英語訳
【Right Page】
He erected eighty-four thousand stupas, as tall as the three-thousand world systems. He adorned the banner poles and hung the banners and canopies of all buddhas, and suspended jeweled bells.
The Xuanzan states: "From 'At that time All-Beings...' to '...suspended jeweled bells' in the sūtra. Commentary: The seventh section on erecting stupas has three parts: first, sorrowful attachment; second, burning the body; third, erecting stupas. Because this is sambhogakāya for others' benefit, the dimensions are extremely high."
The Water Commentary states: "Question: Why does the lower sūtra text say 'At that time the bodhisattvas, devas, humans, asuras, etc., seeing him without arms, were distressed with sorrow and love, saying: This All-Beings-Gladly-Seen Bodhisattva is our teacher, yet now he has burned his arms and his body is not complete'? Why say 'there is no evil'? Answer: Now this speaks about there actually being none. The lower text speaks of 'having' in terms of retinue adornment as manifestations. If they weren't manifestations, how could the sambhogakāya land have seventy-two Ganges sand assemblies of śrāvakas? Question: How do we know it's a sambhogakāya land? Answer: If it weren't a sambhogakāya land, why would the buddha's lifespan be forty-two thousand kalpas? Moreover, these aren't kalpas of formation and destruction. How do we know this? Following what comes below, Gladly-Seen Bodhisattva burned his arms and ignited his body, making offerings for seventy-two thousand years, having already made offerings to Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha. If according to yearly kalpas, then the lifespan would be short and the offering time long. Know that it's a sambhogakāya land. If it's a sambhogakāya land, why are there parents? If it's [for bodhisattvas] before the eighth stage, it's because there's increase of compassion. Question: If it's a bodhisattva of increased compassion, would the parents be in the pure land? Answer: One should say 'seeing one place differently.'"
The doctrine that bodhisattvas with compositional bodies are not born in pure lands is found in this commentary.
Question: The sūtra text states that Gladly-Seen Bodhisattva burned his arms adorned with a hundred merits before eighty-four thousand stupas. How many years did this last? Answer: The sūtra states "seventy-two thousand years." Regarding this, having already burned one limb, even with meditative power, how could it extend for so many years? Even burning the entire body lasted only twelve hundred years. How much more burning just arms?
Resolving: Examining the sūtra text and considering Medicine King's original deeds, burning the body occurred in the previous life, burning the arms in the later body. Since there's already sequence between before and after, we know the previous practice was shallow and the later practice superior. Thus the duration of ascetic practices was initially short and later long. This represents vow-power and practice-power progressing from inferior to superior. Therefore Chinese masters' explanations state: "In the previous life when abandoning the body, supernatural powers and vow-power were small, only extending for twelve hundred years. In this life, supernatural powers and vow-power are great, therefore extending for seventy-two thousand years." According to this, when burning the body, though all buddhas simultaneously praised it as "true vigor," no benefits were clarified. When burning the arms, countless asaṃkhyeya people generated bodhicitta and all were enabled to abide in the samādhi of manifesting all physical forms. We clearly know that through the vigor of the previous life, that virtue advanced, so later when burning the arms, supernatural powers and vow-power transcended what came before.
The Water Commentary states: "Question: Why did burning the body in the previous life burn out in twelve hundred years, while burning the arms in this life lasted seventy-two thousand years? Answer: When abandoning the body in the previous life, supernatural power was small, only extending twelve hundred years. In this life supernatural power is great, therefore extending seventy-two thousand years. Keeping the arms for so long benefited people, and the lifespan also exceeded eighty thousand years. Transforming and saving represents dwelling in the causal stage. Because that dharma is not yet perfect, it speaks of seventy-two thousand years."
【Left Page】
Question: The sūtra text speaks of Mount Sumeru being first among the ten jewel mountains. Should Mount Sumeru be included among the ten jewel mountains? There are two sides. If included, since Sumeru is already included among the ten mountains, why say Mount Sumeru is first among the ten mountains? Among rivers and streams, the ocean is first; among sentient beings, the moon deity is first—these cite the superior outside the compared group. Among minor kings, the wheel-turning king is first; among ordinary beings, the four fruits and pratyekabuddhas are first. Would wheel-turning kings and four fruits be classified under minor kings and ordinary beings? By analogy it should be thus. If so, how does the Avataṃsaka Sūtra list Mount Sumeru among jewel mountains?
Resolving: Revealing the superiority and inferiority of things sometimes compares to other categories, sometimes to the same category—not necessarily uniform. Even if Mount Sumeru exists among ten jewel mountains, what contradiction is there? Moreover, using the moon deity, sometimes it encompasses constellations. If following that approach, wouldn't this be superiority within the same category? Or though the Avataṃsaka Sūtra's ten jewel mountains include Sumeru, perhaps this sūtra's meaning preserves a different interpretation? Or "ten jewels" originally raises a total number, encompassing separate categories like Sumeru, etc. There's no jewel mountain not encompassed. Other analogies lack total representative numbers. If following this interpretation, comparing to same and other categories wouldn't be the same.
Master Xing's commentary states: "The sūtra saying from 'Also like earth mountains' to 'most supreme among them'—commentary: This uses height to reveal superiority. The ten jewel mountains are what the Avataṃsaka calls: 'What are the ten? First, Snow Mountain; second, Fragrance Mountain;
third, Vinādhaka Mountain; fourth, Sage Mountain; fifth, Gandhamādana Mountain; sixth, Horse-Ear Mountain; seventh, Nimindhara Mountain; eighth, Cakravāla Mountain; ninth, Many-Characteristics Mountain; tenth, Mount Sumeru.' Vasubandhu's treatise states: 'As in that sequence, it explains the ten stages' causes.' Now it separately uses Wonderful-Sound Mountain to illustrate the sūtra's lofty revelation."
The Water Commentary states: "Regarding the ten jewel mountains, the compilation cites the Avataṃsaka Sūtra having ten mountain kings: Snow Mountain King, High Mountain King, Vaidhara Mountain King, Divine Sage Mountain King, Gandha Mountain King, Horse-Ear Mountain King, Nimindhara Mountain King, Cakra Mountain King, Ketu-mati Mountain King, Sumeru Mountain King. The first two are..." etc.
The New Commentary states: "The sūtra's ten jewel mountains, according to the Buddha's Original Acts Sūtra, are: Sumeru, seven gold [mountains], Small Iron-Encircling Mountain, Great Iron-Encircling Mountain, making ten. If following this explanation, then in the present sūtra the character 'and' is unnecessary, since the Iron-Encircling Mountains were already listed above. Now I suspect this is a copying error—it should be the character 'seven.' The Supplemented Lotus Sūtra says 'and seven jewel mountains.' Following this is correct. The seven jewel mountains are the seven gold mountains."
Question: Should pratyekabuddha sages preach dharma? If they preach dharma, looking at the sūtra text: "All tathāgatas' teachings, or bodhisattvas' teachings, or śrāvakas' teachings." If there are pratyekabuddhas' teachings, why not mention them? If so, even inferior śrāvakas still preach dharma to save people. Pratyekabuddhas