解深密經 品二 勝義諦相品
凡是『最究竟的真實』，我們總想替它找一句說法、指一個對象。
這一品偏在這條路的盡頭轉身：那勝義諦，離一切言說——你說「有為」、說「無為」，都只是假立的名；它超過一切思量——非推度可到，唯聖者自心親證；它與萬法非一非異——不在諸法之外，也不混同諸法，如螺貝上那一抹鮮白，與貝不一、不異；它遍在一切法中而同一味——如種種雜色裡的虛空，無相、無別、平等周遍。
凡執著一邊、各說各話的，正卡在這「遍一味」上透不過去。
本品以善幻師、以虛空為喻，把這說不得的，一一指了出來。且歇下你那要『指認』的手，看那離言之事，如何遍滿萬法而不二。
Whenever there is "the most ultimate real," we always want to find it a phrase, to point out an object for it.
This chapter turns, just at the end of that road: that ultimate truth is apart from all speech — you say "conditioned," you say "unconditioned," and these are only provisionally set-up names; it is beyond all reckoning — no place that reasoning can reach, realized only by the noble ones in their own minds; it is neither one with nor other than the ten thousand dharmas — not standing outside the dharmas, yet not merged into them, like that one streak of fresh white upon a conch, neither one with the conch nor other than it; and it pervades all dharmas in a single taste — like space amid the manifold motley colours, markless, undivided, equal and reaching everywhere.
Those who cling to one side, each saying his own say, are stuck just here, at this "single taste," and cannot get through.
The chapter, by the skilled conjuror and by space, points out, one by one, this thing that cannot be spoken. So let your hand that would "point it out" rest a while, and see how that inexpressible matter fills all the ten thousand dharmas, and is not two.
唐玄奘奉詔譯《解深密經》T16n0676，逐字原文，依底本斷句；逐字校 CBETA。
〔T16 0688c18〕
爾時，如理請問菩薩摩訶薩，即於佛前問解甚深義密意菩薩言：「最勝子！言一切法無二，一切法無二者，何等一切法？云何為無二？」
解甚深義密意菩薩告如理請問菩薩曰：「善男子！一切法者，略有二種：一者、有為；二者、無為。是中有為，非有為非無為；無為，亦非無為非有為。」
如理請問菩薩復問解甚深義密意菩薩言：「最勝子！如何有為，非有為非無為；無為，亦非無為非有為？」
解甚深義密意菩薩謂如理請問菩薩曰：「善男子！言有為者，乃是本師假施設句。若是本師假施設句，即是遍計所集、言辭所說；若是遍計所集、言辭所說，即是究竟種種遍計言辭所說。不成實故，非是有為。善男子！言無為者，亦墮言辭。設離有為、無為少有所說，其相亦爾。然非無事而有所說。何等為事？謂諸聖者以聖智、聖見，離名言故，現等正覺；即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故，假立名想謂之有為。
「善男子！言無為者，亦是本師假施設句；若是本師假施設句，即是遍計所集、言辭所說；若是遍計所集、言辭所說，即是究竟種種遍計言辭所說。不成實故，非是無為。善男子！言有為者，亦墮言辭。設離無為、有為少有所說，其相亦爾。然非無事而有所說。何等為事？謂諸聖者以聖智、聖見，離名言故，現等正覺；即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故，假立名想謂之無為。」
爾時，如理請問菩薩摩訶薩復問解甚深義密意菩薩摩訶薩言：「最勝子！如何此事彼諸聖者以聖智、聖見，離名言故，現等正覺；即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故，假立名想，或謂有為？或謂無為？」
解甚深義密意菩薩謂如理請問菩薩曰：「善男子！如善幻師或彼弟子，住四衢道，積集瓦、礫、草、葉、木等，現作種種幻化事業。所謂：象身、馬身、車身、步身，末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚，種種財、穀、庫藏等身。若諸眾生愚癡、頑鈍、惡慧種類，無所曉知，於瓦、礫、草、葉、木等上諸幻化事，見已聞已，作如是念：『此所見者，實有象身、實有馬身、車身、步身，末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚，種種財、穀、庫藏等身。』如其所見，如其所聞，堅固執著，隨起言說：『唯此諦實，餘皆愚妄。』彼於後時應更觀察。
「若有眾生非愚、非鈍、善慧種類，有所曉知，於瓦、礫、草、葉、木等上諸幻化事，見已聞已，作如是念：『此所見者，無實象身、無實馬身、車身、步身，末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚，種種財、穀、庫藏等身；然有幻狀迷惑眼事。於中發起大象身想，或大象身差別之想，乃至發起種種財、穀、庫藏等想，或彼種類差別之想。』不如所見，不如所聞，堅固執著，隨起言說：『唯此諦實，餘皆愚妄。』為欲表知如是義故，亦於此中隨起言說。彼於後時不須觀察。
「如是，若有眾生是愚夫類，是異生類，未得諸聖出世間慧，於一切法離言法性不能了知；彼於一切有為、無為，見已聞已，作如是念：『此所得者，決定實有有為、無為。』如其所見，如其所聞，堅固執著，隨起言說：『唯此諦實，餘皆癡妄。』彼於後時應更觀察。
「若有眾生非愚夫類，已見聖諦，已得諸聖出世間慧，於一切法離言法性如實了知；彼於一切有為、無為，見已聞已，作如是念：『此所得者，決定無實有為、無為。然有分別所起行相，猶如幻事迷惑覺慧，於中發起為、無為想，或為、無為差別之想。』不如所見，不如所聞，堅固執著，隨起言說：『唯此諦實，餘皆癡妄。』為欲表知如是義故，亦於此中隨起言說。彼於後時不須觀察。
「如是，善男子！彼諸聖者於此事中，以聖智、聖見，離名言故，現等正覺；即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故，假立名想，謂之有為，謂之無為。」
爾時，解甚深義密意菩薩，欲重宣此義而說頌曰：
「佛說離言無二義，甚深非愚之所行；
愚夫於此癡所惑，樂著二依言戲論。
彼或不定或邪定，流轉極長生死苦；
復違如是正智論，當生牛羊等類中。」
爾時，法涌菩薩白佛言：「世尊！從此東方過七十二殑伽河沙等世界，有世界，名具大名稱；是中如來，號廣大名稱。我於先日，從彼佛土發來至此。我於彼佛土曾見一處，有七萬七千外道并其師首，同一會坐。為思諸法勝義諦相，彼共思議、稱量、觀察、遍推求時，於一切法勝義諦相，竟不能得。唯除種種意解，別異意解，變異意解，互相違背共興諍論，口出矛𥎞，更相𥎞已、刺已、惱已、壞已，各各離散。世尊！我於爾時，竊作是念：『如來出世，甚奇！希有！由出世故，乃於如是超過一切尋思所行勝義諦相，亦有通達，作證可得。』」說是語已。
爾時，世尊告法涌菩薩曰：「善男子！如是，如是！如汝所說。我於超過一切尋思勝義諦相，現等正覺；現等覺已，為他宣說、顯現、開解、施設、照了。何以故？我說：『勝義是諸聖者內自所證；尋思所行是諸異生展轉所證。』是故，法涌！由此道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思境相。復次，法涌！我說：『勝義無相所行；尋思但行有相境界。』是故，法涌！由此道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思境相。復次，法涌！我說：『勝義不可言說，尋思但行言說境界。』是故，法涌！由此道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思境相。復次，法涌！我說：『勝義絕諸表示，尋思但行表示境界。』是故，法涌！由此道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思境相。復次，法涌！我說：『勝義絕諸諍論，尋思但行諍論境界。』是故，法涌！由此道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思境相。
「法涌！當知，譬如有人盡其壽量習辛苦味；於蜜、石蜜上妙美味，不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。或於長夜由欲貪勝解諸欲熾火所燒然故；於內除滅一切色、聲、香、味、觸相妙遠離樂，不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。或於長夜由言說勝解，樂著世間綺言說故；於內寂靜聖默然樂，不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。或於長夜由見聞覺知表示勝解，樂著世間諸表示故；於永除斷一切表示薩迦耶滅究竟涅槃，不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。法涌！當知，譬如有人於其長夜由有種種我所、攝受，諍論勝解，樂著世間諸諍論故；於北拘盧洲無我所、無攝受、離諍論，不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。如是，法涌！諸尋思者，於超一切尋思所行勝義諦相，不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。」
爾時，世尊欲重宣此義，而說頌曰：
「內證無相之所行，不可言說絕表示，
息諸諍論勝義諦，超過一切尋思相。」
爾時，善清淨慧菩薩白佛言：「世尊！甚奇！乃至世尊！善說！如世尊言：『勝義諦相微細甚深，超過諸法一異性相，難可通達。』世尊！我即於此曾見一處，有眾菩薩等正修行勝解行地，同一會坐，皆共思議勝義諦相與諸行相一異性相。於此會中，一類菩薩作如是言：『勝義諦相與諸行相都無有異。』一類菩薩復作是言：『非勝義諦相與諸行相都無有異；然勝義諦相異諸行相。』有餘菩薩疑惑猶豫，復作是言：『是諸菩薩，誰言諦實？誰言虛妄？誰如理行？誰不如理？』或唱是言：『勝義諦相與諸行相都無有異。』或唱是言：『勝義諦相異諸行相。』世尊！我見彼已竊作是念：『此諸善男子愚癡、頑鈍、不明、不善、不如理行，於勝義諦微細甚深，超過諸行一異性相，不能解了。』」說是語已。
爾時，世尊告善清淨慧菩薩曰：「善男子！如是，如是。如汝所說：『彼諸善男子愚癡、頑鈍、不明、不善、不如理行，於勝義諦微細甚深，超過諸行一異性相，不能解了。』何以故？善清淨慧！非於諸行如是行時，名能通達勝義諦相，或於勝義諦而得作證。何以故？善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者：應於今時一切異生皆已見諦；又諸異生皆應已得無上方便安隱涅槃；或應已證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者：已見諦者於諸行相應不除遣；若不除遣諸行相者，應於相縛不得解脫；此見諦者於諸相縛不解脫故，於麁重縛亦應不脫；由於二縛不解脫故，已見諦者應不能得無上方便安隱涅槃；或不應證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
「善清淨慧！由於今時非諸異生皆已見諦；非諸異生已能獲得無上方便安隱涅槃；亦非已證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。是故勝義諦相與諸行相都無異相，不應道理！若於此中作如是言：『勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者。』由此道理，當知一切非如理行，不如正理。
「善清淨慧！由於今時非見諦者於諸行相不能除遣，然能除遣；非見諦者於諸相縛不能解脫，然能解脫；非見諦者於麁重縛不能解脫，然能解脫；以於二障能解脫故，亦能獲得無上方便安隱涅槃；或有能證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。是故勝義諦相與諸行相，一向異相，不應道理！若於此中作如是言：『勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者。』由此道理，當知一切非如理行，不如正理。
「復次，善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者，如諸行相墮雜染相，此勝義諦相亦應如是墮雜染相。善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者，應非一切行相共相，名勝義諦相。善清淨慧！由於今時勝義諦相非墮雜染相；諸行共相名勝義諦相。是故勝義諦相與諸行相都無異相，不應道理；勝義諦相與諸行相一向異相，不應道理！若於此中作如是言：『勝義諦相與諸行相都無有異；或勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者。』由此道理，當知一切非如理行，不如正理。
「復次，善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者，如勝義諦相於諸行相無有差別，一切行相亦應如是無有差別。修觀行者於諸行中，如其所見、如其所聞、如其所覺、如其所知，不應後時更求勝義。若勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者，應非諸行唯無我性、唯無自性之所顯現，是勝義相。又應俱時別相成立，謂雜染相及清淨相。
「善清淨慧！由於今時一切行相皆有差別，非無差別；修觀行者於諸行中，如其所見、如其所聞、如其所覺、如其所知，復於後時更求勝義。又即諸行唯無我性、唯無自性之所顯現，名勝義相。又非俱時染淨二相別相成立。是故勝義諦相與諸行相都無有異、或一向異，不應道理！若於此中作如是言：『勝義諦相與諸行相都無有異、或一向異者。』由此道理，當知一切非如理行，不如正理。
「善清淨慧！如螺貝上鮮白色性，不易施設與彼螺貝一相異相。如螺貝上鮮白色性；金上黃色亦復如是。如箜篌聲上美妙曲性，不易施設與箜篌聲一相異相。如黑沈上有妙香性，不易施設與彼黑沈一相異相。如胡椒上辛猛利性，不易施設與彼胡椒一相異相。如胡椒上辛猛利性，訶梨淡性亦復如是。如蠧羅綿上有柔軟性，不易施設與蠧羅綿一相異相。如熟酥上所有醍醐，不易施設與彼熟酥一相異相。又如一切行上無常性，一切有漏法上苦性，一切法上補特伽羅無我性，不易施設與彼行等一相異相。又如貪上不寂靜相及雜染相，不易施設此與彼貪一相異相。如於貪上，於瞋、癡上，當知亦爾。如是，善清淨慧！勝義諦相不可施設與諸行相一相異相。
「善清淨慧！我於如是微細、極微細，甚深、極甚深，難通達、極難通達，超過諸法一異性相，勝義諦相現正等覺；現等覺已為他宣說、顯示、開解、施設、照了。」
爾時，世尊欲重宣此義，而說頌曰：
「行界勝義相，離一異性相；
若分別一異，彼非如理行。
眾生為相縛，及彼麁重縛；
要勤修止觀，爾乃得解脫。」
爾時，世尊告長老善現曰：「善現！汝於有情界中，知幾有情懷增上慢，為增上慢所執持故記別所解？汝於有情界中，知幾有情離增上慢記別所解？」
長老善現白佛言：「世尊！我知有情界中少分有情離增上慢記別所解。世尊！我知有情界中有無量無數不可說有情懷增上慢，為增上慢所執持故記別所解。
「世尊！我於一時住阿練若大樹林中，時有眾多苾芻亦於此林依近我住。我見彼諸苾芻於日後分，展轉聚集，依有所得現觀，各說種種相法，記別所解。
「於中一類，由得蘊故、得蘊相故、得蘊起故、得蘊盡故、得蘊滅故、得蘊滅作證故，記別所解。如此一類由得蘊故，復有一類由得處故，復有一類得緣起故，當知亦爾。
「復有一類由得食故、得食相故、得食起故、得食盡故、得食滅故、得食滅作證故，記別所解。
「復有一類由得諦故、得諦相故、得諦遍知故、得諦永斷故、得諦作證故、得諦修習故，記別所解。
「復有一類由得界故、得界相故、得界種種性故、得界非一性故、得界滅故、得界滅作證故，記別所解。
「復有一類由得念住故、得念住相故、得念住能治所治故、得念住修故、得念住未生令生故、得念住生已堅住不忘倍修增廣故，記別所解。如有一類得念住故；復有一類得正斷故；得神足故；得諸根故；得諸力故；得覺支故，當知亦爾。
「復有一類得八支聖道故、得八支聖道相故、得八支聖道能治所治故、得八支聖道修故、得八支聖道未生令生故、得八支聖道生已堅住不忘倍修增廣故，記別所解。
「世尊！我見彼已竊作是念：『此諸長老依有所得現觀，各說種種相法，記別所解。當知彼諸長老，一切皆懷增上慢，為增上慢所執持故，於勝義諦遍一切一味相，不能解了。』是故，世尊！甚奇！乃至世尊！善說！如世尊言：『勝義諦相，微細、最微細，甚深、最甚深，難通達、最難通達，遍一切一味相。』世尊！此聖教中修行苾芻，於勝義諦遍一切一味相尚難通達，況諸外道。」
爾時，世尊告長老善現曰：「如是，如是。善現！我於微細最微細、甚深最甚深、難通達最難通達，遍一切一味相勝義諦，現正等覺；現等覺已，為他宣說、顯示、開解、施設、照了。何以故？善現！我已顯示於一切蘊中清淨所緣，是勝義諦。我已顯示於一切處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支中清淨所緣，是勝義諦。此清淨所緣於一切蘊中，是一味相、無別異相；如於蘊中，如是於一切處中，乃至一切道支中，是一味相、無別異相。是故，善現！由此道理，當知勝義諦是遍一切一味相。
「復次，善現！修觀行苾芻，通達一蘊真如勝義法無我性已，更不尋求各別餘蘊、諸處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支真如勝義法無我性。唯即隨此真如勝義無二智為依止，故於遍一切一味相勝義諦，審察趣證。是故，善現！由此道理，當知勝義諦是遍一切一味相。
「復次，善現！如彼諸蘊展轉異相，如彼諸處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支，展轉異相。若一切法真如勝義法無我性亦異相者，是則真如勝義法無我性亦應有因，從因所生。若從因生應是有為，若是有為應非勝義，若非勝義應更尋求餘勝義諦。善現！由此真如勝義法無我性，不名有因，非因所生，亦非有為，是勝義諦，得此勝義更不尋求餘勝義諦。唯有常常時、恒恒時，如來出世、若不出世，諸法法性安立，法界安住。是故，善現！由此道理，當知勝義諦是遍一切一味相。
「善現！譬如種種非一品類異相色中，虛空無相、無分別、無變異、遍一切一味相。如是，異性、異相一切法中，勝義諦遍一切一味相，當知亦然。」
爾時，世尊欲重宣此義，而說頌曰：
「此遍一切一味相，勝義諸佛說無異；
若有於中異分別，彼定愚癡依上慢。」
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.
離言無二相
那時，如理請問菩薩摩訶薩，就在佛前問解甚深義密意菩薩說：「最勝子！您說一切法無二，所謂一切法無二——是哪些法？又怎麼叫作無二呢？」
解甚深義密意菩薩告訴如理請問菩薩說：「善男子！一切法，簡略說來有兩種：一種是有為，一種是無為。這裡頭，有為，既非有為也非無為；無為，也既非無為也非有為。」
如理請問菩薩又問解甚深義密意菩薩說：「最勝子！怎麼說有為既非有為也非無為，無為也既非無為也非有為呢？」
解甚深義密意菩薩對如理請問菩薩說：「善男子！所謂『有為』，本是本師假立的一句名言。既是本師假立的名言，就是遍計所聚、言辭所說；既是遍計所聚、言辭所說，就是究竟而言種種遍計言辭所說的東西。它不成其為真實，所以不是真正的有為。善男子！所謂『無為』，同樣是落在言辭裡的。即便撇開有為、無為，另有少許可說的，那情形也是一樣。然而並不是無事可指而空有所說。所指的是什麼事呢？就是諸聖者以聖智、聖見，遠離名言之故，現等正覺；就在這樣的離言法性上，為了讓他人也能現等覺，才假立名想，把它叫作『有為』。
「善男子！所謂『無為』，也是本師假立的一句名言；既是本師假立的名言，就是遍計所聚、言辭所說；既是遍計所聚、言辭所說，就是究竟而言種種遍計言辭所說的東西。它不成其為真實，所以不是真正的無為。善男子！所謂『有為』，同樣是落在言辭裡的。即便撇開無為、有為，另有少許可說的，那情形也是一樣。然而並不是無事可指而空有所說。所指的是什麼事呢？就是諸聖者以聖智、聖見，遠離名言之故，現等正覺；就在這樣的離言法性上，為了讓他人也能現等覺，才假立名想，把它叫作『無為』。」
那時，如理請問菩薩摩訶薩又問解甚深義密意菩薩摩訶薩說：「最勝子！這所指的事，那些聖者以聖智、聖見，遠離名言之故，現等正覺；就在這樣的離言法性上，為了讓他人也能現等覺，才假立名想——這名想，怎麼有時叫作有為、有時叫作無為呢？」
解甚深義密意菩薩對如理請問菩薩說：「善男子！譬如善巧的幻術師，或他的弟子，站在四通八達的大路口，聚起瓦、礫、草、葉、木頭等等，變現出種種幻化的事業。所變的是：象身、馬身、車身、步身，還有末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚，以及種種財物、穀物、庫藏等等。若有眾生愚癡、頑鈍，是惡慧一類，什麼都不曉得，在那瓦、礫、草、葉、木頭上所變現的幻化事，看見了、聽見了，便這樣想：『我所看見的，是真有象身、真有馬身、車身、步身，真有末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚，真有種種財物、穀物、庫藏等等。』就照他所見、照他所聞，牢牢地執著，隨之說出口來：『唯有這個是真實的，其餘都是愚妄。』這種人到後來還得重新去觀察。
「若有眾生不愚、不鈍，是善慧一類，有所曉知，在那瓦、礫、草、葉、木頭上所變現的幻化事，看見了、聽見了，便這樣想：『我所看見的，並沒有真實的象身、沒有真實的馬身、車身、步身，沒有真實的末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚，沒有真實的種種財物、穀物、庫藏等等；只是有幻化的形狀，迷惑了眼睛這件事罷了。就在這上頭，生起大象身的想、或大象身種種差別的想，乃至生起種種財物、穀物、庫藏等的想，或那一類種種差別的想。』他並不照所見、照所聞而牢牢執著，隨之說出口來：『唯有這個是真實的，其餘都是愚妄。』他只是為了表達、令人知道這樣的意思，才也在這上頭隨之有所言說。這種人到後來不必再去觀察。
「就像這樣：若有眾生屬於愚夫一類、異生一類，還沒有得到諸聖出世間的智慧，對一切法的離言法性不能了知；他對一切有為、無為，看見了、聽見了，便這樣想：『我所得到的，決定是真實有有為、有無為。』就照他所見、照他所聞，牢牢執著，隨之說出口來：『唯有這個是真實的，其餘都是癡妄。』這種人到後來還得重新去觀察。
「若有眾生不屬愚夫一類，已見聖諦，已得諸聖出世間的智慧，對一切法的離言法性能如實了知；他對一切有為、無為，看見了、聽見了，便這樣想：『我所得到的，決定沒有真實的有為、無為。只是有分別所起的行相，猶如幻事迷惑了覺慧，就在這上頭生起有為、無為的想，或有為、無為種種差別的想。』他並不照所見、照所聞而牢牢執著，隨之說出口來：『唯有這個是真實的，其餘都是癡妄。』他只是為了表達、令人知道這樣的意思，才也在這上頭隨之有所言說。這種人到後來不必再去觀察。
「就像這樣，善男子！那些聖者在這所指的事上，以聖智、聖見，遠離名言之故，現等正覺；就在這樣的離言法性上，為了讓他人也能現等覺，才假立名想，把它叫作有為，叫作無為。」
那時，解甚深義密意菩薩想要重新宣明這個義理，便以偈頌再說，後人可如此解其意：其所宣說的，是離於言說、無二的義理，這義理甚深，不是愚夫所能行到的境界；愚夫對此被癡所迷惑，貪著於有為無為這兩種所依，落入言說的戲論。他們或者落入不定、或者落入邪定，在生死中流轉，受極長的苦；又違逆了這樣的正智之論，將要生到牛羊等類中去。
超過尋思所行相
那時，法涌菩薩對佛說：「世尊！從這裡往東方，過了七十二殑伽河沙那麼多的世界，有一個世界，名叫具大名稱；那裡的如來，號為廣大名稱。我在從前，從那佛土出發來到這裡。我在那佛土曾見一處，有七萬七千個外道連同他們的師首，同在一會中坐著。為了思量諸法的勝義諦相，他們一同思議、稱量、觀察、四處推求，可是對於一切法的勝義諦相，竟然不能得到。只落得種種意解、別異的意解、變異的意解，互相違背，一同興起諍論，口中放出言語的矛戟，彼此戟來戟去、刺來刺去、相惱相壞，最後各自離散。世尊！我在那時，私下這樣想：『如來出世，真是稀奇、希有！正因如來出世，纔對這樣超過一切尋思所行的勝義諦相，也有通達、有作證可得。』」說完這話。
那時，世尊告訴法涌菩薩說：「善男子！正是這樣、正是這樣，如你所說。我對於超過一切尋思的勝義諦相，現等正覺；現等覺之後，為他人宣說、顯現、開解、施設、照了。為什麼呢？我說：『勝義是諸聖者內心自所證的；尋思所行，是諸異生輾轉相傳所證的。』所以，法涌！由這個道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思的境相。再者，法涌！我說：『勝義是無相所行的；尋思只行於有相的境界。』所以，法涌！由這個道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思的境相。再者，法涌！我說：『勝義是不可言說的；尋思只行於言說的境界。』所以，法涌！由這個道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思的境相。再者，法涌！我說：『勝義是斷絕一切表示的；尋思只行於表示的境界。』所以，法涌！由這個道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思的境相。再者，法涌！我說：『勝義是斷絕一切諍論的；尋思只行於諍論的境界。』所以，法涌！由這個道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思的境相。
「法涌！當知，譬如有人一輩子只吃慣了辛苦的味道；對於蜜、石蜜那種上妙的美味，便不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。又或者有人，在漫漫長夜裡，被欲貪的勝解、那燒人的諸欲熾火所燒灼；對於內心除滅一切色、聲、香、味、觸之相的微妙遠離之樂，便不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。又或者有人，在漫漫長夜裡，因言說的勝解，貪著世間綺麗的言說；對於內心寂靜的聖默然之樂，便不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。又或者有人，在漫漫長夜裡，因見、聞、覺、知這種種表示的勝解，貪著世間種種表示；對於永遠除斷一切表示的薩迦耶滅、究竟涅槃，便不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。法涌！當知，譬如有人在漫漫長夜裡，因種種我所、種種攝受、諍論的勝解，貪著世間種種諍論；對於北拘盧洲那種無我所、無攝受、離諍論的境地，便不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。就像這樣，法涌！諸尋思的人，對於超過一切尋思所行的勝義諦相，便不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解。」
那時，世尊想要重新宣明這個義理，便以偈頌再說，後人可如此解其意：勝義諦是內心所證、無相之所行，不可言說、斷絕一切表示，止息了一切諍論，超過了一切尋思之相。
超過諸法一異性相
那時，善清淨慧菩薩對佛說：「世尊！真是稀奇！乃至世尊善說！正如世尊所說：『勝義諦相微細甚深，超過諸法的一異性相，難以通達。』世尊！我就曾在一處見過：有許多菩薩等，正修行於勝解行地，同在一會中坐著，一同思議勝義諦相與諸行相的一異性相。在這會中，一類菩薩這樣說：『勝義諦相與諸行相，完全沒有差異。』一類菩薩又這樣說：『不是勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異；而是勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異。』另有些菩薩則疑惑猶豫，這樣說：『這些菩薩裡頭，誰說的是真實？誰說的是虛妄？誰是如理而行？誰是不如理？』有的唱說：『勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異。』有的唱說：『勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異。』世尊！我看見他們之後，私下這樣想：『這些善男子愚癡、頑鈍、不明、不善、不如理而行，對於勝義諦那微細甚深、超過諸行一異性的相，不能解了。』」說完這話。
那時，世尊告訴善清淨慧菩薩說：「善男子！正是這樣、正是這樣。如你所說：『那些善男子愚癡、頑鈍、不明、不善、不如理而行，對於勝義諦那微細甚深、超過諸行一異性的相，不能解了。』為什麼呢？善清淨慧！不是在如此緣諸行而行的時候，就叫作能通達勝義諦相，或能對勝義諦有所作證。為什麼呢？善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異：那麼如今一切異生就都已見諦了；一切異生也都應已得到無上方便安隱涅槃；或都應已證得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異：那麼已見諦的人，對諸行相就應當除遣不掉；行相若除遣不掉，就應當對相縛不得解脫；這見諦的人既對諸相縛不得解脫，對麁重縛也應當不得解脫；既對這兩種縛都不得解脫，那已見諦的人就應當不能得到無上方便安隱涅槃；或不應證得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
「善清淨慧！正因如今並不是一切異生都已見諦；並不是一切異生已能獲得無上方便安隱涅槃；也不是已證得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。所以說『勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異』，這不合道理！若在這裡這樣說：『勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異。』由這個道理，當知這一切都是不如理而行，不合正理。
「善清淨慧！正因如今並不是已見諦的人對諸行相除遣不掉，而是能除遣；並不是已見諦的人對諸相縛不能解脫，而是能解脫；並不是已見諦的人對麁重縛不能解脫，而是能解脫；既因能對二障解脫，便也能獲得無上方便安隱涅槃；或有能證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。所以說『勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異』，這不合道理！若在這裡這樣說：『勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異。』由這個道理，當知這一切都是不如理而行，不合正理。
「再者，善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異，那麼如同諸行相墮在雜染相裡，這勝義諦相也應當同樣墮在雜染相裡。善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異，那麼就不應是一切行相的共相，才叫作勝義諦相。善清淨慧！正因如今勝義諦相並不墮在雜染相裡；而它正是諸行的共相，纔叫作勝義諦相。所以說『勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異』，這不合道理；說『勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異』，這也不合道理！若在這裡這樣說：『勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異；或勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異。』由這個道理，當知這一切都是不如理而行，不合正理。
「再者，善清淨慧！若勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異，那麼如同勝義諦相在諸行相上沒有差別，一切行相也應當同樣沒有差別。修觀行的人，在諸行裡，照他所見、所聞、所覺、所知，到後來就不必再去尋求勝義了。若勝義諦相與諸行相全然有異，那麼就不應是諸行那唯無我性、唯無自性之所顯現的，才是勝義相。又應當在同一時刻別別地成立兩種相，就是雜染相和清淨相。
「善清淨慧！正因如今一切行相都有差別，並非沒有差別；修觀行的人，在諸行裡，照他所見、所聞、所覺、所知，到後來還會再去尋求勝義。又正是諸行那唯無我性、唯無自性之所顯現的，纔叫作勝義相。又並不是在同一時刻別別地成立染、淨二相。所以說『勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異，或全然有異』，這不合道理！若在這裡這樣說：『勝義諦相與諸行相完全沒有差異、或全然有異。』由這個道理，當知這一切都是不如理而行，不合正理。
「善清淨慧！譬如螺貝上那鮮白的色性，不容易說它與那螺貝是一相還是異相。螺貝上的鮮白色性如此；黃金上的黃色也是這樣。又如箜篌聲上那美妙的曲性，不容易說它與箜篌聲是一相還是異相。又如黑沈香上那美妙的香性，不容易說它與那黑沈是一相還是異相。又如胡椒上那辛辣猛利之性，不容易說它與那胡椒是一相還是異相。胡椒上的辛猛利性如此；訶梨那淡澀之性也是這樣。又如蠧羅綿上那柔軟之性，不容易說它與蠧羅綿是一相還是異相。又如熟酥上所有的醍醐，不容易說它與那熟酥是一相還是異相。又如一切行上那無常性，一切有漏法上那苦性，一切法上那補特伽羅無我性，不容易說它與那行等是一相還是異相。又如貪上那不寂靜相以及雜染相，不容易說這與那貪是一相還是異相。對於貪是這樣，對於瞋、癡，當知也是這樣。就像這樣，善清淨慧！勝義諦相不可以被施設說與諸行相是一相還是異相。
「善清淨慧！我對於這樣微細、極微細，甚深、極甚深，難通達、極難通達，超過諸法一異性的勝義諦相，現正等覺；現等覺之後，為他人宣說、顯示、開解、施設、照了。」
那時，世尊想要重新宣明這個義理，便以偈頌再說，後人可如此解其意：諸行與真如界的勝義之相，離於一相、離於異相；若有人分別它是一是異，那便不是如理而行。眾生被相縛、以及那麁重縛所縛住；必須勤修止觀，這才能夠解脫。
遍一切一味相
那時，世尊告訴長老善現說：「善現！你在有情界中，知道有多少有情懷著增上慢，因被增上慢所執持，而記別自己所解的法？你在有情界中，又知道有多少有情遠離增上慢來記別所解？」
長老善現對佛說：「世尊！我知道有情界中只有少分有情，是遠離增上慢來記別所解的。世尊！我知道有情界中有無量無數、不可說那麼多的有情，懷著增上慢，因被增上慢所執持，而記別所解。
「世尊！我曾有一回住在阿練若的大樹林中，當時有許多苾芻也在這林裡，靠近我而住。我看見那些苾芻在一日的後分，輾轉聚集，依著各自有所得的現觀，各說種種相法，記別自己所解的。
「其中一類，是由得了蘊、得了蘊相、得了蘊起、得了蘊盡、得了蘊滅、得了蘊滅作證，而記別所解。如這一類由得蘊而說，又有一類是由得處而說，又有一類是得緣起而說，當知也是這樣。
「又有一類，是由得了食、得了食相、得了食起、得了食盡、得了食滅、得了食滅作證，而記別所解。
「又有一類，是由得了諦、得了諦相、得了諦遍知、得了諦永斷、得了諦作證、得了諦修習，而記別所解。
「又有一類，是由得了界、得了界相、得了界種種性、得了界非一性、得了界滅、得了界滅作證，而記別所解。
「又有一類，是由得了念住、得了念住相、得了念住的能治所治、得了念住修、得了念住未生令生、得了念住生已堅住不忘倍修增廣，而記別所解。如有一類由得念住而說；又有一類由得正斷而說；得神足、得諸根、得諸力、得覺支而說，當知也是這樣。
「又有一類，是由得了八支聖道、得了八支聖道相、得了八支聖道的能治所治、得了八支聖道修、得了八支聖道未生令生、得了八支聖道生已堅住不忘倍修增廣，而記別所解。
「世尊！我看見他們之後，私下這樣想：『這些長老依著各自有所得的現觀，各說種種相法，記別所解。當知這些長老，全都懷著增上慢，因被增上慢所執持，對於勝義諦那遍一切一味的相，不能解了。』所以，世尊！真是稀奇！乃至世尊善說！正如世尊所說：『勝義諦相，微細、最微細，甚深、最甚深，難通達、最難通達，是遍一切一味的相。』世尊！這聖教中修行的苾芻，對於勝義諦遍一切一味的相尚且難以通達，何況那些外道。」
那時，世尊告訴長老善現說：「正是這樣、正是這樣。善現！我對於那微細最微細、甚深最甚深、難通達最難通達、遍一切一味相的勝義諦，現正等覺；現等覺之後，為他人宣說、顯示、開解、施設、照了。為什麼呢？善現！我已顯示：在一切蘊中的清淨所緣，就是勝義諦。我已顯示：在一切處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支中的清淨所緣，就是勝義諦。這清淨所緣，在一切蘊中是一味相、無別異相；如在蘊中是這樣，在一切處中、乃至一切道支中，也都是一味相、無別異相。所以，善現！由這個道理，當知勝義諦是遍一切一味的相。
「再者，善現！修觀行的苾芻，通達了一蘊的真如、勝義、法無我性之後，便不再去別別尋求其餘各蘊，以及諸處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支的真如、勝義、法無我性。只就隨此真如勝義的無二智作依止，於是對於遍一切一味相的勝義諦，審察而趣向作證。所以，善現！由這個道理，當知勝義諦是遍一切一味的相。
「再者，善現！如那諸蘊輾轉各有異相，如那諸處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支，也輾轉各有異相。若一切法的真如、勝義、法無我性也是有異相的，那麼這真如勝義法無我性也應當有因，是從因所生的。若是從因而生，就應當是有為；若是有為，就應當不是勝義；若不是勝義，就應當再去尋求別的勝義諦。善現！正因這真如勝義法無我性，不叫作有因，不是從因所生，也不是有為，纔是勝義諦；得了這勝義，便不再去尋求別的勝義諦。只在常常時、恒恒時——無論如來出世、還是不出世——諸法的法性都這樣安立，法界都這樣安住。所以，善現！由這個道理，當知勝義諦是遍一切一味的相。
「善現！譬如在種種不是同一品類、各有異相的色當中，虛空是無相、無分別、無變異、遍一切一味相的。就像這樣，在各有異性、各有異相的一切法當中，勝義諦遍一切一味相，當知也是如此。」
那時，世尊想要重新宣明這個義理，便以偈頌再說，後人可如此解其意：這遍一切一味之相的勝義，諸佛都說它沒有差異；若有人在這當中作異相的分別，那一定是愚癡，依著增上慢。
The Characteristic of Being Inexpressible and Non-Dual
At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle, there before the Buddha, put a question to the bodhisattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning, saying: "Most-Victorious Son! You say that all dharmas are non-dual — this so-called non-duality of all dharmas: which dharmas are these? And how is it called non-dual?"
The bodhisattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning told the bodhisattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle: "Good son! All dharmas, told in brief, are of two kinds: one is the conditioned, the other the unconditioned. Herein, the conditioned is neither conditioned nor unconditioned; and the unconditioned too is neither unconditioned nor conditioned."
The bodhisattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle asked the bodhisattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning again: "Most-Victorious Son! How is it that the conditioned is neither conditioned nor unconditioned, and the unconditioned too is neither unconditioned nor conditioned?"
The bodhisattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning said to the bodhisattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle: "Good son! What is called 'conditioned' is, at root, a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher. Being a name-and-word provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher, it is amassed by imagination and spoken in words; and being amassed by imagination and spoken in words, it is, in the last analysis, but the manifold things that imagination's words speak of. It does not amount to anything real, and therefore it is not truly the conditioned. Good son! What is called 'unconditioned' likewise falls within words. And even were one to set conditioned and unconditioned aside and find some little thing left over to speak of, the case would be the same. Yet it is not that there is nothing to point to and only empty speech. What is the thing pointed to? It is this: that the noble ones, by noble wisdom and noble vision, being apart from name-and-word, become fully and rightly awake; and upon just such an inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order that others too might become fully awake, they provisionally set up a name-and-notion and call it 'conditioned.'
"Good son! What is called 'unconditioned' is likewise a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher; being a name-and-word provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher, it is amassed by imagination and spoken in words; and being amassed by imagination and spoken in words, it is, in the last analysis, but the manifold things that imagination's words speak of. It does not amount to anything real, and therefore it is not truly the unconditioned. Good son! What is called 'conditioned' likewise falls within words. And even were one to set unconditioned and conditioned aside and find some little thing left over to speak of, the case would be the same. Yet it is not that there is nothing to point to and only empty speech. What is the thing pointed to? It is this: that the noble ones, by noble wisdom and noble vision, being apart from name-and-word, become fully and rightly awake; and upon just such an inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order that others too might become fully awake, they provisionally set up a name-and-notion and call it 'unconditioned.'"
At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle asked the bodhisattva-mahāsattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning again: "Most-Victorious Son! As for this thing pointed to — that thing upon which the noble ones, by noble wisdom and noble vision, being apart from name-and-word, become fully and rightly awake; and upon just such an inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order that others too might become fully awake, provisionally set up a name-and-notion — how is it that this name-and-notion is at times called conditioned and at times called unconditioned?"
The bodhisattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning said to the bodhisattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle: "Good son! It is like a skilled conjuror, or his apprentice, who stands at a great crossroads where many roads meet, gathers together tile, gravel, grass, leaves, sticks, and the like, and conjures forth all manner of illusory works. What he conjures forth is: the body of an elephant, the body of a horse, the body of a chariot, the body of a foot-soldier; and gems, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch, beryl, and coral; and all manner of goods, grain, granaries, and the rest. Now if there be some being foolish and dull, of the company of bad wisdom, who knows nothing at all, then upon those illusory works conjured forth out of tile, gravel, grass, leaves, and sticks — having seen them, having heard of them — he thinks thus: 'What I see is truly the body of an elephant, truly the body of a horse, a chariot, a foot-soldier; truly gems, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch, beryl, and coral; truly all manner of goods, grain, granaries, and the rest.' And just as he saw, just as he heard, he clings fast, and following thereon speaks out: 'This alone is real; all the rest is foolishness and delusion.' Such a person must afterward go and examine the matter over again.
"But if there be some being not foolish and not dull, of the company of good wisdom, who has some knowing, then upon those illusory works conjured forth out of tile, gravel, grass, leaves, and sticks — having seen them, having heard of them — he thinks thus: 'What I see has no real body of an elephant, no real body of a horse, chariot, or foot-soldier; no real gems, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch, beryl, or coral; no real goods, grain, granaries, or the rest. There is only an illusory shape, a thing that deceives the eye. And upon just this there arise the notion of an elephant's body, or the notions of an elephant's body in its various distinctions, on to the notions of all manner of goods, grain, granaries, and the like, or the notions of that class in their various distinctions.' He does not, according to what he saw and heard, cling fast and following thereon speak out: 'This alone is real; all the rest is foolishness and delusion.' He only, in order to convey the meaning and let others know it, accordingly says something upon this too. Such a person need not afterward examine the matter again.
"Just so: if there be some being who belongs to the company of the foolish, the company of ordinary worldlings, who has not yet won the supramundane wisdom of the noble ones, and cannot understand the inexpressible Dharma-nature of all dharmas; then concerning all that is conditioned and unconditioned — having seen it, having heard of it — he thinks thus: 'What I have gained is surely, really, the conditioned and the unconditioned.' And just as he saw, just as he heard, he clings fast, and following thereon speaks out: 'This alone is real; all the rest is folly and delusion.' Such a person must afterward go and examine the matter over again.
"But if there be some being who does not belong to the company of the foolish, who has seen the noble truths and won the supramundane wisdom of the noble ones, and who can understand, as it truly is, the inexpressible Dharma-nature of all dharmas; then concerning all that is conditioned and unconditioned — having seen it, having heard of it — he thinks thus: 'What I have gained surely has no real conditioned or unconditioned. There is only an appearance that arises from discrimination, like an illusory thing deceiving the cognizing wisdom; and upon just this there arise the notions of conditioned and unconditioned, or the notions of conditioned and unconditioned in their various distinctions.' He does not, according to what he saw and heard, cling fast and following thereon speak out: 'This alone is real; all the rest is folly and delusion.' He only, in order to convey the meaning and let others know it, accordingly says something upon this too. Such a person need not afterward examine the matter again.
"Just so, good son! Upon this thing pointed to, the noble ones, by noble wisdom and noble vision, being apart from name-and-word, become fully and rightly awake; and upon just such an inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order that others too might become fully awake, they provisionally set up a name-and-notion and call it conditioned, call it unconditioned."
At that time the bodhisattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning, wishing to make this meaning fully clear once more, spoke it again in a verse, whose sense may be construed thus: What he proclaims is the meaning that is apart from speech and non-dual; this meaning is profound, no realm that the foolish can range into. The foolish, in this, are deluded by folly, clinging to those two supports, the conditioned and the unconditioned, and falling into the idle elaborations of speech. They fall, some into no concentration, some into wrong concentration, and turn about in birth-and-death, undergoing suffering exceedingly long; and going against such a treatise of right knowledge, they shall be born among cattle, sheep, and the like.
The Characteristic of Being Beyond the Range of Reasoning
At that time the bodhisattva Dharma-Welling-Forth said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One! Eastward from here, past worlds as many as the sands of seventy-two Ganges Rivers, there is a world named Possessed-of-Great-Renown; the Tathāgata there is titled Vast-and-Great Renown. Once before, I set out from that Buddha-land and came here. In that Buddha-land I once saw a place where seventy-seven thousand followers of other paths, together with their head teachers, sat together in one gathering. In order to reckon the characteristic of the ultimate truth of the dharmas, they together deliberated, weighed, examined, and searched it out on every side; yet concerning the characteristic of the ultimate truth of all dharmas they could gain nothing at all. They came away only with all manner of construals — divergent construals, altered construals — at odds with one another, all of them stirring up disputes together, loosing from their mouths the spears and lances of speech, and with spear after spear and stab after stab thrust at, pricked, vexed, and undid one another, until at last each one scattered apart. World-Honoured One! At that time I thought to myself thus: 'How rare, how seldom-met, is a Tathāgata's appearing in the world! For it is precisely because a Tathāgata appears in the world that toward such a characteristic of ultimate truth — one that is beyond the range of all reasoning — there is yet penetration and there is realization to be had.'" So he spoke.
At that time the World-Honoured One told the bodhisattva Dharma-Welling-Forth: "Good son! Just so, just so, as you have said. Toward the characteristic of ultimate truth that is beyond all reasoning, I become fully and rightly awake; and having become fully awake, I proclaim it, reveal it, open it up, set it forth, and illumine it for others. Why? I say: 'The ultimate is what the noble ones inwardly realize within themselves; what reasoning ranges over is what ordinary worldlings realize by handing it on from one to another.' Therefore, Dharma-Welling-Forth, by this reasoning know that the ultimate is beyond the realm-characteristic of all reasoning. Again, Dharma-Welling-Forth, I say: 'The ultimate is what ranges in the markless; reasoning ranges only in the realm of marks.' Therefore, Dharma-Welling-Forth, by this reasoning know that the ultimate is beyond the realm-characteristic of all reasoning. Again, Dharma-Welling-Forth, I say: 'The ultimate is inexpressible; reasoning ranges only in the realm of speech.' Therefore, Dharma-Welling-Forth, by this reasoning know that the ultimate is beyond the realm-characteristic of all reasoning. Again, Dharma-Welling-Forth, I say: 'The ultimate cuts off all indication; reasoning ranges only in the realm of indication.' Therefore, Dharma-Welling-Forth, by this reasoning know that the ultimate is beyond the realm-characteristic of all reasoning. Again, Dharma-Welling-Forth, I say: 'The ultimate cuts off all dispute; reasoning ranges only in the realm of dispute.' Therefore, Dharma-Welling-Forth, by this reasoning know that the ultimate is beyond the realm-characteristic of all reasoning.
"Dharma-Welling-Forth, you should know it is like a man who all his life has been used to nothing but bitter and pungent flavours: toward the exquisite, fine savour of honey or rock-sugar, he cannot reason it out, cannot reckon it, cannot believe-and-understand it. Or again, it is like a man who, through the long, long night, has been scorched by the relishing of desire-greed, by the burning fires of the many desires: toward the subtle joy of seclusion — the inward extinguishing of all the marks of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch — he cannot reason it out, cannot reckon it, cannot believe-and-understand it. Or again, it is like a man who, through the long, long night, by reason of his relishing of speech, clings to the ornate speech of the world: toward the joy of the noble silence inwardly stilled, he cannot reason it out, cannot reckon it, cannot believe-and-understand it. Or again, it is like a man who, through the long, long night, by reason of his relishing of all the various indications of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, clings to the world's manifold indications: toward the cessation of the self-body-view that forever severs all indication — the ultimate nirvāṇa — he cannot reason it out, cannot reckon it, cannot believe-and-understand it. Dharma-Welling-Forth, you should know it is like a man who, through the long, long night, by reason of his relishing of all the various 'mine,' the various appropriations and disputes, clings to the world's manifold disputes: toward the state of the Northern Continent Kuru, where there is no 'mine,' no appropriation, and dispute is left behind, he cannot reason it out, cannot reckon it, cannot believe-and-understand it. Just so, Dharma-Welling-Forth, those who reason, toward the characteristic of ultimate truth that is beyond the range of all reasoning, cannot reason it out, cannot reckon it, cannot believe-and-understand it."
At that time the World-Honoured One, wishing to make this meaning fully clear once more, spoke it again in a verse, whose sense may be construed thus: The ultimate truth is inwardly realized, the range of the markless; it is inexpressible and cuts off all indication, it has stilled all dispute, and it surpasses every characteristic of reasoning.
The Characteristic of Being Beyond the Sameness-or-Otherness of All Dharmas
At that time the bodhisattva Well-Purified Wisdom said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One! How rare it is! And how well the World-Honoured One has spoken! Just as the World-Honoured One has said: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth is fine and profound, beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas, and hard to penetrate.' World-Honoured One! I once saw, in a certain place, many bodhisattvas and the like who were practising on the stage of resolute conduct, sitting together in one gathering, together deliberating the sameness-or-otherness of the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces. In that gathering one sort of bodhisattva spoke thus: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference.' Another sort of bodhisattva spoke thus: 'It is not that the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference; rather, the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are wholly other.' And there were yet other bodhisattvas, doubting and wavering, who spoke thus: 'Among these bodhisattvas, whose word is real and whose word is false? Who proceeds in accord with principle, and who not in accord with it?' — some declaring: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference'; some declaring: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are wholly other.' World-Honoured One! Having seen them, I thought to myself thus: 'These good sons are foolish and dull, unclear, unskilled, not proceeding in accord with principle; toward the characteristic of ultimate truth — that fine and profound characteristic, beyond the sameness-or-otherness of the conditioning-forces — they cannot understand.'" So he spoke.
At that time the World-Honoured One told the bodhisattva Well-Purified Wisdom: "Good son! Just so, just so. As you have said: 'Those good sons are foolish and dull, unclear, unskilled, not proceeding in accord with principle; toward the characteristic of ultimate truth — that fine and profound characteristic, beyond the sameness-or-otherness of the conditioning-forces — they cannot understand.' Why? Well-Purified Wisdom! It is not in thus ranging by way of the conditioning-forces that one is called one who can penetrate the characteristic of ultimate truth, or who can have realization of the ultimate truth. Why? Well-Purified Wisdom! If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were altogether without difference, then all ordinary worldlings now would already have seen the truths; all ordinary worldlings too should already have won the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa; or should already have realized supreme, perfect awakening. If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were wholly other, then one who had seen the truths should be unable to do away with the characteristic of the conditioning-forces; and if he could not do away with the characteristic of the conditioning-forces, he should be unable to win release from the bondage to marks; and this one who has seen the truths, being unable to win release from the bondage to marks, should be unable to win release from the bondage of gross heaviness too; and being unable to win release from these two bondages, this one who has seen the truths should be unable to win the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa, or should not realize supreme, perfect awakening.
"Well-Purified Wisdom! Precisely because it is not now the case that all ordinary worldlings have already seen the truths, not the case that all ordinary worldlings have been able to win the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa, and not the case that they have realized supreme, perfect awakening — therefore to say 'the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference' does not accord with reason! If here one were to say thus: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference,' by this reasoning know that all such is conduct not in accord with principle, not in accord with right reason.
"Well-Purified Wisdom! Precisely because it is not now the case that one who has seen the truths cannot do away with the characteristic of the conditioning-forces — rather he can do away with it; not the case that one who has seen the truths cannot win release from the bondage to marks — rather he can win release; not the case that one who has seen the truths cannot win release from the bondage of gross heaviness — rather he can win release; and because he can win release from the two obstructions, he can therefore also win the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa, or is able to realize supreme, perfect awakening — therefore to say 'the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are wholly other' does not accord with reason! If here one were to say thus: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are wholly other,' by this reasoning know that all such is conduct not in accord with principle, not in accord with right reason.
"Again, Well-Purified Wisdom! If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were altogether without difference, then just as the characteristic of the conditioning-forces falls within the characteristic of defilement, so the characteristic of ultimate truth too should likewise fall within the characteristic of defilement. Well-Purified Wisdom! If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were wholly other, then it should not be the common characteristic of all the conditioning-forces' characteristics, to be called the characteristic of ultimate truth. Precisely because now the characteristic of ultimate truth does not fall within the characteristic of defilement, and it is just the common characteristic of the conditioning-forces, it is called the characteristic of ultimate truth. Therefore to say 'the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference' does not accord with reason; and to say 'the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are wholly other' does not accord with reason either! If here one were to say thus: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference, or the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are wholly other,' by this reasoning know that all such is conduct not in accord with principle, not in accord with right reason.
"Again, Well-Purified Wisdom! If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were altogether without difference, then just as the characteristic of ultimate truth has no distinctions among the characteristics of the conditioning-forces, so all the characteristics of the conditioning-forces should likewise be without distinctions. The one who practises contemplation, amid the conditioning-forces, according to what he sees, hears, senses, and knows, would then afterward have no need to seek out the ultimate any further. If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were wholly other, then it should not be that which is manifested by the conditioning-forces as their mere selflessness, their mere ownnaturelessness, that is the characteristic of the ultimate. And there should be established, severally at one and the same moment, two characteristics: the characteristic of defilement and the characteristic of purity.
"Well-Purified Wisdom! Precisely because now all the characteristics of the conditioning-forces have distinctions and are not without distinctions; and the one who practises contemplation, amid the conditioning-forces, according to what he sees, hears, senses, and knows, will afterward still seek out the ultimate further; and it is just that which is manifested by the conditioning-forces as their mere selflessness, their mere ownnaturelessness, that is called the characteristic of the ultimate; and it is not the case that the two characteristics of defilement and purity are established severally at one and the same moment — therefore to say 'the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference, or wholly other' does not accord with reason! If here one were to say thus: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are altogether without difference, or wholly other,' by this reasoning know that all such is conduct not in accord with principle, not in accord with right reason.
"Well-Purified Wisdom! It is like the fresh-white colour-nature upon a conch: it is not easy to say whether it is one characteristic or another characteristic with that conch. As with the fresh-white colour-nature upon a conch, so too with the yellow colour upon gold. Again, it is like the wondrous tune-nature upon the sound of a harp: it is not easy to say whether it is one characteristic or another characteristic with the harp's sound. Again, it is like the wondrous scent-nature upon black aloeswood: it is not easy to say whether it is one characteristic or another characteristic with that black aloes. Again, it is like the pungent, sharp, keen nature upon pepper: it is not easy to say whether it is one characteristic or another characteristic with that pepper. As with the pungent, keen, sharp nature upon pepper, so too with the bland, astringent nature of the myrobalan. Again, it is like the soft nature upon tūla-cotton: it is not easy to say whether it is one characteristic or another characteristic with the tūla-cotton. Again, it is like the clarified-butter-essence within ripened butter: it is not easy to say whether it is one characteristic or another characteristic with that ripened butter. Again, it is like the impermanence-nature upon all the conditioning-forces, the suffering-nature upon all that is with-outflows, the pudgala-selflessness-nature upon all dharmas: it is not easy to say whether it is one characteristic or another characteristic with those conditioning-forces and the rest. Again, it is like the unstilled characteristic and the defilement characteristic upon greed: it is not easy to say whether this is one characteristic or another characteristic with that greed. As with greed, so with hatred and delusion — know it is likewise. Just so, Well-Purified Wisdom! The characteristic of ultimate truth cannot be set up and said to be one characteristic or another characteristic with the characteristics of the conditioning-forces.
"Well-Purified Wisdom! Toward such a characteristic of ultimate truth — fine, exceedingly fine; profound, exceedingly profound; hard to penetrate, exceedingly hard to penetrate; beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas — I become fully and rightly awake; and having become fully awake, I proclaim it, reveal it, open it up, set it forth, and illumine it for others."
At that time the World-Honoured One, wishing to make this meaning fully clear once more, spoke it again in a verse, whose sense may be construed thus: The ultimate characteristic of the conditioning-forces and the realm of suchness is apart from being one characteristic and apart from being another characteristic; if one discriminates it as one or as other, that is not to proceed in accord with principle. Beings are bound fast by the bondage to marks and by that bondage of gross heaviness; only by diligently cultivating calm-and-insight can they win release.
The Characteristic of a Single Taste Pervading Everything
At that time the World-Honoured One told the elder Subhūti: "Subhūti! Within the realm of sentient beings, do you know how many sentient beings, harbouring conceit-of-attainment, being held in the grip of conceit-of-attainment, declare the dharma they have understood? And within the realm of sentient beings, do you also know how many sentient beings, free of conceit-of-attainment, declare what they have understood?"
The elder Subhūti said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One! I know that within the realm of sentient beings there are but few sentient beings who, free of conceit-of-attainment, declare what they have understood. World-Honoured One! I know that within the realm of sentient beings there are measureless, countless, beyond-telling sentient beings who, harbouring conceit-of-attainment, being held in the grip of conceit-of-attainment, declare what they have understood.
"World-Honoured One! Once I was dwelling in a great forest of trees, in the wilderness; and at that time there were many bhikṣus dwelling near me in this forest. I saw those bhikṣus, in the latter part of one day, gathering together one after another and, each according to the direct realization he had gained, each speaking of all manner of characteristic-dharmas, declaring the dharma he himself had understood.
"Among them, one sort, by gaining the aggregates, gaining the characteristic of the aggregates, gaining the arising of the aggregates, gaining the ending of the aggregates, gaining the cessation of the aggregates, gaining the realization of the cessation of the aggregates, declared what they had understood. As one sort spoke by gaining the aggregates, so there was another sort that spoke by gaining the sense-fields, and another sort that spoke by gaining dependent arising — know it is likewise.
"And there was another sort that, by gaining the nutriments, gaining the characteristic of the nutriments, gaining the arising of the nutriments, gaining the ending of the nutriments, gaining the cessation of the nutriments, gaining the realization of the cessation of the nutriments, declared what they had understood.
"And there was another sort that, by gaining the truths, gaining the characteristic of the truths, gaining the full knowledge of the truths, gaining the forever-abandoning by way of the truths, gaining the realization of the truths, gaining the cultivation of the truths, declared what they had understood.
"And there was another sort that, by gaining the elements, gaining the characteristic of the elements, gaining the manifold nature of the elements, gaining the not-being-one nature of the elements, gaining the cessation of the elements, gaining the realization of the cessation of the elements, declared what they had understood.
"And there was another sort that, by gaining the foundations of mindfulness, gaining the characteristic of the foundations of mindfulness, gaining what-counters and what-is-countered in the foundations of mindfulness, gaining the cultivation of the foundations of mindfulness, gaining the bringing-to-birth of the not-yet-arisen foundations of mindfulness, gaining the once-arisen foundations of mindfulness firmly abiding, unforgotten, doubly cultivated and made to increase and spread, declared what they had understood. As one sort spoke by gaining the foundations of mindfulness, so there was another sort that spoke by gaining the right exertions; and by gaining the bases of spiritual power, gaining the faculties, gaining the powers, gaining the awakening-factors, they spoke — know it is likewise.
"And there was another sort that, by gaining the eight-limbed noble path, gaining the characteristic of the eight-limbed noble path, gaining what-counters and what-is-countered in the eight-limbed noble path, gaining the cultivation of the eight-limbed noble path, gaining the bringing-to-birth of the not-yet-arisen eight-limbed noble path, gaining the once-arisen eight-limbed noble path firmly abiding, unforgotten, doubly cultivated and made to increase and spread, declared what they had understood.
"World-Honoured One! Having seen them, I thought to myself thus: 'These elders, each according to the direct realization he has gained, each speaking of all manner of characteristic-dharmas, declare what they have understood. Know that these elders one and all harbour conceit-of-attainment, being held in the grip of conceit-of-attainment; toward the characteristic of ultimate truth — that single taste pervading everything — they cannot understand.' Therefore, World-Honoured One, how rare it is! And how well the World-Honoured One has spoken! Just as the World-Honoured One has said: 'The characteristic of ultimate truth is fine, finest; profound, most profound; hard to penetrate, hardest to penetrate; it is the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything.' World-Honoured One! Even the bhikṣus who practise within this holy teaching find the characteristic of ultimate truth — that single taste pervading everything — hard to penetrate; how much more so those of other paths!"
At that time the World-Honoured One told the elder Subhūti: "Just so, just so. Subhūti! Toward the ultimate truth — fine, finest; profound, most profound; hard to penetrate, hardest to penetrate; the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything — I become fully and rightly awake; and having become fully awake, I proclaim it, reveal it, open it up, set it forth, and illumine it for others. Why? Subhūti! I have revealed that the pure object within all the aggregates is the ultimate truth. I have revealed that the pure object within all the sense-fields, dependent arising, the nutriments, the truths, the elements, the foundations of mindfulness, the right exertions, the bases of spiritual power, the faculties, the powers, the awakening-factors, and the path-limbs is the ultimate truth. This pure object, within all the aggregates, is of a single-taste characteristic, a characteristic without difference or otherness; and as it is within the aggregates, so within all the sense-fields, on to all the path-limbs, it is likewise of a single-taste characteristic, a characteristic without difference or otherness. Therefore, Subhūti, by this reasoning know that the ultimate truth is the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything.
"Again, Subhūti! When the bhikṣu who practises contemplation has penetrated the suchness, the ultimate, the dharma-selflessness-nature of one aggregate, he then no longer seeks out severally, for the remaining several aggregates and for the sense-fields, dependent arising, the nutriments, the truths, the elements, the foundations of mindfulness, the right exertions, the bases of spiritual power, the faculties, the powers, the awakening-factors, and the path-limbs, their suchness, ultimate, dharma-selflessness-nature. He takes only the non-dual knowledge that follows upon this suchness and ultimate as his support, and thereupon, toward the ultimate truth that is the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything, he examines and turns toward its realization. Therefore, Subhūti, by this reasoning know that the ultimate truth is the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything.
"Again, Subhūti! Just as those aggregates each in turn have their own differing characteristic, and as those sense-fields, dependent arising, the nutriments, the truths, the elements, the foundations of mindfulness, the right exertions, the bases of spiritual power, the faculties, the powers, the awakening-factors, and the path-limbs each in turn have their own differing characteristic — if the suchness, the ultimate, the dharma-selflessness-nature of all dharmas too had a differing characteristic, then this suchness-ultimate-dharma-selflessness-nature too should have a cause, and be something arisen from a cause. If it were arisen from a cause, then it should be conditioned; if it were conditioned, then it should not be the ultimate; if it were not the ultimate, then one should go on to seek out yet another ultimate truth. Subhūti! Precisely because this suchness-ultimate-dharma-selflessness-nature is not called caused, is not arisen from a cause, and is not conditioned, it is therefore the ultimate truth; and having gained this ultimate, one no longer seeks out yet another ultimate truth. Only — in every constant time and in every enduring time, whether a Tathāgata appears in the world or does not appear — the dharma-nature of the dharmas is established just so, and the dharma-realm abides just so. Therefore, Subhūti, by this reasoning know that the ultimate truth is the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything.
"Subhūti! It is like space within all the manifold kinds of form that are not of one class and each have their own differing characteristic: space is markless, without discrimination, without alteration, of a single-taste characteristic pervading everything. Just so, within all the dharmas that each have their differing nature and differing characteristic, the ultimate truth, of a single-taste characteristic pervading everything — know it is likewise."
At that time the World-Honoured One, wishing to make this meaning fully clear once more, spoke it again in a verse, whose sense may be construed thus: This ultimate, of a single-taste characteristic pervading everything, all the Buddhas declare to be without difference; if anyone, within this, makes a discrimination of differing characteristics, that one is surely foolish, leaning upon conceit-of-attainment.
勝義諦五相總說
勝義諦，究竟是個什麼相？這一品問的就是這一句。世尊不正面下一個定義——祂不能，因為勝義本就不是可以正面指認的對象——而是以四組問答從四個方位把它逼顯出來：首組由如理請問菩薩問解甚深義密意菩薩，後三組才由問主向世尊陳述所見而請決。圓測判全經正說七品為三段（初四品明所觀境、次二品辨能觀行、後一品顯所得果），本品繫於首段所觀境之初的『明真諦』，與下品「明世俗諦」對成二諦；品內則依瑜伽七十五「勝義諦有五相」之文攝為四段，恰與真諦《佛說解節經》四品相合，一品開盡；此經完整對應 T676 品2，分為四品，只就整部《解深密經》而言屬部分譯本。一句話：本品明立瑜伽「勝義諦五相」，是勝義、真如的重要經據；後論只按〈辯真實品〉、〈辯相品〉、《攝大乘論》與《三十頌》等已明列段落互讀，不說一切論書皆以本品為單一根據。
五相是哪五相？離言、無二、超尋思、非一異、遍一味——它離一切言說，不落有為無為兩邊，非尋思推度所能到，與諸行非一非異，平等遍在一切法中而無差別。五相不是五個東西，而是同一勝義從五處看去的同一事。難得的是，本品每一相都不空講：首組由解甚深義密意菩薩以幻師喻作答；後三組由問主陳述所見、世尊回應，分舉辛苦味、螺貝鮮白與虛空為喻。下文順四段，領以問、顯以喻，逐相講開。
何以勝義離言、無二
如理請問菩薩問「一切法無二」，解甚深義密意菩薩來答——這一答，立的是離言相與無二相。
答出來的，先是一切法的兩分：有為、無為。而關鍵的一句是：有為，非有為非無為；無為，亦非無為非有為——這「無二」，不是把兩個東西合成一個，而是說：有為、無為這兩個名目，本身都不是法的真相。經文說得明白：所謂「有為」，乃是本師假施設句；既是假施設句，就是遍計所集、言辭所說，究竟不過是種種遍計言辭，不成其為真實，所以「非是有為」。無為同樣如此。換句話說，有為與無為，都只是佛為了令人現等覺，在離言法性上假立的名想；名是假立的，法性是離言的。這就是「離言」：勝義離一切假施設的言辭。而既然有為、無為兩名都不成實，便無一可執，這就是「無二」——離言通貫四相，只是這裡與無二就近合說了。
那麼，言辭既不成實，是否就無事可說？不是。經文反問「何等為事」，答曰：諸聖者以聖智、聖見，離名言故，現等正覺；就在這離言法性上，為令他人現等覺，纔假立名想謂之有為、謂之無為。所以離言不是斷滅、不是無物可指；所指的「事」，正是聖者離名言所現證的離言法性本身——只是這法性非言所及，凡所立名，都是假施設。
這層意思，全在世尊的善幻師喻上——此喻是這一段的眼。一個善巧的幻術師站在四衢道口，把腳下的瓦礫草木變現成象、馬、車、步，變出末尼、真珠、螺貝、庫藏。同一場幻化，三種人看，看出三個樣子。
頭一種，愚癡惡慧之人，眼前見了便當真，心裡認定『實有象身、實有馬身、實有珍寶』，咬定「唯此諦實，餘皆愚妄」——他見的是幻，執的卻是實。第二種，善慧之人，知道並無真實象馬，只是「幻狀迷惑眼事」；他也隨順著起想、隨順著說『這是象、那是寶』，可心裡明白那不是真的，並不死執。第三種，更上一層，是已見聖諦、於離言法性如實了知的聖者：他於一切有為、無為，看得分明——「決定無實有為、無為，然有分別所起行相，猶如幻事」。三層一上去，正照出凡夫與聖者的分界。
關鍵在圓測述真諦記的一句：「此譬眾生由妄顛倒種種分別，久在生死受諸苦報，不知幻本及不可言無二真如，執為實有；聖人明了，識此非真。」要害是「幻本」二字——幻本就是那離言法性。不識幻本而執幻為實，正是凡夫於有為、無為起決定實有之執；識得幻本非真，正是聖者離名言而現等覺。有為、無為這些名相，就像幻師變出的象馬：你可以隨順著說，卻不可當真——當真，就是把假施設的言辭認作了法的真相。離言、無二之義，一個幻喻便顯盡了。
何以勝義超過尋思（五理）
第二段，法涌菩薩帶來一樁親見的事，問出超過尋思所行相。
他在他方佛土見過一處：七萬七千外道連同他們的師首，同坐一會，一齊「思議、稱量、觀察、遍推求」勝義諦相——人多、力齊、推得也勤，結果竟一無所得。所得的，唯是「種種意解、別異意解、變異意解」，各執一說、互相違背，到後來「口出矛𥎞，更相𥎞已、刺已、惱已、壞已，各各離散」。七萬七千個聰明腦袋一齊推度，推出來的不是勝義，是一場以言語為矛戈、彼此刺傷的諍鬥。這一幕反顯得分明：勝義根本不是尋思推度所能到的境界——你推得愈用力，離得愈遠。世尊隨即以五條道理，把「超尋思」說透。其一，勝義是諸聖者內自所證，尋思所行只是異生輾轉相傳所證——勝義是內證境，非展轉可傳。其二，勝義無相所行，尋思但行有相境界——勝義非取相之境。其三，勝義不可言說，尋思但行言說境界——勝義非言說所及。其四，勝義絕諸表示，尋思但行表示境界——勝義非見聞覺知種種表示所能標。其五，勝義絕諸諍論，尋思但行諍論境界——勝義非是非諍辯所及。內證、無相、不可言說、絕表示、絕諍論：這五理，條條都把尋思排在勝義之外，所以「當知勝義超過一切尋思境相」。
這五理，世尊各配一喻顯之，五喻打的是同一個結：人被自己一向的習氣綁住，便連去想另一種境界都做不到。
先看頭一喻。有一個人，「盡其壽量習辛苦味」——一輩子嘴裡只嚐過辛辣苦澀，從沒沾過甜。你跟他講蜜、講石蜜那種上妙美味，他「不能尋思、不能比度、不能信解」——不是不肯信，是他那條舌頭裡根本沒有可以比對的東西，他連想都想不出甜是什麼。這就是尋思者對勝義之味：不是勝義太遠，是他從來只活在尋思這一味裡，舌頭已經定型了。
餘下四喻，喻喻都是這個格：各說一種『一向所著』，便障了一種勝境。被欲貪熾火長夜燒著的人，想不出『除滅色聲香味觸』的妙遠離樂——著欲者不解內證之樂。長夜樂著世間綺麗言說的人，想不出那『內寂靜的聖默然樂』——著言說者不解無言之境。長夜樂著種種表示的人，想不出那『永斷一切表示的薩迦耶滅、究竟涅槃』——著表示者不解絕表示之勝義。長夜懷著「我所、攝受」、樂著諍論的人，想不出北拘盧洲那「無我所、無攝受、離諍論」的境地——著諍論者不解絕諍之勝義。五喻並陳，恰與五理一一相對：你一向安住的那一味愈深，勝義所超的便愈遠——習辛苦的嚐不出蜜，慣諍論的想不到無諍，理同此理。
何以勝義與諸行非一非異（破二執、二縛二障）
第三段，善清淨慧菩薩也帶來一場親見的諍：他見過一會勝解行地的菩薩，同坐共議『勝義諦相與諸行相是一、是異』，議到後來分作兩黨、各執一端，旁人還在一邊疑惑『誰說的是真、誰說的是妄』。這一諍，問出超過諸法一異性相。
諍的兩端是：一類執勝義諦相與諸行相「都無有異」（一），一類執「一向異」（異）。世尊兩邊都破。先破「都無異」：若勝義與諸行毫無差異，那麼凡夫日日緣諸行而行，豈不一切異生早已見諦、早已得無上方便安隱涅槃、早已證無上菩提了？事實並非如此，故「都無異」不合道理。再破「一向異」：若勝義與諸行全然有異，那麼已見諦的人對諸行相就除遣不掉；除遣不掉，便於相縛不得解脫，連麁重縛也不得解脫；二縛不脫，便不能得涅槃、不能證菩提。事實是見諦者能除遣諸行、能解脫二障、能得涅槃菩提，故「一向異」也不合道理。
世尊更從兩面把這破說得更密。其一，就染淨說：若「都無異」，則諸行墮雜染相，勝義也應墮雜染——但勝義不墮雜染，故非無異；若「一向異」，則勝義不應是諸行的共相——但勝義正是諸行共相，故非全異。其二，就修證說：若「都無異」，則勝義在諸行上無差別，一切行相也應無差別，修觀者照所見聞覺知便不必再求勝義——但行相實有差別，修觀者後時仍須更求勝義；若「一向異」，則勝義不應是「諸行唯無我性、唯無自性之所顯現」，且染淨二相應同時別別成立——但勝義正是諸行無我無自性之所顯現，且染淨非同時別立。如此兩破，勝義與諸行非一非異之義，從見諦、二縛二障、染淨、修證四處，都得安立。
「非一非異」這四字微細難喻，世尊偏舉了一個人人見過的東西來顯——螺貝。此喻是這一段的眼，且看一枚螺貝。
拿起一枚螺貝，那一身鮮白的色，你能把它跟螺貝說成「一」嗎？不能：螺貝是地水火風四塵和合的一個物，鮮白是它上頭的一種色性，物是物、色是色，總別分明，怎好說是同一個。那能說成「異」嗎？也不能：你倒是把那鮮白從螺貝上剝下來給我看看——剝不下來，離了螺貝再沒有一個可單獨指認的鮮白。圓測釋得正切：螺貝喻諸行相（四塵各異故），鮮白色性喻勝義諦（色性通遍故）；不可言一，總別有異故；不可言異，無別體可分故。鮮白即在螺貝上而不離螺貝——勝義便正是這樣即在諸行上而不離諸行：你說它與諸行是一，諸行墮雜染它也該墮，可勝義不墮；你說它與諸行是異，它便不成其為諸行的共相，可勝義正是諸行的共相。即之而不即，離之而不離，這就是「非一非異」。
換一根感官，理還是這一個。箜篌弦上那一段美妙曲性，你既剝不出來單放、又不能說它就是那具木箜篌；黑沈香裡那一縷妙香、胡椒那一口辛猛、熟酥上那一層醍醐，無一不是即在其物而不離其物，不可言一、不可言異。世尊一氣約色、聲、香、味、觸、法六境舉了十喻（色舉螺貝鮮白、金黃，聲舉箜篌曲性，香舉黑沈，味舉胡椒辛、訶梨淡，觸舉蠧羅綿軟、熟酥醍醐，法舉諸行無常、有漏法苦、一切法補特伽羅無我、貪瞋癡上的不寂靜雜染相），六根所對處處可驗：勝義與諸行之非一非異，不在玄遠，就在一枚螺貝、一縷沈香之間。
何以勝義遍一切一味
第四段，長老善現帶來最後一樁親見的事，問出遍一切一味相。
他在阿練若大樹林中住時，見一群苾芻於日後分聚到一處，各依有所得的現觀，各說各的：這一類由蘊而說，那一類由處而說，又一類由緣起、由食、由諦、由界、由念住乃至道支而說——你說蘊、我說處、他說道支，人人「記別所解」、人人執定自己那一隅。善現看了暗想：這些長老一個個都懷增上慢——未證謂證；正因各別記別、不達那遍一切一味的勝義諦相。世尊印可，並正面顯何謂「遍一切一味」：祂已顯示，於一切蘊中的清淨所緣，就是勝義諦；於一切處乃至道支中的清淨所緣，也都是勝義諦——這清淨所緣，在一切蘊中是一味相、無別異相，在一切處乃至道支中亦然。所以勝義諦遍在一切法中，是同一味，無差別。再者，修觀苾芻只要通達一蘊的真如、勝義、法無我性，便不必別別再求餘蘊餘處的真如勝義——因為真如勝義是無二的，得一即得遍一切。又：諸蘊諸處各有異相，若真如勝義法無我性也隨之有異相，便應有因、從因所生，從因生即是有為，有為即非勝義——故知這真如勝義法無我性不名有因、非因所生、非有為，纔是勝義諦；它只在常常時、恒恒時，如來出世與否，諸法法性恒這樣安立、法界恒這樣安住。
於是「遍一切一味」的內容便分明了：勝義諦即一切法中的清淨所緣，即真如，即法無我性；它無因、非因所生、非有為，所以不隨諸法之異而有異，纔能遍一切而一味。世尊末以虛空喻收束：抬頭看那一片虛空，下臨種種各別異相的色——青的、黃的，種種不一——虛空卻於其中無相、無分別、無變異，從頭到尾只是一味，且遍在一切色處。圓測釋得三義：虛空中無能造所造之相，故無相；無種種差別色，故無分別；無有變壞，故無變異；具此三義，名一味相。色相千差萬別，虛空卻一味而遍——勝義之在諸法，正是這樣。回頭再看那群苾芻：他們的病，恰恰是把這片一味的虛空當成了一格一格的色——執定『勝義在蘊』『勝義在處』『勝義在道支』，各認自己那一隅是勝義，於是反不見那遍一切、無別異的一味相。通達了一蘊的真如，本就更不必別求餘蘊餘處——因為真如勝義無二，得一即得遍一切；各別記別，正是不解此理的增上慢。
承衍與互讀
本品所立勝義諦五相、真如義，可與後世唯識論典逐項互讀。《辯中邊論》〈辯真實品〉辨義、得、正行三勝義；〈辯相品〉〔T31n1600 0465c04–11〕辨空性與虛妄分別非一非異，可分別與本品勝義義、勝義與諸行非一非異互讀。《攝大乘論》〈所知相分〉立真如、所知相，明圓成實的『無變異性、清淨所緣性』，可與本品『真如勝義法無我性、清淨所緣、常住不待因』對讀。《三十頌》第二十五頌「此諸法勝義，亦即是真如，常如其性故，即唯識實性」，其勝義即真如之義與本品相應。《二十論》唯識無境的勝義安立，也可與本品勝義超尋思、離言互讀。各論只就明文所在互讀，不把一品所說移載到另一品。
A General Statement of the Five Mark of Ultimate Truth
What kind of characteristic, after all, is the ultimate truth? That one line is what this chapter asks after. The World-Honoured One does not hand down a definition outright — He cannot, for the ultimate is simply no object that can be pointed out head-on — but instead brings it into view through four approaches of question and answer: in the first, the Bodhisattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle questions the Bodhisattva Who Understands the Profound Secret Meaning; only in the latter three do the questioners report what they have observed and ask the World-Honoured One to decide. Woncheuk divides the seven chapters of the sūtra's main exposition into three stretches: the first four chapters clarify the object to be contemplated; the next two distinguish the contemplating practice; the last one displays the fruit attained. The present chapter belongs at the very head of the first stretch, "the object to be contemplated," to its "clarifying of the true truth," and together with the next chapter ("clarifying of the conventional truth") forms the pair of the two truths. Within the chapter, following the words of the Yogācārabhūmi scroll seventy-five — "the ultimate truth has five characteristics" — it is gathered into four stretches, fitting exactly with the four chapters of Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經), the full counterpart to T676 Chapter 2, divided into four chapters and partial only relative to the sūtra as a whole. In a word: this chapter explicitly establishes the five characteristics of ultimate truth and is an important scriptural source for ultimate truth and suchness. Later works are compared only at the identified passages in the Madhyānta-vibhāga, Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, and Thirty Verses; they are not all said to take this chapter as a single ground.
Which five characteristics? Inexpressible, non-dual, beyond reasoning, neither-one-nor-other, and a single taste pervading everything — it is apart from all speech, falls into neither of the two extremes of conditioned and unconditioned, is no place that reasoning's reckoning can reach, is neither one with nor other than the conditioning-forces, and equally pervades all dharmas without difference. The five characteristics are not five things, but one and the same ultimate seen from five sides, one and the same matter. And the rare thing is that this chapter speaks none of the characteristics in the void: the first exchange is answered by the Bodhisattva Who Understands the Profound Secret Meaning with the conjuror simile; in the latter three, the questioners report what they observed and the World-Honoured One responds with the bitter-and-pungent savour, fresh-white conch, and space similes. What follows takes up the four sections in order, leading with the question and bringing forth with the simile, opening out each characteristic in turn.
Section One: Why the Ultimate Is Inexpressible and Non-Dual
The bodhisattva Who Asks in Accord with Principle asks after "the non-duality of all dharmas," and the bodhisattva He Who Unravels the Hidden Intent of the Profound Meaning answers — and this one answer establishes the characteristic of being inexpressible and the characteristic of being non-dual.
What is answered out is, first, the twofold division of all dharmas: the conditioned and the unconditioned. And the key line is this: the conditioned is neither conditioned nor unconditioned; the unconditioned too is neither unconditioned nor conditioned. This "non-duality" is not the merging of two things into one; rather it says: the two names "conditioned" and "unconditioned" are themselves not the true face of the dharmas. The scripture says it plainly: what is called "conditioned" is a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher; being a phrase provisionally set up, it is amassed by imagination and spoken in words, in the last analysis but the manifold things of imagination's words, not amounting to anything real, and therefore "not the conditioned." The unconditioned is likewise. To put it another way: the conditioned and the unconditioned are only names-and-notions that the Buddha provisionally set up upon the inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order to make others fully awake; the name is provisionally set up, the Dharma-nature is inexpressible. This is "inexpressible": the ultimate is apart from all provisionally-set-up words. And since neither of the two names, conditioned and unconditioned, amounts to anything real, there is nothing to be grasped at — this is "non-dual." (The inexpressible runs through all four characteristics; it is only here, with the non-dual, that the two are spoken of close together.)
But if words amount to nothing real, is there then nothing whatever to be spoken of? No. The scripture asks back, "What is the thing?" and answers: the noble ones, by noble wisdom and noble vision, being apart from name-and-word, become fully and rightly awake; and upon just this inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order to make others fully awake, they then provisionally set up a name-and-notion and call it conditioned, call it unconditioned. So "inexpressible" is not annihilation, not the having of nothing to point to; the "thing" pointed to is precisely the inexpressible Dharma-nature itself, realized by the noble ones apart from name-and-word — it is only that this Dharma-nature is beyond what words can reach, and whatever names are set up are all provisional settings-up.
This whole sense rests upon the World-Honoured One's simile of the skilled conjuror — and this simile is the eye of the passage. A skilled conjuror stands at a great crossroads and conjures the tile, gravel, grass, and sticks beneath his feet into elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers, conjures forth jewels, pearls, conch, and granaries. One and the same conjuring; and three sorts of people, seeing it, see three different things.
The first sort, the foolish and of bad wisdom, see it before them and take it for real, settling it in their hearts that "there are real elephant-bodies, real horse-bodies, real treasures," and clinging fast to "this alone is real, all the rest is foolishness and delusion" — what they see is illusion, yet what they grasp is the real. The second sort, those of good wisdom, know there are no real elephants or horses, only "an illusory shape deceiving the eye"; they too follow along in raising notions and in saying "this is an elephant, that is a treasure," yet they know in their hearts it is not real, and do not cling fast. The third sort, a step higher still, are the noble ones who have seen the noble truths and know the inexpressible Dharma-nature as it truly is: toward all that is conditioned and unconditioned they see clearly — "surely there is no real conditioned or unconditioned, yet there is an appearance, arising from discrimination, like an illusory thing." Mount these three sorts in turn, and the very boundary between worldling and noble one stands revealed.
The crux lies in one line of Woncheuk's glossing of Paramārtha's record: "This is a figure for how beings, through deluded and inverted manifold discrimination, long abide in birth-and-death and undergo all manner of suffering, not knowing the illusion's source and the inexpressible non-dual suchness, and grasp it as really existent; while the noble ones see clearly, and recognize this as not real." The pith is in the two words "the illusion's source" — the illusion's source is that inexpressible Dharma-nature. Not to recognize the illusion's source but to grasp the illusion as real is just the worldling's giving rise, upon the conditioned and the unconditioned, to a grasping at them as surely and really existent; to recognize the illusion's source as not real is just the noble one's becoming fully awake apart from name-and-word. Names like "conditioned" and "unconditioned" are like the elephants and horses the conjuror brings forth: you may follow along and say them, but you must not take them for real — to take them for real is to mistake provisionally-set-up words for the true face of the dharmas. The meaning of being inexpressible and non-dual is brought to light in full by this one illusion-simile.
Section Two: Why the Ultimate Is Beyond Reasoning (Five Reasons)
In the second section, the bodhisattva Dharma-Welling-Forth brings forward a thing he has himself witnessed, and so asks out the characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning.
In another Buddha-land he had seen a place: seventy-seven thousand followers of other paths, together with their head teachers, sat together in one gathering and all at once "deliberated, weighed, examined, and searched out on every side" the characteristic of the ultimate truth — many of them, their strength concerted, their searching diligent — and in the end gained nothing whatever. What they came away with was only "all manner of construals, divergent construals, altered construals," each holding to his own word, at odds with one another, until at last "they loosed from their mouths the spears and lances of speech, and with spear after spear thrust at, pricked, vexed, and undid one another, and each scattered apart." Seventy-seven thousand clever heads reckoning together, and what they reckoned out was not the ultimate but a brawl, speech for their spears and lances, wounding one another. This scene shows the matter by contrast all the more plainly: the ultimate is simply no realm that reasoning's reckoning can reach — the harder you reckon, the farther off you are. The World-Honoured One thereupon, by five reasons, speaks the "beyond-reasoning" through to the end. First: the ultimate is what the noble ones inwardly realize within themselves, while what reasoning ranges over is only what worldlings realize by handing it on from one to another — the ultimate is an inwardly-realized realm, not to be handed on by transmission. Second: the ultimate ranges in the markless, while reasoning ranges only in the realm of marks — the ultimate is no realm of mark-grasping. Third: the ultimate is inexpressible, while reasoning ranges only in the realm of speech — the ultimate is beyond what speech can reach. Fourth: the ultimate cuts off all indication, while reasoning ranges only in the realm of indication — the ultimate cannot be marked out by the manifold indications of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. Fifth: the ultimate cuts off all dispute, while reasoning ranges only in the realm of dispute — the ultimate is beyond the reach of right-and-wrong contention. Inwardly realized, markless, inexpressible, cutting off indication, cutting off dispute: these five reasons, one by one, place reasoning outside the ultimate, and therefore "know that the ultimate is beyond the realm-characteristic of all reasoning."
These five reasons the World-Honoured One brings forth each with a simile, and the five similes all strike the same knot: a man is bound by his own long-standing habit, so that he cannot so much as conceive another kind of realm.
Take the first simile first. There is a man who "all his life has been used to bitter and pungent flavours" — a lifetime with nothing in his mouth but the bitter, the harsh, the astringent, never once touched by the sweet. Speak to him of honey, of rock-sugar, of such exquisite savours, and he "cannot reason it out, cannot reckon it, cannot believe-and-understand it" — not that he refuses to believe, but that on that tongue of his there is simply nothing to set it against; he cannot so much as conceive what sweet is. Just so is the reasoner toward the savour of the ultimate: it is not that the ultimate is too far off, but that he has only ever lived in this one savour of reasoning, and his tongue is already set.
The remaining four similes are every one of this same pattern: each names one thing "long clung to," and thereby one fine realm is barred. The man scorched through the long night by the burning fires of desire-greed cannot conceive the subtle, far-off joy of seclusion that "extinguishes all the marks of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch" — the desire-bound do not understand the joy of inward realization. The man who through the long night relishes and clings to the world's ornate speech cannot conceive the "joy of the noble silence inwardly stilled" — the speech-bound do not understand the wordless realm. The man who through the long night relishes and clings to the manifold indications cannot conceive the "cessation of the self-body-view, the ultimate nirvāṇa, that forever severs all indication" — the indication-bound do not understand the ultimate that cuts off indication. The man who through the long night harbours "mine" and "appropriation," relishing and clinging to dispute, cannot conceive the state of the Northern Continent Kuru, "where there is no 'mine,' no appropriation, and dispute is left behind" — the dispute-bound do not understand the ultimate that cuts off dispute. Five similes set out together, matching the five reasons one to one: the deeper the one savour you have long settled into, the farther off is the ultimate it surpasses — the man used to bitter-and-pungent cannot taste honey, the man habituated to dispute cannot conceive non-dispute, the principle is one and the same.
Section Three: Why the Ultimate Is Neither One with nor Other than the Conditioning-Forces (Breaking the Two Graspings, the Two Bondages and Two Obstructions)
In the third section, the bodhisattva Well-Purified Wisdom too brings forward a dispute he has himself witnessed: he had seen, at one gathering, bodhisattvas on the stage of resolute conduct sitting together to deliberate whether "the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are one, or are other," deliberating until they split into two parties each holding to its end, while bystanders still wondered to one side "whose word is real and whose is false." This dispute asks out the characteristic of being beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas.
The two ends of the dispute are: one sort grasps that the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces are "altogether without difference" (sameness); one sort grasps that they are "wholly other" (otherness). The World-Honoured One breaks both ends. First He breaks "altogether without difference": if the ultimate and the conditioning-forces had not the least difference, then since worldlings range amid the conditioning-forces day after day, would not all worldlings have long since seen the truths, long since won the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa, long since realized supreme awakening? But this is not so in fact, and therefore "altogether without difference" does not accord with reason. Next He breaks "wholly other": if the ultimate and the conditioning-forces were entirely other, then one who has seen the truths could not do away with the characteristic of the conditioning-forces; unable to do away with it, he could not win release from the bondage to marks, nor even from the bondage of gross heaviness; the two bondages unloosened, he could not win nirvāṇa, could not realize awakening. But the fact is that one who has seen the truths can do away with the conditioning-forces, can win release from the two obstructions, can win nirvāṇa and realize awakening — and therefore "wholly other" too does not accord with reason.
The World-Honoured One presses the breaking still closer from two further sides. First, by way of defilement and purity: if "altogether without difference," then since the conditioning-forces fall within the characteristic of defilement, the ultimate too should fall within defilement — but the ultimate does not fall within defilement, and therefore it is not without difference; if "wholly other," then the ultimate should not be the common characteristic of the conditioning-forces — but the ultimate is precisely the common characteristic of the conditioning-forces, and therefore it is not wholly other. Second, by way of cultivation-and-realization: if "altogether without difference," then the ultimate would have no distinctions among the conditioning-forces, and all the characteristics of the conditioning-forces too should be without distinctions, and the one who contemplates, having seen, heard, sensed, and known, would have no need to seek the ultimate any further — but the characteristics of the conditioning-forces do have distinctions, and the one who contemplates must still seek the ultimate further afterward; if "wholly other," then the ultimate should not be "that which the conditioning-forces manifest as their mere selflessness, their mere ownnaturelessness," and the two characteristics of defilement and purity should be established severally at one and the same moment — but the ultimate is just what the conditioning-forces manifest as their selflessness and ownnaturelessness, and defilement and purity are not established severally at the same moment. By these two breakings, the meaning of the ultimate's being neither one with nor other than the conditioning-forces is established from all four sides: from the seeing of the truths, from the two bondages and two obstructions, from defilement-and-purity, and from cultivation-and-realization.
These four words "neither one nor other" are fine and hard to figure, and the World-Honoured One chose to raise a thing every man has seen to bring it to light — the conch. This simile is the eye of the passage; consider a single conch.
Take up a conch: that body of fresh-white colour — can you say it is "one" with the conch? You cannot: the conch is a single thing, the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind compounded; the fresh-white is a colour-nature upon it; thing is thing and colour is colour, the general and the particular plainly distinct — how could they be said to be one and the same? Then can you say it is "other"? You cannot either: peel that fresh-white off the conch and show it to me alone — it cannot be peeled off; apart from the conch there is no fresh-white that can be pointed out by itself. Woncheuk glosses it just to the point: the conch is a figure for the characteristic of the conditioning-forces (its four sense-objects being each distinct); the fresh-white colour-nature is a figure for the ultimate truth (the colour-nature pervading throughout); they cannot be said to be one, the general and the particular being other; they cannot be said to be other, there being no separate substance to be divided off. The fresh-white is just upon the conch and not apart from the conch — and the ultimate is just so, just upon the conditioning-forces and not apart from the conditioning-forces: say it is one with the conditioning-forces, and since the conditioning-forces fall within defilement it too should fall, yet the ultimate does not fall; say it is other than the conditioning-forces, and it no longer amounts to their common characteristic, yet the ultimate is precisely their common characteristic. Upon them yet not upon them, apart from them yet not apart — this is "neither one nor other."
Change to another sense-faculty, and the principle is still this one. The wondrous tune-nature upon a harp's string you can neither peel out to set alone nor say is just that wooden harp; the one thread of wondrous scent within black aloeswood, the one mouthful of pungent keenness in pepper, the one layer of clarified-butter-essence upon ripened butter — every one of them is just upon its thing and not apart from its thing, not to be said one, not to be said other. The World-Honoured One in one breath raised ten similes across the six objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma (for form, the fresh-white and the gold-yellow; for sound, the harp's tune-nature; for smell, black aloeswood; for taste, the pungency of pepper and the blandness of myrobalan; for touch, the softness of tūla-cotton and the essence within ripened butter; for dharma, the impermanence upon all conditioning-forces, the suffering upon all that is with-outflows, the pudgala-selflessness upon all dharmas, and the unstilled, defilement characteristic upon greed, hatred, and delusion), and at every place the six faculties confront, it can be tested: the ultimate's being neither one with nor other than the conditioning-forces lies in nothing far-off, but right here between a single conch and a single thread of aloeswood.
Section Four: Why the Ultimate Pervades Everything in a Single Taste
In the fourth section, the elder Subhūti brings forward the last thing he has himself witnessed, and so asks out the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything.
While dwelling in a great forest of trees in the wilderness, he saw a band of bhikṣus gather to one place in the latter part of a day, each according to the direct realization he had gained, each speaking of his own: this sort speaking by way of the aggregates, that sort by way of the sense-fields, yet another by way of dependent arising, the nutriments, the truths, the elements, the foundations of mindfulness, on to the path-limbs — you speaking of the aggregates, I of the sense-fields, he of the path-limbs, each man "declaring what he had understood," each settling upon his own one corner. Subhūti, seeing it, thought to himself: these elders one and all harbour conceit-of-attainment — claiming realization where there is none; and just because they declare severally, they do not reach the characteristic of ultimate truth as the single taste pervading everything. The World-Honoured One confirms it, and sets forth head-on what "pervading everything in a single taste" means: He has revealed that the pure object within all the aggregates is the ultimate truth; that the pure object within all the sense-fields, on to the path-limbs, is likewise the ultimate truth — and this pure object, within all the aggregates, is of a single-taste characteristic, a characteristic without difference or otherness, and so too within all the sense-fields, on to the path-limbs. Thus the ultimate truth pervades all dharmas, of one and the same taste, without difference. Again, the contemplating bhikṣu, once he has penetrated the suchness, the ultimate, the dharma-selflessness-nature of one aggregate, need no longer seek out severally the suchness and ultimate of the remaining aggregates and sense-fields — for the suchness and ultimate are non-dual: to gain one is to gain that which pervades everything. And further: the aggregates and sense-fields each have their differing characteristic; if the suchness-ultimate-dharma-selflessness-nature too followed them in having a differing characteristic, then it should have a cause and be arisen from a cause; arisen from a cause, it would be conditioned; conditioned, it would not be the ultimate — and therefore know that this suchness-ultimate-dharma-selflessness-nature is not called caused, is not arisen from a cause, is not conditioned, and only thus is the ultimate truth; it stands only in every constant time and every enduring time, whether or not a Tathāgata appears in the world, the dharma-nature of the dharmas ever established just so, the dharma-realm ever abiding just so.
So the content of "pervading everything in a single taste" is now made plain: the ultimate truth is the pure object within all dharmas, is suchness, is the dharma-selflessness-nature; it is uncaused, not arisen from a cause, not conditioned, and so it does not differ along with the difference of the dharmas, and only thus can it pervade everything in a single taste. The World-Honoured One draws it to a close with the simile of space: lift your eyes to that one stretch of space, and beneath it lie the manifold kinds of form, each of a differing characteristic — the blue, the yellow, manifold and not of one — yet space, amid them, is markless, without discrimination, without alteration, from first to last only one taste, and pervading all the places of form. Woncheuk glosses it in three meanings: in space there is no characteristic of producer or produced, and so it is markless; there is no form of manifold distinctions, and so it is without discrimination; there is no decaying or altering, and so it is without alteration; possessing these three meanings, it is named the single-taste characteristic. Form-characteristics differ a thousandfold, while space is of one taste and pervades — and the ultimate's being within the dharmas is exactly thus. Turn back now to that band of bhikṣus: their malady is just this, that they have taken this one stretch of single-taste space for form parcelled out cell by cell — settling on "the ultimate is in the aggregates," "the ultimate is in the sense-fields," "the ultimate is in the path-limbs," each owning his own one corner as the ultimate, and so failing to see that all-pervading, undifferentiated single-taste characteristic. Penetrate the suchness of one aggregate, and one need not by rights seek out the remaining aggregates and sense-fields severally at all — for the suchness-ultimate is non-dual, and to gain one is to gain that which pervades everything; declaring severally is just the conceit-of-attainment of one who does not understand this principle.
What the Later Tradition Carries On
The five characteristics of ultimate truth and the meaning of suchness established in this chapter may be read point by point alongside later Consciousness-Only treatises. The Madhyānta-vibhāga's Chapter Distinguishing the Real treats the three ultimates of meaning, attainment, and right practice; its Chapter Distinguishing the Characteristics 〔T31n1600 0465c04–11〕 treats emptiness and false discrimination as neither one nor other. These may respectively be compared with this chapter's ultimate-truth teaching and its ultimate and conditioned phenomena as neither one nor other. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha's Division on the Characteristics of the Knowable treats suchness and the perfectly-accomplished nature's unchanging and pure-object aspects, for comparison with this chapter's suchness, pure object, and constant abiding. The twenty-fifth verse of the Thirty Verses identifies the ultimate of dharmas with suchness, corresponding to this chapter's usage; the Twenty Verses may likewise be compared with its ultimate beyond reasoning and expression. Each comparison is limited to the passage in which the later work actually makes the relevant claim.
考據Apparatus
本品立勝義諦五相（離言·無二·超尋思·非一異·遍一味）——勝義／真如之經據；後論只按明列段落作主題互讀。本品圓測「攝為四段」，四段（離言無二·超尋思·過一異·遍一味）一品開盡。
一、科判定位
| 科判系統 | 此品之位 |
|---|---|
| 玄奘 T676 八品 | 第二 勝義諦相品（卷一中；〔T16 0688c18〕起，〔T16 0692a25〕「此遍一切一味相」偈訖，品三前） |
| 圓測科文（X21n0369·主錨） | 聖教正說分 → 所觀境 → 真俗境 → 第一『明真諦（勝義諦相品）』〔X0203c08〕；品內依瑜伽七十五「勝義諦有五種相」〔T30n1579 0713c25〕攝為四段〔X0203c10–18〕（離言無二／超尋思／過一異／遍一味） |
| 流支 T675 十一品 | 第二 聖者善問菩薩問品（子①）· 第三 聖者曇無竭菩薩問品（子②）· 第四 聖者善清淨慧菩薩問品（子③）· 第五 慧命須菩提問品（子④）——玄奘一品，流支開為四品 |
| 真諦《佛說解節經》T677 | 全經四品＝本品四段：不可言無二品第一（子①）· 過覺觀境品第二（子②）· 過一異品第三（子③）· 一味品第四（子④）——《佛說解節經》完整對應 T676 品2，分為四品；只就整部《解深密經》而言屬部分譯本，品2 不從闕 |
| 攝決擇分 T1579 | 卷七十五 攝決擇分中菩薩地之四·決擇菩提分品：「勝義諦有五種相」〔T30 0713c25〕是論文總標；明引本品自〔0713c28〕離名言相段起（四段俱引） |
| 遁倫 T1828 | 釋攝決擇分五相段：「就初問勝義諦相中，先開五門；第二依門解釋，有其四段」〔T42 0771b07–08〕 |
圓測判全經正說分「七品攝為三段」，勝義諦相品繫於首段「所觀境」之初『明真諦』：
「自下第二聖教正說分。於此分中有其七品攝為三段：初有四品明所觀境〔勝義諦相品、心意識相品、一切法相品、無自性相品〕，次有二品辨能觀行〔分別瑜伽品、地波羅蜜多品〕，後有一品顯所得果〔如來成所住事品〕。」〔X21n0369 X0203b19–23〕
〔題名異文：此科判行作「如來成所住事品」；T676 與本疏品題作「如來成所作事品」，兩形並錄。〕
復就「所觀境」分真俗，勝義諦相品正當『明真諦』之位：
「就所觀境復分為二：初有二品明真俗境〔勝義諦相品明其真諦、心意識相品明世俗諦〕，後二品明有無性境〔謂初品明三性境，後品明三無性境〕。就二諦中本末次第，先真俗故。」〔X21n0369 X0203c07–10〕
圓測「攝為四段」之科文（自瑜伽七十五「勝義諦五相」攝來，明記真諦《佛說解節經》四品同此四段）：
「依瑜伽論判此品中辨五種相，故七十五云：復次勝義諦有五相：一離名言相、二無二相、三超過尋思所行相、四超過諸法一異性相、五遍一切一味相。今依此經攝為四段：一明離言及無二相，二爾時法涌下明超過尋思所行相，三爾時善清淨慧下辨非一異相，四爾時世尊下釋遍一切一味相。五中離言應通四段，四相皆有離言相故，而與無二一處合說，准可知故。」〔X21n0369 X0203c10–18〕
「就前二相文別有二：初長行廣釋，後以頌略說。前中有六：一請問，二略答，三徵問，四廣釋，五重徵，六喻說。〔依真諦判，四段同前。〕」〔X21n0369 X0203c18–21〕
四段內圓測各立釋曰子科：子①「釋無二相」〔X0205a17〕「釋無為無二相」〔X0207c13〕· 子②「釋超過尋思所行相」〔X0213b02〕· 子③「釋超過尋思相中…」〔X0221b24〕· 子④「釋遍一切一味相」〔X0229a05〕。
遁倫於瑜伽論記，據攝決擇分五相段判本品「先開五門，第二依門解釋，有其四段」，並列本經四翻：
「言解深密經者，此經有四翻。一、流支翻名深密解脫經；二、求那跋陀羅翻名相續解脫經；三、真諦翻名解節經；四、玄奘翻名解深密經。梵本一音，具含」〔T42n1828 0771b09–12〕
二、異譯·論中明引／同譯者平行對勘
本品要句之漢譯校本：玄奘 T676（底本）· 流支 T675（全本主對校·一品開四品）· 真諦《佛說解節經》T677（品2 活校本·四品＝四段，逐段對勘）· 攝決擇分 T1579 卷七十五（論中明引／同譯者平行·《瑜伽師地論》署彌勒菩薩說、玄奘譯·四段俱引全文）。求那 T678／T679 不涵蓋本品，從闕（求那二本當解深密最後二品〔品7·品8〕）。
〔品3／品4 真諦《佛說解節經》從闕；品2 真諦不從闕——《佛說解節經》完整對應 T676 品2，分為四品；只就整部《解深密經》而言屬部分譯本。〕
〔子①〕句一 離言無二相定義（有為·無為皆本師假施設）
| 版本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 玄奘 T676 | 一切法者，略有二種：一者、有為；二者、無為。是中有為，非有為非無為；無為，亦非無為非有為。…言有為者，乃是本師假施設句。若是本師假施設句，即是遍計所集、言辭所說；若是遍計所集、言辭所說，即是究竟種種遍計言辭所說。不成實故，非是有為。 | T16n0676 0688c23–0689a03 |
| 流支 T675 | 等為二？一者、有為法，二者、無為法。善男子！有為法者，非有為、非無為；無為法者，非有為、非無為。 | T16n0675 0666a07–09 |
| 真諦 T677 | 是一切法不過此二，謂所作、非所作。所作者，非所作非非所作；非所作者，非非所作，亦非所作。…所作者，此是大師正教言句，若是大師正教言句，即是世間所立言說，從分別起。此世言說若分別起，由種種分別及所言說一向不成，故非所作。 | T16n0677 0711c18–20·0711c23–26 |
| 攝決擇分 T1579 | 一切法者略有二種，一者、有為，二者、無為。是中有為非有為、非無為，無為、亦非無為、非有為。…善男子！言有為者，乃是本師假施設句。若是本師假施設句，即是遍計所集言辭所說；若是遍計所集言辭所說，即 | T30n1579 0714a03–10 |
異文所繫：（甲）二法之名，玄奘／攝決擇分作「有為·無為」，真諦作「所作·非所作」（《佛說解節經》古譯，同詞異譯），流支作「有為法·無為法」。（乙）「本師假施設句」玄奘／攝決擇分同文，真諦作「大師正教言句」（本師／大師·假施設句／正教言句，異譯）。（丙）「遍計所集、言辭所說」玄奘系，真諦作「世間所立言說，從分別起」（遍計／分別所起，義同）。本組只見義譯，古德音寫無徵，不據現代還原補梵。
〔子②〕句二 超過尋思·五理（內自證·無相·不可言說·絕表示·絕諍論）
| 版本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 玄奘 T676 | 我說：『勝義是諸聖者內自所證；尋思所行是諸異生展轉所證。』…我說：『勝義無相所行；尋思但行有相境界。』…我說：『勝義不可言說，尋思但行言說境界。』…我說：『勝義絕諸表示，尋思但行表示境界。』…我說：『勝義絕諸諍論，尋思但行諍論境界。』 | T16n0676 0689c24–0690a07 |
| 流支 T675 | 我說第一義者，是過一切諸相…是無言境界，覺觀是名言說境界。…我說離諸諍論是第一義相，覺觀名字是諍論相。 | T16n0675 0667a06·0667a08·0667a10–11 |
| 真諦 T677 | 我說真實，但是聖人自所證見；若是凡夫覺觀境界，自他可證。…我說真實非相行處；一切覺觀緣相行處。…我說真實不可言說；一切覺觀但由言說。…我說真實絕於四事，謂見、聞、覺、知；一切覺觀緣四事起。…我說真相離諸鬪諍；一切覺觀鬪諍境界。 | T16n0677 0712c02–11 |
| 攝決擇分 T1579 | 我說勝義，是諸聖者內自所證；尋思所行，是諸異生展轉所證。…我說勝義無相所行，尋思但行有相境界，是故法涌！由此道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思境相。 | T30n1579 0715a01–06 |
異文所繫：（甲）「勝義」玄奘／攝決擇分，流支作「第一義」，真諦作「真實」（三家異譯：勝義／第一義／真實）。（乙）第四理玄奘作「絕諸表示」，真諦作「絕於四事，謂見、聞、覺、知」（表示／見聞覺知，真諦展為四事、釋作四識所行）。（丙）「尋思」玄奘／攝決擇分，流支／真諦作「覺觀」（異譯）。本組只見義譯，古德音寫無徵，不據現代還原補梵。
〔子③〕句三 超過諸法一異性（破都無異·一向異·二縛二障）
| 版本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 玄奘 T676 | 若勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者：應於今時一切異生皆已見諦；又諸異生皆應已得無上方便安隱涅槃；或應已證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者：已見諦者於諸行相應不除遣；若不除遣諸行相者，應於相縛不得解脫…於麁重縛亦應不脫。 | T16n0676 0690b20–28 |
| 流支 T675 | 若有為行不異第一義相者，一切愚癡諸凡夫等悉亦應見第一義諦即凡夫身，亦應得彼無上清淨涅槃之樂，亦應得彼阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。…第一義諦不墮一切煩惱染中，以是得言有為之行、第一義諦得言同相。是故…不應言…有一、有異。 | T16n0675 0667b20–23·0667c12–15 |
| 真諦 T677 | 若真如與行相不異者，一切凡夫應見真如。復次，一切眾生正在凡位，應得無上如安涅槃。復次，一切眾生於凡位中，亦應能得無上菩提。若真如相異於行相，一切聖人已見真如，則應不能伏滅行相；由不伏滅諸行相故，雖見真諦不能解脫眾相繫縛；若於眾相不得解脫，亦不解脫麁重繫縛。 | T16n0677 0713a17–b09 |
| 攝決擇分 T1579 | 若勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者：應於今時一切異生皆已見諦…若勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者：已見諦者於諸行相應不除遣…〔於〕麁重縛〔亦應不脫〕。 | T30n1579 0715b27–c14 |
異文所繫：（甲）對舉之二法，玄奘／攝決擇分作『勝義諦相 ↔ 諸行相』，真諦作「真如 ↔ 行相」（勝義諦相／真如，異譯一義），流支作『第一義相 ↔ 有為行相』。（乙）真諦「如安涅槃」（無上如安無餘涅槃），玄奘作「無上方便安隱涅槃」（安隱／如安，異譯）。
〔子④〕句四 遍一切一味相（清淨所緣·真如勝義法無我性）
| 版本 | 逐字 | 出處 |
|---|---|---|
| 玄奘 T676 | 我已顯示於一切蘊中清淨所緣，是勝義諦。我已顯示於一切處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支中清淨所緣，是勝義諦。此清淨所緣於一切蘊中，是一味相、無別異相。 | T16n0676 0691c25–29 |
| 流支 T675 | 爾時，世尊依一切處一味等味第一義諦，告慧命須菩提言…世尊出世，希有希有，善說勝法——一切處第一義一味等味——微妙甚深…須菩提！依於此義，汝今應知一切處一味等味第一義相。 | T16n0675 0668a20–21·0668b28–0668c01·0668c09–11 |
| 真諦 T677 | 於五陰中清淨境界，是我所說名為真實；須菩提！於十二入、十二緣生、四食、四諦、諸界念處，正懃、如意足、根、力、覺分、八聖道中清淨境界，是我所說名為真實。此清淨境界，一切陰處平等一味，無差別相。 | T16n0677 0714a23–28 |
| 攝決擇分 T1579 | 復次，勝義諦遍一切一味相，當知如解深密經中，世尊告長老善現曰：善現！汝於有情界中，知幾有情懷增上慢…我已顯示於一切蘊中，清淨所緣是勝義諦；我已顯示於一切處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支中，清淨所緣是勝義諦。此清淨所緣，於一切蘊中是一味相，無別異相。 | T30n1579 0716b18–20·0717a06–10 |
異文所繫：（甲）「清淨所緣」玄奘，真諦作「清淨境界」（所緣／境界，異譯；古德音寫無徵，不據現代還原補梵）。（乙）「一味相、無別異相」玄奘，流支作「一味等味」，真諦作「平等一味，無差別相」（一味等味／平等一味，異譯）。（丙）攝決擇分於子④牒引本品「長老善現」全段，與玄奘 T676 近同而間有字異（如相／想、最／極；瑜伽五相之第五，論中明引本經）。
三、唯識義之經據（眼）
本品明說勝義諦五相、二諦本末、勝義與諸行非一非異及遍一切一味；後論只按下列明確段落互讀。圓測判本品所辨即瑜伽七十五所列「勝義諦有五相」之經本〔X0203c10–13〕。
（一）勝義諦五相（離言·無二·超尋思·非一異·遍一味）——逐相繫本經出處：
- 離言相·無二相〔子①〕——〔T16n0676 0688c23–0689a14〕「有為，非有為非無為；無為，亦非無為非有為」「言有為者，乃是本師假施設句…即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故，假立名想謂之有為」：勝義離一切假施設言辭，有為無為皆遍計言辭所立，唯聖智離名言現等正覺之「離言法性」是其事。
- 超過尋思所行相〔子②〕——〔T16n0676 0689c24–0690a07〕勝義五理超尋思：內自所證·無相所行·不可言說·絕諸表示·絕諸諍論。
- 超過諸法一異性相〔子③〕——〔T16n0676 0690b20–0691b01〕「勝義諦相不可施設與諸行相一相異相」：勝義與諸行非一（若一則異生已見諦）非異（若異則見諦不能除遣諸行·不脫二縛）。
- 遍一切一味相〔子④〕——〔T16n0676 0691c25–0692a25〕「此清淨所緣於一切蘊中，是一味相、無別異相…由此真如勝義法無我性，不名有因，非因所生，亦非有為，是勝義諦」：勝義即蘊處等一切法中清淨所緣·真如·法無我性，遍一切、一味、無異、非有為。
- → 辯中邊論〈辯真實品〉勝義諦三義 · 攝大乘論〈所知相分〉真如／所知相 · 三十頌 第二十五頌「此諸法勝義，亦即是真如」· 二十論唯識無境之勝義安立。
（二）二諦本末·先真俗次第——〔T16n0676 0688c23〕本品『明真諦』，與品三「明世俗諦」對成二諦〔圓測科文 X0203c08〕；圓測「就二諦中本末次第，先真俗故」〔X0203c09–10〕。→ 辯中邊論二諦 · 成唯識論卷八二諦〔T31n1585 0047b27–c03〕。
（三）離言法性·真如安立——〔T16n0676 0692a17–20〕「唯有常常時、恒恒時，如來出世、若不出世，諸法法性安立，法界安住」：真如法性常住、不待因生、非有為。→ 三十頌「真如」· 攝論圓成實「無變異性」之主題互讀。
四、諸家異釋（古德·標宗）
藏經內現存古德源涉本品者：圓測《解深密經疏》（主·現存專疏主錨，疏本品四段·五相·十喻完備，並引真諦記）· 遁倫《瑜伽論記》（釋攝決擇分五相段，即本品論中明引／同譯者平行之釋）。窺基《大乘法苑義林章》〈二諦義〉未見直接引文本品勝義五相，從闕。
圓測《解深密經疏》X21n0369（主）
判本品五相·攝四段·真諦四品同此（目①科文即出此）：
「依瑜伽論判此品中辨五種相，故七十五云：復次勝義諦有五相：一離名言相、二無二相、三超過尋思所行相、四超過諸法一異性相、五遍一切一味相。今依此經攝為四段…」〔X21n0369 X0203c10–14〕
段釋曰子科：子①「第二、釋無二相。此即五中不可言相及無二」〔X0205a17〕「自下第二釋無為無二相」〔X0207c13〕· 子②「自下第二釋超過尋思所行相，於中有二：初長行廣釋，後以頌略說」〔X0213b02–03〕· 子③「就釋超過尋思相中，文別有二：初長行廣釋」〔X0221b24〕· 子④「自下第四釋遍一切一味相，於中有二：初長」〔X0229a05〕。
釋善幻師幻事喻（目⑥喻釋即出此，並述真諦記）：
「然此喻文意趣難了，故今先述真諦師說，後依諸教釋此經文。真諦記云：說喻意者，此譬眾生由妄顛倒種種分別，久在生死受諸苦報，不知幻本及不可言無二真如，執為實有。聖人明了，識此非真。」〔X21n0369 X0208b12–16〕
遁倫《瑜伽論記》T42n1828（釋攝決擇分五相段＝本品論中明引／同譯者平行）
遁倫據攝決擇分五相段判本品為「先開五門…四段」，並列本經四翻、釋三一異理：
「就初問勝義諦相中，先開五門；第二依門解釋，有其四段。初解二離言二門。…言解深密經者，此經有四翻。一、流支翻名深密解脫經；二、求那跋陀羅翻名相續解脫經；三、真諦翻名解節經；四、玄奘翻名解深密經。梵本一音，具含」〔T42n1828 0771b07–12〕
「第三解超過諸法一異性…若勝義諦與諸行一，一切異生現見諸行應證勝義，皆已見諦皆應已得無上方便安穩涅槃乃至菩提。若勝義諦與行異者，已見真如…」〔T42n1828 0772a01–12〕
「第四解其第五遍一切一味相。於中初牒指經說；次正引其文。先長行；後頌。」〔T42n1828 0772b03–05〕
五、術語
| 漢 | 古德傳梵（羅馬字·發音輔助） | 古德音義所徵 | 唯識精確義 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 勝義諦 ／ 第一義（流支）／ 真實（真諦） | — | 圓測「今此中說勝義諦」〔X0203c10〕；三譯異名（勝義／第一義／真實），遁倫「梵本一音，具含」〔T42n1828 0771b12〕；古德音寫無徵，從闕 | 五相所辨之諦：離言·無二·超尋思·非一異·遍一味（〔本經 0688c18–0692a25〕） |
| 離言法性 | — | 〔本經 T16n0676 0689a07–08〕「即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故」 | 聖者以聖智聖見離名言所現等覺之事；非有為無為假施設言辭所及 |
| 本師假施設句 ／ 大師正教言句（真諦） | — | 〔本經 0688c29〕；真諦「大師正教言句」〔T16n0677 0711c23–24〕 | 有為無為皆佛假立之名言，遍計所集言辭所說，不成實 |
| 遍計所集言辭 | — | 〔本經 0689a01〕 | 遍計分別所聚之言說；有為無為之名由此而立 |
| 增上慢 | — | 〔本經 T16n0676 0691b11〕；古德音寫無徵，從闕 | 未證謂證之慢；苾芻於蘊處等記別所解而不達遍一味，皆增上慢所執持（〔本經 0691c15〕） |
| 薩迦耶滅 | satkāya | 〔本經 T16n0676 0690a17–18〕「永除斷一切表示薩迦耶滅究竟涅槃」；圓測明言「薩迦邪者，此是梵音」並釋其義〔X21n0369 X0221a13–17〕；只證薩迦耶詞幹，不逕補「滅」之複合梵形 | 身見（薩迦耶見）所緣之滅；究竟涅槃 |
| 真如 | — | 〔本經 T16n0676 0692a04〕「真如勝義法無我性」；古德音寫無徵，從闕 | 遍一切一味相之勝義；不名有因·非因所生·非有為（〔本經 0692a16–18〕） |
| 清淨所緣 ／ 清淨境界（真諦） | — | 〔本經 0691c26〕；真諦「清淨境界」〔T16n0677 0714a23〕 | 蘊處等一切法中之清淨所緣，即勝義諦·一味相無別異相 |
六、譬喻·修辭
（一）〔子①〕善幻師幻化喻——〔T16n0676 0689a23–b28〕「如善幻師或彼弟子，住四衢道，積集瓦、礫、草、葉、木等，現作種種幻化事業…象身、馬身、車身、步身，末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚…」：
- 喻體：善幻師幻化瓦礫草木為象馬車步·珍寶庫藏。
- 喻依：本師於離言法性假立有為·無為名想。
- 所顯：愚癡種類執幻為實（喻異生執有為無為決定實有，「唯此諦實，餘皆癡妄」）；善慧種類知幻非實（喻聖者知有為無為「決定無實…然有分別所起行相，猶如幻事」）。
- 真諦《佛說解節經》對應〔T16n0677 0712a13–b11〕「如巧幻師及幻弟子，於四衢道，或取草葉及木石等…現種種幻事：諸象兵、馬兵、車兵、步兵，摩尼、真珠、珊瑚、玉石，及倉庫等」。
- 古德喻釋（圓測述真諦記）：「此譬眾生由妄顛倒種種分別，久在生死受諸苦報，不知幻本及不可言無二真如，執為實有」〔X21n0369 X0208b13–15〕。
（二）〔子②〕五喻顯超尋思——〔T16n0676 0690a08–22〕：尋思者於勝義不能尋思比度信解，五喻並陳：
- 辛苦味人喻蜜·石蜜上妙美味（「盡其壽量習辛苦味；於蜜、石蜜上妙美味，不能尋思」）——喻習尋思者不能信解勝義之味。
- 欲貪熾火人喻色聲香味觸離欲妙遠離樂（「於內除滅一切色、聲、香、味、觸相妙遠離樂，不能尋思」）。
- 樂著綺言說人喻聖默然樂（「於內寂靜聖默然樂，不能尋思」）。
- 樂著表示人喻薩迦耶滅究竟涅槃（「於永除斷一切表示薩迦耶滅究竟涅槃，不能尋思」）。
- 諍論勝解人喻北拘盧洲無我所無攝受離諍論（「於北拘盧洲無我所、無攝受、離諍論，不能尋思」）。
- 真諦《佛說解節經》對應〔T16n0677 0712c11–c25〕：蜜等甜味·依內離樂·聖默然定·絕四事處滅離身見般涅槃·北欝單越無我所無所積蓄不相鬪諍。
（三）〔子③〕諸一異喻（十喻·約六境）——〔T16n0676 0691a14–28〕：勝義與諸行不可施設一相異相，舉十喻：
- 螺貝上鮮白色性·金上黃色（色）· 箜篌聲上美妙曲性（聲）· 黑沈上妙香性（香）· 胡椒上辛猛利性·訶梨淡性（味）· 蠧羅綿上柔軟性·熟酥上醍醐（觸）· 一切行上無常性·有漏法上苦性·一切法上補特伽羅無我性·貪瞋癡上不寂靜雜染相（法）。
- 喻體：螺貝等與其色性·味性等。喻依：諸行相與勝義諦相。所顯：色性與螺貝不可言一（四塵異）不可言異（無別體），喻勝義與諸行非一非異。
- 真諦《佛說解節經》對應〔T16n0677 0713b24–c05〕：傷佉白色·赤色與金·毘拏音聲·沈香·摩梨遮辛辣·呵梨勒澁·綿纊柔軟·蘇與醍醐·有流苦·無常·無我·貪瞋癡慢無寂靜相。
- 古德喻釋（圓測·螺貝喻）：「梵音傷佉，此云螺貝。謂彼螺貝喻諸行相，四塵異故。鮮白色性喻勝義諦，色性通故。由如螺貝與鮮白色不可言一，四塵色性總別異故。或可通別異故，不可言異，無別體故」〔X21n0369 X0227a13–16〕。圓測並引「深密經云：譬如珂白，不可言一異。解節經云：譬如傷佉白色，不可言一異」〔X0227b03–04〕。
（四）〔子④〕虛空遍一味喻——〔T16n0676 0692a21–24〕「譬如種種非一品類異相色中，虛空無相、無分別、無變異、遍一切一味相。如是，異性、異相一切法中，勝義諦遍一切一味相，當知亦然」：
- 喻體：種種異相色中之虛空（無相·無分別·無變異·遍一切一味）。
- 喻依：異性異相一切法中之勝義諦（遍一切一味相）。
- 真諦《佛說解節經》對應〔T16n0677 0714b20–22〕「譬如眾色，種種差別更互不同。於諸色中，虛空無相，無有差別，無有變異，於一切處同一味相」。
- 古德喻釋（圓測）：「然虗空中無能所造相，故名無相。無有有見有對色等種種差別，故名無分別…解節經云：無差別故，亦無變壞，名無變異。具此三義，名一味相」〔X21n0369 X0238c21–24〕。
七、互讀
以下只列與本品勝義諦五相、真如義有明確段落或可核主題關係者：
- 辯中邊論〈辯真實品〉：勝義諦（義·得·正行三勝義）·真實，可與本品勝義義互讀；〈辯相品〉〔T31n1600 0465c04–11〕辨空性與虛妄分別非一非異，可與本品勝義與諸行非一非異互讀。
- 攝大乘論〈所知相分〉：真如·圓成實『無變異性·清淨所緣性』·所知相，可與本品『真如勝義法無我性·清淨所緣·常住不待因』互讀。
- 三十頌 第二十五頌：「此諸法勝義，亦即是真如，常如其性故，即唯識實性」——本品勝義＝真如·遍一味之頌語對應。
- 二十論：唯識無境之勝義安立，可與本品勝義超尋思、離言作較寬的主題互讀；不作直接依存主張。
互讀為主題指引；只有條目明列之藏經號與行號才作來源主張。
八、校本定位
- 玄奘 T676（底本）：勝義諦相品〔T16n0676 0688c18〕起—〔0692a25〕「此遍一切一味相」偈訖。子① 0688c21–0689b28（離言無二·善幻師喻）· 偈一「佛說離言無二義」0689c05 · 子② 0689c09–0690a22（法涌·五理·五喻）· 偈二「內證無相之所行」0690a26 · 子③ 0690a28–0691b01（善清淨慧·一異·十喻）· 偈三「行界勝義相」0691b06 · 子④ 0691b11–0692a24（長老善現·遍一味·虛空喻）· 偈四「此遍一切一味相」0692a25。
- 流支 T675（全本主對校·一品開四品）：子①第二聖者善問菩薩問品〔T16n0675 0666a07〕· 子②第三聖者曇無竭菩薩問品〔0667a06〕· 子③第四聖者善清淨慧菩薩問品〔0667b20·螺貝 0668a03〕· 子④第五慧命須菩提問品〔0668a20〕。
- 真諦《佛說解節經》T677（品2 活校本·四品＝四段）：子①不可言無二品第一〔T16n0677 0711b28〕起·偈 0712b13 · 子②過覺觀境品第二〔0712b17〕·偈 0712c26 · 子③過一異品第三〔0712c28·傷佉 0713b24〕·偈 0713c09 · 子④一味品第四〔0713c13·虛空 0714b21〕·偈 0714b26–29 · 命名奉持「了義正說」0714c04–06 · 得益 0714c06–10。
- 攝決擇分 T1579（論中明引／同譯者平行·《瑜伽師地論》署彌勒菩薩說、玄奘譯·四段俱引全文）：卷七十五 攝決擇分中菩薩地之四·決擇菩提分品。「勝義諦有五種相」〔T30n1579 0713c25〕是論文總標，不是品二明引起點；明引本品自子①離名言相無二相〔0713c28〕起 · 子②超過尋思所行相 0714c14 · 子③超過諸法一異性相（善清淨慧）0715b06·螺貝 0716a22 · 子④遍一切一味相 0716b18。〔卷七十五止於 0717b08；五相段在卷七十五內。〕
- 圓測 X0369（主·專疏）：勝義諦相品釋〔X21n0369 X0203c01〕起。攝四段科文 X0203c10–18 · 子① 釋無二相 X0205a17·釋無為無二 X0207c13·善幻師喻 X0208b09–0209a05·真諦記 X0208b12 · 子② 釋超尋思 X0213b02 · 子③ 釋超尋思相中（一異）X0221b24·螺貝喻 X0227a08–b04 · 子④ 釋遍一味 X0229a05·虛空喻 X0238c17–24。
- 遁倫 T1828：釋攝決擇分五相段（＝本品論中明引／同譯者平行）〔T42n1828 0771b07〕起·四翻列名 0771b09–12·三一異理 0772a01–12·遍一味 0772b03–05。
- 窺基 T1861：〈二諦義〉〔T45n1861 0287b15 起〕未見直接引文本品勝義五相，從闕。
- 求那 T678／T679：不涵蓋本品，從闕（求那二本當解深密最後二品）。
This chapter establishes the five characteristics of ultimate truth (inexpressible · non-dual · beyond reasoning · neither-one-nor-other · single-taste-pervading-all), a scriptural warrant for the ultimate and suchness; later works are compared only through the passages explicitly identified below. Woncheuk gathers the chapter into four passages.
I. Doctrinal-structural placement (科判定位)
| Structural system | Position of this chapter |
|---|---|
| Xuanzang T676, eight-chapter scheme | Second, the Chapter on the Mark of Ultimate Truth (勝義諦相品; middle of scroll one; beginning at 〔T16 0688c18〕, ending with the verse on 「此遍一切一味相」 at 〔T16 0692a25〕, before Chapter Three) |
| Woncheuk's structural outline (X21n0369 · primary anchor) | The Section of the Holy Teaching's Right Exposition → the object to be contemplated → the object as true-and-conventional → the first, "setting forth the true truth (the Chapter on the Mark of Ultimate Truth)" (聖教正說分 → 所觀境 → 真俗境 → 第一『明真諦（勝義諦相品）』) 〔X0203c08〕; within the chapter, following the Yogācārabhūmi scroll 75 「勝義諦有五種相」 ["ultimate truth has five characteristics"] 〔T30n1579 0713c25〕, it is gathered into four passages 〔X0203c10–18〕 (inexpressible-and-non-dual / beyond reasoning / beyond sameness-or-otherness / single-taste-pervading-all) |
| Bodhiruci T675, eleven-chapter scheme | Second, the Chapter of the Holy Bodhisattva Who Asks Well's Questions (Sub ①) · Third, the Chapter of the Holy Bodhisattva Dharma-Inexhaustible's Questions (Sub ②) · Fourth, the Chapter of the Holy Bodhisattva Well-Purified Wisdom's Questions (Sub ③) · Fifth, the Chapter of the Worthy-of-Life Subhūti's Questions (Sub ④) — Xuanzang's single chapter, which Bodhiruci opens out into four chapters |
| Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) T677 | The whole sūtra's four chapters = this chapter's four sections: the Chapter on the Inexpressible and Non-Dual, first (Sub ①) · the Chapter on Being Beyond the Range of Sensing-and-Examining, second (Sub ②) · the Chapter on Being Beyond Sameness-or-Otherness, third (Sub ③) · the Chapter on the Single Taste, fourth (Sub ④) — the Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) is the full counterpart to T676 Chapter 2, divided into four chapters, and partial only relative to the sūtra as a whole; Chapter Two is not left blank |
| Saṃdhinirmocana-section T1579 (攝決擇分) | Scroll 75, the fourth part of the Bodhisattva-stage within the Section that Settles the Meaning · the Chapter Settling the Limbs of Awakening (卷七十五 攝決擇分中菩薩地之四·決擇菩提分品): 「勝義諦有五種相」 ["the ultimate truth has five characteristics"] 〔T30 0713c25〕 is the treatise's general heading; the explicit Chapter-2 quotation begins with the apart-from-names-and-words section at 〔0713c28〕 (all four sections cited) |
| Dunlun T1828 | Glossing the five-characteristics passage of the Saṃdhinirmocana-section: 「就初問勝義諦相中，先開五門；第二依門解釋，有其四段」 ["in the first question on the characteristics of ultimate truth, first it opens five gates; second, explaining by way of the gates, there are four passages"] 〔T42 0771b07–08〕 |
Woncheuk judges the whole sūtra's Section of Right Exposition to be "seven chapters gathered into three stretches," with the Chapter on the Mark of Ultimate Truth fastened to the first stretch, "the object to be contemplated," at its opening "setting forth the true truth":
「自下第二聖教正說分。於此分中有其七品攝為三段：初有四品明所觀境〔勝義諦相品、心意識相品、一切法相品、無自性相品〕，次有二品辨能觀行〔分別瑜伽品、地波羅蜜多品〕，後有一品顯所得果〔如來成所住事品〕。」〔X21n0369 X0203b19–23〕
Title variant: this outline line reads 「如來成所住事品」; T676 and the chapter heading in this commentary read 「如來成所作事品」. Both forms are recorded as transmitted.
[From here, second, the Section of the Holy Teaching's Right Exposition. Within this section there are seven chapters gathered into three stretches: first, four chapters set forth the object to be contemplated 〔the chapter “The Mark of Ultimate Truth”, the chapter “The Marks of Mind, Manas, and Consciousness”, the chapter “The Marks of All Dharmas”, the chapter “The Absence of Intrinsic Nature”〕; next, two chapters distinguish the contemplating practice 〔the chapter “The Yoga of Discernment”, the chapter “The Grounds and the Perfections”〕; last, one chapter displays the fruit attained 〔the chapter “The Tathāgata's Accomplishment of What Is to Be Done”〕.]
Dividing "the object to be contemplated" further into true and conventional, the Chapter on the Mark of Ultimate Truth stands precisely at the position of "setting forth the true truth":
「就所觀境復分為二：初有二品明真俗境〔勝義諦相品明其真諦、心意識相品明世俗諦〕，後二品明有無性境〔謂初品明三性境，後品明三無性境〕。就二諦中本末次第，先真俗故。」〔X21n0369 X0203c07–10〕
[As to the object to be contemplated, it is again divided into two: the first two chapters set forth the object as true-and-conventional 〔the chapter “The Mark of Ultimate Truth” sets forth its true truth; the chapter “The Marks of Mind, Manas, and Consciousness” sets forth the conventional truth〕; the latter two chapters set forth the object as having or lacking nature 〔the first of them sets forth the object as the three natures, the latter the object as the three non-natures〕. As to the root-and-branch sequence within the two truths, the true precedes the conventional.]
Woncheuk's structural division "gathering into four passages" (drawn from the Yogācārabhūmi scroll 75 "five characteristics of ultimate truth," noting expressly that Paramārtha's four chapters of the Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) match these four passages):
「依瑜伽論判此品中辨五種相，故七十五云：復次勝義諦有五相：一離名言相、二無二相、三超過尋思所行相、四超過諸法一異性相、五遍一切一味相。今依此經攝為四段：一明離言及無二相，二爾時法涌下明超過尋思所行相，三爾時善清淨慧下辨非一異相，四爾時世尊下釋遍一切一味相。五中離言應通四段，四相皆有離言相故，而與無二一處合說，准可知故。」〔X21n0369 X0203c10–18〕
[Relying on the Yogācārabhūmi, he judges this chapter to distinguish five characteristics; thus scroll 75 says: "Furthermore, the ultimate truth has five characteristics: first, the characteristic of being apart from names-and-words; second, the characteristic of being non-dual; third, the characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning; fourth, the characteristic of being beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas; fifth, the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything." Now, relying on this sūtra, they are gathered into four passages: first, setting forth the characteristic of being inexpressible and non-dual; second, from "at that time Dharma-Welling-Forth" onward, setting forth the characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning; third, from "at that time Well-Purified Wisdom" onward, distinguishing the characteristic of being neither-one-nor-other; fourth, from "at that time the World-Honoured One" onward, explaining the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything. Among the five, "inexpressible" should run through all four passages, since all four characteristics have the inexpressible characteristic; yet it is spoken of together with "non-dual" in one place, since it may by analogy be understood.]
「就前二相文別有二：初長行廣釋，後以頌略說。前中有六：一請問，二略答，三徵問，四廣釋，五重徵，六喻說。〔依真諦判，四段同前。〕」〔X21n0369 X0203c18–21〕
[As to the first two characteristics, the text divides in two: first the prose expounds them at length; afterward a verse states them in brief. Within the former there are six: (1) the question put; (2) the brief answer; (3) the pressing question; (4) the broad explanation; (5) the re-pressing; (6) the explanation by simile. 〔By Paramārtha's judgment, the four passages are the same as the foregoing.〕]
Within the four sections Woncheuk sets up, severally, "explanation says" sub-divisions: Sub ① 「釋無二相」 ["explaining the characteristic of being non-dual"] 〔X0205a17〕, 「釋無為無二相」 ["explaining the characteristic of the unconditioned being non-dual"] 〔X0207c13〕 · Sub ② 「釋超過尋思所行相」 ["explaining the characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning"] 〔X0213b02〕 · Sub ③ 「釋超過尋思相中…」 ["within explaining the characteristic of being beyond reasoning…"] 〔X0221b24〕 · Sub ④ 「釋遍一切一味相」 ["explaining the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything"] 〔X0229a05〕.
Dunlun, in his notes on the Yogācārabhūmi, relying on the five-characteristics passage of the Saṃdhinirmocana-section, judges this chapter to be "first it opens five gates; second, explaining by way of the gates, there are four passages," and lists the four renderings of this sūtra:
「就初問勝義諦相中，先開五門；第二依門解釋，有其四段。初解二離言二門。…言解深密經者，此經有四翻。一、流支翻名深密解脫經；二、求那跋陀羅翻名相續解脫經；三、真諦翻名解節經；四、玄奘翻名解深密經。梵本一音，具含」〔T42n1828 0771b07–12〕
[In the first question on the characteristics of ultimate truth, first it opens five gates; second, explaining by way of the gates, there are four passages. The first explains the two "inexpressible" gates… As for the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra: this sūtra has four renderings. First, Bodhiruci renders the title Shēnmì-jiětuō-jīng; second, Guṇabhadra renders the title Xiāngxù-jiětuō-jīng; third, Paramārtha renders the title Jiejie jing (解節經); fourth, Xuanzang renders the title Jiěshēnmì-jīng. The Sanskrit original, a single sound, comprehends them all.]
II. Cross-translation and explicit treatise quotation / same-translator parallel (異譯·論中明引／同譯者平行對勘)
The Chinese collation-witnesses for the key sentences of this chapter: Xuanzang T676 (base text) · Bodhiruci T675 (the full-text primary cross-collation · one chapter opened into four) · Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) T677 (the live collation-witness for Chapter Two · four chapters = the four sections, collated passage by passage) · the Saṃdhinirmocana-section T1579, scroll 75 (explicit treatise quotation / same-translator parallel · the Yogācārabhūmi is attributed to Maitreya and translated by Xuanzang · all four sections cited at full length). Guṇabhadra T678/T679 does not cover this chapter and is left blank (Guṇabhadra's two texts correspond to the last two chapters of the Saṃdhinirmocana 〔Ch. 7 · Ch. 8〕).
〔Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) is left blank for Chapter Three / Chapter Four; for Chapter Two Paramārtha is not left blank — the Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) is the full counterpart to T676 Chapter 2, divided into four chapters, and partial only relative to the sūtra as a whole.〕
〔Sub ①〕Sentence 1 Definition of the inexpressible-and-non-dual characteristic (the conditioned and the unconditioned alike provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher)
| Witness | Verbatim | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| Xuanzang T676 | 一切法者，略有二種：一者、有為；二者、無為。是中有為，非有為非無為；無為，亦非無為非有為。…言有為者，乃是本師假施設句。若是本師假施設句，即是遍計所集、言辭所說；若是遍計所集、言辭所說，即是究竟種種遍計言辭所說。不成實故，非是有為。 | T16n0676 0688c23–0689a03 |
| Bodhiruci T675 | 等為二？一者、有為法，二者、無為法。善男子！有為法者，非有為、非無為；無為法者，非有為、非無為。 | T16n0675 0666a07–09 |
| Paramārtha T677 | 是一切法不過此二，謂所作、非所作。所作者，非所作非非所作；非所作者，非非所作，亦非所作。…所作者，此是大師正教言句，若是大師正教言句，即是世間所立言說，從分別起。此世言說若分別起，由種種分別及所言說一向不成，故非所作。 | T16n0677 0711c18–20·0711c23–26 |
| Saṃdhinirmocana-section T1579 | 一切法者略有二種，一者、有為，二者、無為。是中有為非有為、非無為，無為、亦非無為、非有為。…善男子！言有為者，乃是本師假施設句。若是本師假施設句，即是遍計所集言辭所說；若是遍計所集言辭所說，即 | T30n1579 0714a03–10 |
English of the base text (Xuanzang T676): "As for all dharmas, in brief there are two kinds: the first is the conditioned; the second is the unconditioned. Herein, the conditioned is neither conditioned nor unconditioned; the unconditioned too is neither unconditioned nor conditioned. … What is called 'conditioned' is, at root, a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher. Being a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher, it is amassed by imagination and spoken in words; being amassed by imagination and spoken in words, it is, in the last analysis, the manifold things that imagination's words speak of. Because it does not amount to anything real, it is not truly the conditioned."
Variant-significance: (a) For the names of the two dharmas, Xuanzang / the Saṃdhinirmocana-section write 「有為·無為」 [conditioned · unconditioned], Paramārtha writes 「所作·非所作」 [the made · the not-made] (the old Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) rendering, different words for the same terms), Bodhiruci writes 「有為法·無為法」 [conditioned-dharma · unconditioned-dharma]. (b) For 「本師假施設句」 ["a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher"], Xuanzang / the Saṃdhinirmocana-section agree in wording, Paramārtha writes 「大師正教言句」 ["a right-teaching word-phrase of the Great Teacher"] (Foundational Teacher / Great Teacher · provisionally-set-up phrase / right-teaching word-phrase, alternate renderings). (c) For 「遍計所集、言辭所說」 ["amassed by imagination and spoken in words"], the Xuanzang line; Paramārtha writes 「世間所立言說，從分別起」 ["the speech the world sets up, arising from discrimination"] (amassed-by-imagination / arising-from-discrimination, the same in sense). This cluster preserves semantic renderings only; no ancient transliteration is attested, so no modern Sanskrit reconstruction is supplied.
〔Sub ②〕Sentence 2 Beyond reasoning · five grounds (inwardly self-realized · markless · inexpressible · cutting off all indication · cutting off all dispute)
| Witness | Verbatim | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| Xuanzang T676 | 我說：『勝義是諸聖者內自所證；尋思所行是諸異生展轉所證。』…我說：『勝義無相所行；尋思但行有相境界。』…我說：『勝義不可言說，尋思但行言說境界。』…我說：『勝義絕諸表示，尋思但行表示境界。』…我說：『勝義絕諸諍論，尋思但行諍論境界。』 | T16n0676 0689c24–0690a07 |
| Bodhiruci T675 | 我說第一義者，是過一切諸相…是無言境界，覺觀是名言說境界。…我說離諸諍論是第一義相，覺觀名字是諍論相。 | T16n0675 0667a06·0667a08·0667a10–11 |
| Paramārtha T677 | 我說真實，但是聖人自所證見；若是凡夫覺觀境界，自他可證。…我說真實非相行處；一切覺觀緣相行處。…我說真實不可言說；一切覺觀但由言說。…我說真實絕於四事，謂見、聞、覺、知；一切覺觀緣四事起。…我說真相離諸鬪諍；一切覺觀鬪諍境界。 | T16n0677 0712c02–11 |
| Saṃdhinirmocana-section T1579 | 我說勝義，是諸聖者內自所證；尋思所行，是諸異生展轉所證。…我說勝義無相所行，尋思但行有相境界，是故法涌！由此道理，當知勝義超過一切尋思境相。 | T30n1579 0715a01–06 |
English of the base text (Xuanzang T676): "I say: 'The ultimate is what the noble ones inwardly realize within themselves; what reasoning ranges over is what ordinary worldlings realize by handing it on from one to another.' … I say: 'The ultimate ranges in the markless; reasoning ranges only in the realm of marks.' … I say: 'The ultimate is inexpressible; reasoning ranges only in the realm of speech.' … I say: 'The ultimate cuts off all indication; reasoning ranges only in the realm of indication.' … I say: 'The ultimate cuts off all dispute; reasoning ranges only in the realm of dispute.'"
Variant-significance: (a) 「勝義」 [the ultimate], Xuanzang / the Saṃdhinirmocana-section; Bodhiruci writes 「第一義」 [the first principle], Paramārtha writes 「真實」 [the real] (three masters' alternate renderings: 勝義 / 第一義 / 真實). (b) For the fourth ground, Xuanzang writes 「絕諸表示」 ["cuts off all indication"], Paramārtha writes 「絕於四事，謂見、聞、覺、知」 ["cuts off the four things, namely seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing"] (indication / seeing-hearing-sensing-knowing, Paramārtha unfolds it into four things and glosses it as the range of the four cognitions). (c) 「尋思」 [reasoning], Xuanzang / the Saṃdhinirmocana-section; Bodhiruci / Paramārtha write 「覺觀」 [sensing-and-examining] (alternate rendering). This cluster preserves semantic renderings only; no ancient transliteration is attested, so no modern Sanskrit reconstruction is supplied.
〔Sub ③〕Sentence 3 Beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas (refuting both wholly-without-difference and wholly-other · the two bondages and two obstructions)
| Witness | Verbatim | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| Xuanzang T676 | 若勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者：應於今時一切異生皆已見諦；又諸異生皆應已得無上方便安隱涅槃；或應已證阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者：已見諦者於諸行相應不除遣；若不除遣諸行相者，應於相縛不得解脫…於麁重縛亦應不脫。 | T16n0676 0690b20–28 |
| Bodhiruci T675 | 若有為行不異第一義相者，一切愚癡諸凡夫等悉亦應見第一義諦即凡夫身，亦應得彼無上清淨涅槃之樂，亦應得彼阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。…第一義諦不墮一切煩惱染中，以是得言有為之行、第一義諦得言同相。是故…不應言…有一、有異。 | T16n0675 0667b20–23·0667c12–15 |
| Paramārtha T677 | 若真如與行相不異者，一切凡夫應見真如。復次，一切眾生正在凡位，應得無上如安涅槃。復次，一切眾生於凡位中，亦應能得無上菩提。若真如相異於行相，一切聖人已見真如，則應不能伏滅行相；由不伏滅諸行相故，雖見真諦不能解脫眾相繫縛；若於眾相不得解脫，亦不解脫麁重繫縛。 | T16n0677 0713a17–b09 |
| Saṃdhinirmocana-section T1579 | 若勝義諦相與諸行相都無異者：應於今時一切異生皆已見諦…若勝義諦相與諸行相一向異者：已見諦者於諸行相應不除遣…〔於〕麁重縛〔亦應不脫〕。 | T30n1579 0715b27–c14 |
English of the base text (Xuanzang T676): "If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were altogether without difference, then now all ordinary worldlings would already have seen the truths; again, all ordinary worldlings should already have won the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa; or should already have realized supreme, perfect awakening. If the characteristic of ultimate truth and the characteristic of the conditioning-forces were wholly other, then one who has seen the truths should be unable to do away with the characteristic of the conditioning-forces; and if he could not do away with the characteristic of the conditioning-forces, he should be unable to win release from the bondage to marks … and from the bondage of gross heaviness too he should not be released."
Variant-significance: (a) For the two dharmas set against each other, Xuanzang / the Saṃdhinirmocana-section write 『勝義諦相 ↔ 諸行相』 [the characteristic of ultimate truth ↔ the characteristic of the conditioning-forces], Paramārtha writes 「真如 ↔ 行相」 [suchness ↔ the characteristic of the conditioning-forces] (characteristic-of-ultimate-truth / suchness, alternate renderings of one meaning), Bodhiruci writes 『第一義相 ↔ 有為行相』 [the characteristic of the first principle ↔ the characteristic of conditioned conditioning-forces]. (b) Paramārtha's 「如安涅槃」 [the suchly-secure nirvāṇa] (the unsurpassed suchly-secure nirvāṇa-without-remainder), Xuanzang writes 「無上方便安隱涅槃」 [the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa] (secure / suchly-secure, alternate renderings).
〔Sub ④〕Sentence 4 The characteristic of a single taste pervading everything (the pure object · suchness, the ultimate, the dharma-selflessness-nature)
| Witness | Verbatim | Locus |
|---|---|---|
| Xuanzang T676 | 我已顯示於一切蘊中清淨所緣，是勝義諦。我已顯示於一切處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支中清淨所緣，是勝義諦。此清淨所緣於一切蘊中，是一味相、無別異相。 | T16n0676 0691c25–29 |
| Bodhiruci T675 | 爾時，世尊依一切處一味等味第一義諦，告慧命須菩提言…世尊出世，希有希有，善說勝法——一切處第一義一味等味——微妙甚深…須菩提！依於此義，汝今應知一切處一味等味第一義相。 | T16n0675 0668a20–21·0668b28–0668c01·0668c09–11 |
| Paramārtha T677 | 於五陰中清淨境界，是我所說名為真實；須菩提！於十二入、十二緣生、四食、四諦、諸界念處，正懃、如意足、根、力、覺分、八聖道中清淨境界，是我所說名為真實。此清淨境界，一切陰處平等一味，無差別相。 | T16n0677 0714a23–28 |
| Saṃdhinirmocana-section T1579 | 復次，勝義諦遍一切一味相，當知如解深密經中，世尊告長老善現曰：善現！汝於有情界中，知幾有情懷增上慢…我已顯示於一切蘊中，清淨所緣是勝義諦；我已顯示於一切處、緣起、食、諦、界、念住、正斷、神足、根、力、覺支、道支中，清淨所緣是勝義諦。此清淨所緣，於一切蘊中是一味相，無別異相。 | T30n1579 0716b18–20·0717a06–10 |
English of the base text (Xuanzang T676): "I have already shown that the pure object within all the aggregates is the ultimate truth. I have already shown that the pure object within all the sense-fields, dependent arising, the nutriments, the truths, the elements, the foundations of mindfulness, the right exertions, the bases of spiritual power, the faculties, the powers, the awakening-factors, and the path-limbs is the ultimate truth. This pure object, within all the aggregates, is of a single-taste characteristic, a characteristic without difference or otherness."
Variant-significance: (a) 「清淨所緣」 [the pure object], Xuanzang; Paramārtha writes 「清淨境界」 [the pure state] (object / state, alternate renderings; no ancient transliteration is attested, so no modern Sanskrit reconstruction is supplied). (b) 「一味相、無別異相」 [the single-taste characteristic, the characteristic without difference or otherness], Xuanzang; Bodhiruci writes 「一味等味」 [single-taste, even-taste], Paramārtha writes 「平等一味，無差別相」 [equal single-taste, the characteristic without distinction] (single-taste-even-taste / equal-single-taste, alternate renderings). (c) The Saṃdhinirmocana-section, at Sub ④, cites the whole "elder Subhūti" passage of this chapter relation by relation, closely following Xuanzang T676 with minor graph differences such as 相／想 and 最／極 (the fifth of the Yogācāra five characteristics; an explicit treatise quotation of this sūtra).
III. The Yogācāra doctrinal warrant (唯識義之經據 · the eye)
The chapter explicitly teaches the five characteristics of ultimate truth, the root-and-branch of the two truths, neither-one-nor-other, and single-taste pervasion. Later works are compared only through the passages identified below. Woncheuk calls this the scriptural root of what Yogācārabhūmi scroll 75 lists as “ultimate truth has five characteristics” 〔X0203c10–13〕.
(i) The five characteristics of ultimate truth (inexpressible · non-dual · beyond reasoning · neither-one-nor-other · single-taste-pervading-all) — each characteristic fastened to its locus in this sūtra:
- The inexpressible characteristic · the non-dual characteristic〔Sub ①〕— 〔T16n0676 0688c23–0689a14〕 「有為，非有為非無為；無為，亦非無為非有為」 ["the conditioned is neither conditioned nor unconditioned; the unconditioned too is neither unconditioned nor conditioned"], 「言有為者，乃是本師假施設句…即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故，假立名想謂之有為」 ["what is called 'conditioned' is a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher… upon just such an inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order that others might become fully awake, they provisionally set up a name-and-notion and call it 'conditioned'"]: the ultimate is apart from all provisionally-set-up words, the conditioned and the unconditioned alike being set up by imagination's words; only the "inexpressible Dharma-nature" that noble wisdom, apart from name-and-word, becomes fully and rightly awake to, is its thing.
- The characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning〔Sub ②〕— 〔T16n0676 0689c24–0690a07〕 the ultimate's five grounds beyond reasoning: inwardly self-realized · ranging in the markless · inexpressible · cutting off all indication · cutting off all dispute.
- The characteristic of being beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas〔Sub ③〕— 〔T16n0676 0690b20–0691b01〕 「勝義諦相不可施設與諸行相一相異相」 ["the characteristic of ultimate truth cannot be set up as one characteristic or another characteristic with the characteristic of the conditioning-forces"]: the ultimate is not one with the conditioning-forces (were it one, ordinary worldlings would already have seen the truths) and not other than them (were it other, one who has seen the truths could not do away with the conditioning-forces · would not be released from the two bondages).
- The characteristic of a single taste pervading everything〔Sub ④〕— 〔T16n0676 0691c25–0692a25〕 「此清淨所緣於一切蘊中，是一味相、無別異相…由此真如勝義法無我性，不名有因，非因所生，亦非有為，是勝義諦」 ["this pure object, within all the aggregates, is of a single-taste characteristic, a characteristic without difference or otherness… by this suchness-ultimate-dharma-selflessness-nature, it is not called caused, not arisen from a cause, and not conditioned; it is the ultimate truth"]: the ultimate is precisely the pure object · suchness · dharma-selflessness-nature within all dharmas, the aggregates, sense-fields, and the rest, pervading everything, single-taste, without otherness, not conditioned.
- → The Madhyānta-vibhāga, Chapter Distinguishing the Real, the three meanings of ultimate truth · the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, Division on the Characteristic of the Knowable, suchness / the characteristic of the knowable · the Thirty Verses, verse 25 「此諸法勝義，亦即是真如」 ["this ultimate of all dharmas is also suchness"] · the Twenty Verses, the ultimate establishment of consciousness-only-without-object.
(ii) The two truths' root-and-branch · the sequence true-then-conventional — 〔T16n0676 0688c23〕 this chapter "sets forth the true truth," forming the two truths together with Chapter Three's "setting forth the conventional truth" 〔Woncheuk's structural division X0203c08〕; Woncheuk: 「就二諦中本末次第，先真俗故」 ["as to the root-and-branch sequence within the two truths, the true precedes the conventional"] 〔X0203c09–10〕. → the Madhyānta-vibhāga's two truths · the Cheng Weishi Lun, scroll 8, the two truths 〔T31n1585 0047b27–c03〕.
(iii) The inexpressible Dharma-nature · the establishment of suchness — 〔T16n0676 0692a17–20〕 「唯有常常時、恒恒時，如來出世、若不出世，諸法法性安立，法界安住」 ["only — in every constant time and in every enduring time, whether a Tathāgata appears in the world or does not appear — the dharma-nature of the dharmas is established just so, and the dharma-realm abides just so"]: suchness, the dharma-nature, abides constantly, not waiting upon a cause to arise, not conditioned. → the Thirty Verses' "suchness" · the Saṃgraha's "unchanging nature" of the perfectly-accomplished, as thematic cross-readings.
IV. The ancient masters' readings (諸家異釋 · 古德 · marking the lineage)
The 古德 sources surviving within the canon that bear on this chapter: Woncheuk's Commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra (圓測《解深密經疏》 · the principal extant dedicated commentary; it glosses this chapter's four sections · five characteristics · ten similes in full, and cites Paramārtha's notes) · Dunlun's Notes on the Yogācārabhūmi (遁倫《瑜伽論記》 · glossing the five-characteristics passage of the Saṃdhinirmocana-section, that is, the gloss on this chapter's explicit treatise quotation / same-translator parallel). Kuiji's Forest of Categories of the Mahāyāna Dharma-Garden (窺基《大乘法苑義林章》), in its formal 〈Two Truths Meaning〉 (二諦義), shows no direct citation of this chapter's five characteristics of the ultimate, and is left blank.
Woncheuk, Commentary on the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra X21n0369 (primary)
Judging this chapter's five characteristics · gathering into four passages · Paramārtha's four chapters matching these (the structural division under Heading I comes from here):
「依瑜伽論判此品中辨五種相，故七十五云：復次勝義諦有五相：一離名言相、二無二相、三超過尋思所行相、四超過諸法一異性相、五遍一切一味相。今依此經攝為四段…」〔X21n0369 X0203c10–14〕
[Relying on the Yogācārabhūmi, he judges this chapter to distinguish five characteristics; thus scroll 75 says: "Furthermore, the ultimate truth has five characteristics: first, the characteristic of being apart from names-and-words; second, the characteristic of being non-dual; third, the characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning; fourth, the characteristic of being beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas; fifth, the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything." Now, relying on this sūtra, they are gathered into four passages…]
The "explanation says" sub-divisions of the sections: Sub ① 「第二、釋無二相。此即五中不可言相及無二」 ["second, explaining the characteristic of being non-dual. This is, among the five, the inexpressible characteristic and the non-dual"] 〔X0205a17〕, 「自下第二釋無為無二相」 ["from here, second, explaining the characteristic of the unconditioned being non-dual"] 〔X0207c13〕 · Sub ② 「自下第二釋超過尋思所行相，於中有二：初長行廣釋，後以頌略說」 ["from here, second, explaining the characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning, wherein there are two: first the prose expounds it at length; afterward a verse states it in brief"] 〔X0213b02–03〕 · Sub ③ 「就釋超過尋思相中，文別有二：初長行廣釋」 ["within explaining the characteristic of being beyond reasoning, the text divides in two: first the prose expounds it at length"] 〔X0221b24〕 · Sub ④ 「自下第四釋遍一切一味相，於中有二：初長」 ["from here, fourth, explaining the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything, wherein there are two: first, prose"] 〔X0229a05〕.
Explaining the simile of the skilled conjuror and the illusory works (the simile-gloss under Heading VI comes from here, and recounts Paramārtha's notes):
「然此喻文意趣難了，故今先述真諦師說，後依諸教釋此經文。真諦記云：說喻意者，此譬眾生由妄顛倒種種分別，久在生死受諸苦報，不知幻本及不可言無二真如，執為實有。聖人明了，識此非真。」〔X21n0369 X0208b12–16〕
[Yet the import of this simile-passage is hard to make out; therefore I first recount Master Paramārtha's teaching, and afterward, relying on the various teachings, explain this sūtra-text. Paramārtha's notes say: As for the meaning of the simile told — this likens how beings, through deluded and inverted manifold discrimination, dwell long in birth-and-death undergoing the many sufferings as recompense, and, not knowing the illusion's root nor the inexpressible non-dual suchness, grasp it as really existing. The noble ones see clearly, and recognize that this is not real.]
Dunlun, Notes on the Yogācārabhūmi T42n1828 (glossing the five-characteristics passage of the Saṃdhinirmocana-section = this chapter's explicit treatise quotation / same-translator parallel)
Dunlun, relying on the five-characteristics passage of the Saṃdhinirmocana-section, judges this chapter to be "first it opens five gates… four passages," lists this sūtra's four renderings, and explains the three sameness-or-otherness grounds:
「就初問勝義諦相中，先開五門；第二依門解釋，有其四段。初解二離言二門。…言解深密經者，此經有四翻。一、流支翻名深密解脫經；二、求那跋陀羅翻名相續解脫經；三、真諦翻名解節經；四、玄奘翻名解深密經。梵本一音，具含」〔T42n1828 0771b07–12〕
[In the first question on the characteristics of ultimate truth, first it opens five gates; second, explaining by way of the gates, there are four passages. The first explains the two "inexpressible" gates… As for the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra: this sūtra has four renderings. First, Bodhiruci renders the title Shēnmì-jiětuō-jīng; second, Guṇabhadra renders the title Xiāngxù-jiětuō-jīng; third, Paramārtha renders the title Jiejie jing (解節經); fourth, Xuanzang renders the title Jiěshēnmì-jīng. The Sanskrit original, a single sound, comprehends them all.]
「第三解超過諸法一異性…若勝義諦與諸行一，一切異生現見諸行應證勝義，皆已見諦皆應已得無上方便安穩涅槃乃至菩提。若勝義諦與行異者，已見真如…」〔T42n1828 0772a01–12〕
[Third, explaining being beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas… If the ultimate truth were one with the conditioning-forces, then all ordinary worldlings, seeing the conditioning-forces before them, should realize the ultimate, all should already have seen the truths, all should already have won the unsurpassed, skilful, secure nirvāṇa, on to awakening. If the ultimate truth were other than the conditioning-forces, then one who has seen suchness…]
「第四解其第五遍一切一味相。於中初牒指經說；次正引其文。先長行；後頌。」〔T42n1828 0772b03–05〕
[Fourth, explaining the fifth among them, the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything. Wherein, first it states by pointing to the sūtra's words; next it duly cites its text. First the prose; afterward the verse.]
V. Terms (術語)
| Chinese | 古德-transmitted Sanskrit (Roman · pronunciation aid) | 古德 transliteration / sound-and-sense attested | Precise Consciousness-Only meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 勝義諦 / 第一義（Bodhiruci）/ 真實（Paramārtha）[ultimate truth / the first principle / the real] | — | Woncheuk 「今此中說勝義諦」 ["what is here spoken of is the ultimate truth"] 〔X0203c10〕; the three renderings' alternate names (勝義 / 第一義 / 真實), Dunlun 「梵本一音，具含」 ["the Sanskrit original, a single sound, comprehends them all"] 〔T42n1828 0771b12〕; no 古德 transliteration attested, left blank | The truth that the five characteristics distinguish: inexpressible · non-dual · beyond reasoning · neither-one-nor-other · single-taste-pervading-all (〔this sūtra 0688c18–0692a25〕) |
| 離言法性 [the inexpressible Dharma-nature] | — | 〔this sūtra T16n0676 0689a07–08〕 「即於如是離言法性，為欲令他現等覺故」 ["upon just such an inexpressible Dharma-nature, in order that others might become fully awake"] | The thing to which the noble ones, by noble wisdom and noble vision apart from name-and-word, become fully awake; not reached by the provisionally-set-up words "conditioned" or "unconditioned" |
| 本師假施設句 / 大師正教言句（Paramārtha）[a phrase provisionally set up by the Foundational Teacher / a right-teaching word-phrase of the Great Teacher] | — | 〔this sūtra 0688c29〕; Paramārtha 「大師正教言句」 〔T16n0677 0711c23–24〕 | "Conditioned" and "unconditioned" alike are name-and-words the Buddha provisionally sets up, amassed by imagination and spoken in words, not amounting to anything real |
| 遍計所集言辭 [words amassed by imagination] | — | 〔this sūtra 0689a01〕 | The speech that imagination's discrimination heaps up; the names "conditioned" and "unconditioned" are set up by this |
| 增上慢 [conceit-of-attainment] | — | 〔this sūtra T16n0676 0691b11〕; no 古德 transliteration attested, left blank | The conceit of declaring oneself realized when not yet realized; the bhikṣus, declaring what they have understood of the aggregates, sense-fields, and the rest, yet not reaching the single-taste-pervading-all, are one and all held in the grip of conceit-of-attainment (〔this sūtra 0691c15〕) |
| 薩迦耶滅 [the cessation of the self-body-view] | satkāya | 〔this sūtra T16n0676 0690a17–18〕 「永除斷一切表示薩迦耶滅究竟涅槃」 ["the cessation of the self-body-view that forever severs all indication — the ultimate nirvāṇa"]; Woncheuk explicitly says 「薩迦邪者，此是梵音」 and explains the term 〔X21n0369 X0221a13–17〕; this attests the term-stem, not a reconstructed compound with “cessation” | The cessation of the object of the self-body-view (the satkāya-view); the ultimate nirvāṇa |
| 真如 [suchness] | — | 〔this sūtra T16n0676 0692a04〕 「真如勝義法無我性」 ["the suchness-ultimate-dharma-selflessness-nature"]; no 古德 transliteration attested, left blank | The ultimate as the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything; not called caused · not arisen from a cause · not conditioned (〔this sūtra 0692a16–18〕) |
| 清淨所緣 / 清淨境界（Paramārtha）[the pure object / the pure state] | — | 〔this sūtra 0691c26〕; Paramārtha 「清淨境界」 〔T16n0677 0714a23〕 | The pure object within all dharmas, the aggregates, sense-fields, and the rest; that is, the ultimate truth · the single-taste characteristic without difference or otherness |
VI. Similes & figures (譬喻·修辭)
(i)〔Sub ①〕The simile of the skilled conjuror's conjuring — 〔T16n0676 0689a23–b28〕 「如善幻師或彼弟子，住四衢道，積集瓦、礫、草、葉、木等，現作種種幻化事業…象身、馬身、車身、步身，末尼、真珠、琉璃、螺貝、璧玉、珊瑚…」 ["like a skilled conjuror, or his apprentice, who stands at a great crossroads where many roads meet, gathers together tile, gravel, grass, leaves, sticks, and the like, and conjures forth all manner of illusory works… the body of an elephant, the body of a horse, the body of a chariot, the body of a foot-soldier; and gems, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch, beryl, and coral…"]:
- Figure (vehicle): the skilled conjuror conjures tile, gravel, grass, and sticks into elephants, horses, chariots, foot-soldiers · treasure-stores of gems.
- Ground (tenor): the Foundational Teacher, upon the inexpressible Dharma-nature, provisionally sets up the names-and-notions "conditioned" and "unconditioned."
- What is shown: the foolish-and-dull class grasps the illusion as real (likening the ordinary worldling who grasps the conditioned and the unconditioned as fixedly real, 「唯此諦實，餘皆癡妄」 ["this alone is real; all the rest is foolishness and delusion"]); the good-wisdom class knows the illusion is not real (likening the noble one who knows the conditioned and the unconditioned to have 「決定無實…然有分別所起行相，猶如幻事」 ["surely no reality… yet there is an appearance arisen from discrimination, like an illusory thing"]).
- Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) correspondence 〔T16n0677 0712a13–b11〕 「如巧幻師及幻弟子，於四衢道，或取草葉及木石等…現種種幻事：諸象兵、馬兵、車兵、步兵，摩尼、真珠、珊瑚、玉石，及倉庫等」 ["like a skilful conjuror and his conjuring-apprentice, who at a great crossroads where many roads meet take grass, leaves, wood, stones, and the like… and conjure forth all manner of illusory things: the troops of elephants, horse-troops, chariot-troops, foot-troops; maṇi-jewels, pearls, coral, jade-stones; and storehouses and the rest"].
- The ancient masters' simile-gloss (Woncheuk recounting Paramārtha's notes): 「此譬眾生由妄顛倒種種分別，久在生死受諸苦報，不知幻本及不可言無二真如，執為實有」 ["this likens how beings, through deluded and inverted manifold discrimination, dwell long in birth-and-death undergoing the many sufferings as recompense, and, not knowing the illusion's root nor the inexpressible non-dual suchness, grasp it as really existing"] 〔X21n0369 X0208b13–15〕.
(ii)〔Sub ②〕The five similes showing the surpassing of reasoning — 〔T16n0676 0690a08–22〕: the reasoner, toward the ultimate, cannot reason it out, reckon it, or believe-and-understand it; five similes set forth together:
- The man of bitter-and-pungent flavours, likening honey and rock-sugar's exquisite fine savour (「盡其壽量習辛苦味；於蜜、石蜜上妙美味，不能尋思」 ["all his life used to bitter and pungent flavours; toward the exquisite, fine savour of honey or rock-sugar, he cannot reason it out"]) — likening the one used to reasoning, who cannot believe-and-understand the savour of the ultimate.
- The man whose fires of desire-greed blaze, likening the subtle joy of seclusion from form, sound, smell, taste, and touch (「於內除滅一切色、聲、香、味、觸相妙遠離樂，不能尋思」 ["toward the subtle joy of seclusion — the inward extinguishing of all the marks of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch — he cannot reason it out"]).
- The man who relishes ornate speech, likening the joy of the noble silence (「於內寂靜聖默然樂，不能尋思」 ["toward the joy of the noble silence inwardly stilled, he cannot reason it out"]).
- The man who relishes indication, likening the cessation of the self-body-view, the ultimate nirvāṇa (「於永除斷一切表示薩迦耶滅究竟涅槃，不能尋思」 ["toward the cessation of the self-body-view that forever severs all indication — the ultimate nirvāṇa — he cannot reason it out"]).
- The man whose resolve is for dispute, likening the Northern Continent Kuru, where there is no 'mine,' no appropriation, dispute left behind (「於北拘盧洲無我所、無攝受、離諍論，不能尋思」 ["toward the Northern Continent Kuru, where there is no 'mine,' no appropriation, and dispute is left behind, he cannot reason it out"]).
- Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) correspondence 〔T16n0677 0712c11–c25〕: honey and the rest's sweet savour · the inward joy of seclusion · the noble-silence concentration · the parinirvāṇa cutting off the four things and leaving behind the self-body-view · the Northern Uttarakuru, where there is no 'mine,' no hoarding, no mutual dispute.
(iii)〔Sub ③〕The various sameness-or-otherness similes (ten similes · over six objects) — 〔T16n0676 0691a14–28〕: the ultimate cannot be set up as one characteristic or another characteristic with the conditioning-forces; ten similes are raised:
- the fresh-white colour-nature upon a conch · the yellow colour upon gold (form) · the wondrous tune-nature upon the sound of a harp (sound) · the wondrous scent-nature upon black aloeswood (smell) · the pungent, sharp, keen nature upon pepper · the astringent nature of the myrobalan (taste) · the soft nature upon tūla-cotton · the clarified-butter-essence within ripened butter (touch) · the impermanence-nature upon all the conditioning-forces · the suffering-nature upon all that is with-outflows · the pudgala-selflessness-nature upon all dharmas · the unstilled, defiled characteristic upon greed, hatred, and delusion (dharmas).
- Figure (vehicle): the conch and the rest, together with their colour-nature · savour-nature, and so on. Ground (tenor): the characteristic of the conditioning-forces and the characteristic of ultimate truth. What is shown: the colour-nature and the conch cannot be said to be one (the four sense-data differing) nor said to be other (having no separate substance), likening the ultimate being neither-one-nor-other with the conditioning-forces.
- Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) correspondence 〔T16n0677 0713b24–c05〕: the white colour and red colour of the śaṅkha-conch and gold · the sound of the vīṇā · aloeswood · the pungency of pepper · the astringency of the myrobalan · the softness of cotton-floss · butter and clarified-butter-essence · the suffering of the with-flows · impermanence · selflessness · the no-stilled-characteristic of greed, hatred, delusion, and conceit.
- The ancient masters' simile-gloss (Woncheuk · the conch simile): 「梵音傷佉，此云螺貝。謂彼螺貝喻諸行相，四塵異故。鮮白色性喻勝義諦，色性通故。由如螺貝與鮮白色不可言一，四塵色性總別異故。或可通別異故，不可言異，無別體故」 ["The Sanskrit sound 傷佉 [śaṅkha], here 'conch.' That is, that conch likens the characteristic of the conditioning-forces, since the four sense-data differ. The fresh-white colour-nature likens the ultimate truth, since the colour-nature pervades. Just as the conch and the fresh-white colour cannot be said to be one — the four sense-data and the colour-nature differing as whole and part — so too, since they pervade and yet differ as whole and part, they cannot be said to be other, having no separate substance"] 〔X21n0369 X0227a13–16〕. Woncheuk also cites 「深密經云：譬如珂白，不可言一異。解節經云：譬如傷佉白色，不可言一異」 ["the Saṃdhinirmocana says: 'It is like the white of a shell, of which one cannot say one-or-other.' The Jiejie jing (解節經) says: 'It is like the white colour of the śaṅkha, of which one cannot say one-or-other'"] 〔X0227b03–04〕.
(iv)〔Sub ④〕The simile of space pervading as a single taste — 〔T16n0676 0692a21–24〕 「譬如種種非一品類異相色中，虛空無相、無分別、無變異、遍一切一味相。如是，異性、異相一切法中，勝義諦遍一切一味相，當知亦然」 ["it is like space within all the manifold kinds of form that are not of one class and each have their own differing characteristic: space is markless, without discrimination, without alteration, of a single-taste characteristic pervading everything. Just so, within all the dharmas that each have their differing nature and differing characteristic, the ultimate truth, of a single-taste characteristic pervading everything — know it is likewise"]:
- Figure (vehicle): the space within the manifold differently-charactered forms (markless · without discrimination · without alteration · single-taste-pervading-all).
- Ground (tenor): the ultimate truth within all the differently-natured, differently-charactered dharmas (the single-taste characteristic pervading everything).
- Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) correspondence 〔T16n0677 0714b20–22〕 「譬如眾色，種種差別更互不同。於諸色中，虛空無相，無有差別，無有變異，於一切處同一味相」 ["it is like the manifold colours, in their various distinctions, differing one from another. Within those colours, space is markless, without distinction, without alteration, of one single-taste characteristic in every place"].
- The ancient masters' simile-gloss (Woncheuk): 「然虗空中無能所造相，故名無相。無有有見有對色等種種差別，故名無分別…解節經云：無差別故，亦無變壞，名無變異。具此三義，名一味相」 ["yet within space there is no characteristic of producer or produced, hence it is named 'markless.' There are no various distinctions such as form that is visible-and-resistant, hence it is named 'without discrimination'… the Jiejie jing (解節經) says: because it is without distinction, it is also without change-and-spoiling, named 'without alteration.' Possessing these three meanings, it is named the single-taste characteristic"] 〔X21n0369 X0238c21–24〕.
VII. Cross-readings (互讀)
This chapter establishes five characteristics of ultimate truth and the meaning of suchness. The entries below identify bounded later cross-readings; no direct dependence is asserted without an explicit locus:
- The Madhyānta-vibhāga, Chapter Distinguishing the Real: the three ultimates of meaning, attainment, and right practice, for comparison with this chapter's ultimate-truth teaching; its Chapter Distinguishing the Characteristics 〔T31n1600 0465c04–11〕 treats emptiness and false discrimination as neither one nor other, for comparison with this chapter's ultimate and conditioned phenomena as neither one nor other.
- The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, Division on the Characteristic of the Knowable: suchness · the perfectly-accomplished's "unchanging nature · pure-object nature" · the characteristic of the knowable, for comparison with this chapter's "suchness-ultimate-dharma-selflessness-nature · pure object · the constantly abiding that does not wait upon a cause."
- The Thirty Verses, verse 25: 「此諸法勝義，亦即是真如，常如其性故，即唯識實性」 ["this ultimate of all dharmas is also suchness, since it is constantly so by its own nature; it is the very nature of consciousness-only"] — the verse-correspondence to this chapter's ultimate = suchness · single-taste-pervading-all.
- The Twenty Verses: the ultimate establishment of consciousness-only-without-object, as a broad thematic comparison with this chapter's ultimate beyond reasoning and inexpressible; no direct dependence is claimed.
Cross-readings are thematic pointers; only canon numbers and loci printed in an item are source claims.
VIII. Witness collation (校本定位)
- Xuanzang T676 (base text): the Chapter on the Mark of Ultimate Truth, beginning at 〔T16n0676 0688c18〕, ending with the verse on 「此遍一切一味相」 at 〔0692a25〕. Sub ① 0688c21–0689b28 (inexpressible-and-non-dual · the skilled-conjuror simile) · Verse 1 「佛說離言無二義」 ["What He proclaims is the meaning apart from speech and non-dual"] 0689c05 · Sub ② 0689c09–0690a22 (Dharma-Welling-Forth · the five grounds · the five similes) · Verse 2 「內證無相之所行」 ["inwardly realized, the range of the markless"] 0690a26 · Sub ③ 0690a28–0691b01 (Well-Purified Wisdom · sameness-or-otherness · the ten similes) · Verse 3 「行界勝義相」 ["the ultimate characteristic of the conditioning-forces and the realm"] 0691b06 · Sub ④ 0691b11–0692a24 (the elder Subhūti · single-taste-pervading-all · the space simile) · Verse 4 「此遍一切一味相」 ["this single-taste characteristic pervading everything"] 0692a25.
- Bodhiruci T675 (full-text primary cross-collation · one chapter opened into four): Sub ① the Second, the Chapter of the Holy Bodhisattva Who Asks Well's Questions 〔T16n0675 0666a07〕 · Sub ② the Third, the Chapter of the Holy Bodhisattva Dharma-Inexhaustible's Questions 〔0667a06〕 · Sub ③ the Fourth, the Chapter of the Holy Bodhisattva Well-Purified Wisdom's Questions 〔0667b20 · conch 0668a03〕 · Sub ④ the Fifth, the Chapter of the Worthy-of-Life Subhūti's Questions 〔0668a20〕.
- Paramārtha's Foshuo Jiejie jing (佛說解節經) T677 (the live collation-witness for Chapter Two · four chapters = the four sections): Sub ① the Chapter on the Inexpressible and Non-Dual, first 〔T16n0677 0711b28〕 · verse 0712b13 · Sub ② the Chapter on Being Beyond the Range of Sensing-and-Examining, second 〔0712b17〕 · verse 0712c26 · Sub ③ the Chapter on Being Beyond Sameness-or-Otherness, third 〔0712c28 · śaṅkha 0713b24〕 · verse 0713c09 · Sub ④ the Chapter on the Single Taste, fourth 〔0713c13 · space 0714b21〕 · verse 0714b26–29 · naming and upholding 「了義正說」 [the definitive-meaning right exposition] 0714c04–06 · gains 0714c06–10.
- The Saṃdhinirmocana-section T1579 (explicit treatise quotation / same-translator parallel · the Yogācārabhūmi is attributed to Maitreya and translated by Xuanzang · all four sections cited at full length): scroll 75, the fourth part of the Bodhisattva-stage within the Section that Settles the Meaning · the Chapter Settling the Limbs of Awakening. 「勝義諦有五種相」 ["the ultimate truth has five characteristics"] 〔T30n1579 0713c25〕 is the treatise's general heading, not the start of the Chapter-2 quotation; the explicit quotation begins with Sub ①, the characteristic of being apart from names-and-words and non-dual, at 0713c28 · Sub ② the characteristic of being beyond the range of reasoning 0714c14 · Sub ③ the characteristic of being beyond the sameness-or-otherness of all dharmas (Well-Purified Wisdom) 0715b06 · conch 0716a22 · Sub ④ the characteristic of a single taste pervading everything 0716b18. 〔Scroll 75 ends at 0717b08; the five-characteristics passage is within scroll 75.〕
- Woncheuk X0369 (primary · dedicated commentary): the gloss on the Chapter on the Mark of Ultimate Truth, beginning at 〔X21n0369 X0203c01〕. The gathering-into-four-passages structural division X0203c10–18 · Sub ① explaining the non-dual characteristic X0205a17 · explaining the unconditioned non-dual X0207c13 · the skilled-conjuror simile X0208b09–0209a05 · Paramārtha's notes X0208b12 · Sub ② explaining being beyond reasoning X0213b02 · Sub ③ within explaining the characteristic of being beyond reasoning (sameness-or-otherness) X0221b24 · the conch simile X0227a08–b04 · Sub ④ explaining single-taste-pervading-all X0229a05 · the space simile X0238c17–24.
- Dunlun T1828: glossing the five-characteristics passage of the Saṃdhinirmocana-section (= this chapter's explicit treatise quotation / same-translator parallel) 〔T42n1828 0771b07〕 · the four renderings listed by name 0771b09–12 · the three sameness-or-otherness grounds 0772a01–12 · single-taste-pervading-all 0772b03–05.
- Kuiji T1861: the formal 〈Two Truths Meaning〉 (二諦義) 〔T45n1861 0287b15 onward〕 shows no direct citation of this chapter's five characteristics of the ultimate, left blank.
- Guṇabhadra T678/T679: do not cover this chapter, left blank (Guṇabhadra's two texts correspond to the last two chapters of the Saṃdhinirmocana).