唯識二十論 偈二 夢鬼喻
偈一裡，對方拿世界的「秩序」逼問唯識：若世界只是識，憑什麼還有固定的地點、固定的時間、眾人共見同一境、東西能起真實作用？偈二接住這四難，答法不講玄理，只指你我都有的經驗——夢。
三個譬喻各打一處：夢裡無外境，卻只在某處某時見村莊男女，答「處定、時定」；一群餓鬼同業異熟、共見一條膿河，答「眾人共見同一境」——同類業招同類果，共見從此有著落，不必心外真有膿河；夢遺損精血，答「幻象怎能起真用」——夢境不實，醒來卻真損精血。三喻證明：無外境，四義照樣宛然成立。
要守住一個分寸：共見的機制，世親原文就四個字「同業異熟」，後世古德加的「增上力」是引申，不是這段自註的本文。而且偈一陳難時早把夢、餓鬼擺進問句，偈二只是把同一批例子翻過來當答案——設局答局本是一手。三喻只是「以喻立信」的第一步：先讓你信「無外境而有秩序」可能；它如何可能，要到偈三地獄喻統答、偈四以下落到業力共業，才真正說透。
In Verse 1 the opponent pressed consciousness-only with the "orderliness" of the world: if the world is only consciousness, what entitles it still to have a fixed place, a fixed time, many beings seeing one and the same object together, and things that can perform a real working? Verse 2 catches these four objections, and its way of answering argues no abstruse theory — it points only to an experience you and I both have: the dream.
Three illustrations each strike one point: in a dream there is no external object, and yet one sees the village and the men and women only at some place and some time — this answers "place is fixed, time is fixed"; a crowd of hungry ghosts, of one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit, see one river of pus together — this answers "many beings seeing one and the same object together," for one kind of karma draws on one kind of fruit, and common seeing now has its footing, with no need for a real river of pus outside the mind; the dream-emission losing vital essence and blood answers "how can a phantom perform a real working" — the dream-object is unreal, and yet on waking one really has lost vital essence and blood. The three illustrations prove it: without an external object, the four matters are present and vivid just the same.
One measure must be kept: the mechanism of common seeing is, in Vasubandhu's own words, just the four characters "one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit"; the "dominant force" added by later ancient masters is an extension, not the main text of this auto-commentary. And since, in stating the objections, Verse 1 had already placed the dream and the hungry ghosts into the question, Verse 2 only turns the same set of examples over to use as the answer — setting the trap and springing it are one and the same hand. The three illustrations are only the first step of "establishing trust by illustration": first they let you trust that "without an external object, yet with order" is possible; how it is possible waits to be fully told by the unified answer of the hell illustration in Verse 3, and by the descent to the force of karma and shared karma from Verse 4 onward.
§頌
處時定如夢，身不定如鬼， 同見膿河等，如夢損有用。
§論（世親自註）
論曰：如夢意說如夢所見，謂如夢中雖無實境，而或有處見有村園男女等物，非一切處。即於是處，或時見有彼村園等，非一切時。由此雖無離識實境，而處時定非不得成。說如鬼言，顯如餓鬼。河中膿滿故名膿河，如說酥瓶其中酥滿。謂如餓鬼同業異熟，多身共集皆見膿河，非於此中定唯一見。等言顯示或見糞等，及見有情執持刀杖遮捍守護不令得食。由此雖無離識實境，而多相續不定義成。又如夢中境雖無實，而有損失精血等用。由此雖無離識實境，而有虛妄作用義成。如是且依別別譬喻，顯處定等四義得成。復次頌曰：
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.
§頌 白話
「地點一定、時間一定」這件事，就像夢—— 「不同身的眾生（共見一境）」這件事，就像餓鬼； 牠們一起看見同一條膿河之類， 「無實境卻有作用」這件事，又像夢能損人。
§論 白話
世親解釋這首偈。
「如夢」這句，是說就像夢中所見。 夢裡雖然沒有真實的外境，可是你也只在某個地方看見村莊、園林、男女這些，不是每個地方都看得見；就在那個地方，也只在某個時候看見那村莊園林，不是任何時候都看見。可見就算沒有離開心識的真實外境，「地點一定、時間一定」這兩件事照樣可以成立。
說「如鬼」，是指餓鬼。 河裡裝滿了膿，所以叫「膿河」——就像說「酥瓶」，是說瓶裡裝滿了酥。餓鬼是同樣的業所感的同樣果報，所以許多餓鬼身聚在一起，都看見同一條膿河，並不是這當中只有一個看得見。偈裡「等」這個字還表示：餓鬼也可能看見糞穢之類，也可能看見有人拿著刀杖攔阻看守、不讓牠們拿到食物。可見就算沒有離開心識的真實外境，「許多心識相續同時共見一境」這件事照樣成立。
再說「如夢損有用」： 又像夢中的境雖然不真實，卻能讓人損失精血等等，有實際的作用。可見就算沒有離開心識的真實外境，「虛妄的境也能起作用」這件事照樣成立。
像這樣，先用一個一個不同的譬喻，把「地點一定」等四件事都顯示出來、證明它們都能成立。世親接著再用下一首偈往下說。
§Verse — plain reading
That "place is fixed and time is fixed" — this is like a dream; that "beings of differing bodies [see one and the same object together]" — this is like the hungry ghosts; they see together one and the same river of pus and the like; and that "there is no real object yet there is real working" — this, again, is like the way a dream can do a person harm.
§Auto-commentary — plain reading
Vasubandhu explains this verse.
The phrase "like a dream" means: just as in what is seen in a dream. In a dream there is no real external object, and yet you see a village, a garden, men and women only at some particular place, not at every place; and at that very place, you see that village and garden only at some particular time, not at any time at all. This shows that even where there is no real external object apart from consciousness, the two matters — "place is fixed, time is fixed" — can still hold all the same.
Saying "like the ghosts" means: like the hungry ghosts (preta). A river filled with pus is called a "river of pus" — just as one says a "jar of clarified butter," meaning a jar filled with clarified butter. The hungry ghosts, being of one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit, gather together in many bodies and all see one and the same river of pus; it is not that within this only one of them sees it. The word "and the like" (等) in the verse further shows that the ghosts may also see filth and the like, and may also see beings holding knives and staves, barring and guarding the way so as not to let them get food. This shows that even where there is no real external object apart from consciousness, the matter of "many mind-streams seeing one and the same object together" still holds.
Then, "like the way a dream can do harm": again, just as the objects in a dream are unreal and yet can cause a person the loss of vital essence and blood and the like — they have a real working. This shows that even where there is no real external object apart from consciousness, the matter of "an unreal object too can perform a working" still holds.
In this way, taking for now each separate illustration on its own, he displays that the four matters — "place is fixed" and the rest — can all hold. Vasubandhu then goes on, with the verse that follows, to carry the point further.
接住偈一拋來的四難
偈一裡，對方拿經驗世界的「秩序」逼問：世界若只是識，憑什麼還有固定的地點、固定的時間、眾人共見同一境、東西能起真實作用？這四難擺在桌上，世親接住了。偈二的答法很特別——他不講玄理，而是回頭指你我都有過的經驗：夢。你做過夢，夢裡明明沒有外境，可那個世界一樣有規有矩。既然如此，「只是識卻仍有秩序」就不是什麼怪事。
三個譬喻，各打一處
世親把四難拆給三個譬喻去答，乾淨俐落：
夢——答「處決定、時決定」。 夢裡雖無實境，你卻只在某個地方見到村莊、男女，不是處處都見；就算同一個夢，也只在某個時候見到，不是時時都見。可見「地點一定、時刻一定」根本不需要外面真有東西，光靠識的顯現就成立了。
餓鬼共見膿河——答「眾人共見同一境」。 這是最妙的一喻。一條河，人見是水，餓鬼見的卻是滿河膿汁（世親還順手打個比方：就像我們說「酥瓶」，是說瓶裡裝滿了酥）。要緊的是：不是一個餓鬼看見，是一群餓鬼同時共見同一條膿河。為什麼？因為牠們是同業異熟——同一類業招來同一類果報，於是共感同一個境。共見從此有了著落，根本不必心外真有一條膿河。（偈裡「等」字還帶出餓鬼或見糞穢、或見有人持刀杖攔阻不讓進食，都是同一機理。）
夢遺損精血——答「假象怎能起真實作用」。 對方最後一刀問得狠：若都是幻象，現實的飯菜怎麼能充飢、刀杖怎麼能傷人？世親回敬一個你無法否認的例子：夢裡的境明明不實，醒來卻真的損了精血。可見「無實境而有真實作用」這件事，本來就發生著——幻象起實用，不是矛盾。
機制只一個詞：同業異熟
這裡要守住一個分寸：餓鬼共見的機制，世親 §論 寫得明明白白，就是「同業異熟，多身共集皆見膿河」——四個字，同類業感同類果。後世古德（如護法《寶生論》）會再把它引申、加上「增上力」之類的說法去細講；那是古德的釋，不是世親這段自註的原文。讀本偈，先把「同業異熟」這個原文機制握牢，引申是引申，正文是正文，不可混。
設局與答局，本是一手
回頭看會發現偈一、偈二其實是世親一手布的局：偈一陳四難時，他就已經把「夢、餓鬼、乾闥婆城」這些「現而無實境」的例子擺進問句裡了；偈二只是把同一批例子翻過來，當答案使。對方想用「現實之物有真用」證外境實有，世親卻用「夢與餓鬼」這類無可否認的現成經驗，證明「無外境而四義宛然」。一設一答，扣得嚴絲合縫。
承衍
但世親沒停在這裡。三喻是「別別譬喻」——夢答處時、鬼答共見、夢遺答作用，各打一處，還不是一個統一的根據。所以他緊接著用偈三的地獄喻，把四義收進一個喻裡統答；再往下偈四至七，落到業力、共業熏習這層真正的機理。本偈的譬喻，要到那裡才接上阿賴耶識含藏共業的底。讀偈二，記住它是「以喻立信」的第一步：先讓你信「無外境而有秩序」可能，後面再告訴你它如何可能。
Catching the four objections Verse 1 threw
In Verse 1 the opponent pressed his challenge with the "orderliness" of the experienced world: if the world is only consciousness, then what entitles it still to have a fixed place, a fixed time, many beings seeing one and the same object together, and things that can perform a real working? These four objections were laid on the table, and Vasubandhu catches them. His way of answering in Verse 2 is striking — he does not argue abstruse theory; he turns and points to an experience you and I have both had: the dream. You have dreamed; in the dream there plainly was no external object, and yet that world had its own rules and order just the same. That being so, "only consciousness, and yet still orderly" is nothing strange at all.
Three illustrations, each striking one point
Vasubandhu hands the four objections off to three illustrations to answer, cleanly and crisply:
The dream — answers "fixity of place, fixity of time." In a dream there is no real object, and yet you see a village, men and women, only at some particular place, not everywhere; and even within the same dream, you see them only at some particular time, not at every moment. This shows that "place is fixed, the moment is fixed" needs no real thing outside at all — it holds purely on the manifesting of consciousness.
The hungry ghosts seeing one river of pus together — answers "many beings seeing one and the same object together." This is the most marvellous of the illustrations. One river: humans see it as water, but the hungry ghosts see a river brimming with pus (Vasubandhu even drops in a comparison along the way: just as we say a "jar of clarified butter," meaning a jar filled with clarified butter). What matters is this: it is not one ghost that sees it, but a whole crowd of ghosts that see together, at the same time, one and the same river of pus. Why? Because they are of one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit (同業異熟) — one and the same kind of karma draws on one and the same kind of fruit, so they jointly sense one and the same object. Common seeing now has its footing, with no need at all for a real river of pus outside the mind. (The word "and the like" in the verse also brings in the ghosts' seeing filth, or seeing beings holding knives and staves to bar them from food — all the same mechanism.)
The dream-emission, the loss of vital essence and blood — answers "how can an unreal appearance perform a real working?" The opponent's last cut is the harshest: if it is all phantom, how can real food and drink fill the belly, how can a knife or staff wound a person? Vasubandhu pays him back with an example he cannot deny: the object in a dream is plainly unreal, and yet on waking one really has lost vital essence and blood. This shows that "no real object, and yet a real working" is something that has been happening all along — a phantom performing a real working is no contradiction.
The mechanism is just one phrase: one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit
Here a measure must be kept: the mechanism by which the hungry ghosts see together is written out plainly in Vasubandhu's §Auto-commentary — it is just "one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit; in many bodies they gather together and all see the river of pus" (同業異熟，多身共集皆見膿河) — four characters: one kind of karma senses one kind of fruit. Later ancient masters (such as Dharmapāla in the Baosheng lun 《寶生論》) will extend it further, adding accounts like "dominant force" (增上力) to expound it in fine detail; but that is the ancient masters' commentary, not the original wording of this passage of Vasubandhu's own auto-commentary. In reading this verse, first take firm hold of the original mechanism, "one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit"; an extension is an extension, the main text is the main text — the two must not be confused.
Setting the trap and springing it are one and the same hand
Looking back, one finds that Verses 1 and 2 are really a single move laid out by Vasubandhu's one hand: when he set out the four objections in Verse 1, he had already placed those examples of "appearing yet with no real object" — the dream, the hungry ghosts, the city of the gandharvas — into the very question; Verse 2 only turns the same set of examples over and puts them to use as the answer. The opponent wished to argue from "real things have real use" to the reality of external objects; Vasubandhu uses these undeniable, ready-to-hand experiences — the dream and the hungry ghosts — to prove that "without an external object, the four matters are present just the same." Trap-setting and answer lock together without the slightest gap.
Carried forward (承衍)
But Vasubandhu does not stop here. The three illustrations are "separate illustrations" — the dream answers place and time, the ghosts answer common seeing, the dream-emission answers working; each strikes one point, and they are not yet one unified ground. So he goes straight on to use the hell illustration of Verse 3 to gather the four matters into a single illustration and answer them together; and further on, Verses 4 through 7 come down to the deeper level of the true mechanism — the force of karma, the perfuming of shared karma (業力·共業熏習). The illustrations of this verse connect to the ground only there, where the storehouse consciousness holds and stores the shared karma. In reading Verse 2, remember that it is the first step of "establishing trust by illustration": first it lets you trust that "without an external object, yet with order" is possible; later it will tell you how it is possible.
考據Apparatus
一、科判定位
| 系統 | 此偈之位 |
|---|---|
| 全論五段 | §壹 立宗·答四難（偈一–七）之首答偈。偈一設四難 → 偈二以別別譬喻答（處時定·共見·作用）→ 偈三 地獄喻統答 → 偈四–七 業力·密意收束 |
| 偈一→偈二 | 「問—答」對偈：偈一立四難，偈二以夢·餓鬼·夢損精血三喻一一還原（第四「共見」之難於三喻中由餓鬼喻答） |
| 玄奘段位 | §頌〔p0074c15–16〕· §論自註〔p0074c17–29〕 |
二、源頌 · 義理脈絡
§頌四句，譬喻各對一義：
| 喻 | 所答 |
|---|---|
| 處時定如夢 | 處決定·時決定——夢中雖無實境，亦只於某處某時見村園男女 |
| 身不定如鬼（同見膿河等） | 相續不決定（共見）——餓鬼同業異熟，多身共集皆見膿河 |
| 如夢損有用 | 作用不成之難——夢境無實而有損精血之用 |
「等」字 次義：餓鬼亦或見糞、或見有情執持刀杖遮捍守護不令得食。三喻別答，故末句「如是且依別別譬喻，顯處定等四義得成」。
三、經論宗依（經證 → 論本）
- 經證：夢喻、餓鬼業感共見之說，本佛教共傳之喻例（餓鬼趣同業所感、夢無實境而有相）；世親取為答難之現成喻。
- 論本：世親自註（T1590）以三喻成四義，機制立於同業異熟（同類業所感之異熟果）；論之答難不離佛說業感之理。
四、本論釋要（世親自註 T1590）
世親不直破四難，而以「無實境而相不亂」之現成經驗反證：夢有處時之定、餓鬼有多身之共見、夢有損精血之用——三者皆無離識實境而宛然成立。共見之機制，§論明文作「同業異熟，多身共集皆見膿河」——同類業招同類異熟，故多相續共見一境，非待心外實有膿河。（按：§論止於「同業異熟」，未言「增上力」；增上力為古德釋之引申，不入正文（玄奘逐字）。）
五、諸家異釋（古德 · 標宗）
- 護法《成唯識寶生論》T31n1591（唐·義淨譯·漢有傳本）——卷一釋本偈，展開餓鬼共見之業感機理。〔標宗：護法於同業共見處有引申之釋；古德讀法之一，此處只記其宗，不判，亦不以其引申語充玄奘 §論正文。〕
- Vinītadeva Prakaraṇaviṃśakaṭīkā——藏譯存·漢無傳本，依例僅志其名，內容不入義據。
六、譯名 · 古譯對讀（三漢譯）
| 漢譯 | 譯本 | 對讀 |
|---|---|---|
| ★ 唐·玄奘 T31n1590 | 「處時定如夢，身不定如鬼，同見膿河等，如夢損有用」 | 五言四句，四喻各列一句，答難結構最清晰；以此為底本 |
| 陳·真諦 T31n1589《大乘唯識論》 | 散文體連展夢喻＋餓鬼喻，納入攝論一系語境（古代漢證·參校） | |
| 後魏·般若流支 T31n1588《唯識論》 | 「人夢及餓鬼，依業虛妄見」——一句統攝夢·鬼二喻，以「依業」為機理，未分列四義（古代漢證·參校） |
玄奘四喻分列、般若流支二喻一句、真諦散文連展——三譯顯化程度不同，玄奘最便答難之逐項對讀。
七、術語（古德所傳梵 · 發音輔助）
| 漢 | 梵（發音輔助） | 義 |
|---|---|---|
| 同業異熟 | samāna-karma-vipāka | 同類業所感之異熟果；餓鬼共見膿河之機制 |
| 餓鬼 | preta | 鬼趣；同業異熟故多身共見 |
| 膿河 | — | 河中膿滿；如「酥瓶」之酥滿（§論自設之對喻） |
梵羅馬字僅作發音輔助；無古德音寫可徵者從闕，不據現代校本補。
八、互讀（唯識系次第）
| 百法明門論 | 唯識三十論 | 二十論內部 |
|---|---|---|
| #1 眼識 cakṣur-vijñāna——餓鬼見膿河之似境顯現面 | 偈一 假說我法——本偈三喻即「依識所變」之具體運作 | 偈一 立宗·答四難——本偈所答四難於偈一立；一問一答 |
| #6 意識 mano-vijñāna——夢喻之分別主體（睡眠位前五識多閉） | 偈四 恒轉——ālaya 恒轉為同業異熟之所依 | 偈三 地獄喻——與本偈成 §壹 雙喻：偈二別答四義·偈三統攝 |
| #8 阿賴耶識 ālaya——同業熏習、共感之基底 ⭐ | 偈十七「故一切唯識」——三十論證成收結 | 偈七——§壹 收結；本偈喻理經偈六業熏·偈七密意收束 |
九、校本定位
- 漢文正文（§頌）：T31n1590〔p0074c15–16〕（玄奘譯）
- 漢文自註（§論）：T31n1590〔p0074c17–29〕（玄奘譯）
- 參校漢譯：T31n1589（真諦《大乘唯識論》）· T31n1588（般若流支《唯識論》「人夢及餓鬼，依業虛妄見」）
- 古德釋：T31n1591（護法《成唯識寶生論》卷一·漢有傳本）
1. Doctrinal-outline placement
| System | This verse's place |
|---|---|
| The treatise's five parts | The opening answer-verse of §I Establishing the Thesis · Answering the Four Objections (vv.1–7). v.1 sets out the four objections → v.2 answers them by separate illustrations (fixity of place and time · common seeing · efficacy) → v.3 the hell illustration answers them in a unified way → vv.4–7 round it off in the force of karma · hidden intent |
| v.1 → v.2 relation | A "question–answer" verse-pair: v.1 sets out the four objections, v.2 restores them one by one with the three illustrations of the dream · the hungry ghosts · the dream's loss of vital essence and blood (the fourth objection, "common seeing," being answered among the three by the hungry-ghost illustration) |
| Xuanzang's textual loci | §Verse 〔p0074c15–16〕· §Auto-commentary 〔p0074c17–29〕 |
2. The source-verse · the doctrinal thread
The §Verse's four lines each match one matter to one illustration:
| Illustration | What it answers |
|---|---|
| place and time fixed, like a dream (處時定如夢) | fixity of place · fixity of time — in a dream, though there is no real object, one still sees the village, garden, men and women only at some place and some time |
| body not fixed, like the ghosts (身不定如鬼) (seeing together a river of pus and the like / 同見膿河等) | non-determinacy of the mind-stream (common seeing) — the hungry ghosts, of one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit, gather in many bodies and all see the river of pus |
| like a dream doing harm (如夢損有用) | the objection of failure of efficacy — a dream-object is unreal yet has the working of causing loss of vital essence and blood |
The further sense of the word "and the like" (等): the hungry ghosts may also see filth (糞), or see beings holding knives and staves, barring and guarding the way so as not to let them get food (見有情執持刀杖遮捍守護不令得食). The three illustrations answer separately, hence the closing line 「如是且依別別譬喻，顯處定等四義得成」 ("In this way, taking for now each separate illustration on its own, he displays that the four matters — 'place is fixed' and the rest — can all hold").
3. Scripture and treatise: the grounding (scriptural proof → treatise-root)
- Scriptural proof. The dream illustration, and the account of the hungry ghosts' karmically-induced common seeing, are illustration-examples held in common by the Buddhist transmission (the hungry-ghost destiny as sensed by shared karma; the dream as having no real object yet bearing appearances); Vasubandhu takes them up as ready-made illustrations for answering the objections.
- Treatise-root. Vasubandhu's auto-commentary (T1590) establishes the four matters by the three illustrations, the mechanism resting on one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit (同業異熟, the ripened fruit sensed by one and the same kind of karma); the treatise's answering of the objections does not depart from the Buddha's teaching of the principle that karma senses [its fruit].
4. The treatise-root in essence (Vasubandhu's auto-commentary, T1590)
Vasubandhu does not refute the four objections head-on; he counter-proves them with the ready-made experience of "no real object, yet the appearance unconfused": a dream has its fixity of place and time, the hungry ghosts have their common seeing in many bodies, a dream has its working of causing loss of vital essence and blood — all three holding vividly without any real object apart from consciousness. As for the mechanism of common seeing, the §Auto-commentary states in plain words 「同業異熟，多身共集皆見膿河」 ("one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit; in many bodies they gather together and all see the river of pus") — one kind of karma draws on one kind of ripened fruit, so many mind-streams see one and the same object together, not awaiting a real river of pus outside the mind. (Note: the §Auto-commentary stops at "one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit," and does not say "dominant force" (增上力); dominant force is an extension of the ancient masters' commentary, and does not enter the main text (Xuanzang word-for-word).)
5. The ancient masters' readings (古德 · stating their position)
- Dharmapāla, Cheng weishi baosheng lun 《成唯識寶生論》T31n1591 (Tang; tr. Yijing 義淨; a transmitted Chinese witness) — fascicle one expounds this verse, unfolding the karmically-induced mechanism of the hungry ghosts' common seeing. 〔Position stated: Dharmapāla has an extending commentary at the point of common seeing by shared karma; this is one of the ancient masters' readings, recorded here only as to its position, neither adjudicated nor used to fill out Xuanzang's §Auto-commentary main text with its extending language.〕
- Vinītadeva, Prakaraṇaviṃśakaṭīkā — extant in Tibetan translation · no transmitted Chinese witness; per convention its name only is recorded, its content not entering as doctrinal ground.
6. Rendering and old-translation comparison (the three Chinese translations)
| Chinese translation | Edition | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| ★ Tang · Xuanzang T31n1590 | 「處時定如夢，身不定如鬼，同見膿河等，如夢損有用」 | A five-character quatrain, each illustration set out as one line, with the answering structure at its clearest; taken as the base text |
| Chen · Paramārtha T31n1589 《大乘唯識論》 | Continuous prose unfolding the dream illustration + the hungry-ghost illustration, set within the language-context of the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha line (an ancient Chinese witness · collated for comparison) | |
| Later Wei · Prajñāruci T31n1588 《唯識論》 | 「人夢及餓鬼，依業虛妄見」 "Human, dream, and hungry ghost — through karma there is unreal seeing" — a single line subsuming the two illustrations of dream and ghost, with "through karma" (依業) as the mechanism, the four matters not set out separately (an ancient Chinese witness · collated for comparison) |
Xuanzang sets out the four illustrations line by line, Prajñāruci subsumes two illustrations in one line, Paramārtha unfolds them in continuous prose — the three translations differ in degree of explicitness, Xuanzang's being the most convenient for the item-by-item comparison of the answering of the objections. Verbatim comparison follows the CBETA original text.
7. Terms (Sanskrit per the ancient transmission · pronunciation aid)
| Chinese | Sanskrit (pronunciation aid) | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 同業異熟 | samāna-karma-vipāka | the ripened fruit sensed by one and the same kind of karma; the mechanism of the hungry ghosts' seeing the river of pus together |
| 餓鬼 | preta | the ghost-destiny; through one and the same karma ripening into one and the same fruit, many bodies see together |
| 膿河 | — | a river filled with pus; like the clarified butter filling a "jar of clarified butter" (the auto-commentary's own counter-illustration) |
The Sanskrit roman script is a pronunciation aid only; where no ancient-master transliteration is attested, it is left blank, not supplied from modern critical editions.
8. Cross-reading (the Yogācāra sequence)
| Baifa (Hundred Dharmas) | Triṃśikā | Within the Viṃśatikā |
|---|---|---|
| #1 eye-consciousness cakṣur-vijñāna — the aspect of the seeming-object manifesting, by which the ghosts see the river of pus | Triṃśikā v.1 the provisional positing of self and dharmas — this verse's three illustrations are the concrete operation of "transformed upon consciousness" (依識所變) | v.1 establishing the thesis · answering the four objections — the four objections this verse answers are set in v.1; one question, one answer |
| #6 mind-consciousness mano-vijñāna — the discriminating subject of the dream illustration (in the sleep state the first five consciousnesses are mostly shut) | Triṃśikā v.4 「恒轉」 ("ever-turning") — ālaya ever-turning is that on which one-and-the-same-karma ripening into one-and-the-same-fruit rests | v.3 hell illustration — forming, with this verse, the §I illustration-pair: v.2 answers the four matters separately · v.3 subsumes them |
| #8 storehouse consciousness ālaya — the substrate of the perfuming and joint sensing of shared karma ⭐ | Triṃśikā v.17 「故一切唯識」 ("therefore all is consciousness-only") — the Triṃśikā's concluding establishment | v.7 — the §I conclusion; the illustration-principle of this verse is rounded off through the karmic perfuming of v.6 and the hidden intent of v.7 |
9. Witness placement
- Chinese main text (§Verse): T31n1590 〔p0074c15–16〕 (Xuanzang)
- Chinese auto-commentary (§Auto-commentary): T31n1590 〔p0074c17–29〕 (Xuanzang)
- Chinese translations collated for comparison: T31n1589 (Paramārtha, 《大乘唯識論》) · T31n1588 (Prajñāruci, 《唯識論》「人夢及餓鬼，依業虛妄見」)
- Ancient master's commentary: T31n1591 (Dharmapāla, 《成唯識寶生論》fascicle one · a transmitted Chinese witness)