0039c14]「即寶積經復有七種。分別二邊。」），並斥舊論「十四二邊」非（[0039c19]「舊論言十四二邊者。非也。」窺基計十五）；genus 段標「七喻」係就寶積經喻體立目，與窺基二邊科判並行不悖。(2) [110] 窺基以第五·第六正行（差別·無差別）雙解合一頌（六行→五段）。(3) 末頌 [113] 窺基判屬釋名願施分（[0045b01]「自下一部第三大文。是釋名願施分」），非無上乘品正文。(4) loc：述記釋本品延卷下至 0046a07（<cb:div> 於卷中末 0030c24 因卷斷早閉，卷下續釋同品）。〕

偈 [084]–[085] · 三無上·六正行標目 — 無上乘之綱

校本錨 · T1601 [p0479c05 / c07] 頌 · T1600 [p0473c08·c14 頌 / p0473c10·c16 論曰] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0460b09·b15] 真諦 · T1835 [p0028b–0029a09 述曰] 窺基述記

總由三無上，說為無上乘，謂正行、所緣，及修證無上。正行有六種，謂最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡（樞紐：品轉·全論末品）

辯得果品辯「果」竟，本品（全論末品）辯無上乘——大乘何以為「無上」。總由三無上：

三無上	義
正行無上	十波羅蜜多行（六正行統之，[085] 以下廣）
所緣無上	所緣境之無上（[111]）
修證無上	修證之無上（[112]）

[085] 開正行無上為六正行（即於十波羅蜜多隨修差別）：最勝（[086]起）·作意（[090]）·隨法（[094]）·離二邊（[106]）·差別·無差別（[110]）。要義：無上乘非別有體，即「十度之正行·所緣·修證」三皆無上——而六正行為正行無上之骨。全品由此標目展開。

世親釋要

論曰：此大乘中總由三種無上義故名無上乘。三無上者，一正行無上、二所緣無上、三修證無上。此中正行無上者，謂十波羅蜜多行。

論曰：即於十種波羅蜜多隨修差別有六正行，一最勝正行、二作意正行、三隨法正行、四離二邊正行、五差別正行、六無差別正行。

世親標三無上（正行·所緣·修證）為大乘無上之義，正行無上即十度行；復開六正行（最勝·作意·隨法·離二邊·差別·無差別），皆「於十度隨修差別」而立——無上乘之全綱於此。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0028b–0029a09）：

品科：無上乘品明大乘三無上（正行·所緣·修證）；正行無上開六正行（最勝·作意·隨法·離二邊·差別·無差別），為本品最廣段（[085]–[110]），後[111][112]辯所緣·修證無上，[113]結頌。
三無上即《攝大乘論》大乘殊勝、無上之義（大乘以三義超二乘）。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0460b09 三無上 / p0460b15 六修 (c. 557–569)	真諦頌「無上乘三處，修行及境界，亦說聚集起」（修行＝正行·境界＝所緣·聚集起〔集起得〕＝修證）；六正行作「六修」——「無比及思擇，隨法與離邊，別及通六修」。真諦「無比修」＝玄奘「最勝正行」·「思擇修」＝「作意正行」·「別/通」＝「差別/無差別」。配三無上·六正行與玄奘全同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0479c05–c07 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0473c08)	「總由三無上……差別、無差別。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

譯本

譯文與分析

陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0460b09 三無上 / p0460b15 六修 (c. 557–569)

真諦頌「無上乘三處，修行及境界，亦說聚集起」（修行＝正行·境界＝所緣·聚集起〔集起得〕＝修證）；六正行作「六修」——「無比及思擇，隨法與離邊，別及通六修」。真諦「無比修」＝玄奘「最勝正行」·「思擇修」＝「作意正行」·「別/通」＝「差別/無差別」。配三無上·六正行與玄奘全同。玄奘從。

★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0479c05–c07 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0473c08)

「總由三無上……差別、無差別。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
—（大乘無上之總）	十波羅蜜·圓滿轉依	唯識（大乘無上之教）	本段（三無上·六正行標目）

三無上（正行·所緣·修證）即《攝大乘論》大乘殊勝十相之歸結——大乘以三義超二乘；六正行統十波羅蜜，通《攝論》彼入因果·彼修差別。

互見:

辯得果品 [083]（無上果·如來地，本品之所承）· [086]起（最勝正行·十度，六正行之首）· [111]–[112]（所緣·修證無上）·《攝大乘論》大乘殊勝。

偈 [086]–[089] · 最勝正行 — 十二最勝·十波羅蜜多·十度別業

校本錨 · T1601 [p0479c09 / c11 / c13 / c15] 頌 · T1600 [p0473c20·a15·a19 頌 / p0473c24·a21 論曰] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0460b22·a] 真諦 · T1835 [p0029a27–0031a 述曰] 窺基述記

最勝有十二，謂廣大、長時、依處及無盡、無間、無難性、自在、攝、發起、得、等流、究竟，由斯說十度，名波羅蜜多。十波羅蜜多，謂施、戒、安忍、精進、定、般若、方便、願、力、智。饒益、不害、受、增德、能入、脫、無盡、常起、定、受用成熟他。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

六正行之首——最勝正行。施等十度皆具十二最勝，故得「波羅蜜多（到彼岸）」名：

十二最勝	義（世親）
廣大	不欣世間富樂·志高遠
長時	三無數劫熏習成
依處	普為利樂一切有情為依處
無盡	迴向無上菩提無窮盡
無間	自他平等勝解·施等速圓滿
無難	於他善法深隨喜·令自速圓滿
自在	虛空藏等三摩地力·令速圓滿
攝受	無分別智攝受·令施等極清淨
發起	在勝解行地最上品忍
至得	在極喜地（初地）
等流	在次八地（二至九地）
究竟	在第十地及佛地（菩薩如來因果滿）

[088] 十度名（施戒忍進定慧·方便願力智）· [089] 十度別業：

度	別業	度	別業
施	饒益（普饒益有情）	方便	無盡（迴向令功德無盡）
戒	不害（不為損害）	願	常起（恒值佛常起施等）
忍	受（深能忍受）	力	定（二力伏障·施等常決定轉）
進	增德（增長功德）	智	受用成熟他（離迷謬·受用法樂·成熟有情）
定	能入（起神通引有情入正法）
般若	脫（教授教誡令解脫）

要義：十二最勝中後四（發起·至得·等流·究竟）配菩薩位（勝解行忍·初地·二至九地·十地佛地）——十度之「到彼岸」非泛說，乃歷位漸圓、因果滿極。後四度（方便·願·力·智）為前六之差別，令前六無盡·常起·決定·成熟他。

世親釋要

論曰：最勝正行有十二種，一廣大最勝、二長時最勝、三依處最勝、四無盡最勝、五無間最勝、六無難最勝、七自在最勝、八攝受最勝、九發起最勝、十至得最勝、十一等流最勝、十二究竟最勝。此中廣大最勝者，終不欣樂一切世間富樂自在，志高遠故。長時最勝者，三無數劫熏習成故。依處最勝者，普為利樂一切有情為依處故。無盡最勝者，迴向無上正等菩提無窮盡故。無間最勝者，由得自他平等勝解，於諸有情發起施等波羅蜜多速圓滿故。無難最勝者，於他有情所修善法但深隨喜，令自施等波羅蜜多速圓滿故。自在最勝者，由虛空藏等三摩地力，令所修施等速圓滿故。攝受最勝者，無分別智之所攝受，能令施等極清淨故。發起最勝者，在勝解行地最上品忍中。至得最勝者，在極喜地。等流最勝者，在次八地。究竟最勝者，在第十地及佛地中，菩薩如來因果滿故。由施等十波羅蜜多皆有如斯十二最勝，是故皆得到彼岸名。

論曰：此顯施等十到彼岸各別事業，如次應知。謂諸菩薩由布施波羅蜜多故，於諸有情普能饒益。由淨戒波羅蜜多故，於諸有情不為損害。由安忍波羅蜜多故，他損害時深能忍受。由精進波羅蜜多故，增長功德。由靜慮波羅蜜多故，起神通等能引有情令入正法。由般若波羅蜜多故，能正教授教誡有情令得解脫。由方便善巧波羅蜜多故，迴向無上正等菩提，能令施等功德無盡。由願波羅蜜多故，攝受隨順施等勝生，一切生中恒得值佛，恭敬供養常起施等。由力波羅蜜多故，具足思擇、修習二力伏滅諸障，能令施等常決定轉。由智波羅蜜多故，離如聞言諸法迷謬，受用施等增上法樂，無倒成熟一切有情。

世親以十二最勝顯施等之所以為「波羅蜜多（到彼岸）」——廣大（志）·長時（劫）·依處（利他）……究竟（佛地），其後四配位（勝解行至佛地）；復出十度別業，前六（饒益·不害·受·增德·能入·脫）為自行根本、後四（無盡·常起·定·受用成熟他）扶成前六令圓。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0029a27–0031a）：

品科：最勝正行——十二最勝（[086]–[087]）·十度名（[088]）·十度別業（[089]）。
十二最勝中後四（發起·至得·等流·究竟）約菩薩位（勝解行最上品忍·初地·二至九地·十地佛地）配釋；十度別業如《攝大乘論》《瑜伽》波羅蜜分。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0460b22 十二無比 / p0461a 十度 (c. 557–569)	真諦十二最勝作「十二無比」——「廣大及長時，增上、體無盡，無間及無難，自在及攝治，極作、至得、流，究竟無比知」。真諦「無比」＝玄奘「最勝」·「增上」＝「依處」·「攝治」＝「攝受」·「極作」＝「發起」·「流」＝「等流」。十度名業配釋與玄奘全同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0479c09–c17 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0473c20)	「最勝有十二……受用成熟他。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
善心所（施戒忍進等之行體）	十波羅蜜·十地（彼入因果）	—	本段（十二最勝·十度別業）

十波羅蜜多之十二最勝·別業，與《攝大乘論》彼入因果分十波羅蜜、十地相發；後四度（方便·願·力·智）為般若之差別，通《攝論》。其「障」見辯障品 [035]–[036]（十度果障）——一辯障·一辯無上正行。

互見:

[084]–[085]（三無上·六正行標目，本段為六正行之首）· [090]–[093]（作意正行，下科）· 辯障品 [035]–[036]（十度果障·本段之反面）·《攝大乘論》彼入因果（十波羅蜜·十地）。
所本：《攝大乘論》彼入因果分 ·《瑜伽師地論》— 十波羅蜜之所本。

偈 [090]–[093] · 作意正行 — 三慧思惟大乘·助伴十法行

校本錨 · T1601 [p0479c17 / c19 / c21 / c23] 頌 · T1600 [p0474b08·b14·b19·b22·b28 頌 / p0474b10·c04 論曰] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0461a23·b09] 真諦 · T1835 [p0031a–0031c28 述曰] 窺基述記

菩薩以三慧，恒思惟大乘，如所施設法，名作意正行。此增長善界，入義及事成。此助伴應知，即十種法行。謂書寫、供養、施他、聽、披讀、受持、正開演、諷誦及思、修。行十法行者，獲福聚無量。勝故、無盡故，由攝他不息。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

六正行之二——作意正行。菩薩以三慧（聞思修）恒思惟大乘（依施等如所施設契經等法）。三慧思惟之功德、助伴如次：

三慧	思惟大乘之功德（[091]上）
聞所成慧	令善根界得增長
思所成慧	正悟入所聞實義
修所成慧	所求事業成滿（趣入修治地）

作意正行之助伴＝十法行（[092]）：書寫·供養·施他·聽（他誦讀專心諦聽）·披讀（自披讀）·受持·正開演（為他開演文義）·諷誦·思·修。行十法行獲福無量（[093]），且大乘勝二乘者二緣：勝故（攝益他有情）·無盡故（雖證無餘涅槃·利他恒不息）。

要義：作意正行以三慧為體、十法行為助——大乘修學之「思惟＋行持」具於此。十法行之福「勝·無盡」，正大乘菩薩道異於二乘自利之處（利他不息）。

世親釋要

論曰：若諸菩薩以聞思修所成妙慧，數數作意思惟大乘，依布施等如所施設契經等法，如是名為作意正行。……聞所成慧思惟大乘，能令善根界得增長。思所成慧思惟大乘，能正悟入所聞實義。修所成慧思惟大乘，能令所求事業成滿，謂能趣入修治地故。

論曰：於此大乘有十法行，一書寫、二供養、三施他、四若他誦讀專心諦聽、五自披讀、六受持、七正為他開演文義、八諷誦、九思惟、十修習行。……於此大乘修諸法行，由二緣故獲最大果，一最勝故、二無盡故。由能攝益他諸有情，是故大乘說為最勝。由雖證得無餘涅槃，利益他事而恒不息，是故大乘說為無盡。

世親以三慧（聞思修）思惟大乘為作意正行之體，聞增善界·思入實義·修成事業；助伴十法行（書寫至修習），其福「勝（攝他）·無盡（利他不息）」——大乘修學之福所以超二乘。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0031a–0031c28）：

品科：作意正行——三慧思惟大乘（[090]）·功德（[091]上）·助伴十法行（[091]下–[092]）·福勝無盡（[093]）。
十法行如《攝大乘論》《辯中邊》通說大乘十法行；福「勝·無盡」由攝他利他不息，異二乘自利。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0461a23 十法行 / p0461b09 福 (c. 557–569)	真諦頌「十種正行法，共相應應知」「書寫、供養、施，聽、讀及受持，廣說及讀誦，思惟及修習」（廣說＝正開演·讀誦＝諷誦）；福「無量功德聚，是十種正行」「最勝無盡故，利他不息故」。真諦十法行·二緣（最勝·無盡）配釋與玄奘全同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0479c17–c23 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0474b08)	「菩薩以三慧……由攝他不息。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
別境（慧）·善心所	—（聞思修·大乘修學）	—	本段（作意正行·三慧·十法行）

三慧（聞思修）思惟大乘·十法行，為大乘修學之通軌，與《攝大乘論》增上慧·十法行相發；福「勝·無盡」（利他不息）即菩薩道異二乘自利之要，通辯修對治品 [077] 菩薩三殊勝（為證無住涅槃）。

互見:

[086]–[089]（最勝正行，上科）· [094]–[105]（隨法正行·十無倒，下科）· 辯修對治品 [077]（菩薩三殊勝·利他不息）·《攝大乘論》十法行。

偈 [094]–[096] · 隨法正行 — 無散亂（六散亂）·無顛倒（十無倒標）

校本錨 · T1601 [p0479c25 / c27 / c29] 頌 · T1600 [p0474c09·c16·c26 頌 / p0474c11·c18·c28 論曰] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0461b16·b23·c07] 真諦 · T1835 [p0032b02–0033b15 述曰] 窺基述記

隨法行二種，謂諸無散亂、無顛倒轉變，諸菩薩應知。出定、於境流、味沈掉、矯示、我執、心下劣，諸智者應知。智見於文義，作意及不動，二相染淨客，無怖高無倒。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

六正行之三——隨法正行，二種：無散亂轉變（[095]）·無顛倒轉變（[096]起）。

無散亂＝離六散亂：

六散亂	頌語	義（世親）
自性散亂	出定	出定由五識身（散入根門）
外散亂	於境流	馳散外緣
內散亂	味沈掉	味著等持·惛沈·掉舉
相散亂	矯示	矯現定相·修定加行
麁重散亂	我執	麁重力·我慢現行
作意散亂	心下劣	依下劣乘起作意

無顛倒＝十無倒（[096] 標：文·義·作意·不動·二相〔自相·共相〕·染淨·客·無怖·無高），依十事如實智見而立（[097]–[105] 別釋）。要義：隨法正行＝定（無散亂）與慧（無顛倒）之雙運——止離六散、觀立十無倒，乃菩薩「隨大乘法」之正修。

世親釋要

論曰：隨法正行略有二種，一無散亂轉變、二無顛倒轉變，菩薩於此應正了知。此中六種散亂無故，名無散亂。六散亂者，一自性散亂、二外散亂、三內散亂、四相散亂、五麁重散亂、六作意散亂。

論曰：此中出定由五識身，當知即是自性散亂。於境流者，馳散外緣，即外散亂。味沈掉者，味著等持惛沈掉舉，即內散亂。矯示者，即相散亂，矯現相已修定加行故。我執者，即麁重散亂，由麁重力我慢現行故。心下劣者，即作意散亂，依下劣乘起作意故。

世親立隨法行二種（無散亂·無顛倒），無散亂即離六散（自性·外·內·相·麁重·作意），無顛倒即十無倒（[096] 標、下別釋）。六散亂逐一配相（出定→自性·於境流→外……心下劣→作意），明止之所離。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0032b02–0033b15）：

品科：隨法正行二種——無散亂轉變（六散亂·[095]）·無顛倒轉變（十無倒·[096]起）。
六散亂配五位之失（出定散五識·味沈掉即內定障）；十無倒依十事如實智見立，下安立於十金剛句。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0461b16 隨法二種 / p0461b23 六散亂 (c. 557–569)	真諦頌「隨法有二種，不散動顛倒」；六散亂「起觀行六塵，貪味下掉起，無決意於定，思量處我慢，下劣心散亂」。真諦六散亂（性·外·內·相·麁惑·思惟散動）配釋與玄奘全同；真諦「散動」＝玄奘「散亂」·「麁惑散動」＝「麁重散亂」。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0479c25–c29 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0474c09)	「隨法行二種……無怖高無倒。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
隨煩惱（散亂·惛沈·掉舉·我慢）	—（止觀雙運）	—	本段（六散亂·十無倒標）

六散亂即《大乘百法明門論》隨煩惱（散亂·惛沈·掉舉等）之障止；無散亂（止）·無顛倒（觀·十無倒）雙運，即大乘止觀之正修。十無倒下安十金剛句。

互見:

[090]–[093]（作意正行，上科）· [097]–[105]（十無倒別釋，本段之開）· 辯修對治品 [066]–[069]（神足·五過·八斷行·止之修）。
所本：《大乘阿毘達磨雜集論》《瑜伽師地論》— 散亂·止觀之所本。

偈 [097]–[105] · 十無倒別釋 — 文義作意不動·二相染淨客·無怖高（安立十金剛句）

校本錨 · T1601 [p0480a02 … a18] 頌 · T1600 [p0475a01–c05 逐無倒 / p0475c06 總義 / p0475c16 十金剛句] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0461c10–0462b13 / p0462b14 十金剛足] 真諦 · T1835 [p0033b15–0035a 述曰] 窺基述記

知但由相應、串習或翻此，有義及非有，是於文無倒。似二性顯現，如現實非有，知離有非有，是於義無倒。於作意無倒，知彼言熏習，言作意彼依，現似二因故。於不動無倒，謂知義非有，非無如幻等，有無不動故。於自相無倒，知一切唯名，離一切分別，依勝義自相。以離真法界，無別有一法，故通達此者，於共相無倒。知顛倒作意，未滅及已滅，於法界雜染，清淨無顛倒。知法界本性，清淨如虛空，故染淨非主，是於客無倒。有情法無故，染淨性俱無，知此無怖高，是於二無倒。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

十無倒逐一別釋——菩薩於十事「如實智見」而離倒。此段為唯識觀行之骨（二取無·亂識似現·如幻·法界本淨）：

無倒	偈	義（世親）
文無倒	[097]	文由「相應（次第宣唱）·串習（共許憶念）」成有義·翻此成無義；知二文
義無倒	[098]	義似「二性顯現（似所取能取）」·如現實非有·離有（二取非有）·離非有（亂識似有）
作意無倒	[099]	知「二取言所熏習之名言作意」為二取分別所依·現似二取之因
不動無倒	[100]	知義非有非無（如幻等·陽焰夢水月）·於有無品心不動散
自相無倒	[101]	知一切（眼色乃至意法）唯名·離一切分別（依勝義自相；世俗則非但有名）
共相無倒	[102]	離真法界無別一法（法無我）·諸法共相攝於真法界
染淨無倒	[103]	顛倒作意未滅（法界雜染）·已滅（清淨）
客無倒	[104]	法界本性淨如虛空·先染後淨二相是客非主
無怖·無高（二無倒）	[105]	有情·法俱非有→染淨性俱無→染淨無減無增→無怖無高

世親復出無倒行總義（文無倒通達止觀·義無倒通達顛倒相·……無怖無高令諸障斷滅永出離），並明十無倒「如次安立於十金剛句」（有非有·無顛倒所依·幻等無分別·本性常清淨·雜染清淨·性淨喻虛空·無減無增）。十金剛句之自性：自性（三性）·所緣（三性）·無分別（無分別智·本性清淨）·釋難（幻喻釋「無而可得」·虛空喻釋「本淨而有染淨」·無減無增釋「度生而生死不滅·涅槃不增」）。

要義：十無倒即唯識「二取無·唯識亂現·如幻·法界本淨」之觀，攝於十金剛句——此般若無分別智於大乘正行之骨，與辯相品 [004] 識變四似、[023] 心性本淨一線貫穿。

世親釋要

論曰：似二性顯現者，謂似所取能取性現，亂識似彼行相生故。如現實非有者，謂如所顯現，實不如是有。離有者，謂此義所取能取性非有故。離非有者，謂彼亂識現似有故。如實知見此中義者，應知是名於義無倒。

論曰：前說諸義離有非有。此如幻等非有無故。謂如幻作諸象馬等彼非實有，象馬等性亦非全無，亂識似彼諸象馬等而顯現故。如是諸義無如現似所取能取定實有性亦非全無，亂識似彼所取能取而顯現，故等聲顯示陽焰夢境及水月等，如應當知。以能諦觀義如幻等，於有無品心不動散，如實知見此不動者，應知是於不動無倒。

無倒行總義者，謂由文無倒，能正通達止觀二相；由義無倒，能正通達諸顛倒相；由作意無倒，於倒因緣能正遠離；由不動無倒，善取彼相；由自相無倒，修彼對治無分別道；由共相無倒，能正通達本性清淨；由染淨無倒，了知未斷及已斷障；由客無倒，如實了知染淨二相；由無怖無高二種無倒，諸障斷滅得永出離。此十無倒如次安立於彼十種金剛句中。

世親逐釋十無倒，其骨在義·不動二無倒——「似二性顯現·亂識似彼·如現實非有·離有離非有」即唯識「二取無·唯識亂現」之核心；「如幻等·有無不動」即般若如幻觀。末以無倒行總義、十金剛句攝之，十無倒即般若無分別智於大乘正行之安立。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0033b15–0035a）：

品科：十無倒逐頌別釋（[097]–[105]）·末安立十金剛句（[096] 標·此別）。
義·不動無倒：唯識二取無·亂識似現·如幻等喻（陽焰夢水月）；自相無倒「唯名·依勝義自相」對治分別·共相無倒「離真法界無別法·法無我」。
十金剛句：自性（三性）·所緣（三性）·無分別（無分別智·本性清淨）·釋難（幻喻·虛空喻·無減無增喻）三難三喻。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0461c10–0462b13 十無倒 / p0462b14 十金剛足 (c. 557–569)	真諦十無倒頌逐一對玄奘（文＝言辭·義＝義·不動＝不動·自相＝別相·共相＝通相·染淨＝淨不淨·客＝客·二＝無怖無高）。義無倒真諦「顯現似二種，如顯不實有……遠離有無邊」＝玄奘「似二性顯現……離有非有」；不動真諦「如幻等不有，亦有義應知」＝玄奘「如幻等·有無不動」。十金剛句真諦作「十金剛足」（有無·依處·幻化譬·無分別·自性清淨·不淨·淨·如真空譬·不減·不增無倒）。配釋與玄奘全同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0480a02–a18 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0475a01 起)	「知但由相應……是於二無倒。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

譯本

譯文與分析

陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0461c10–0462b13 十無倒 / p0462b14 十金剛足 (c. 557–569)

真諦十無倒頌逐一對玄奘（文＝言辭·義＝義·不動＝不動·自相＝別相·共相＝通相·染淨＝淨不淨·客＝客·二＝無怖無高）。義無倒真諦「顯現似二種，如顯不實有……遠離有無邊」＝玄奘「似二性顯現……離有非有」；不動真諦「如幻等不有，亦有義應知」＝玄奘「如幻等·有無不動」。十金剛句真諦作「十金剛足」（有無·依處·幻化譬·無分別·自性清淨·不淨·淨·如真空譬·不減·不增無倒）。配釋與玄奘全同。玄奘從。

★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0480a02–a18 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0475a01 起)

「知但由相應……是於二無倒。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
無為·真如（共相·客無倒·法界本淨）	識變·依他似二取·圓成（唯名·二取無）	唯識無境（似二性顯現·亂識似現）	本段（十無倒·二取無·如幻·法界本淨）

十無倒之「似二性顯現·亂識似彼·二取非有」即《唯識三十論頌》「依他起·識所變似二取」、《唯識二十論》「唯識無境」之同詮；「如幻等」即如幻觀；「唯名·依勝義自相」即圓成唯識實性；「法界本淨如虛空·染淨是客」即辯相品 [023] 心性本淨·客塵所染。十無倒安於十金剛句（三性·無分別智·三喻釋難），般若無分別智之骨。

互見:

[094]–[096]（隨法·六散亂·十無倒標，本段之所承）· [106]–[109]（離二邊正行，下科）· 辯相品 [004]（識變四似·境無識無）·[023]（心性本淨·客塵）·《唯識三十論頌》識變·二取無·圓成唯名。
所本：《般若》（如幻·法界）·《解深密經》·《攝大乘論》— 二取無·如幻·十金剛句之所本。

偈 [106]–[109] · 離二邊正行 — 寶積經中道·諸二邊·七種分別二邊（七喻）

校本錨 · T1601 [p0480a20 / a22 / a24 / a26] 頌 · T1600 [p0476a15 頌 / p0476a23·b27 論曰] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0462b18·b25] 真諦 · T1835 [p0035–0037 述曰] 窺基述記

異性與一性，外道及聲聞，增益損減邊，有情法各二。所治及能治，常住與斷滅，所取能取邊，染淨二三種。分別二邊性，應知復有七，謂有非有邊，所能寂怖畏，所能取正邪，有用并無用，不起及時等，是分別二邊。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

六正行之四——離二邊正行，即《寶積經》所說中道行，遠離諸二邊。[106]–[107] 列諸二邊（依經一一立中道智）：

二邊	中道行（世親）
異性·一性（我異身／即身）	觀無我（乃至儒童）
常住（外道）·無常（聲聞）	觀色等非常非無常
增益有情（執有我）·損減有情（撥假有情）	我無我二邊中智
增益法（執心實有）·損減法（執心實無）	無心無思無意無識
所治（執雜染）·能治（執清淨）	二邊不隨觀
常住（執有情法有）·斷滅（執非有）	二邊中智
所取·能取（明無明等）	明與無明無二無二分

末「染淨二三種」明：雜染三（煩惱·業·生）↔ 對治三（空無相無願智／不作智／無生無起無自性智）↔ 清淨；法界本性無染，「不由空能空於法，法性自空」。

[108]–[109] 七種分別二邊，各說一喻離之：

分別二邊	喻	喻義
有·非有（執實補特伽羅壞滅立空／無我分別為無）	—	空性本自空·三際空（不為滅人方立空）
所寂·能寂（執有所斷能斷·怖空）	虛空喻	為聲聞說
所怖·能怖（執遍計色可怖·苦法可畏）	畫師喻	為菩薩說
所取·能取	幻師喻	由唯識智生無境智·由無境智復捨唯識（唯識→無境→捨唯識）
正性·邪性（執如實觀為正為邪）	兩木生火喻	觀生聖慧·慧復除觀
有用·無用（執聖智先分別除染／全無用）	初燈喻	—
不起·時等（執能治畢竟不起／與染等時長）	後燈喻	—

要義：離二邊正行之骨在「幻師喻」——由唯識智遣境（無境智生）、復由無境智遣唯識（捨唯識），境識俱泯，此即唯識觀「遣依他、證圓成」之三性中道，與辯相品 [001]–[008] 入無相方便、三十頌「境無識亦無」一線。

世親釋要

論曰：若於色等執我有異、或執是一，各為一邊；為離此執說中道行，謂觀無我乃至儒童，見有我者定起此執，我異於身、或即身故。若於色等執為常住是外道邊，執無常者是聲聞邊；為離此執說中道行，謂觀色等非常無常。

分別所取、分別能取各為一邊。為離如是二邊分別，說幻師喻。由唯識智無境智生，由無境智生復捨唯識。智境既非有，識亦是無，要託所緣識方生故。由斯所喻與喻同法。

世親依《寶積經》中道，一一二邊各立中智（異一→無我·常無常→非常非無常·增益損減→我無我中智……）；復出七種分別二邊，各以喻離。其骨在幻師喻——「唯識智生無境智·無境智復捨唯識」，境識俱遣，唯識中道之極。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0035–0037）：

品科：離二邊正行——諸二邊（[106]–[107]·依《寶積經》〔舊云《寶頂經》〕中道）·七種分別二邊（[108]–[109]·七喻）。
幻師喻：唯識→無境→捨唯識之次第，即遣依他二取、不存唯識想，三性觀之中道；兩木生火喻明「觀生慧·慧復遣觀」。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0462b18 離二邊 / p0462b25 七分別二邊 (c. 557–569)	真諦頌「別異邊一邊，外道及聲聞，增益與損減……能取及所取，染淨有二三」「分別二種邊，應知有七種，有無及應止，能止可畏畏，能取所取邊，正邪事無事，不生及俱時」。真諦依「《寶頂經》佛為迦葉說無相中道」（玄奘作《寶積經》）。配諸二邊·七分別與玄奘全同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0480a20–a27 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0476a15)	「異性與一性……是分別二邊。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
無為·真如（中道·法性自空）	境無識亦無·圓成中道（幻師喻＝遣依他證圓成）	唯識無境（唯識智→無境智）	本段（離二邊·中道·七喻·幻師喻）

離二邊中道之「幻師喻」（唯識→無境→捨唯識），即《唯識三十論頌》「境無識亦無·捨二取證圓成」之同詮；中道遠離常斷·增損·二取諸邊，正辯相品 [001]–[008] 中道根本、[002] 虛妄分別之究竟落實。本論名「辯中邊」之「中道」於此最顯。

互見:

[097]–[105]（十無倒，上科）· [110]（差別無差別正行，下科）· 辯相品 [001]–[008]（中道根本·入無相方便）·《唯識三十論頌》境無識亦無·圓成中道。
所本：《大寶積經》（中道行）·《般若》— 中道·二邊之所本。

偈 [110] · 差別·無差別正行 — 十地·十度增上等修集

校本錨 · T1601 [p0480a28] 頌 · T1600 [p0476c27 頌 / p0476c29 論曰 / p0477a02 總義] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0463] 真諦 · T1835 [p0037 述曰] 窺基述記

差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

六正行之五·六——差別·無差別正行：

正行	義
差別正行	於十地中，十波羅蜜多隨一增上而修集（如初地施增上·二地戒增上…）
無差別正行	於一切地皆等修集布施等十波羅蜜多

至此六正行（最勝·作意·隨法·離二邊·差別·無差別）竟。世親出六正行總義：以最勝品類思惟所施設大乘法、由無亂轉變修奢摩他（止）、無倒轉變修毘鉢舍那（觀）、修中道行而求出離、於十地修差別無差別行——此即「正行無上」之全。

要義：差別（隨地一度增上）·無差別（諸地等修十度）二行，明菩薩十地修十度之兩面；合前四正行（最勝·作意·隨法·離二邊），六正行盡攝菩薩之正行，正行無上於此圓。

世親釋要

論曰：於十地中十到彼岸隨一增上而修集者，應知說為差別正行。於一切地皆等修集布施等十波羅蜜多，如是正行名無差別。六正行總義者，謂即如是品類最勝，由此思惟如所施設大乘法等，由如是品無亂轉變修奢摩他，及無倒轉變修毘鉢舍那，為如是義修中道行而求出離，於十地中修習差別無差別行。

世親判差別正行（十地隨一度增上）·無差別正行（諸地等修十度）；末以六正行總義收攝——最勝（品類）·作意（思惟大乘）·隨法（止觀＝無亂·無倒轉變）·離二邊（中道行求出離）·差別無差別（十地修），六正行一線，正行無上圓。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0037）：

差別正行（十地隨一度增上）·無差別正行（諸地等修十度）；六正行總義以止觀（奢摩他·毘鉢舍那）·中道行貫六正行。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0463 差別無差別 (c. 557–569)	真諦明差別·無差別正行（十地中十波羅蜜增上修集／一切地等修），與玄奘義同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0480a28 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0476c27)	「差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
—（十地修十度）	十地·十波羅蜜（彼入因果）	—	本頌（差別無差別正行·六正行總義）

差別·無差別正行（十地修十度），與《攝大乘論》彼入因果分十地十度相發；六正行總義之「止（奢摩他）觀（毘鉢舍那）·中道行」即大乘止觀之綱。

互見:

[106]–[109]（離二邊正行，上科）· [084]–[085]（六正行標目，本段收六正行之全）· [111]–[112]（所緣·修證無上，下科）·《攝大乘論》十地十度。

偈 [111] · 所緣無上 — 十二所緣

校本錨 · T1601 [p0480b01] 頌 · T1600 [p0477a09 頌 / p0477a11 論曰] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0463] 真諦 · T1835 [p0037 述曰] 窺基述記

所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達、增、證、運、最勝。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

三無上之二——所緣無上，十二所緣（菩薩所緣境之無上）：

十二所緣	義（世親）
安立法施設	所安立到彼岸等差別法門
法界	真如
所立·能立	前二法門·要由通達法界成
任持	聞所成慧境（任持文）
印持	思所成慧境（印持義）
內持	修所成慧境（內別持）
通達	初地見道境
增長	修道中乃至七地境
分證	七地中世出世道品類分分證境
等運	第八地境
最勝	第九·第十·如來地境

要義：十二所緣攝菩薩道之所緣全程——從「安立法門·法界（真如）」（教·理），歷「任持·印持·內持」（聞思修三慧境），至「通達·增長·分證·等運·最勝」（見道·修道·七地·八地·九十地佛地）。所緣之無上，正大乘所觀境之無上。

世親釋要

論曰：如是所緣有十二種，一安立法施設所緣、二法界所緣、三所立所緣、四能立所緣、五任持所緣、六印持所緣、七內持所緣、八通達所緣、九增長所緣、十分證所緣、十一等運所緣、十二最勝所緣。此中最初謂所安立到彼岸等差別法門；第二謂真如；第三第四如次應知，即前二種到彼岸等差別法門，要由通達法界成故；第五謂聞所成慧境，任持文故；第六謂思所成慧境，印持義故；第七謂修所成慧境，內別持故；第八謂初地中見道境；第九謂修道中乃至七地境；第十謂即七地中世出世道品類差別分分證境；第十一謂第八地境；第十二謂第九第十如來地境。

世親列十二所緣，配教理（安立法·法界）·三慧境（任持·印持·內持＝聞思修）·道位境（通達見道·增長修道·分證七地·等運八地·最勝九十佛地）。所緣無上即菩薩所觀境之該攝——教·理·慧·位無不為境。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0037）：

十二所緣攝教理·三慧·道位之境；第五六七（任持·印持·內持）即聞思修三慧境·第八以下即見修道地地之境。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0463 所緣無上 (c. 557–569)	真諦明所緣無上十二種（安立法·法界·所立·能立·任持·印持·內持·通達·增長·分證·等運·最勝），與玄奘配釋同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0480b01 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0477a09)	「所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達、增、證、運、最勝。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
無為·真如（法界所緣）	三慧·見修道境（五位）	—	本頌（所緣無上·十二所緣）

十二所緣之三慧境（聞思修）·道位境（見修道·十地），與《唯識三十論頌》五位（資糧聞思·加行·通達見道·修習修道·究竟）相發；「法界所緣＝真如」即圓成所緣。

互見:

[110]（差別無差別正行·正行無上之終）· [112]（修證無上，下科）·《唯識三十論頌》五位三慧道境。
所本：《攝大乘論》《瑜伽師地論》— 三慧·見修道境之所本。

偈 [112] · 修證無上 — 十修證

校本錨 · T1601 [p0480b03] 頌 · T1600 [p0477a26 頌 / p0477a28 論曰 / p0477b07 無上乘總義] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0463] 真諦 · T1835 [p0037 述曰] 窺基述記

修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡

三無上之三——修證無上，十修證（從種性至示現菩提）：

十修證	義（世親）
種性修證	緣無闕
信解修證	不謗毀大乘
發心修證	非下劣乘所擾動
正行修證	波羅蜜多得圓滿
入離生修證	起聖道
成熟有情修證	堅固善根長時集
淨土修證	心調柔
不退地受記修證	不住著生死涅槃
佛地修證	無二障
示現菩提修證	無休息

至此三無上（正行·所緣·修證）竟。世親出無上乘總義：略三無上義——正行無上·正行持無上·正行果無上。要義：修證無上攝菩薩道之證程，從種性（緣無闕）→信解→發心→正行→入離生（見道）→成熟有情→淨土→不退受記→佛地（斷二障）→示現菩提（無休息度生），一線至究竟；大乘以正行·所緣·修證三皆無上，故名無上乘。

世親釋要

論曰：如是修證總有十種，一種性修證，緣無闕故。二信解修證，不謗毀大乘故。三發心修證，非下劣乘所擾動故。四正行修證，波羅蜜多得圓滿故。五入離生修證，起聖道故。六成熟有情修證，堅固善根長時集故。七淨土修證，心調柔故。八得不退地受記修證，以不住著生死涅槃，非此二種所退轉故。九佛地修證，無二障故。十示現菩提修證，無休息故。無上乘總義者，略有三種無上乘義，謂正行無上故、正行持無上故、正行果無上故。

世親列十修證（種性→信解→發心→正行→入離生→成熟有情→淨土→不退受記→佛地→示現菩提），佛地「無二障」為證之極；末以無上乘總義（正行·正行持·正行果三無上）收攝全品——大乘三無上義立，無上乘名成。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0037）：

十修證從種性至示現菩提，佛地修證「無二障」（斷煩惱·所知二障）為究竟；無上乘總義以正行·正行持·正行果三無上攝全品。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0463 修證無上 (c. 557–569)	真諦明修證無上十種（種性·信解·發心·正行·入離生·成熟有情·淨土·不退受記·佛地·示現菩提），與玄奘配釋同。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0480b03 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0477a26)	「修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
無為·真如（佛地·二障斷所顯）	五位·轉依（佛地斷二障證二果）	—	本頌（修證無上·十修證·佛地無二障）

十修證從種性至佛地（無二障），與《唯識三十論頌》五位、究竟位「斷二障證菩提涅槃」相發；「佛地無二障」即轉依之極。無上乘三無上義（正行·持·果），通《攝大乘論》大乘殊勝之結。

互見:

[111]（所緣無上，上科）· [113]（結頌·論名釋，下科·全論結）· 辯得果品 [083]（無上果·如來地）·《唯識三十論頌》究竟位佛果。

偈 [113] · 全論結頌 — 「辯中邊」之名·深密堅實廣大一切·除不吉祥

校本錨 · T1601 [p0480b05] 頌 · T1600 [p0477b10 頌 / p0477b12 論曰] 世親釋 · T1599 [p0463 論名] 真諦 · T1835 [p0037 述曰] 窺基述記

此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。

深入三門

論諍 / 義理脈絡（全論結頌·樞紐）

辯中邊論末偈，亦全論結頌——釋「辯中邊」之論名，並標本論四義一用。論名「辯中邊」三義（世親）：

辯中邊行——顯了「處中·二邊」之能緣行（虛妄分別處中、二取為二邊）。
辯中邊境——顯了「處中·二邊」之所緣境。
辯中道——正辯離初後邊（常斷·增損）之中道法。

本論所辯四義一用：

	義
深密	非諸尋思所行處
堅實	能摧他辯·非彼所伏
廣大	能辯利樂自他事
一切	普能決了三乘法
〔用〕除不吉祥	永斷煩惱·所知二障

要義：全論首品 [002] 立「虛妄分別有·二取無·中道」為根本，末偈以「辯中邊（處中二邊之行境·離邊中道）」結之——首尾相印。「辯中邊」者，辯虛妄分別之「處中（非空非有）」與二取之「二邊」、辯離常斷增損之中道；其義深密堅實廣大遍三乘，其用永斷二障、除諸不吉祥。辯中邊論至此圓滿。

世親釋要

論曰：此論能辯中邊行故，名辯中邊，即是顯了處中二邊能緣行義。又此能辯中邊境故，名辯中邊，即是顯了處中二邊所緣境義。或此正辯離初後邊中道法故，名辯中邊。此論所辯是深密義，非諸尋思所行處故。是堅實義，能摧他辯非彼伏故。是廣大義，能辯利樂自他事故。是一切義，普能決了三乘法故。又能除滅諸不吉祥，永斷煩惱所知障故。

世親釋論名「辯中邊」三義（辯中邊行·辯中邊境·辯離邊中道），並標四義（深密·堅實·廣大·一切）一用（除不吉祥＝永斷二障）。全論以「辯處中二邊之行境、辯中道」自名，首品虛妄分別中道之根本至此結圓——名實相符，論旨周備。

諸家異釋

窺基《辯中邊論述記》（T44n1835，沙門基撰，p0037）：

論名「辯中邊」三義（行·境·中道）；本論深密（非尋思境）·堅實（摧他不伏）·廣大（利樂自他）·一切（決了三乘）·除不吉祥（斷二障）。
全論首尾：首品辯相（虛妄分別·中道根本）→ 末品辯無上乘（三無上）→ 結頌釋名，論旨周圓。

譯名 — 古譯對讀（玄奘·真諦）

譯本	譯文與分析
陳真諦《中邊分別論》 (T31n1599) p0463 論名 (c. 557–569)	真諦論名作《中邊分別論》（「分別中邊」），釋亦明辯處中·二邊之行境·中道，與玄奘「辯中邊」三義同；玄奘「辯」＝真諦「分別」。真諦本《中邊分別論》卷下無上乘品說竟。玄奘從。
★ 唐玄奘《辯中邊論頌》 (T31n1601) p0480b05 (661) · 釋 (T31n1600 p0477b10)	「此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。」底本：有世親釋＋窺基述記漢傳釋讀鏈。辯中邊論 113 偈至此圓滿。

進階參考

★ 四論互讀

百法	三十頌	二十論	辯中邊論
一切法（中道遍攝）	虛妄分別·三性中道·二障斷	唯識中道	本頌（全論結·辯中邊之名·中道）

「辯中邊」之中道（處中二邊·離常斷增損），即《唯識三十論頌》三性中道、《唯識二十論》唯識中道之同詮；本論以中道自名，首品 [002] 虛妄分別中道根本、末偈論名釋首尾相印——全論一「中道」貫之。除不吉祥（斷二障）即轉依之果。

互見:

[112]（修證無上，上科）· 辯相品 [002]–[003]（虛妄分別·非空非不空·中道根本，本頌「辯中邊」之所結）· 全論首尾相印 ·《唯識三十論頌》三性中道。
所本：《大乘莊嚴經論》《攝大乘論》— 中道·大乘之所本。

Covers all 30 verses of this chapter ([084]–[113]), grouped into 10 genus sections. Genus division: the heading of the three unsurpaseds and the six practices [084]–[085] · supreme practice · the ten perfections [086]–[089] · the practice of attention · the ten dharma-practices [090]–[093] · practice according to dharma · the six distractions · the ten non-perversions [094]–[105] · the practice free of the two extremes · the seven discriminations [106]–[109] · differentiated and undifferentiated practice [110] · the unsurpassed object [111] · unsurpassed cultivation-realization [112] · the concluding verse [113].

Doctrinal Outline (Kuiji's 科判, T1835 · fasc. 中–下)

The ancient doctrinal outline (科判) underlying this chapter's genus-grouped verse sections — Kuiji's Madhyāntavibhāga Shuji (T44n1835), transcribed verbatim and aligned to Xuanzang's verses. 〔科判＝詮釋史座標·顯既有段結構之古德權威·非新立義。〕

Entry into the exposition of the chapter: [0028c10]「此即第二依問正釋。於中總有二十九頌。雖有三十頌。末後結釋頌非此品義。今此二十九頌總為二段。初之一頌總標由三義名無上乘。下二十八頌別解三義名無上乘。」

The twenty-eight verses in three parts: [0029a01]「初二十六頌廣明六種正行。次有一頌廣明十二所緣。次有一頌廣解十種修證。」

The six right practices — twenty-five verses in five sections: [0029a20]「二十五頌別解六行中合為五段。以差別無差別合為一明。初以四頌釋最勝。次有四頌明作意。次有十二頌明隨法。次有四頌明離二邊。次有一頌明差別無差別。」

Kuiji's 科判 node	Verses	Xuanzang verse	Genus segment
The three unsurpasseds · heading of the six right practices	1+1	[084]–[085]	The Heading
Supreme practice (the twelve superiorities · ten perfections)	4	[086]–[089]	Supreme Practice
Practice of attention (the three wisdoms · ten dharma-practices)	4	[090]–[093]	The Practice of Attention
Practice according to dharma (six distractions · ten non-perversions · ten adamantine sentences)	12	[094]–[105]	Practice According to Dharma / The Ten Non-Perversions Explained
Practice free of the two extremes	4	[106]–[109]	Practice Free of the Two Extremes
Differentiated · undifferentiated practice	1	[110]	Differentiated & Undifferentiated Practice
Unsurpassed object (the twelve objects)	1	[111]	The Unsurpassed Object
Unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization (the ten cultivation-realizations)	1	[112]	Unsurpassed Cultivation-and-Realization
Concluding verse of the whole treatise · the name	final verse	[113]	The Concluding Verse of the Whole Treatise

〔Divergences (recorded faithfully · not adjudicated here): (1) In Kuiji's outline the "practice free of the two extremes" [106]–[109] is parsed as eight two-extremes + seven two-extremes ([0039c14]「即寶積經復有七種。分別二邊。」), and he rejects the old translation's "fourteen two-extremes" as wrong ([0039c19]「舊論言十四二邊者。非也。」 Kuiji counts fifteen); the genus segment's heading "seven similes" is set up on the simile-bodies of the Ratnakūṭa sūtra, running in parallel with Kuiji's two-extremes outline without conflict. (2) For [110], Kuiji takes the fifth and sixth practices (differentiated · undifferentiated) as a paired exposition in one verse (six practices → five sections). (3) The concluding verse [113] Kuiji assigns to the name-explaining and dedication-of-merit portion ([0045b01]「自下一部第三大文。是釋名願施分」), not to the main text of the Unsurpassed Vehicle chapter. (4) loc: the Shuji's comment on this chapter extends into fasc. 下 to 0046a07 (the <cb:div> closed early at fasc. 中's end 0030c24 because of the fascicle break; fasc. 下 continues commenting on the same chapter).〕

Verse [084]–[085] · The Three Unsurpasseds & the Six Kinds of Practice — The Heading of the Unsurpassed Vehicle

Source anchor · karika VII.1–2 · T1601 [p0479c05 / c07] verse · T1600 [p0473c08·c14 verse / p0473c10·c16 comm.] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0460b09·b15] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0028b–0029a09 述曰] Kuiji 述記

總由三無上，說為無上乘，謂正行、所緣，及修證無上。正行有六種，謂最勝、作意、隨法、離二邊、差別、無差別。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context (the chapter pivot · the treatise's final chapter)

The Attainment chapter, having distinguished the fruit, is complete; this chapter — the treatise's final chapter — turns to the Unsurpassed Vehicle: why the Great Vehicle is "unsurpassed." It is so by reason of three unsurpasseds in sum (the three unsurpasseds):

The three unsurpasseds	Sense
Unsurpassed practice (正行無上)	the practice of the ten perfections (gathered up by the six kinds of practice, unfolded at length from [085])
Unsurpassed object (所緣無上)	the unsurpassedness of the object taken ([111])
Unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization (修證無上)	the unsurpassedness of cultivation-and-realization ([112])

[085] opens unsurpassed practice into the six kinds of practice (the differentiations of cultivation upon the ten perfections): supreme practice (from [086]) · practice of attention ([090]) · practice according to dharma ([094]) · practice free of the two extremes ([106]) · differentiated · undifferentiated practice ([110]). The point: the Unsurpassed Vehicle has no separate substance of its own — it just is the "practice · object · cultivation-realization of the ten perfections," all three unsurpassed — and the six kinds of practice are the skeleton of unsurpassed practice. The whole chapter unfolds from this heading.

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：此大乘中總由三種無上義故名無上乘。三無上者，一正行無上、二所緣無上、三修證無上。此中正行無上者，謂十波羅蜜多行。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. In this Great Vehicle, by reason of three senses of unsurpassedness in sum, it is named the Unsurpassed Vehicle. The three unsurpasseds are: (1) unsurpassed practice, (2) unsurpassed object, (3) unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization. Of these, unsurpassed practice is the practice of the ten perfections."

論曰：即於十種波羅蜜多隨修差別有六正行，一最勝正行、二作意正行、三隨法正行、四離二邊正行、五差別正行、六無差別正行。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. Upon the ten perfections, according to the differentiations of cultivation, there are six kinds of practice: (1) supreme practice, (2) practice of attention, (3) practice according to dharma, (4) practice free of the two extremes, (5) differentiated practice, (6) undifferentiated practice."

Vasubandhu sets out the three unsurpasseds (practice · object · cultivation-realization) as the sense in which the Great Vehicle is unsurpassed, unsurpassed practice being the practice of the ten perfections; he then opens the six kinds of practice (supreme · attention · according-to-dharma · free-of-the-two-extremes · differentiated · undifferentiated), all established as "differentiations of cultivation upon the ten perfections" — the whole frame of the Unsurpassed Vehicle is here.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0028b–0029a09):

Chapter division: the Unsurpassed Vehicle chapter sets out the three unsurpasseds of the Great Vehicle (practice · object · cultivation-realization); unsurpassed practice opens into the six kinds of practice (supreme · attention · according-to-dharma · free-of-the-two-extremes · differentiated · undifferentiated), the longest stretch of the chapter ([085]–[110]); thereafter [111] and [112] state the unsurpassed object and the unsurpassed cultivation-realization, and [113] is the concluding verse.
The three unsurpasseds are the sense of the Great Vehicle's excellence and unsurpassedness in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha (the Great Vehicle surpasses the two vehicles by three senses).

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0460b09 the three unsurpasseds / p0460b15 the six cultivations (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha's verse: 真諦頌「無上乘三處，修行及境界，亦說聚集起」(修行 = practice · 境界 = object · 聚集起〔集起得〕 = cultivation-realization); the six kinds of practice he renders as the "six cultivations" — 「無比及思擇，隨法與離邊，別及通六修」. Paramārtha's 無比修 ("incomparable cultivation") = Xuanzang's 最勝正行 ("supreme practice") · 思擇修 = 作意正行 ("practice of attention") · 別／通 = 差別／無差別 ("differentiated / undifferentiated"). His matching of the three unsurpasseds and the six kinds of practice agrees with Xuanzang throughout. Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c05–c07 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0473c08)	「總由三無上……差別、無差別。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

Witness

Text & Analysis

Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0460b09 the three unsurpasseds / p0460b15 the six cultivations (c. 557–569)

Paramārtha's verse: 真諦頌「無上乘三處，修行及境界，亦說聚集起」(修行 = practice · 境界 = object · 聚集起〔集起得〕 = cultivation-realization); the six kinds of practice he renders as the "six cultivations" — 「無比及思擇，隨法與離邊，別及通六修」. Paramārtha's 無比修 ("incomparable cultivation") = Xuanzang's 最勝正行 ("supreme practice") · 思擇修 = 作意正行 ("practice of attention") · 別／通 = 差別／無差別 ("differentiated / undifferentiated"). His matching of the three unsurpasseds and the six kinds of practice agrees with Xuanzang throughout. Xuanzang followed.

★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c05–c07 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0473c08)

「總由三無上……差別、無差別。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
— (the summation of the Great Vehicle's unsurpassedness)	the ten perfections · the perfect transformation-of-basis	consciousness-only (the teaching of the Great Vehicle's unsurpassedness)	this section (the three unsurpasseds · the six kinds of practice, heading-stanza)

The three unsurpasseds (practice · object · cultivation-realization) are the culmination of the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha's ten marks of the Great Vehicle's excellence — the Great Vehicle surpassing the two vehicles by three senses; the six kinds of practice gather up the ten perfections, joining the Saṃgraha's "the cause-and-fruit of entering thereinto" and "the differentiations of cultivation thereof."

sibling cross-references:

Attainment chapter [083] (the unsurpassed fruit · the buddha-ground, which this chapter carries forward) · from [086] (supreme practice · the ten perfections, the first of the six kinds of practice) · [111]–[112] (the unsurpassed object · cultivation-realization) · Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, the Great Vehicle's excellence.

Verse [086]–[089] · Supreme Practice — The Twelve Superiorities · The Ten Perfections · The Functions of the Ten Perfections

Source anchor · karika VII.3–6 · T1601 [p0479c09 / c11 / c13 / c15] verse · T1600 [p0473c20·a15·a19 verse / p0473c24·a21 comm.] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0460b22·a] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0029a27–0031a 述曰] Kuiji 述記

最勝有十二，謂廣大、長時、依處及無盡、無間、無難性、自在、攝、發起、得、等流、究竟，由斯說十度，名波羅蜜多。十波羅蜜多，謂施、戒、安忍、精進、定、般若、方便、願、力、智。饒益、不害、受、增德、能入、脫、無盡、常起、定、受用成熟他。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The first of the six kinds of practice — supreme practice. Giving and the other ten perfections all possess the twelve superiorities, and so earn the name "perfection" (going to the far shore):

The twelve superiorities	Sense (Vasubandhu)
Vast	not delighting in worldly wealth and pleasure · the resolve lofty and far-reaching
Long-time	accomplished by habituation over the three immeasurable eons
Based	resting on the benefit and welfare of all beings everywhere as its basis
Inexhaustible	inexhaustible through dedication to unsurpassed awakening
Uninterrupted	the resolve of self-other equality · giving and the rest swiftly perfected
Without difficulty	deeply rejoicing in others' good dharmas · letting one's own swiftly perfect
Masterful	by the power of the Space-Treasury and other samādhis · letting them swiftly perfect
Embracing	embraced by non-discriminating wisdom · letting giving and the rest be utterly pure
Initiating	at the level of resolute-conduct, in the highest grade of forbearance
Attaining	at the Ground of Supreme Joy (the first ground)
Outflowing	at the next eight grounds (the second through the ninth)
Ultimate	at the tenth ground and the buddha-ground (the bodhisattva's and the tathāgata's cause-and-fruit complete)

[088] gives the names of the ten perfections (giving · morality · patience · vigor · concentration · wisdom · skillful means · vow · power · knowledge) · [089] the functions of the ten perfections:

Perfection	Function	Perfection	Function
Giving	to benefit (benefiting beings everywhere)	Skillful means	inexhaustibility (dedication making the merit inexhaustible)
Morality	non-harm (not working injury)	Vow	constant arising (ever meeting the Buddha, constantly giving rise to giving and the rest)
Patience	to endure (deeply able to bear harm)	Power	steadfastness (the two powers subdue obstructions · giving and the rest ever decided)
Vigor	to increase virtue (the growth of merit)	Knowledge	enjoying and maturing others (free of delusion · enjoying the Dharma's savor · maturing beings)
Concentration	to enable entry (arising supernormal powers, leading beings into the true Dharma)
Wisdom	to liberate (teaching and admonishing, bringing release)

The point: of the twelve superiorities the last four (initiating · attaining · outflowing · ultimate) are matched to the bodhisattva's stations (resolute-conduct forbearance · the first ground · the second through ninth · the tenth and buddha-ground) — the ten perfections' "going to the far shore" is no loose phrase but a perfecting through the stations in stages, the cause-and-fruit fulfilled to the very limit. The last four perfections (skillful means · vow · power · knowledge) are the differentiations of the first six, making the first six inexhaustible · ever-arising · decided · and maturing of others.

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：最勝正行有十二種，一廣大最勝、二長時最勝、三依處最勝、四無盡最勝、五無間最勝、六無難最勝、七自在最勝、八攝受最勝、九發起最勝、十至得最勝、十一等流最勝、十二究竟最勝。此中廣大最勝者，終不欣樂一切世間富樂自在，志高遠故。長時最勝者，三無數劫熏習成故。依處最勝者，普為利樂一切有情為依處故。無盡最勝者，迴向無上正等菩提無窮盡故。無間最勝者，由得自他平等勝解，於諸有情發起施等波羅蜜多速圓滿故。無難最勝者，於他有情所修善法但深隨喜，令自施等波羅蜜多速圓滿故。自在最勝者，由虛空藏等三摩地力，令所修施等速圓滿故。攝受最勝者，無分別智之所攝受，能令施等極清淨故。發起最勝者，在勝解行地最上品忍中。至得最勝者，在極喜地。等流最勝者，在次八地。究竟最勝者，在第十地及佛地中，菩薩如來因果滿故。由施等十波羅蜜多皆有如斯十二最勝，是故皆得到彼岸名。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. Supreme practice has twelve kinds: (1) the superiority of vastness, (2) of long-time, (3) of the basis, (4) of inexhaustibility, (5) of uninterruptedness, (6) of being without difficulty, (7) of mastery, (8) of embracing, (9) of initiating, (10) of attaining, (11) of outflowing, (12) of the ultimate. Of these, the superiority of vastness: never delighting in any worldly wealth, pleasure, or mastery, because the resolve is lofty and far-reaching. The superiority of long-time: because it is accomplished by habituation over the three immeasurable eons. The superiority of the basis: because it rests on the benefit and welfare of all beings everywhere as its basis. The superiority of inexhaustibility: because, dedicated to unsurpassed perfect awakening, it is without end. The superiority of uninterruptedness: because, having gained the resolve of self-other equality, one gives rise toward all beings to giving and the other perfections, and they are swiftly perfected. The superiority of being without difficulty: because, only deeply rejoicing in the good dharmas cultivated by other beings, one lets one's own giving and the other perfections be swiftly perfected. The superiority of mastery: because, by the power of the Space-Treasury and other samādhis, one lets the giving and the rest one cultivates be swiftly perfected. The superiority of embracing: because, embraced by non-discriminating wisdom, it can make giving and the rest utterly pure. The superiority of initiating: in the highest grade of forbearance at the level of resolute conduct. The superiority of attaining: at the Ground of Supreme Joy. The superiority of outflowing: at the next eight grounds. The superiority of the ultimate: at the tenth ground and the buddha-ground, because the bodhisattva's and the tathāgata's cause-and-fruit are complete. Because giving and the ten perfections all have these twelve superiorities, they all earn the name 'going to the far shore.'"

論曰：此顯施等十到彼岸各別事業，如次應知。謂諸菩薩由布施波羅蜜多故，於諸有情普能饒益。由淨戒波羅蜜多故，於諸有情不為損害。由安忍波羅蜜多故，他損害時深能忍受。由精進波羅蜜多故，增長功德。由靜慮波羅蜜多故，起神通等能引有情令入正法。由般若波羅蜜多故，能正教授教誡有情令得解脫。由方便善巧波羅蜜多故，迴向無上正等菩提，能令施等功德無盡。由願波羅蜜多故，攝受隨順施等勝生，一切生中恒得值佛，恭敬供養常起施等。由力波羅蜜多故，具足思擇、修習二力伏滅諸障，能令施等常決定轉。由智波羅蜜多故，離如聞言諸法迷謬，受用施等增上法樂，無倒成熟一切有情。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. This sets forth the distinct functions of the ten 'going-to-the-far-shore' perfections, beginning with giving; they are to be known in order. Thus: by the perfection of giving the bodhisattvas can benefit all beings everywhere. By the perfection of pure morality they work no injury to any being. By the perfection of patient endurance they deeply bear it when others harm them. By the perfection of vigor they grow in merit. By the perfection of concentration they arise supernormal powers and the rest, and can lead beings into the true Dharma. By the perfection of wisdom they can rightly teach and admonish beings and bring them to liberation. By the perfection of skillful means they dedicate [the merit] to unsurpassed perfect awakening, and can make the merit of giving and the rest inexhaustible. By the perfection of vow they take up and accord with the excellent births of giving and the rest, ever meeting the Buddha in all their births, and reverently making offerings, constantly giving rise to giving and the rest. By the perfection of power they fully possess the two powers of discernment and cultivation, subdue and quell all obstructions, and can make giving and the rest proceed ever decidedly. By the perfection of knowledge they are free of delusion regarding dharmas [taken merely] as heard in words, enjoy the surpassing Dharma-savor of giving and the rest, and unerringly mature all beings."

Vasubandhu shows by the twelve superiorities why giving and the rest are "perfection (going to the far shore)" — vast (the resolve) · long-time (the eons) · the basis (benefiting others) … the ultimate (the buddha-ground), the last four matched to the stations (resolute conduct through the buddha-ground); he then sets out the functions of the ten perfections — the first six (to benefit · non-harm · to endure · to increase virtue · to enable entry · to liberate) the root of one's own practice, and the last four (inexhaustibility · constant arising · steadfastness · enjoying and maturing others) sustaining and completing the first six, bringing them to fullness.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0029a27–0031a):

Section division: supreme practice — the twelve superiorities ([086]–[087]) · the names of the ten perfections ([088]) · the functions of the ten perfections ([089]).
Of the twelve superiorities the last four (initiating · attaining · outflowing · ultimate) are glossed by matching them to the bodhisattva's stations (the highest grade of forbearance at resolute conduct · the first ground · the second through ninth · the tenth and buddha-ground); the functions of the ten perfections are as in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha and the Yogācārabhūmi's section on the perfections.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0460b22 the twelve incomparables / p0461a the ten perfections (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha renders the twelve superiorities as the "twelve incomparables" — 真諦十二最勝作「十二無比」——「廣大及長時，增上、體無盡，無間及無難，自在及攝治，極作、至得、流，究竟無比知」. Paramārtha's 無比 ("incomparable") = Xuanzang's 最勝 ("supreme") · 增上 = 依處 ("based") · 攝治 = 攝受 ("embracing") · 極作 = 發起 ("initiating") · 流 = 等流 ("outflowing"). His matching of the names and functions of the ten perfections agrees with Xuanzang throughout. Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c09–c17 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0473c20)	「最勝有十二……受用成熟他。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

Witness

Text & Analysis

Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0460b22 the twelve incomparables / p0461a the ten perfections (c. 557–569)

Paramārtha renders the twelve superiorities as the "twelve incomparables" — 真諦十二最勝作「十二無比」——「廣大及長時，增上、體無盡，無間及無難，自在及攝治，極作、至得、流，究竟無比知」. Paramārtha's 無比 ("incomparable") = Xuanzang's 最勝 ("supreme") · 增上 = 依處 ("based") · 攝治 = 攝受 ("embracing") · 極作 = 發起 ("initiating") · 流 = 等流 ("outflowing"). His matching of the names and functions of the ten perfections agrees with Xuanzang throughout. Xuanzang followed.

★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c09–c17 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0473c20)

「最勝有十二……受用成熟他。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
wholesome mind-associates (the substance-of-practice of giving · morality · patience · vigor and the rest)	the ten perfections · the ten grounds (the cause-and-fruit of entering thereinto)	—	this section (the twelve superiorities · the functions of the ten perfections)

The twelve superiorities and the functions of the ten perfections illumine one another with the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha's section on "the cause-and-fruit of entering thereinto," its ten perfections, and the ten grounds; the last four perfections (skillful means · vow · power · knowledge) are the differentiations of wisdom, joining the Saṃgraha. Their "obscurations" are seen in the Obscurations chapter [035]–[036] (the obscurations to the fruit of the ten perfections) — the one chapter distinguishing obscuration, the other unsurpassed practice.

sibling cross-references:

[084]–[085] (the three unsurpasseds · the six kinds of practice, of which this section is the first) · [090]–[093] (the practice of attention, the next section) · Obscurations chapter [035]–[036] (the obscurations to the fruit of the ten perfections · the reverse of this section) · Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, the cause-and-fruit of entering thereinto (the ten perfections · the ten grounds).

Verse [090]–[093] · The Practice of Attention — Contemplating the Great Vehicle by the Three Wisdoms · its Aid, the Ten Dharma-Practices

Source anchor · karika VII.7–10 · T1601 [p0479c17 / c19 / c21 / c23] verse · T1600 [p0474b08·b14·b19·b22·b28 verse / p0474b10·c04 comm.] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0461a23·b09] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0031a–0031c28 述曰] Kuiji 述記

菩薩以三慧，恒思惟大乘，如所施設法，名作意正行。此增長善界，入義及事成。此助伴應知，即十種法行。謂書寫、供養、施他、聽、披讀、受持、正開演、諷誦及思、修。行十法行者，獲福聚無量。勝故、無盡故，由攝他不息。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The second of the six kinds of practice — the practice of attention. The bodhisattva, by the three wisdoms (of learning, reflection, and cultivation), constantly contemplates the Great Vehicle (attending to the dharmas as they have been set forth, the scriptures of giving and the rest). The merits and the aid of this contemplation by the three wisdoms run as follows:

The three wisdoms	Merit of contemplating the Great Vehicle ([091], upper)
wisdom born of learning	makes the realm of wholesome roots grow
wisdom born of reflection	rightly penetrates the real meaning of what was learned
wisdom born of cultivation	brings the task sought to completion (entering into the cultivation-purifying grounds)

The aid of the practice of attention is the ten dharma-practices ([092]): copying · making offerings · giving to others · listening (listening attentively as another recites) · reading (perusing oneself) · upholding · expounding (rightly setting out the letter and meaning for others) · reciting · reflecting · cultivating. One who performs the ten dharma-practices gains immeasurable merit ([093]), and the Great Vehicle exceeds the two vehicles for two reasons: because it is superior (it embraces and benefits other beings) and because it is inexhaustible (even having realized nirvāṇa without remainder, its benefiting of others never ceases).

The essential point: the practice of attention has the three wisdoms for its substance and the ten dharma-practices for its aid — the "contemplation + observance" of Mahāyāna learning-and-practice is wholly here. That the merit of the ten dharma-practices is "superior · inexhaustible" is just where the bodhisattva's Mahāyāna path differs from the self-benefit of the two vehicles (benefiting others without cease).

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：若諸菩薩以聞思修所成妙慧，數數作意思惟大乘，依布施等如所施設契經等法，如是名為作意正行。……聞所成慧思惟大乘，能令善根界得增長。思所成慧思惟大乘，能正悟入所聞實義。修所成慧思惟大乘，能令所求事業成滿，謂能趣入修治地故。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. If the bodhisattvas, by the excellent wisdom accomplished through learning, reflection, and cultivation, attend again and again and contemplate the Great Vehicle — relying on the scriptures of giving and the rest, the dharmas as they have been set forth — this is called the practice of attention. … Contemplating the Great Vehicle by the wisdom born of learning makes the realm of wholesome roots grow. Contemplating the Great Vehicle by the wisdom born of reflection rightly penetrates the real meaning of what was learned. Contemplating the Great Vehicle by the wisdom born of cultivation brings the task sought to completion — that is, it can enter into the cultivation-purifying grounds."

論曰：於此大乘有十法行，一書寫、二供養、三施他、四若他誦讀專心諦聽、五自披讀、六受持、七正為他開演文義、八諷誦、九思惟、十修習行。……於此大乘修諸法行，由二緣故獲最大果，一最勝故、二無盡故。由能攝益他諸有情，是故大乘說為最勝。由雖證得無餘涅槃，利益他事而恒不息，是故大乘說為無盡。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. With respect to this Great Vehicle there are ten dharma-practices: (1) copying, (2) making offerings, (3) giving to others, (4) listening attentively when another recites or reads, (5) reading oneself, (6) upholding, (7) rightly expounding the letter and meaning for others, (8) reciting, (9) reflecting, (10) practicing in cultivation. … In practicing these dharma-practices with respect to this Great Vehicle, one gains the greatest fruit for two reasons: first, because it is supreme; second, because it is inexhaustible. Because it can embrace and benefit the other beings, the Great Vehicle is therefore called supreme. Because, even having realized nirvāṇa without remainder, the task of benefiting others never ceases, the Great Vehicle is therefore called inexhaustible."

Vasubandhu takes the contemplation of the Great Vehicle by the three wisdoms (learning, reflection, cultivation) as the substance of the practice of attention — learning grows the wholesome realm · reflection enters the real meaning · cultivation completes the task; the aid is the ten dharma-practices (from copying through cultivating), whose merit is "superior (embracing others) · inexhaustible (benefiting others without cease)" — which is why the merit of Mahāyāna learning-and-practice exceeds the two vehicles.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0031a–0031c28):

Chapter division: the practice of attention — contemplating the Great Vehicle by the three wisdoms ([090]) · its merit ([091], upper) · its aid, the ten dharma-practices ([091], lower – [092]) · merit superior & inexhaustible ([093]).
The ten dharma-practices are as taught in common in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha and this Madhyāntavibhāga — the ten dharma-practices of the Great Vehicle; the merit is "superior · inexhaustible" because the benefiting of others, embracing them, never ceases — differing from the self-benefit of the two vehicles.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0461a23 ten dharma-practices / p0461b09 merit (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha's verse: 「十種正行法，共相應應知」「書寫、供養、施，聽、讀及受持，廣說及讀誦，思惟及修習」(廣說 = expounding · 讀誦 = reciting); on the merit: 「無量功德聚，是十種正行」「最勝無盡故，利他不息故」. Paramārtha's matching of the ten dharma-practices and the two reasons (supreme · inexhaustible) agrees throughout with Xuanzang. Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c17–c23 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0474b08)	「菩薩以三慧……由攝他不息。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

Witness

Text & Analysis

Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0461a23 ten dharma-practices / p0461b09 merit (c. 557–569)

Paramārtha's verse: 「十種正行法，共相應應知」「書寫、供養、施，聽、讀及受持，廣說及讀誦，思惟及修習」(廣說 = expounding · 讀誦 = reciting); on the merit: 「無量功德聚，是十種正行」「最勝無盡故，利他不息故」. Paramārtha's matching of the ten dharma-practices and the two reasons (supreme · inexhaustible) agrees throughout with Xuanzang. Xuanzang followed.

★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c17–c23 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0474b08)

「菩薩以三慧……由攝他不息。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
object-specific (wisdom) · wholesome mental factors	— (learning-reflection-cultivation · Mahāyāna learning-and-practice)	—	this section (the practice of attention · the three wisdoms · the ten dharma-practices)

Contemplating the Great Vehicle by the three wisdoms (learning, reflection, cultivation) and the ten dharma-practices are the common track of Mahāyāna learning-and-practice, illumining one another with the higher wisdom · ten dharma-practices of the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha; that the merit is "superior · inexhaustible" (benefiting others without cease) is just the point where the bodhisattva path differs from the self-benefit of the two vehicles, connecting with the bodhisattva's three excellences (for the sake of realizing non-abiding nirvāṇa) in the Cultivation-of-Antidotes chapter [077].

sibling cross-references:

[086]–[089] (supreme practice, the prior section) · [094]–[105] (practice according to dharma · the ten non-perversions, the following section) · Cultivation-of-Antidotes chapter [077] (the bodhisattva's three excellences · benefiting others without cease) · the ten dharma-practices of the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha.

Verse [094]–[096] · Practice According to Dharma — Non-Distraction (the Six Distractions) · Non-Perversion (the Ten Non-Perversions, heading)

Source anchor · karika VII.11–13 · T1601 [p0479c25 / c27 / c29] verse · T1600 [p0474c09·c16·c26 verse / p0474c11·c18·c28 comm.] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0461b16·b23·c07] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0032b02–0033b15 述曰] Kuiji 述記

隨法行二種，謂諸無散亂、無顛倒轉變，諸菩薩應知。出定、於境流、味沈掉、矯示、我執、心下劣，諸智者應知。智見於文義，作意及不動，二相染淨客，無怖高無倒。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The third of the six kinds of practice — practice according to dharma, in two kinds: non-distracted transformation ([095]) · non-perverted transformation ([096] onward).

Non-distraction = freedom from the six distractions:

The six distractions	Verse-phrase	Sense (Vasubandhu)
distraction of own-nature	going out from concentration	going out from concentration through the five sense-consciousnesses (scattering into the sense-gates)
outward distraction	flowing toward objects	straying outward to external conditions
inward distraction	relishing, sinking and agitation	savoring meditative concentration · torpor · agitation
distraction of marks	false display	feigning marks of concentration · the preparatory practices for concentration
distraction of coarseness	self-grasping	by the force of coarseness, the active operation of self-conceit
distraction of attention	inferior mind	giving rise to attention in reliance on an inferior vehicle

Non-perversion = the ten non-perversions ([096] heading: letter · meaning · attention · immovability · the two characteristics 〔own-character · common-character〕 · defilement-and-purity · the adventitious · no-fear · no-arrogance), established upon the wisdom that sees the ten matters as they really are ([097]–[105] give them one by one). The essential point: practice according to dharma = the coupled functioning of concentration (non-distraction) and wisdom (non-perversion) — calming, free of the six distractions; insight, establishing the ten non-perversions — this is the bodhisattva's true cultivation of "following the dharma of the Great Vehicle."

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：隨法正行略有二種，一無散亂轉變、二無顛倒轉變，菩薩於此應正了知。此中六種散亂無故，名無散亂。六散亂者，一自性散亂、二外散亂、三內散亂、四相散亂、五麁重散亂、六作意散亂。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. Practice according to dharma is, in brief, of two kinds: first, non-distracted transformation; second, non-perverted transformation. The bodhisattva should rightly understand them. Here, because the six kinds of distraction are absent, it is called non-distraction. The six distractions are: (1) distraction of own-nature, (2) outward distraction, (3) inward distraction, (4) distraction of marks, (5) distraction of coarseness, (6) distraction of attention."

論曰：此中出定由五識身，當知即是自性散亂。於境流者，馳散外緣，即外散亂。味沈掉者，味著等持惛沈掉舉，即內散亂。矯示者，即相散亂，矯現相已修定加行故。我執者，即麁重散亂，由麁重力我慢現行故。心下劣者，即作意散亂，依下劣乘起作意故。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. Here, going out from concentration through the five sense-consciousnesses — know this to be the distraction of own-nature. Flowing toward objects means straying outward to external conditions: this is outward distraction. Relishing, sinking and agitation means savoring meditative concentration, with torpor and agitation: this is inward distraction. False display is the distraction of marks — feigning marks [of attainment] and then practicing the preparatory exercises of concentration. Self-grasping is the distraction of coarseness — by the force of coarseness, self-conceit becomes active. Inferior mind is the distraction of attention — giving rise to attention in reliance on an inferior vehicle."

Vasubandhu establishes the two kinds of practice according to dharma (non-distraction · non-perversion): non-distraction is just freedom from the six distractions (own-nature · outward · inward · marks · coarseness · attention); non-perversion is the ten non-perversions (the heading at [096], distinguished one by one below). He matches each of the six distractions to its character (going out from concentration → own-nature · flowing toward objects → outward … inferior mind → attention), making plain what calming leaves behind.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0032b02–0033b15):

Chapter division: practice according to dharma, in two kinds — non-distracted transformation (the six distractions · [095]) · non-perverted transformation (the ten non-perversions · [096] onward).
The six distractions are matched to the faults of the [meditative] stations (going out from concentration scatters the five sense-consciousnesses · relishing, sinking and agitation are the inward hindrance to concentration); the ten non-perversions are established upon the wisdom that sees the ten matters as they really are, set out below upon the ten adamantine phrases.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0461b16 the two kinds of practice according to dharma / p0461b23 the six distractions (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha's verse: 「隨法有二種，不散動顛倒」; the six distractions: 「起觀行六塵，貪味下掉起，無決意於定，思量處我慢，下劣心散亂」. Paramārtha's matching of the six distractions (own-nature · outward · inward · marks · coarse-affliction · reflection-distraction) agrees throughout with Xuanzang; Paramārtha's 散動 ("agitation-scattering") = Xuanzang's 散亂 ("distraction") · 麁惑散動 ("coarse-affliction agitation-scattering") = 麁重散亂 ("distraction of coarseness"). Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c25–c29 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0474c09)	「隨法行二種……無怖高無倒。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

Witness

Text & Analysis

Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0461b16 the two kinds of practice according to dharma / p0461b23 the six distractions (c. 557–569)

Paramārtha's verse: 「隨法有二種，不散動顛倒」; the six distractions: 「起觀行六塵，貪味下掉起，無決意於定，思量處我慢，下劣心散亂」. Paramārtha's matching of the six distractions (own-nature · outward · inward · marks · coarse-affliction · reflection-distraction) agrees throughout with Xuanzang; Paramārtha's 散動 ("agitation-scattering") = Xuanzang's 散亂 ("distraction") · 麁惑散動 ("coarse-affliction agitation-scattering") = 麁重散亂 ("distraction of coarseness"). Xuanzang followed.

★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0479c25–c29 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0474c09)

「隨法行二種……無怖高無倒。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
secondary afflictions (distraction · torpor · agitation · self-conceit)	— (the coupled functioning of calming-and-insight)	—	this section (the six distractions · the ten non-perversions, heading)

The six distractions are just the hindrance, by the Mahāyāna-śatadharma (baifa) secondary afflictions (distraction · torpor · agitation and the rest), to calming; the coupled functioning of non-distraction (calming) · non-perversion (insight · the ten non-perversions) is the true cultivation of Mahāyāna calming-and-insight. The ten non-perversions are set out below upon the ten adamantine phrases.

sibling cross-references:

[090]–[093] (the practice of attention, the prior section) · [097]–[105] (the ten non-perversions one by one, which this section opens) · Cultivation-of-Antidotes chapter [066]–[069] (the bases of psychic power · the five faults · the eight applications for abandoning · the cultivation of calming).
Provenance: Abhidharma-samuccaya-vyākhyā · Yogācārabhūmi — the source of distraction · calming-and-insight.

Verse [097]–[105] · The Ten Non-Perversions Explained One by One · The Ten Adamantine Sentences

Source anchor · karika VII.14–22 · T1601 [p0480a02 … a18] verse · T1600 [p0475a01–c05 each non-perversion / p0475c06 general sense / p0475c16 the ten adamantine sentences] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0461c10–0462b13 / p0462b14 the ten adamantine feet] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0033b15–0035a 述曰] Kuiji 述記

知但由相應、串習或翻此，有義及非有，是於文無倒。似二性顯現，如現實非有，知離有非有，是於義無倒。於作意無倒，知彼言熏習，言作意彼依，現似二因故。於不動無倒，謂知義非有，非無如幻等，有無不動故。於自相無倒，知一切唯名，離一切分別，依勝義自相。以離真法界，無別有一法，故通達此者，於共相無倒。知顛倒作意，未滅及已滅，於法界雜染，清淨無顛倒。知法界本性，清淨如虛空，故染淨非主，是於客無倒。有情法無故，染淨性俱無，知此無怖高，是於二無倒。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The ten non-perversions, explained one by one — the bodhisattva, by seeing-and-knowing as it really is with respect to ten loci, departs from perversion. This section is the bone of the consciousness-only contemplation (the two graspings non-existent · the disturbed consciousness arising in the likeness of duality · like-illusion · the dharma-realm originally pure):

Non-perversion	Verse	Sense (Vasubandhu)
as to the letter	[097]	the letter has meaning through conjunction (the ordered enunciation [of word and sense]) and habituation (commonly-agreed remembrance), and has no meaning where this is reversed; knowing the two states of the letter
as to the meaning	[098]	the meaning appears as if possessing a dual nature (as if grasped-object and grasper) · as it appears it is really non-existent · free of existence (the dual nature is non-existent) · free of non-existence (the disturbed consciousness arises as if existent)
as to attention	[099]	knowing that the verbal latency by which the two graspings are impregnated — the name-and-language attention — is the basis of the discrimination of the two graspings, and the cause of the appearing-as-two
as to immovability	[100]	knowing the meaning to be neither existent nor non-existent (like an illusion and so forth · a mirage, a dream, the moon-in-water) · unmoved and unscattered in mind toward either the existent or the non-existent class
as to own-character	[101]	knowing all (from eye-and-form down to mind-and-dharmas) to be mere name · free of all discrimination (by the ultimate own-character; conventionally, not merely name)
as to shared-character	[102]	apart from the true dharma-realm there is no separate single dharma (the no-self of dharmas) · the shared-character of all dharmas is gathered into the true dharma-realm
as to defilement-and-purity	[103]	perverted attention not yet ceased (the dharma-realm defiled) · already ceased (pure)
as to the adventitious	[104]	the dharma-realm's nature is originally pure like space · the two characteristics, first defiled then pure, are adventitious, not the master
as to non-fear and non-exaltation (the two non-perversions)	[105]	person and dharma are both without [real nature] → the natures of defilement and purity are both absent → defilement and purity neither decrease nor increase → non-fear and non-exaltation

Vasubandhu further sets out the general sense of the practice of non-perversion (non-perversion as to the letter penetrates the two characteristics of calm-and-insight · non-perversion as to the meaning penetrates the characteristic of perversion · … non-fear and non-exaltation bring the severance of all obscurations and final liberation), and makes plain that the ten non-perversions are established, in order, upon the ten adamantine sentences (existent–non-existent · the basis without perversion · like-illusion and non-discrimination · originally and ever pure · defiled-and-pure · purity-of-nature likened to space · neither decreasing nor increasing). The own-nature of the ten adamantine sentences: own-nature (the three natures) · object (the three natures) · non-discrimination (non-discriminating wisdom · purity of nature) · resolving the difficulty (the illusion-simile resolves "non-existent yet apprehensible" · the space-simile resolves "originally pure yet bearing defilement-and-purity" · the neither-decreasing-nor-increasing resolves "beings are delivered yet saṃsāra does not perish, nor does nirvāṇa increase").

The gist: the ten non-perversions just are the consciousness-only contemplation — the two graspings non-existent · consciousness-only appearing in delusion · like-illusion · the dharma-realm originally pure — gathered into the ten adamantine sentences. This is the bone of the prajñā non-discriminating wisdom within the right practice of the Great Vehicle, running on one line with the Characteristics chapter's [004] (the four appearances of consciousness-transformation) and [023] (mind's nature originally pure).

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：似二性顯現者，謂似所取能取性現，亂識似彼行相生故。如現實非有者，謂如所顯現，實不如是有。離有者，謂此義所取能取性非有故。離非有者，謂彼亂識現似有故。如實知見此中義者，應知是名於義無倒。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. 'It appears as if possessing a dual nature' means it appears as having the nature of the grasped-object and the grasper, since the disturbed consciousness arises with that aspect [in its likeness]. 'As it appears, it is really non-existent' means that as it is made to appear, it really does not exist in that way. 'Free of existence' means that this meaning's nature of grasped-object and grasper is non-existent. 'Free of non-existence' means that that disturbed consciousness does appear as if existent. To see and know as it really is the sense in this — this should be known as non-perversion as to the meaning."

This is the doctrinal core of the section. The meaning (the signified object) appears as if possessing a dual nature — as grasped-object and grasper — yet that appearing is the disturbed consciousness arising in the likeness of duality; as it appears, the duality never was (free of existence — the dual nature is non-existent), and yet the disturbed consciousness does arise as if existent (free of non-existence — it is not nothing). This is the consciousness-only frame: the two graspings non-existent, the disturbed consciousness appearing as if dual.

論曰：前說諸義離有非有。此如幻等非有無故。謂如幻作諸象馬等彼非實有，象馬等性亦非全無，亂識似彼諸象馬等而顯現故。如是諸義無如現似所取能取定實有性亦非全無，亂識似彼所取能取而顯現，故等聲顯示陽焰夢境及水月等，如應當知。以能諦觀義如幻等，於有無品心不動散，如實知見此不動者，應知是於不動無倒。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. It was said above that the meanings are free of existence and of non-existence. This is so because they are like an illusion and the like — neither existent nor non-existent. That is, just as an illusion conjures elephants, horses, and so forth, which are not really existent, yet the nature of those elephants and horses is not wholly nothing — for the disturbed consciousness manifests in the likeness of those elephants, horses, and so forth — so likewise the meanings have no fixed, really-existent nature of grasped-object and grasper as they appear, and yet are not wholly nothing, since the disturbed consciousness manifests in the likeness of the grasped-object and grasper. Thus the word and-so-forth indicates the mirage, the dream-realm, the moon-in-water, and the like, as should be understood accordingly. Being able truly to contemplate the meaning as like an illusion and the like, one's mind is unmoved and unscattered toward the existent and the non-existent classes; to see and know as it really is this immovability should be known as non-perversion as to immovability."

Vasubandhu grounds immovability on the illusion-simile: as an illusion conjures elephants and horses that are not really existent yet are not wholly nothing (the disturbed consciousness manifests in their likeness), so the meaning has no fixed, real nature of grasped-and-grasper yet is not wholly nothing. The word "and so forth" (等) opens onto the further similes — the mirage, the dream, the moon-in-water. Contemplating the meaning thus, the mind neither clings to substantial existence nor sinks into sheer nothing; it is unmoved by either class.

無倒行總義者，謂由文無倒，能正通達止觀二相；由義無倒，能正通達諸顛倒相；由作意無倒，於倒因緣能正遠離；由不動無倒，善取彼相；由自相無倒，修彼對治無分別道；由共相無倒，能正通達本性清淨；由染淨無倒，了知未斷及已斷障；由客無倒，如實了知染淨二相；由無怖無高二種無倒，諸障斷滅得永出離。此十無倒如次安立於彼十種金剛句中。

Translation (mine): "The general sense of the practice of non-perversion: by non-perversion as to the letter, one rightly penetrates the two characteristics of calm-and-insight; by non-perversion as to the meaning, one rightly penetrates the characteristics of perversion; by non-perversion as to attention, one rightly departs from the causes and conditions of perversion; by non-perversion as to immovability, one well apprehends their characteristic; by non-perversion as to own-character, one cultivates the counteragent to them, the path of non-discrimination; by non-perversion as to shared-character, one rightly penetrates the purity of nature; by non-perversion as to defilement-and-purity, one understands the obscurations not yet severed and already severed; by non-perversion as to the adventitious, one understands as it really is the two characteristics of defilement and purity; by the two non-perversions, as to non-fear and non-exaltation, all obscurations are severed and final liberation is won. These ten non-perversions are established, in order, upon those ten adamantine sentences."

Vasubandhu explains the ten non-perversions one by one; their bone lies in the two non-perversions of meaning and immovability — "appears as if possessing a dual nature · the disturbed consciousness in its likeness · as it appears, really non-existent · free of existence, free of non-existence" just is the consciousness-only core of "the two graspings non-existent · consciousness-only appearing in delusion"; "like an illusion and so forth · unmoved by the existent and the non-existent" just is the prajñā like-illusion contemplation. He closes by gathering them with the general sense of the practice of non-perversion and the ten adamantine sentences: the ten non-perversions are the prajñā non-discriminating wisdom established within the right practice of the Great Vehicle.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0033b15–0035a):

Chapter division: the ten non-perversions explained one by one, verse by verse ([097]–[105]), closing with the establishment upon the ten adamantine sentences (heading at [096], the particular treatment here).
Non-perversion as to meaning · as to immovability: the consciousness-only "two graspings non-existent · the disturbed consciousness arising in the likeness [of duality] · the illusion-simile and the rest" (the mirage, the dream, the moon-in-water); non-perversion as to own-character — "mere name · by the ultimate own-character" — counters discrimination; non-perversion as to shared-character — "apart from the true dharma-realm there is no separate dharma · the no-self of dharmas."
The ten adamantine sentences: own-nature (the three natures) · object (the three natures) · non-discrimination (non-discriminating wisdom · purity of nature) · resolving the difficulty (the illusion-simile · the space-simile · the neither-decreasing-nor-increasing simile) — three difficulties, three similes.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0461c10–0462b13 the ten non-perversions / p0462b14 the ten adamantine feet (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha's verses on the ten non-perversions match Xuanzang's one by one (letter = 言辭 / meaning = 義 / immovability = 不動 / own-character = 別相 / shared-character = 通相 / defilement-and-purity = 淨不淨 / the adventitious = 客 / the two = non-fear and non-exaltation). For non-perversion as to meaning, Paramārtha's 「顯現似二種，如顯不實有……遠離有無邊」 = Xuanzang's 「似二性顯現……離有非有」; for immovability, Paramārtha's 「如幻等不有，亦有義應知」 = Xuanzang's 「如幻等·有無不動」. The ten adamantine sentences Paramārtha renders as "the ten adamantine feet" (十金剛足: 有無 · 依處 · 幻化譬 · 無分別 · 自性清淨 · 不淨 · 淨 · 如真空譬 · 不減 · 不增無倒). The matching exposition is wholly the same as Xuanzang's. Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0480a02–a18 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0475a01 onward)	「知但由相應……是於二無倒。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

Witness

Text & Analysis

Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0461c10–0462b13 the ten non-perversions / p0462b14 the ten adamantine feet (c. 557–569)

Paramārtha's verses on the ten non-perversions match Xuanzang's one by one (letter = 言辭 / meaning = 義 / immovability = 不動 / own-character = 別相 / shared-character = 通相 / defilement-and-purity = 淨不淨 / the adventitious = 客 / the two = non-fear and non-exaltation). For non-perversion as to meaning, Paramārtha's 「顯現似二種，如顯不實有……遠離有無邊」 = Xuanzang's 「似二性顯現……離有非有」; for immovability, Paramārtha's 「如幻等不有，亦有義應知」 = Xuanzang's 「如幻等·有無不動」. The ten adamantine sentences Paramārtha renders as "the ten adamantine feet" (十金剛足: 有無 · 依處 · 幻化譬 · 無分別 · 自性清淨 · 不淨 · 淨 · 如真空譬 · 不減 · 不增無倒). The matching exposition is wholly the same as Xuanzang's. Xuanzang followed.

★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0480a02–a18 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0475a01 onward)

「知但由相應……是於二無倒。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
the unconditioned · suchness (shared-character · non-perversion as to the adventitious · the dharma-realm originally pure)	consciousness-transformation · the other-dependent appearing as the two graspings · the perfectly-accomplished (mere name · the two graspings non-existent)	consciousness-only, no external object (appears as if possessing a dual nature · the disturbed consciousness appearing in delusion)	this section (the ten non-perversions · the two graspings non-existent · like-illusion · the dharma-realm originally pure)

The ten non-perversions' "appears as if possessing a dual nature · the disturbed consciousness in the likeness of that · the two graspings non-existent" is the same exposition as the Triṃśikā's "the other-dependent · consciousness transformed into the likeness of the two graspings" and the Viṃśatikā's "consciousness-only, no external object"; "like an illusion and so forth" is the like-illusion contemplation; "mere name · by the ultimate own-character" is the perfectly-accomplished nature, consciousness-only reality; "the dharma-realm originally pure like space · defilement and purity adventitious" is the Characteristics chapter's [023] "mind's nature originally pure · defiled by adventitious dust." The ten non-perversions are established upon the ten adamantine sentences (the three natures · non-discriminating wisdom · the three similes resolving the difficulties) — the bone of the prajñā non-discriminating wisdom.

sibling cross-references:

[094]–[096] (practice according to dharma · the six distractions · the heading of the ten non-perversions, which this section carries forward) · [106]–[109] (the right practice free of the two extremes, the next section) · Characteristics chapter [004] (the four appearances of consciousness-transformation · object non-existent, consciousness non-existent) · [023] (mind's nature originally pure · adventitious dust) · Triṃśikā consciousness-transformation · the two graspings non-existent · the perfectly-accomplished as mere name.
Provenance: The Prajñāpāramitā (like-illusion · the dharma-realm) · the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra · the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha — the source of the two graspings non-existent · like-illusion · the ten adamantine sentences.

Verse [106]–[109] · Practice Free of the Two Extremes — The Ratnakūṭa Middle Way · the various two-extremes · the seven discriminations of the two extremes (the seven similes)

Source anchor · karika VII.23–26 · T1601 [p0480a20 / a22 / a24 / a26] verse · T1600 [p0476a15 verse / p0476a23·b27 comm.] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0462b18·b25] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0035–0037 述曰] Kuiji 述記

異性與一性，外道及聲聞，增益損減邊，有情法各二。所治及能治，常住與斷滅，所取能取邊，染淨二三種。分別二邊性，應知復有七，謂有非有邊，所能寂怖畏，所能取正邪，有用并無用，不起及時等，是分別二邊。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The fourth of the six [kinds of] practice — practice free of the two extremes — is the middle way taught in the Ratnakūṭa (Kuiji notes the old title Ratnacūḍa / 寶頂經), keeping clear of the various two-extremes. [106]–[107] list the various two-extremes (following the scripture, a cognition of the middle is set up against each):

The two extremes	The middle way (Vasubandhu)
difference · identity (self other than the body / self as the body)	contemplating no-self (down to the māṇava)
eternalism (the outsiders) · impermanence (the śrāvakas)	contemplating that form and the rest are neither eternal nor impermanent
superimposing the being (grasping a real self) · denying the being (dismissing the conventional being)	the cognition of the middle between the two extremes of self and no-self
superimposing the dharma (grasping mind as truly existent) · denying the dharma (grasping mind as truly nonexistent)	no mind, no mentation, no manas, no consciousness
the to-be-countered (grasping defilement) · the counteragent (grasping purity)	not contemplating along either of the two extremes
eternalism (grasping the being and the dharma as existent) · annihilation (grasping them as nonexistent)	the cognition of the middle between the two extremes
the grasped · the grasper (knowing and not-knowing, and the rest)	knowing and not-knowing are non-dual, without a duality-part

The closing phrase "defilement and purity, in two and three kinds" clarifies: the threefold defilement (afflictions · karma · birth) ↔ the threefold counteragent (the cognition of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness / the cognition of non-action / the cognition of no-birth, no-arising, no-own-nature) ↔ purity; the dharma-realm's own nature is undefiled — "it is not by [a separate] emptiness that one empties the dharma; the dharma-nature is empty of itself."

[108]–[109] give the seven discriminations of the two extremes, each left behind by its own simile:

Discrimination of the two extremes	Simile	Sense of the simile
existence · nonexistence (grasping that emptiness is established only when the real pudgala perishes / discriminating no-self as nonexistence)	—	emptiness is empty of itself · empty in the three times (emptiness is not established by [first] annihilating the person)
the to-be-pacified · the pacifier (grasping that there is something to sever and something that severs · dreading emptiness)	the space simile	spoken for the śrāvakas
the feared · the fearer (grasping that the wholly-imagined form is to be feared · that the painful dharma is to be dreaded)	the painter simile	spoken for the bodhisattvas
the grasped · the grasper	the illusionist simile	from the cognition of consciousness-only arises the cognition of no-object · by the cognition of no-object one in turn relinquishes [the notion of] consciousness-only (consciousness-only → no-object → relinquishing consciousness-only)
right nature · wrong nature (grasping that the contemplation-as-it-really-is is right or is wrong)	the fire-from-two-sticks simile	the contemplation gives rise to noble wisdom · the wisdom in turn removes the contemplation
useful · useless (grasping that noble cognition first removes defilement by discrimination / that it is wholly useless)	the first-lamp simile	—
non-arising · arising-in-time (grasping that the counteragent ultimately does not arise / that it lasts as long as the defilement)	the later-lamp simile	—

Core point: the spine of the practice free of the two extremes is the "illusionist simile" — by the cognition of consciousness-only the object is dispelled (the cognition of no-object arises), and by the cognition of no-object consciousness-only is in turn dispelled (relinquishing consciousness-only), so that object and consciousness are both effaced. This is the three-nature middle way of consciousness-only contemplation — relinquishing the other-dependent, realizing the perfectly-accomplished — of one line with the expedient of entering signlessness in the Characteristics chapter [001]–[008] and with the Sanshisong's "the object being absent, consciousness too is absent."

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：若於色等執我有異、或執是一，各為一邊；為離此執說中道行，謂觀無我乃至儒童，見有我者定起此執，我異於身、或即身故。若於色等執為常住是外道邊，執無常者是聲聞邊；為離此執說中道行，謂觀色等非常無常。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. If, regarding form and the rest, one grasps the self as other [than them], or grasps it as identical [with them], each is one extreme; to leave this grasping, the middle way of practice is taught — namely, contemplating no-self, down to [the no-self of] the māṇava — for one who sees a self will certainly give rise to this grasping, [holding] the self to be other than the body or identical with the body. If, regarding form and the rest, one grasps them as eternal, this is the extreme of the outsiders; one who grasps them as impermanent [in the nihilistic sense], this is the extreme of the śrāvakas; to leave this grasping, the middle way of practice is taught — namely, contemplating that form and the rest are neither eternal nor impermanent."

分別所取、分別能取各為一邊。為離如是二邊分別，說幻師喻。由唯識智無境智生，由無境智生復捨唯識。智境既非有，識亦是無，要託所緣識方生故。由斯所喻與喻同法。

Translation (mine): "The discrimination of the grasped, and the discrimination of the grasper, are each one extreme. To leave such discrimination of the two extremes, the illusionist simile is taught. From the cognition of consciousness-only arises the cognition of no-object; by the arising of the cognition of no-object one in turn relinquishes [the notion of] consciousness-only. The object of cognition being already nonexistent, consciousness too is absent — for consciousness arises only in dependence on an object. By this, the thing likened and the simile share the same principle."

Vasubandhu, following the Ratnakūṭa middle way, sets up against each pair of extremes its own cognition of the middle (difference-identity → no-self · eternal-impermanent → neither-eternal-nor-impermanent · superimposition-denial → the cognition of the middle between self and no-self …); he then draws out the seven discriminations of the two extremes, leaving each behind by a simile. The spine is the illusionist simile — "from the cognition of consciousness-only arises the cognition of no-object · the cognition of no-object in turn relinquishes consciousness-only" — object and consciousness both dispelled, the very acme of the consciousness-only middle way.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0035–0037):

Chapter division: practice free of the two extremes — the various two-extremes ([106]–[107] · following the Ratnakūṭa middle way 〔the old [translation] reads Ratnacūḍa / 寶頂經〕) · the seven discriminations of the two extremes ([108]–[109] · the seven similes).
The illusionist simile: the sequence of consciousness-only → no-object → relinquishing consciousness-only, that is, dispelling the other-dependent grasping-twosome and not retaining the notion of consciousness-only — the middle way of the three-nature contemplation; the fire-from-two-sticks simile shows that "the contemplation gives rise to wisdom · the wisdom in turn dispels the contemplation."

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness

Text & Analysis

Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0462b18 the two extremes / p0462b25 the seven discriminations of the two extremes (c. 557–569)

Paramārtha's verse: 「別異邊一邊，外道及聲聞，增益與損減……能取及所取，染淨有二三」「分別二種邊，應知有七種，有無及應止，能止可畏畏，能取所取邊，正邪事無事，不生及俱時」. Paramārtha follows "[the scripture in which] the Buddha taught Kāśyapa the signless middle way in the Ratnacūḍa (《寶頂經》)" (Xuanzang gives《寶積經》, the Ratnakūṭa). His matching of the various two-extremes and the seven discriminations agrees with Xuanzang throughout. Xuanzang followed.

★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0480a20–a27 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0476a15)

「異性與一性……是分別二邊。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya + Kuiji's 述記.

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
the unconditioned · suchness (the middle way · the dharma-nature empty of itself)	the object being absent, consciousness too is absent · the perfectly-accomplished middle way (the illusionist simile = relinquishing the other-dependent, realizing the perfectly-accomplished)	consciousness-only, no [external] object (the cognition of consciousness-only → the cognition of no-object)	this section (free of the two extremes · the middle way · the seven similes · the illusionist simile)

The "illusionist simile" of the middle way free of the two extremes (consciousness-only → no-object → relinquishing consciousness-only) is the same exposition as the Sanshisong's "the object being absent, consciousness too is absent · relinquishing the two graspings, realizing the perfectly-accomplished"; the middle way keeps clear of the extremes of eternalism-and-annihilation, superimposition-and-denial, and the two graspings — the perfectly-accomplished grounding of the root middle way of the Characteristics chapter [001]–[008] and of the false imagining of [002]. The "middle way" in this treatise's very name, Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes, is here at its plainest.

sibling cross-references:

[097]–[105] (the ten non-perversions, the section above) · [110] (differentiated and undifferentiated practice, the section below) · the Characteristics chapter [001]–[008] (the root of the middle way · the expedient of entering signlessness) · the Sanshisong "the object being absent, consciousness too is absent · the perfectly-accomplished middle way."
Provenance: The Mahā-ratnakūṭa-sūtra (《大寶積經》, the middle-way practice) · the Prajñāpāramitā — the scriptural ground of the middle way and of the two extremes.

Verse [110] · Differentiated & Undifferentiated Practice — The Ten Grounds · The Ten Perfections cultivated as dominant / cultivated equally (+ the summary of the six practices)

Source anchor · karika VII.27 · T1601 [p0480a28] verse · T1600 [p0476c27 verse / p0476c29 comm. / p0477a02 summary] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0463] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0037 述曰] Kuiji 述記

差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The fifth and sixth of the six practices — differentiated practice and undifferentiated practice:

Practice	Sense
differentiated practice (差別正行)	On the ten grounds, some one of the ten perfections is cultivated as dominant (e.g. giving dominant on the first ground, morality on the second, and so on).
undifferentiated practice (無差別正行)	On every one of the grounds, all ten perfections — giving and the rest — are cultivated equally.

With this the six practices (supreme · attention · according-to-dharma · free of the two extremes · differentiated · undifferentiated) are complete. Vasubandhu then gives the summary of the six practices: by the supreme classes one contemplates the established teaching of the Great Vehicle; through non-distracted transformation one cultivates calm-abiding (śamatha); through non-perverted transformation one cultivates insight (vipaśyanā); one cultivates the practice of the middle way and seeks emergence; and on the ten grounds one cultivates the differentiated and the undifferentiated practice — and this is the whole of "unsurpassed practice."

The point: the two practices, differentiated (one perfection dominant per ground) and undifferentiated (all ten perfections cultivated equally across the grounds), display the two faces of the bodhisattva's cultivation of the ten perfections over the ten grounds; joined to the first four practices (supreme · attention · according-to-dharma · free of the two extremes), the six practices exhaustively gather the bodhisattva's right practice, and unsurpassed practice is herewith complete.

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：於十地中十到彼岸隨一增上而修集者，應知說為差別正行。於一切地皆等修集布施等十波羅蜜多，如是正行名無差別。六正行總義者，謂即如是品類最勝，由此思惟如所施設大乘法等，由如是品無亂轉變修奢摩他，及無倒轉變修毘鉢舍那，為如是義修中道行而求出離，於十地中修習差別無差別行。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. On the ten grounds, the cultivating of some one of the ten [perfections] gone-to-the-far-shore as dominant — this is to be known as called differentiated practice. On every ground, the equal cultivating of the ten perfections — giving and the rest — such practice is named undifferentiated. As for the summary of the six practices: namely, by these classes that are supreme, one thereby contemplates the established teaching of the Great Vehicle and so forth; through such non-distracted transformation one cultivates calm-abiding (śamatha), and through non-perverted transformation one cultivates insight (vipaśyanā); for the sake of such a meaning one cultivates the practice of the middle way and seeks emergence; and on the ten grounds one cultivates the differentiated and the undifferentiated practice."

Vasubandhu fixes the differentiated practice (some one perfection dominant across the ten grounds) and the undifferentiated practice (all ten perfections cultivated equally on the grounds); at the close he gathers all six in the summary of the six practices — supreme (the classes) · attention (contemplating the Great Vehicle) · according-to-dharma (calm-abiding and insight = non-distracted and non-perverted transformation) · free of the two extremes (the practice of the middle way, seeking emergence) · differentiated-and-undifferentiated (cultivated on the ten grounds): the six practices run as one line, and unsurpassed practice is complete.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0037):

Differentiated practice (some one perfection dominant across the ten grounds) and undifferentiated practice (all ten perfections cultivated equally on the grounds); the summary of the six practices threads the six together by calm-abiding and insight (śamatha · vipaśyanā) and the practice of the middle way.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0463 differentiated · undifferentiated (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha sets out the differentiated and undifferentiated practice (on the ten grounds the ten perfections cultivated as dominant / on every ground cultivated equally), the same in sense as Xuanzang. Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0480a28 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0476c27)	「差別無差別，應知於十地，十波羅蜜多，增上等修集。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
— (the ten perfections cultivated on the ten grounds)	the ten grounds · the ten perfections (the cause-and-fruit of entering thereinto)	—	this verse (differentiated & undifferentiated practice · the summary of the six practices)

Differentiated and undifferentiated practice (the ten perfections cultivated on the ten grounds) mutually illumines the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha's section on the cause-and-fruit of entering thereinto, the ten grounds and the ten perfections; and "calm-abiding (śamatha) and insight (vipaśyanā) · the practice of the middle way" of the summary of the six practices is the very outline of Mahāyāna calm-and-insight.

sibling cross-references:

[106]–[109] (practice free of the two extremes, the preceding section) · [084]–[085] (the heading of the six practices — this section gathers the six practices whole) · [111]–[112] (the unsurpassed object · cultivation-realization, the following section) · Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, the ten grounds and the ten perfections.

Verse [111] · The Unsurpassed Object — The Twelve Objects

Source anchor · karika VII.28 · T1601 [p0480b01] verse · T1600 [p0477a09 verse / p0477a11 comm.] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0463] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0037 述曰] Kuiji 述記

所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達、增、證、運、最勝。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The second of the three unsurpasseds — the unsurpassed object, the twelve objects (the unsurpassed character of the bodhisattva's object-field):

The twelve objects	Sense (Vasubandhu)
the established designation of dharmas (安立法施設)	the diverse teaching-gateways established — the perfections (gone-to-the-far-shore) and the rest
the dharma-realm (法界)	thusness
the established · the establishing (所立·能立)	the former two — the teaching-gateways — which can be accomplished only by penetrating the dharma-realm
sustaining (任持)	the object of the wisdom-born-of-hearing (since it sustains the letter)
impressing/holding (印持)	the object of the wisdom-born-of-reflection (since it impresses/holds the meaning)
inwardly holding (內持)	the object of the wisdom-born-of-cultivation (the inward, particular holding)
penetration (通達)	the object of the path of seeing on the first ground
increase (增長)	the object of the path of cultivation, up to the seventh ground
partial realization (分證)	the object, on the seventh ground, partially realized class by class of the mundane-and-supramundane path
even-flowing (等運)	the object of the eighth ground
supreme (最勝)	the object of the ninth, the tenth, and the Tathāgata grounds

The point: the twelve objects gather the whole course of the bodhisattva-path's object — from "the established teaching-gateways · the dharma-realm (thusness)" (teaching and principle), through "sustaining · impressing/holding · inwardly holding" (the objects of the three wisdoms of learning, reflection, and cultivation), to "penetration · increase · partial realization · even-flowing · supreme" (the path of seeing · the path of cultivation · the seventh ground · the eighth ground · the ninth-tenth-and-Buddha grounds). The unsurpassedness of the object is precisely the unsurpassedness of the object contemplated by the Great Vehicle.

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：如是所緣有十二種，一安立法施設所緣、二法界所緣、三所立所緣、四能立所緣、五任持所緣、六印持所緣、七內持所緣、八通達所緣、九增長所緣、十分證所緣、十一等運所緣、十二最勝所緣。此中最初謂所安立到彼岸等差別法門；第二謂真如；第三第四如次應知，即前二種到彼岸等差別法門，要由通達法界成故；第五謂聞所成慧境，任持文故；第六謂思所成慧境，印持義故；第七謂修所成慧境，內別持故；第八謂初地中見道境；第九謂修道中乃至七地境；第十謂即七地中世出世道品類差別分分證境；第十一謂第八地境；第十二謂第九第十如來地境。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. Such objects are of twelve kinds: (1) the object that is the established designation of dharmas, (2) the object that is the dharma-realm, (3) the object that is the established, (4) the object that is the establishing, (5) the object of sustaining, (6) the object of impressing/holding, (7) the object of inwardly holding, (8) the object of penetration, (9) the object of increase, (10) the object of partial realization, (11) the object of even-flowing, (12) the object that is supreme. Of these, the first is the diverse teaching-gateways established — the perfections (gone-to-the-far-shore) and the rest; the second is thusness; the third and fourth are to be known in order — namely, those former two diverse teaching-gateways of the perfections and the rest, since they can be accomplished only by penetrating the dharma-realm; the fifth is the object of the wisdom-born-of-hearing, since it sustains the letter; the sixth is the object of the wisdom-born-of-reflection, since it impresses/holds the meaning; the seventh is the object of the wisdom-born-of-cultivation, since it inwardly and particularly holds; the eighth is the object of the path of seeing on the first ground; the ninth is the object of the path of cultivation, up to the seventh ground; the tenth is the object, on the seventh ground, partially realized class by class through the differentiation of the mundane-and-supramundane path; the eleventh is the object of the eighth ground; the twelfth is the object of the ninth ground, the tenth ground, and the Tathāgata ground."

Vasubandhu lists the twelve objects, matching them to teaching-and-principle (the established designation of dharmas · the dharma-realm) · the objects of the three wisdoms (sustaining · impressing/holding · inwardly holding = hearing, reflection, cultivation) · the objects of the path-stages (penetration = path of seeing · increase = path of cultivation · partial realization = seventh ground · even-flowing = eighth ground · supreme = ninth-tenth-and-Buddha grounds). The unsurpassed object is just the full compass of the object contemplated by the bodhisattva — teaching, principle, wisdom, and stage all being objects without exception.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0037):

The twelve objects gather the objects of teaching-and-principle, the three wisdoms, and the path-stages; the fifth, sixth, and seventh (sustaining · impressing/holding · inwardly holding) are the objects of the three wisdoms of learning, reflection, and cultivation, and from the eighth onward are the objects of the path of seeing, the path of cultivation, and ground after ground.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0463 the unsurpassed object (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha sets out the twelve kinds of the unsurpassed object (the established designation of dharmas · the dharma-realm · the established · the establishing · sustaining · impressing/holding · inwardly holding · penetration · increase · partial realization · even-flowing · supreme), matching the gloss the same as Xuanzang. Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0480b01 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0477a09)	「所緣謂安、界、所能立、任持、印內持、通達、增、證、運、最勝。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
the unconditioned · thusness (the dharma-realm object)	the three wisdoms · the objects of the paths of seeing & cultivation (the five stages)	—	this verse (the unsurpassed object · the twelve objects)

The objects of the three wisdoms (hearing, reflection, cultivation) and the objects of the path-stages (the paths of seeing and cultivation · the ten grounds) among the twelve objects mutually illumine the five stages of the Triṃśikā (the provisioning stage's hearing-and-reflection · the applying stage · the penetrating path of seeing · the cultivating path of cultivation · the ultimate); and "the dharma-realm object = thusness" is the perfectly-accomplished as object.

sibling cross-references:

[110] (differentiated & undifferentiated practice · the close of unsurpassed practice) · [112] (the unsurpassed cultivation-realization, the following section) · Triṃśikā, the five stages, the objects of the three wisdoms and the path.
Provenance: Mahāyāna-saṃgraha · Yogācārabhūmi — the ground of the three wisdoms and the objects of the paths of seeing and cultivation.

Verse [112] · Unsurpassed Cultivation-and-Realization — The Ten Cultivation-Realizations

Source anchor · karika VII.29 · T1601 [p0480b03] verse · T1600 [p0477a26 verse / p0477a28 comm. / p0477b07 summary of the unsurpassed vehicle] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0463] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0037 述曰] Kuiji 述記

修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context

The third of the three unsurpasseds — unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization, in ten cultivation-realizations (from lineage through the manifesting of awakening):

The ten cultivation-realizations	Sense (Vasubandhu)
the cultivation-realization of lineage	the cause is without lack
the cultivation-realization of resolute faith	one does not slander the Great Vehicle
the cultivation-realization of arousing the mind	not shaken by the inferior vehicles
the cultivation-realization of practice	the perfections are brought to completion
the cultivation-realization of entering the [stage of being] free from [ordinary] birth	the noble path arises
the cultivation-realization of maturing beings	firm wholesome roots are gathered over the long span
the cultivation-realization of [purifying] the buddha-field	the mind is grown pliant
the cultivation-realization of the irreversible-ground prophecy	one does not abide in saṃsāra or nirvāṇa
the cultivation-realization of the buddha-ground	free of the two obscurations
the cultivation-realization of manifesting awakening	without rest

With this the three unsurpasseds (practice · object · cultivation-realization) are complete. Vasubandhu sets out the summary of the unsurpassed vehicle: the meaning of the unsurpassed vehicle is, in brief, three — unsurpassed practice, unsurpassed support-of-practice, and unsurpassed fruit-of-practice. The gist: unsurpassed cultivation-and-realization gathers the bodhisattva's whole course of realization, from lineage (the cause without lack) → resolute faith → arousing the mind → practice → entering the [stage] free from [ordinary] birth (the path of seeing) → maturing beings → [purifying] the buddha-field → the irreversible-ground prophecy → the buddha-ground (severing the two obscurations) → manifesting awakening (delivering beings without rest), one line through to the ultimate; the Great Vehicle, being unsurpassed in all three — practice, object, and cultivation-realization — is therefore named the unsurpassed vehicle.

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：如是修證總有十種，一種性修證，緣無闕故。二信解修證，不謗毀大乘故。三發心修證，非下劣乘所擾動故。四正行修證，波羅蜜多得圓滿故。五入離生修證，起聖道故。六成熟有情修證，堅固善根長時集故。七淨土修證，心調柔故。八得不退地受記修證，以不住著生死涅槃，非此二種所退轉故。九佛地修證，無二障故。十示現菩提修證，無休息故。無上乘總義者，略有三種無上乘義，謂正行無上故、正行持無上故、正行果無上故。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. This cultivation-realization is in sum of ten kinds. First, the cultivation-realization of lineage, because the cause is without lack. Second, the cultivation-realization of resolute faith, because one does not slander the Great Vehicle. Third, the cultivation-realization of arousing the mind, because one is not shaken by the inferior vehicles. Fourth, the cultivation-realization of practice, because the perfections are brought to completion. Fifth, the cultivation-realization of entering the [stage] free from [ordinary] birth, because the noble path arises. Sixth, the cultivation-realization of maturing beings, because firm wholesome roots are gathered over the long span. Seventh, the cultivation-realization of [purifying] the buddha-field, because the mind is grown pliant. Eighth, the cultivation-realization of receiving the irreversible-ground prophecy, because, abiding in neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa, one does not regress through either of these two. Ninth, the cultivation-realization of the buddha-ground, because it is free of the two obscurations. Tenth, the cultivation-realization of manifesting awakening, because it is without rest. As for the summary of the unsurpassed vehicle: there are, in brief, three senses of the unsurpassed vehicle — unsurpassed practice, unsurpassed support-of-practice, and unsurpassed fruit-of-practice."

Vasubandhu lists the ten cultivation-realizations (lineage → resolute faith → arousing the mind → practice → entering the [stage] free from [ordinary] birth → maturing beings → [purifying] the buddha-field → the irreversible-ground prophecy → the buddha-ground → manifesting awakening), the buddha-ground's being "free of the two obscurations" the very peak of realization; he closes with the summary of the unsurpassed vehicle (the three unsurpasseds of practice · support-of-practice · fruit-of-practice) gathering in the whole chapter — the three senses of the Great Vehicle's unsurpassedness established, the name "unsurpassed vehicle" is made good.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0037):

The ten cultivation-realizations run from lineage to the manifesting of awakening; the buddha-ground's cultivation-realization, "free of the two obscurations" (severing the afflictive and the cognitive obscuration), is the ultimate; the summary of the unsurpassed vehicle gathers the whole chapter under the three unsurpasseds — practice · support-of-practice · fruit-of-practice.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness	Text & Analysis
Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0463 cultivation-realization (c. 557–569)	Paramārtha sets out the ten kinds of unsurpassed cultivation-realization (lineage · resolute faith · arousing the mind · practice · entering the [stage] free from [ordinary] birth · maturing beings · [purifying] the buddha-field · the irreversible prophecy · the buddha-ground · manifesting awakening), agreeing with Xuanzang in the matching of the senses. Xuanzang followed.
★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0480b03 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0477a26)	「修證謂無闕、不毀動、圓滿、起、堅固、調柔、不住、無障息。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835).

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
the unconditioned · suchness (disclosed at the buddha-ground, the two obscurations severed)	the five stages · transformation-of-basis (the buddha-ground severs the two obscurations, realizing the two fruits)	—	this verse (unsurpassed cultivation-realization · the ten cultivation-realizations · the buddha-ground free of the two obscurations)

The ten cultivation-realizations, from lineage through the buddha-ground (free of the two obscurations), illumine one another with the Sanshisong's five stages and the ultimate stage's "severing the two obscurations, realizing awakening and nirvāṇa"; the buddha-ground "free of the two obscurations" just is the peak of the transformation-of-basis. The three senses of the unsurpassed vehicle (practice · support-of-practice · fruit-of-practice) connect with the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha's gathering of the Great Vehicle's excellences.

sibling cross-references:

[111] (the unsurpassed object, the prior section) · [113] (the concluding verse · the gloss of the treatise's title, the following section · the close of the whole treatise) · Attainment-of-Fruit chapter [083] (the unsurpassed fruit · the tathāgata-ground) · the Sanshisong's ultimate stage, the buddha-fruit.

Verse [113] · The Concluding Verse of the Whole Treatise — The Name "Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes" · Profound · Firm · Vast · All-Encompassing · Removing the Inauspicious

Source anchor · karika VII.30 · T1601 [p0480b05] verse · T1600 [p0477b10 verse / p0477b12 comm.] bhāṣya · T1599 [p0463 treatise-title] Paramārtha · T1835 [p0037 述曰] Kuiji 述記

此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。

In Depth · The Three Gates

The Debate · Doctrinal context (the treatise's concluding verse · the pivot)

The final verse of the Madhyāntavibhāga, and also the concluding verse of the whole treatise — it glosses the treatise's title, "Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes," and marks the treatise's four senses and one function. The title "Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes" has three senses (Vasubandhu):

The practice that distinguishes middle-and-extremes — disclosing the subject-practice that takes as object "the middle · the two extremes" (false imagining as the middle, the two graspings as the two extremes).
The object distinguished as middle-and-extremes — disclosing the object of "the middle · the two extremes."
Distinguishing the middle way — rightly distinguishing the middle-way dharma free of the first and last extremes (eternalism-and-annihilation · reification-and-denial).

The four senses and one function the treatise distinguishes:

	Sense
profound	not the range of any ratiocination
firm	able to overthrow others' arguments · not to be subdued by them
vast	able to distinguish the matters of benefit-and-ease for self and other
all-encompassing	able universally to determine the dharmas of the three vehicles
〔function〕 removing the inauspicious	forever severing the afflictive and the cognitive obscuration

The gist: the treatise's first chapter [002] set up "false imagining exists · the two graspings are absent · the middle" as the root, and the final verse closes it with "distinguishing the middle from the extremes (the practice-and-object of the middle and the two extremes · the middle way free of the extremes)" — beginning and end sealing one another. To "distinguish the middle from the extremes" is to distinguish false imagining's "middle (neither empty nor existent)" from the two graspings' "two extremes," and to distinguish the middle way free of eternalism-annihilation and reification-denial; its sense is profound, firm, vast, and pervades the three vehicles, and its function forever severs the two obscurations, removing all that is inauspicious. The Madhyāntavibhāga is herewith complete.

From Vasubandhu's Commentary (bhāṣya)

論曰：此論能辯中邊行故，名辯中邊，即是顯了處中二邊能緣行義。又此能辯中邊境故，名辯中邊，即是顯了處中二邊所緣境義。或此正辯離初後邊中道法故，名辯中邊。此論所辯是深密義，非諸尋思所行處故。是堅實義，能摧他辯非彼伏故。是廣大義，能辯利樂自他事故。是一切義，普能決了三乘法故。又能除滅諸不吉祥，永斷煩惱所知障故。

Translation (mine): "Commentary. Because this treatise can distinguish the practice of middle-and-extremes, it is named Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes — that is, it discloses the sense of the subject-practice that takes the middle and the two extremes as its object. Again, because this [treatise] can distinguish the object of middle-and-extremes, it is named Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes — that is, it discloses the sense of the object taken: the middle and the two extremes. Or, because this [treatise] rightly distinguishes the middle-way dharma free of the first and last extremes, it is named Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes. What this treatise distinguishes is the profound sense, because it is not the range of any ratiocination. It is the firm sense, because it can overthrow others' arguments and is not subdued by them. It is the vast sense, because it can distinguish the matters of benefit-and-ease for self and other. It is the all-encompassing sense, because it can universally determine the dharmas of the three vehicles. And it can dispel all that is inauspicious, because it forever severs the afflictive and the cognitive obscuration."

Vasubandhu glosses the treatise's title "Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes" in three senses (the practice that distinguishes middle-and-extremes · the object distinguished as middle-and-extremes · the distinguishing of the middle way free of the extremes), and marks the four senses (profound · firm · vast · all-encompassing) and one function (removing the inauspicious = forever severing the two obscurations). The whole treatise names itself by "distinguishing the practice-and-object of the middle and the two extremes, and distinguishing the middle way"; the first chapter's root of false imagining and the middle is here closed and made whole — name and substance accord, the treatise's purport complete.

Commentarial Forks

Kuiji's exegesis (辯中邊論述記, Shuji; T44n1835, by 沙門基, p0037):

The treatise's title "Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes" in three senses (practice · object · middle way); the treatise is profound (not the range of ratiocination) · firm (overthrowing others, not subdued) · vast (benefit-and-ease for self and other) · all-encompassing (determining the three vehicles) · removing the inauspicious (severing the two obscurations).
The whole treatise, beginning to end: the first chapter distinguishes the characteristics (false imagining · the root of the middle) → the last chapter distinguishes the unsurpassed vehicle (the three unsurpasseds) → the concluding verse glosses the title, the treatise's purport perfectly rounded.

Translation Choices · Two ancient witnesses (Xuanzang · Paramārtha)

Witness

Text & Analysis

Chen · Paramārtha, 中邊分別論 (T31n1599) p0463 treatise-title (c. 557–569)

Paramārtha gives the treatise-title as 《中邊分別論》 ("Distinguishing Middle-and-Extremes"); his commentary likewise discloses the practice-and-object of the middle · the two extremes · the middle way, agreeing with Xuanzang's three senses of "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" — Xuanzang's 「辯」 = Paramārtha's 「分別」. Paramārtha's Madhyāntavibhāga (《中邊分別論》), lower fascicle, concludes with the chapter on the unsurpassed vehicle. Xuanzang followed.

★ Tang · Xuanzang, 辯中邊論頌 (T31n1601) p0480b05 (661) · bhāṣya (T31n1600 p0477b10)

「此論辯中邊，深密堅實義，廣大一切義，除諸不吉祥。」 Base text: it carries the complete Chinese reading-chain — Vasubandhu's bhāṣya (T1600) + Kuiji's 述記 (T1835). The Madhyāntavibhāga's 113 verses are herewith complete.

For Scholars · notes, parallels, cross-references

★ Quartet Reading-Map

Baifa	Sanshisong	Ershilun	Madhyāntavibhāga
all dharmas (the middle way embracing all)	false imagining · the middle of the three natures · the severing of the two obscurations	consciousness-only middle way	this verse (the close of the whole treatise · the name "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" · the middle way)

The middle way of "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" (the middle · the two extremes · free of eternalism-annihilation and reification-denial) just is the shared sense of the Sanshisong's middle way of the three natures and the Viṃśatikā's consciousness-only middle way; this treatise names itself by the middle way, the first chapter [002]'s root of false imagining and the middle and the final verse's gloss of the title sealing beginning and end — the whole treatise threaded through by the one "middle way." "Removing the inauspicious" (severing the two obscurations) just is the fruit of the transformation-of-basis.

sibling cross-references:

[112] (unsurpassed cultivation-realization, the prior section) · Characteristics chapter [002]–[003] (false imagining · neither empty nor non-empty · the root of the middle, what the title "distinguishing the middle from the extremes" closes) · the whole treatise's beginning-and-end sealing · the Sanshisong's middle way of the three natures.
Provenance: Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkāra · Mahāyāna-saṃgraha — the source of the middle way and the Great Vehicle.

辯中邊論 辯無上乘品第七（連續

〔一〕三無上

〔二〕正行六種

〔三〕最勝正行十二相

〔四〕十波羅蜜

〔五〕十波羅蜜之用

〔六〕作意正行

〔七〕作意之果與十法行

〔八〕十法行

〔九〕行十法行之福

〔十〕隨法正行——二種

〔十一〕無散亂——離六散亂

〔十二〕無倒——於文無倒

〔十三〕無倒——於義無倒

〔十四〕無倒——於作意無倒

〔十五〕無倒——於不動無倒

〔十六〕無倒——於自相無倒

〔十七〕無倒——於共相無倒

〔十八〕無倒——於染淨無倒

〔十九〕無倒——於客無倒

〔二十〕無倒——於無怖無高無倒

〔廿一〕離二邊正行——一異・常斷・染淨諸邊

〔廿二〕離二邊正行——七種分別二邊

〔廿三〕差別與無差別正行

〔廿四〕所緣無上

〔廿五〕修證無上

〔廿六〕結頌

〔1〕The three unsurpasseds

〔2〕The six kinds of practice

〔3〕Supreme practice in twelve aspects

〔4〕The ten perfections

〔5〕The functions of the ten perfections

〔6〕The practice of attention

〔7〕The fruit of attention and the ten dharma-practices

〔8〕The ten dharma-practices

〔9〕The merit of the ten dharma-practices

〔10〕Practice according to dharma — two kinds

〔11〕Non-distraction — free of the six distractions

〔12〕Non-perversion — non-perversion regarding the letter

〔13〕Non-perversion — non-perversion regarding the meaning

〔14〕Non-perversion — regarding attention

〔15〕Non-perversion — regarding immovability

〔16〕Non-perversion — regarding own-characteristic

〔17〕Non-perversion — regarding shared-characteristic

〔18〕Non-perversion — regarding defilement and purity

〔19〕Non-perversion — regarding the adventitious

〔20〕Non-perversion — regarding non-fear and non-exaltation

〔21〕Practice free of the two extremes — the extremes of identity-and-difference, eternalism-and-annihilation, defilement-and-purity, and the rest

〔22〕Practice free of the two extremes — the seven discriminations of two extremes

〔23〕Differentiated and undifferentiated practice

〔24〕The unsurpassed object

〔25〕The unsurpassed cultivation-realization

〔26〕Closing verse

〔標目〕三無上與六正行：無上乘的綱

一、最勝正行：十二種最勝，與十波羅蜜

二、作意正行：三慧思惟大乘，與十法行

三、隨法正行（上）：止——離六種散亂

四、隨法正行（下）：觀——十無倒與十金剛句

一、文無倒——分清有義之文與無義之文

二、義無倒——這是全段的核心：二取無、亂識似現

三、作意無倒——找到二取分別的根

四、不動無倒——如幻喻：非有非無，心不動散

五、自相無倒——一切唯名

六、共相無倒——離真法界無別一法（法無我）

七、染淨無倒——分清障未斷與已斷

八、客無倒——法界本淨如虛空，染淨是客不是主

九、無怖與無高——這兩條合為一段

收尾：無倒行的總義，與十金剛句

五、離二邊正行：《寶積經》的中道與七喻

六、差別與無差別正行：十地修十度（六正行總收）

七、所緣無上：十二所緣

八、修證無上：十修證（與「無上乘」總義）

結頌：釋「辯中邊」之名——全論的收束

結：無上乘的一條線

〔Heading〕The Three Unsurpasseds and the Six Kinds of Practice: The Frame of the Unsurpassed Vehicle

1. Supreme Practice: The Twelve Superiorities, and the Ten Perfections

2. The Practice of Attention: Contemplating the Great Vehicle by the Three Wisdoms, and the Ten Dharma-Practices

3. Practice According to Dharma (i): Calm — Freedom from the Six Distractions

4. Practice According to Dharma (ii): Insight — The Ten Non-Perversions and the Ten Adamantine Sentences

1. Non-perversion as to the letter — telling meaningful letter from meaningless

辯中邊論辯無上乘品第七（連續