唯識二十論 偈二十 他識轉變
偈十九末對方撂下最尖一刀：只有識、沒有身語等實物，那「屠夫殺羊」怎麼成立？羊若不是被實實在在傷害而死，屠夫憑什麼背殺生罪？這直指要害——殺業殺罪是佛法硬底線，唯識若安立不了就垮。偈二十正面接招。
世親先把「殺」看穿：殺說到底就是「令他命根斷」，問題遂變成——識的力量夠不夠強到令另一有情命根斷？他說夠。先擺人人聽過的事鋪墊：鬼的意念力能讓人失神、發惡夢、被魅著；有神通的人意念一動能讓別人夢見種種——可見一個心識的力量能實實在在改變另一有情的身心。再舉兩樁經中公案：大迦多衍那（佛弟子）以意願力令娑剌拏王等夢見奇異之事；阿練若的仙人以意憤力令吠摩質呾利王夢見異事。致動王者心神的純是聖者／仙人的「意」，不是手刀——意力既能撼動他人身心至此，「由他識轉變令他命根斷」的殺自然成立。
最後把「死」也作唯識安頓：死不是一塊外在肉體被毀，而是「眾同分」（維繫一期同類生命相續的分位）由識變異而相續斷滅——死也是識變。整條倫理鏈接得嚴絲合縫：殺是此識轉變令彼命根斷，死是彼之同分由識變異而斷，殺業真殺罪真，全程不需一件心外實物當中介。伏筆是「意之力竟如此大」——偈二十一要用佛問鄔波離的經證推到極處，立「意罰為大罪、重於身語」。翻轉一句：殺，不是刀碰肉，是一個識動了另一個識。
At the close of Verse 19 the opponent lays down his sharpest blade: if there is only consciousness and no real things such as body and speech, then how is "the butcher killing the sheep" established at all? If the sheep is not really and truly harmed to death, on what grounds does the butcher bear the guilt of killing? This goes straight for the vitals — the deed of killing and the guilt of killing are a hard bottom-line of the Dharma, and if consciousness-only cannot establish them, it collapses. Verse 20 meets the challenge head-on.
Vasubandhu first sees through "killing": killing, in the last analysis, is just "making another's life-faculty be cut off," and the question becomes — is the power of consciousness strong enough to make another sentient being's life-faculty be cut off? He says: it is. He lays the ground with things everyone has heard of: a ghost's will-force can make a person lose their senses, have nightmares, be possessed; one possessed of supernormal power, with a single movement of the will, can make others dream of all kinds of scenes — which shows that the power of one consciousness can really and truly alter another sentient being's body-and-mind. He then adduces two cases recorded in scripture: Mahākātyāyana (a disciple of the Buddha), through the force of his wish, made King Sāraṇa and others dream strange things; the ascetic seer of the wilderness, through the force of his angered intent, made King Vemacitrin dream strange things. What stirred the kings' minds was purely the "intent" of the sage / the seer — not a hand, not a knife — and since the force of intent can shake another's body-and-mind to this degree, killing — "through a transformation in another's consciousness making another's life-faculty be cut off" — is naturally established.
Finally he settles "death" too in consciousness-only terms: death is not some external lump of flesh being destroyed, but the "shared lot of beings" (the station that sustains the continuity of one lifespan's like kind of life), through an alteration of consciousness, undergoing the cutting-off of its continuum — death too is a transformation of consciousness. So the whole ethical chain joins seamlessly: killing is this consciousness's transformation making that one's life-faculty be cut off; death is that one's shared-lot being cut off through an alteration of consciousness; the deed of killing is real, the guilt of killing is real, and throughout no single real thing outside the mind is needed as an intermediary. The thread laid down is "the force of intent is, after all, this great" — which Verse 21 will push to the utmost with the scriptural proof of the Buddha questioning Upāli, establishing that "the punishment of intent is the gravest offense, heavier than that of body and speech." One reversal to hold: killing is not a knife touching flesh; it is one consciousness moving another.
§頌
由他識轉變，有殺害事業， 如鬼等意力，令他失念等。
§論（世親自註）
論曰：如由鬼等意念勢力，令他有情失念得夢，或著魅等變異事成。具神通者意念勢力，令他夢中見種種事，如大迦多衍那意願勢力，令娑剌拏王等夢見異事。又如阿練若仙人意憤勢力，令吠摩質呾利王夢見異事。如是由他識轉變故，令他違害命根事起。應知死者謂眾同分，由識變異相續斷滅。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
由於「他人的識」起了轉變， 就有「殺害」這樣的事業（成立）； 就像鬼等的意念之力， 能讓別人失去正念（發夢、著魅）等等。
§論 白話
世親解釋這首偈。
就像由於鬼等的意念勢力，能讓別的有情失去正念、做起夢來，或被魅著等等的變異之事就這樣發生了。具有神通的人，以意念的勢力，能讓別人在夢中見到種種事——就像大迦多衍那以意願的勢力，令娑剌拏王等夢見奇異的事；又像阿練若（蘭若）的仙人以意憤的勢力，令吠摩質呾利王夢見奇異的事。
像這樣，由於「他人的識」起了轉變的緣故，就能讓「違害（他人）命根」的事發生（殺就這樣成立）。應當知道：所謂「死」，是指「眾同分」由於識的變異而（一期生命的）相續斷滅。世親接著再用下一首偈來說明。
§Verse — plain reading
Because there arises a transformation in "another being's consciousness," the deed of "killing" comes to be [established]; just as the force of the will of ghosts and the like can make others lose right mindfulness (fall into dreams, be possessed), and so on.
§Auto-commentary — plain reading
Vasubandhu explains this verse.
Just as, through the force of the will of ghosts and the like, other sentient beings can be made to lose right mindfulness, to fall into dreaming, or to be possessed — such alterations come about in just this way. A person possessed of supernormal power can, through the force of the will, make others see all sorts of things in a dream — just as Mahākātyāyana, through the force of his wish, made King Sāraṇa and others dream strange things; and just as the ascetic seer of the wilderness (the araṇya hermitage), through the force of his angered intent, made King Vemacitrin dream strange things.
In just this way, because there arises a transformation in "another being's consciousness," the matter of "violating [another's] life-faculty" can come about (and killing is thus established). One should understand: what is called "death" means that the "shared lot of beings" (nikāya-sabhāga), through an alteration of consciousness, undergoes the cutting-off of [a single lifespan's] continuum. Vasubandhu then goes on to make this clear with the verse that follows.
把最硬的倫理難題接下來
偈十九末，對方撂下最尖的一刀：你說只有識、沒有身語等實物，那「屠夫殺羊」怎麼成立？羊若不是被實實在在地傷害而死，屠夫憑什麼背殺生罪？這一刀直指要害——殺業、殺罪是佛法的硬底線，唯識若連這個都安立不了，整套就垮。世親偈二十正面接招。
殺的本質，是「令命根斷」
世親先把「殺」看穿：殺，說到底就是「令他的命根斷」。那麼問題就變成——識的力量，夠不夠強到令另一個有情命根斷？ 世親說：夠。
他先擺幾件人人聽過的事鋪墊：鬼的「意念之力」，能讓人忽然失神、發惡夢、被魅著；有神通的人，意念一動，能讓別人夢見種種境。可見「一個心識的力量，能實實在在地改變另一個有情的身心」，這不是玄談，是現成的事。
兩樁公案：意念竟能致人於夢
接著世親舉兩件經中公案作證——
大迦多衍那（佛弟子），以「意願之力」，令娑剌拏王等夢見奇異之事； 阿練若的仙人，以「意憤之力」，令吠摩質呾利王夢見異事。
這兩樁的份量在於：致動王者心神的，純是聖者／仙人的「意」，不是手、不是刀。意力既能遠遠地撼動他人身心至此，那麼「由他識轉變，令他命根斷」的殺，自然也成立——「由他識轉變，有殺害事業」。
那「死」又是什麼
最後世親順手把「死」也作了唯識的安頓：所謂死，並不是一塊外在肉體被毀，而是「眾同分」（維繫這一期同類生命相續的那個分位）由識的變異而相續斷滅。死，也是識變。
於是整條倫理鏈在唯識裡接得嚴絲合縫：殺，是此識轉變令彼命根斷；死，是彼之同分由識變異而斷。屠夫之心起殺、羊之命根因之而斷——殺業真、殺罪真，全程不需要一件「心外實物」當中介。對方想用「殺羊」逼垮唯識，反被世親用「殺其實是識動識」接得更穩。
承衍
偈二十把 §肆 最硬的倫理難題穩穩接住：殺業、殺罪、乃至「死」，全可在唯識中如實安立——靠的是「他識轉變令命根斷」，而非外在身語。它埋下的伏筆是「意（心）之力竟如此之大」——這一點，偈二十一要用一條更重的佛經明證（佛問鄔波離：那幾座大林為何空寂？答曰仙人意憤所致）推到極處，正式立起「意罰為大罪，重於身語」。讀偈二十，記住那句翻轉——殺，不是刀碰肉，是一個識動了另一個識。
Taking up the hardest ethical objection
At the close of Verse 19, the opponent lays down his sharpest blade: you say there is only consciousness and no real things such as body and speech — then how is "the butcher killing the sheep" established at all? If the sheep is not really and truly harmed to death, on what grounds does the butcher bear the guilt of killing? This blade goes straight for the vitals — the deed of killing and the guilt of killing are a hard bottom-line of the Dharma; if consciousness-only cannot so much as establish this, the whole system collapses. Vasubandhu meets the challenge head-on in Verse 20.
The essence of killing is "making the life-faculty be cut off"
Vasubandhu first sees through "killing": killing, in the last analysis, is just "making another's life-faculty (jīvitendriya) be cut off." The question then becomes — is the power of consciousness strong enough to make another sentient being's life-faculty be cut off? Vasubandhu says: it is.
He first sets out a few things everyone has heard of, to lay the ground: the "force of the will" of a ghost can make a person suddenly lose their senses, have nightmares, or be possessed; a person possessed of supernormal power, with a single movement of the will, can make others dream of all kinds of scenes. This shows that "the power of one consciousness can really and truly alter another sentient being's body-and-mind" — this is no idle metaphysics but a ready-to-hand fact.
Two cases on record: the will can drive a person into dreams
Vasubandhu then adduces two cases recorded in scripture as proof —
Mahākātyāyana (a disciple of the Buddha), through the "force of his wish," made King Sāraṇa and others dream strange things; the ascetic seer of the wilderness (the araṇya hermitage), through the "force of his angered intent," made King Vemacitrin dream strange things.
The weight of these two lies in this: what stirred the kings' minds and spirits was purely the "intent" (意) of the sage / the seer — not a hand, not a knife. If the force of the will can shake another's body-and-mind from afar to this degree, then killing — "through a transformation in another's consciousness, making another's life-faculty be cut off" — is naturally established too: "because there arises a transformation in another's consciousness, there is the deed of killing."
Then what is "death"?
Finally Vasubandhu, in passing, settles "death" too in consciousness-only terms: what is called death is not some external lump of flesh being destroyed, but the "shared lot of beings" (眾同分 nikāya-sabhāga — the station that sustains the continuity of one lifespan's like kind of life) undergoing the cutting-off of its continuum through an alteration of consciousness. Death, too, is a transformation of consciousness.
So the whole ethical chain joins together seamlessly within consciousness-only: killing is this consciousness's transformation making that one's life-faculty be cut off; death is that one's shared-lot, through an alteration of consciousness, being cut off. The butcher's mind raises killing, and the sheep's life-faculty is thereby cut off — the deed of killing is real, the guilt of killing is real, and throughout, no single "real thing outside the mind" is needed as an intermediary. The opponent meant to use "killing the sheep" to topple consciousness-only; instead Vasubandhu, with "killing is in fact consciousness moving consciousness," catches it the more securely.
Carried forward (承衍)
Verse 20 steadily catches the hardest ethical objection of §IV: the deed of killing, the guilt of killing, and even "death" can all be truly established within consciousness-only — by way of "a transformation in another's consciousness making the life-faculty be cut off," not by external body and speech. The thread it lays down is "the force of intent (mind) is, after all, this great" — and this point Verse 21 will push to the utmost with a weightier scriptural proof (the Buddha asks Upāli: why are those great forests empty and still? The answer: brought about by the seers' angered intent), formally establishing that "the punishment of intent is the gravest offense, heavier than that of body and speech." Reading Verse 20, hold on to that reversal — killing is not a knife touching flesh; it is one consciousness moving another.
考據Apparatus
一、科判定位
| 系統 | 此偈之位 |
|---|---|
| 全論五段 | §肆 破現量·夢覺·教證（偈十五–廿一）之殺生難正答偈。偈十九懸殺生難（無身語則殺業何成）→ 偈二十正答：由他識轉變令他命根斷，殺業仍成；死＝眾同分由識變異相續斷滅 ；末啟意罰之經證 → 偈廿一 |
| 偈十九→偈二十 | 偈十九末問「無身語則羊云何被殺·屠者云何得罪」；偈二十答以「他識轉變」令命根斷，殺業·殺罪不待外在身語 |
| 玄奘段位 | §頌〔p0076c29–077a01〕· §論自註〔p0077a02–08〕 |
二、源頌 · 義理脈絡
§頌四句：「由他識轉變，有殺害事業」（殺業由他識之轉變而成）·「如鬼等意力，令他失念等」（喻：如鬼之意念力令他失念、得夢、著魅）。心識之力可令他有情身心生變異，殺亦如是。
§論三節：(一)喻——鬼等意念勢力，令他失念、得夢、著魅；具神通者意念勢力，令他夢見種種事。(二)證——如大迦多衍那意願勢力令娑剌拏王等夢見異事；如阿練若仙人意憤勢力令吠摩質呾利王夢見異事。(三)合與釋死——由他識轉變，令他「違害命根」之事起；死者謂「眾同分」由識變異而相續斷滅。故殺業由識轉變成，不待外在身語。
三、經論宗依（經證 → 論本）
- 經證：鬼魅令人失念、神通仙人意力感變、命根·眾同分之說，皆佛法共傳之事；世親即以「他識轉變令命根斷」釋殺業。〔大迦多衍那、阿練若仙人令王夢之事為論本所引之公案。〕
- 論本：世親自註（T1590）以「他識轉變令違害命根」立殺業之成，並釋「死＝眾同分由識變異相續斷滅」；論之答，繫識力與命根·同分（不相應行），不增不判。
四、本論釋要（世親自註 T1590）
本偈正答偈十九之殺生難——無外在身語，殺業如何成立。世親之解：殺，本質是「令他命根斷」；而「他識轉變」之力，足以令他有情身心生大變異乃至命根斷。論先以共許之事鋪墊：鬼之意念能令人失念、發夢、著魅；有神通者之意念能令人夢見種種——可見「一識之力影響他識／他身」是現成之事。再舉二事為證：大迦多衍那以意願之力令娑剌拏王等夢見異事；阿練若仙人以意憤之力令吠摩質呾利王夢見異事。既然意力能致此，則「由他識轉變令他命根斷」之殺亦可成。末釋「死」之唯識義：所謂死，是「眾同分」（維繫一期同類生命相續之分位）由識之變異而相續斷滅——死亦識變，非外境之毀壞。如是殺業·殺罪皆於唯識中安立，不待外在身語為實。論末以此引出更重之經證（意罰為大罪），啟偈廿一。本偈所引公案·命根·同分皆佛法共傳，論本就之立義，不增不判。
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）——釋本偈，展開他識轉變令命根斷、死即同分斷滅之義。〔標宗：護法於識力致死及死之唯識義有詳釋；古德讀法之一，此處只記其宗，不判。〕
- 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 | 「由他識轉變，有殺害事業，如鬼等意力，令他失念等」 | 五言四句，以「他識轉變」立殺業；自註引大迦多衍那·阿練若仙人令王夢之公案；以此為底本 |
| 陳·真諦 T31n1589《大乘唯識論》 | 散文連展他識轉變與令王夢之事（古代漢證·參校） | |
| 後魏·般若流支 T31n1588《唯識論》 | 對應段以散文出之；逐字以 CBETA 為準（古代漢證·參校） |
專名（大迦多衍那·娑剌拏王·吠摩質呾利王）依玄奘譯。
七、術語（古德所傳梵 · 發音輔助）
| 漢 | 梵（發音輔助·依玄奘譯名繫音） | 義 |
|---|---|---|
| 他識轉變 | — | 他人之識之轉變；殺業所依 |
| 命根 | jīvitendriya | 維繫一期壽命之根；殺即令此斷 |
| 眾同分 | nikāya-sabhāga | 同類生命相續之分位；死＝此由識變異而斷 |
| 大迦多衍那 | Mahākātyāyana | 佛弟子；意願力令娑剌拏王夢見異事 |
梵羅馬字僅作發音輔助·繫玄奘譯名；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 |
|---|---|---|
| #23 命根 · #19 眾同分（不相應行）——殺所斷之命根·死即同分斷 ⭐ | 偈一「彼依識所變」——命根·同分亦識變假立 | 偈十九 夢覺果別——本偈答其末懸之殺生難 |
| #6 意識——「意念勢力」之能變（鬼·仙·神通者） | 偈十八 識變展轉——他識增上令他變異 | 偈十八 二識決定——識展轉增上之同理 |
| #8 阿賴耶識——眾同分·命根之所依 | 偈三 阿賴耶——執持根身、一期相續 | 偈廿一 意罰大罪——意業勝身語之經證 |
九、校本定位
- 漢文正文（§頌）：T31n1590〔p0076c29–077a01〕（玄奘譯）
- 漢文自註（§論）：T31n1590〔p0077a02–08〕（玄奘譯）
- 參校漢譯：T31n1589（真諦《大乘唯識論》）· T31n1588（般若流支《唯識論》）
- 古德釋：T31n1591（護法《成唯識寶生論》·漢有傳本）
1. Doctrinal-outline placement
| System | This verse's place |
|---|---|
| The treatise's five parts | The direct-answer verse to the killing-objection within §IV Refuting [the appeal to] Direct Perception · Dream-and-Waking · Scriptural Proof (vv.15–21). v.19 poses the killing-objection (無身語則殺業何成 — if there is no body and speech, how is the deed of killing established?) → v.20 answers directly: 由他識轉變令他命根斷，殺業仍成 (through a transformation in another's consciousness, another's life-faculty is cut off, and the deed of killing still holds); 死＝眾同分由識變異相續斷滅 (death = the shared lot of beings, through an alteration of consciousness, undergoing the cutting-off of its continuum); the close opens onto the scriptural proof of the punishment of intent → v.21 |
| v.19 → v.20 | At the close of v.19 the question is 「無身語則羊云何被殺·屠者云何得罪」 ("if there is no body and speech, how is the sheep killed, and how does the butcher incur guilt?"); v.20 answers with 「他識轉變」 ("a transformation in another's consciousness") making the life-faculty be cut off — the deed of killing and the guilt of killing do not await external body and speech |
| Xuanzang's textual loci | §Verse 〔p0076c29–077a01〕· §Auto-commentary 〔p0077a02–08〕 |
2. The source-verse · the doctrinal thread
The §Verse's four lines: 「由他識轉變，有殺害事業」 ("because there arises a transformation in another's consciousness, there is the deed of killing" — the deed of killing comes to be through a transformation in another's consciousness) · 「如鬼等意力，令他失念等」 ("just as the force of the will of ghosts and the like makes others lose right mindfulness, and so on" — illustration: as the force of a ghost's will makes another lose mindfulness, fall into a dream, be possessed). The power of consciousness can make alterations arise in another sentient being's body-and-mind; killing is likewise.
The §Auto-commentary in three movements: (i) illustration (喻) — the force of the will of ghosts and the like makes others lose mindfulness, fall into dreams, be possessed; one possessed of supernormal power, through the force of the will, makes others see all sorts of things in a dream. (ii) proof (證) — as Mahākātyāyana, through the force of his wish, made King Sāraṇa and others dream strange things (如大迦多衍那意願勢力令娑剌拏王等夢見異事); as the ascetic seer of the wilderness, through the force of his angered intent, made King Vemacitrin dream strange things (如阿練若仙人意憤勢力令吠摩質呾利王夢見異事). (iii) application and the account of death (合與釋死) — through a transformation in another's consciousness, the matter of "violating [another's] life-faculty" (違害命根) arises; what is called death means that the "shared lot of beings" (眾同分), through an alteration of consciousness, undergoes the cutting-off of its continuum. So the deed of killing comes to be through a transformation of consciousness, not awaiting external body and speech.
3. Scripture and treatise: the grounding (scriptural proof → treatise-root)
- Scriptural proof. That ghost-possession can make a person lose mindfulness, that the will-force of a seer possessed of supernormal power induces alterations, and the teaching of the life-faculty (命根) and the shared lot of beings (眾同分) — all are matters jointly transmitted in the Dharma; Vasubandhu accordingly explains the deed of killing by 「他識轉變令命根斷」 ("a transformation in another's consciousness making the life-faculty be cut off"). 〔The matters of Mahākātyāyana and of the ascetic seer of the wilderness making the kings dream are the cases adduced by the treatise-root.〕
- Treatise-root. Vasubandhu's auto-commentary (T1590) establishes the coming-to-be of the deed of killing by 「他識轉變令違害命根」 ("a transformation in another's consciousness making for the violating of the life-faculty"), and accounts for 「死＝眾同分由識變異相續斷滅」 ("death = the shared lot of beings, through an alteration of consciousness, undergoing the cutting-off of its continuum"); the treatise's answer ties the power of consciousness to the life-faculty and the shared lot (the conditioned-states-not-concomitant-with-mind, 不相應行), adding nothing and adjudicating nothing.
4. The treatise-root in essence (Vasubandhu's auto-commentary, T1590)
This verse directly answers the killing-objection of v.19 — with no external body and speech, how is the deed of killing established? Vasubandhu's explanation: killing, in essence, is "making another's life-faculty be cut off" (令他命根斷); and the power of "a transformation in another's consciousness" (他識轉變) suffices to make great alterations arise in another sentient being's body-and-mind, up to the cutting-off of the life-faculty. The commentary first lays the ground with matters held in common: a ghost's will can make a person lose mindfulness, fall into dreaming, be possessed; the will of one possessed of supernormal power can make a person dream of all sorts — which shows that "one consciousness's power affecting another consciousness / another's body" is a ready-to-hand fact. It then adduces two matters as proof: Mahākātyāyana, through the force of his wish, made King Sāraṇa and others dream strange things; the ascetic seer of the wilderness, through the force of his angered intent, made King Vemacitrin dream strange things. Since the force of the will can reach this far, then killing — "through a transformation in another's consciousness making another's life-faculty be cut off" — can hold too. The close accounts for the consciousness-only sense of "death": what is called death is the "shared lot of beings" (眾同分 — the station that sustains the continuity of one lifespan's like kind of life), through an alteration of consciousness, undergoing the cutting-off of its continuum — death too is a transformation of consciousness, not the destruction of an external object. In this way the deed of killing and the guilt of killing are both established within consciousness-only, without awaiting external body and speech as something real. The commentary closes by drawing out from this a weightier scriptural proof (意罰為大罪 — the punishment of intent is the gravest offense), opening onto v.21. The cases, the life-faculty, and the shared lot adduced in this verse are all jointly transmitted in the Dharma; the treatise-root establishes its meaning upon them, adding nothing and adjudicating nothing.
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) — expounds this verse, unfolding the sense of a transformation in another's consciousness making the life-faculty be cut off, and of death as the cutting-off of the shared lot. 〔Position stated: Dharmapāla gives a detailed exposition of consciousness's power causing death and of the consciousness-only sense of death; this is one of the ancient masters' readings, recorded here only as to its position, not adjudicated.〕
- 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 | 「由他識轉變，有殺害事業，如鬼等意力，令他失念等」 | A five-character quatrain, establishing the deed of killing by 「他識轉變」 ("a transformation in another's consciousness"); the auto-commentary adduces the cases of Mahākātyāyana and the ascetic seer of the wilderness making the kings dream; taken as the base text |
| Chen · Paramārtha T31n1589 《大乘唯識論》 | Sets out in continuous prose the transformation in another's consciousness and the matter of making the kings dream (an ancient Chinese witness · collated for comparison) | |
| Later Wei · Prajñāruci T31n1588 《唯識論》 | Renders the corresponding passage in prose; the verbatim text follows the CBETA original (an ancient Chinese witness · collated for comparison) |
Verbatim comparison follows the CBETA original text; what has not been verified against the original is not recorded as verbatim. The proper names (大迦多衍那 Mahākātyāyana · 娑剌拏王 King Sāraṇa · 吠摩質呾利王 King Vemacitrin) follow Xuanzang's renderings.
7. Terms (Sanskrit per the ancient transmission · pronunciation aid)
| Chinese | Sanskrit (pronunciation aid · tied to Xuanzang's renderings) | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 他識轉變 | — | a transformation in another being's consciousness; that on which the deed of killing rests |
| 命根 | jīvitendriya | the faculty that sustains a single lifespan; killing is making this be cut off |
| 眾同分 | nikāya-sabhāga | the station of the continuity of a like kind of life; death = this being cut off through an alteration of consciousness |
| 大迦多衍那 | Mahākātyāyana | a disciple of the Buddha; by the force of his wish he made King Sāraṇa dream strange things |
The Sanskrit roman script is a pronunciation aid only, tied to Xuanzang's renderings; 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 |
|---|---|---|
| #23 life-faculty 命根 · #19 shared lot of beings 眾同分 (conditioned states not concomitant with mind) — the life-faculty that killing cuts off · death is the cutting-off of the shared lot ⭐ | v.1 「彼依識所變」 ("dependent on the transformation of consciousness") — the life-faculty and the shared lot too are consciousness-transformations provisionally posited | v.19 the difference in fruit between dream and waking — this verse answers the killing-objection it left hanging at its close |
| #6 mind-consciousness 意識 — that which transforms by "the force of the will" (ghost · seer · one of supernormal power) | v.18 the reciprocal transformation of consciousnesses (識變展轉) — another's consciousness, by dominance, makes another be altered | v.18 the mutual determinacy of two consciousnesses (二識決定) — the same principle of consciousnesses reciprocally exerting dominance |
| #8 storehouse consciousness 阿賴耶識 — the basis of the shared lot and the life-faculty | v.3 the ālaya — grasping and holding the bodily faculties, the continuity of one lifespan | v.21 the grave offense of the punishment of intent (意罰大罪) — the scriptural proof that the deed of intent surpasses body and speech |
9. Witness placement
- Chinese verse-text (§Verse): T31n1590 〔p0076c29–077a01〕 (Xuanzang)
- Chinese auto-commentary (§Auto-commentary): T31n1590 〔p0077a02–08〕 (Xuanzang)
- Chinese translations collated for comparison: T31n1589 (Paramārtha, 《大乘唯識論》) · T31n1588 (Prajñāruci, 《唯識論》) — verbatim comparison follows the CBETA original text
- Ancient master's commentary: T31n1591 (Dharmapāla, 《成唯識寶生論》 · a transmitted Chinese witness)