Commentary on the Mahayana Vijnaptimatrata Sutra
Chapter One: The Causes and Conditions of the Youth Bhadrapāla's Request for the Dharma
Section One: The Youth Bhadrapāla Comes to the Buddha's Lecture Hall
Original text: 如是我闻。一时薄伽梵。在王舍城。迦兰陀竹林，与大比丘众。千二百五十人俱。皆阿罗汉。
Explanation: The four words "Thus have I heard" indicate that this sutra is Ānanda's recitation of what the Buddha taught at that time, not something Ānanda himself composed. Bhagavān refers to Śākyamuni Buddha, and the Karaṇḍa Bamboo Grove in Rājagṛha was a vihāra where the Buddha permanently resided and taught the Dharma. The great bhikṣus were all the Buddha's constant followers, numbering one thousand two hundred and fifty, plus five others; these one thousand two hundred and fifty-five people constantly followed the Buddha to hear the Dharma in various places and protected and upheld the Buddha's Dharma treasury. The leading great bhikṣus each led their own assemblies of disciples, following the World-Honored One to hear the Dharma and cultivate practice. Mahākāśyapa led five hundred disciples, and Śāriputra and the others each led a portion of disciples as well; together they totaled one thousand two hundred and fifty-five, all great bhikṣus and great arhats who had already attained the fourth fruit, with minds liberated and wisdom also liberated.
But this did not include Ānanda, who was still a first fruit (srotāpanna); everyone else was at the fourth fruit. In order to serve as the Buddha's attendant, Ānanda could only remain a first-fruit practitioner and could not attain the fourth fruit of arhatship, because the Buddha did not use fourth-fruit arhats as attendants; therefore Ānanda deliberately did not attain the fourth fruit, maintaining only the status of a first-fruit practitioner. After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, when Mahākāśyapa led the bhikṣus in the compilation of the scriptures, in order to force Ānanda to attain the fourth fruit, Mahākāśyapa drove him out of the cave where the scriptures were being compiled, saying that a first-fruit practitioner could not participate in the compilation of the scriptures.
After being sent out, Ānanda began to practice diligently. One day, as he was preparing to sleep, at the very moment when his head was about to touch the pillow but had not yet touched it, he attained the fourth fruit and also acquired supernatural powers. He then went to knock on the cave door. Mahākāśyapa asked him whether he had attained the fruit, and Ānanda said he had attained the fourth fruit. Mahākāśyapa said, "Then enter through the keyhole," and so Ānanda entered through the keyhole. Thereafter, with Ānanda at the head, they began to compile the scriptures, reciting all the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sutras the Buddha had taught at that time.
How would Ānanda recite the sutras the World-Honored One had taught before Ānanda went forth? After Ānanda became the World-Honored One's attendant, the World-Honored One taught these contents to him separately; the World-Honored One needed to teach only once and Ānanda could remember it. For sutras taught when Ānanda was not present, the World-Honored One would recite them to Ānanda separately once again, so that Ānanda would remember them and could later compile the scriptures. Ānanda had such astonishing memory that he never forgot anything he heard, like a tape recorder — this was the supreme merit he had acquired from cultivating practice together with the Buddha countless eons ago.
Original text: 诸漏已尽。无复烦恼。逮得自在。心善解脱。慧善解脱。
Explanation: These great arhats had completely severed all afflictions, with no afflictions remaining whatsoever; they had already attained freedom, their minds were well liberated, and their wisdom was also well liberated.
"Outflows" (āsrava) refers to the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; "exhausted" means completely severed. When the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion have all been completely severed, it is called the exhaustion of outflows. A candidate for the first fruit severs five grades of afflictions in the desire realm; a candidate for the second fruit severs six or seven grades of afflictions in the desire realm. After cultivating the first dhyāna concentration, one begins to sever the root afflictions of greed and hatred, attaining the third fruit; when the afflictions are completely severed, one attains the fourth fruit. After the first dhyāna arises, the affliction of greed is severed first, and the affliction of hatred is severed afterward; adding the severance of the three fetters accomplished at the first fruit, this constitutes the severance of the five lower fetters. At the fourth fruit, the five upper fetters are further severed. At that point, the affliction-outflows of the ordinary worldling (pṛthagjana) — such as the conceit "I am," craving-attachment for the three realms, and delusion — are all completely severed; that is, the manas's clinging to self is completely severed.
When all the view-and-thought afflictions — greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views — have been completely severed, and there is not the slightest craving-attachment for the dharmas of the three realms, that is the exhaustion of outflows. If there are still afflictions, there are outflows; with outflows one cannot leave the three realms and must continue to suffer within them. For example, a third-fruit practitioner who has not completely severed the afflictions of self-conceit and self-clinging cannot directly leave the three realms; he may need to continue contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in the intermediate state, and only after completely severing the afflictions can he leave the three realms. Some third-fruit practitioners, after the end of life, ascend to the heavens and sever the remaining afflictions there before they can leave the three realms.
Afflictions are like ropes that bind oneself within the three realms and six paths, unable to escape birth and death; therefore every sentient being must first bring afflictions to an end before being able to leave the three realms. Only by attaining the fourth fruit of arhatship, possessing the wisdom of the complete end of the world, can one completely sever all dharmas of the three-realm world. That is to say, the arhats all know how, at the end of life, to extinguish their own five aggregates in order to leave the world. This is the arhats' liberating wisdom — the wisdom fully endowed for escaping birth and death and attaining liberation — called liberation by wisdom (prajñā-vimukti).
Only when the mind of the seven consciousnesses has severed afflictions can it attain freedom. Without the bondage of afflictions, toward all dharmas of the world the mind has no obstructions; the mind is liberated, no longer constrained by the three-realm world, coming and going freely. Of course, arhats are still not at ease with regard to the Mahāyāna Dharma, because they have not realized the Mahāyāna Dharma and cannot abide in the Mahāyāna Dharma at will and attain liberation therein. But in the mundane life of the five-aggregate world, their minds are free and unobstructed; their craving-attachment and fetters toward the three realms have all been completely severed, they are not bound by any realm of the six sense objects, their minds have already attained liberation, their wisdom has also attained liberation, and they are fully endowed with the wisdom to leave the world.
Arhats are divided into two types: liberation by wisdom and liberation in both ways (ubhayato-bhāga-vimukti). An arhat liberated by wisdom has only cultivated the first dhyāna concentration and has not yet cultivated the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, and has no five superknowledges (abhijñā); he cannot, anytime and anywhere, use the power of meditative concentration to leave the three-realm world and enter Nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), but at the end of life he can use wisdom to escape birth and death and enter Nirvāṇa without remainder. At the end of life, because his afflictions are completely severed, he does not cling to the three realms, has no desires and no seeking, the manas is completely extinguished, the five-aggregate body is completely extinguished, and he attains liberation. Having the wisdom to liberate from birth and death, the five-aggregate body and mind are not bound by worldly dharmas — this is called the well-liberated mind and the well-liberated wisdom.
Original text: 于去来今。照了无碍。是大那伽。如佛之教。所作已办。
Explanation: These arhats, with regard to the dharmas of the three periods — past, present, and future — all understand and penetrate them without obstruction; this is the superknowledged power possessed by arhats liberated in both ways. Regarding the contemplative practice of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha taught in the Saṃyuktāgama Sūtra that one should contemplate the falsity of the five aggregates, and also contemplate that the physical body and conscious mind of past lives are false and without self, contemplate that the physical body and conscious mind of future lives are false and without self, and contemplate that the physical body and conscious mind of the present life are also false and without self. Contemplating the five aggregates of past, future, and present — whether good aggregates, bad aggregates, coarse aggregates, or subtle aggregates — none of them is the self: this is the meaning of "illuminating past, future, and present without obstruction."
Arhats liberated by wisdom can also practice such contemplation, also realizing that the physical bodies and conscious minds of past, present, and future lives are not the self, illuminating past, future, and present without obstruction. Arhats not only realize that the present self is false and without self, but also realize that the future-life self is false and without self; therefore they do not delight in the physical body and five aggregates of future lives, and only thus can they extinguish the manas's craving-attachment to self, and only at the end of life can they completely extinguish the five aggregates and leave the three realms. If there is even a single thought of delight toward the future, that is the bondage of birth and death, and one cannot leave the three realms. To leave the three realms, even this single thought of joyful delight must not exist; only with not the slightest longing for future lives can one illuminate without obstruction, thereby attaining the well-liberated mind and the well-liberated wisdom.
The Sanskrit term "Nāga" refers to the dragon race. These arhats, like great dragons, have power; they truthfully carry out the Buddha's teachings — seeking liberation within one lifetime, they attain liberation; they cast off the heavy burden of birth and death, and from then on attain liberation and rest body and mind. Fourth-fruit arhats often say: "Birth for me is exhausted, the holy life has been established, what was to be done has been done, and I know for myself that there will be no more receiving of future existence." What the arhats had to do was to completely sever the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, to be able to leave the three realms and attain liberation — this was what they had to accomplish in their lives. "What was to be done has been done" means that everything that should be done has been completely done. Third-fruit practitioners cannot yet say this; only fourth-fruit arhats can say it. Because third-fruit practitioners still have afflictions not completely severed, with some self-clinging and self-conceit remaining — this is the bondage of birth and death. Fourth-fruit arhats have completely severed all afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, with all outflows exhausted; only then can they say "what was to be done has been done, and there will be no more future existence."
Original text: 弃大重担。获于己利。已断流转。生死有苦。
Explanation: They abandoned the great burden of the five-aggregate body and mind, obtained the merit and benefit of personal liberation, and have already severed the suffering of birth-and-death transmigration in the three realms and six paths.
The five aggregates and eighteen realms (dhātus) of sentient beings are the greatest burden in the cycle of birth and death; the five desires and six sense objects, the suffering of birth-and-death existence — these are the greatest burden. Arhats are able to abandon this great burden; their minds are free of afflictions, the burden of the three realms is laid down, they need not care whether sentient beings suffer or not, and they cast off all baggage and burdens to rush out of the three realms. "Obtaining benefit for oneself" means they have finally obtained benefit for themselves, able to end the suffering of birth and death and attain liberation. As long as the arhats can leave the three realms themselves and no longer undergo the suffering of birth-and-death transmigration, they do not care about anything else — this is the mentality of one who frees only himself. If all Buddhist practitioners had this mentality, the Buddha-Dharma could not continue and would eventually perish; with no one to propagate the Dharma and no one to teach, sentient beings of later generations would be unable to obtain any benefit from the Buddha-Dharma, constantly dwelling in the abyss of darkness, unable to attain liberation from the suffering and distress of birth and death.
Therefore the Hīnayāna śrāvaka Dharma is not the ultimate Dharma; it can only be studied and practiced for a period of time. Bodhisattvas who study and practice the Mahāyāna Buddha-Dharma — although the Hīnayāna Dharma inevitably must be cultivated and realized, they cannot take the road of nirvāṇa; after their own accomplishment they must still benefit others — this is the bodhisattva's aspiration. Bodhisattvas have vast minds: they not only deliver themselves, but also deliver all sentient beings who, like themselves, undergo the suffering of transmigration, enabling them likewise to attain ultimate liberation. That is the conduct of great-minded bodhisattvas; therefore bodhisattvas are also called "beings of great mind."
The arhats have already cut off the suffering of birth-and-death existence transmigrating in the three realms. "Existence" includes the desire-realm existence, the form-realm existence, and the formless-realm existence — worlds consisting of five aggregates or four aggregates; that is, the desire realm has the worldly dharmas of the desire realm, the form realm has the worldly dharmas of the form realm, and the formless realm has the worldly dharmas of the formless realm; the worldly dharmas of these three realms are all suffering. Not only are the three evil paths suffering, the human path is also suffering; devas and asuras likewise have suffering; even within pleasant feeling there is suffering, and this so-called pleasure is itself a kind of suffering — after the pleasure passes, there is still suffering. The suffering the Buddha spoke of has three kinds: the suffering of suffering (duḥkha-duḥkhatā), the suffering of conditioning (saṃskāra-duḥkhatā), and the suffering of change (vipariṇāma-duḥkhatā). Although devas have no suffering of suffering, they still have the suffering of conditioning and the suffering of change, because their kind of pleasure is not permanent and cannot be retained; it will sooner or later disappear — this suffering is called the suffering of conditioning. When the feeling of pleasure disappears, it is called the suffering of change.
Especially at the end of life, devas will display the five signs of decay: the body becomes foul and filthy, the flower garland withers, dust falls upon the clothes, sweat appears under both armpits, and they become displeased with their jeweled seat. When a deva's body becomes foul and malodorous, no deva is willing to approach him; they all avoid and keep away from him. This dying deva can no longer sit still on his jeweled seat, the flower garland on his head has withered; previously his clothes were always clean, never gathering dust, but now his clothes have dust on them, and his two armpits emit the odor of sweat. When these signs appear, it indicates that the deva's life is about to end and he is about to go undergo suffering — this is called the devas' five signs of decay. The arhats have completely severed the suffering of birth-and-death existence within the three realms; in the future they will no longer come to the three realms to undergo the suffering of birth-and-death existence.
Original text: 以正智力。善知众生。心之所趣。如是大声闻众。长老舍利弗。而为上首。复有无量。菩萨摩诃萨众。俱在会集。
Explanation: With the power of true wisdom, the arhats are skilled in knowing the inclinations of sentient beings' minds. Such a great assembly of śrāvakas had the Elder Śāriputra as its foremost; there were also immeasurable bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, all gathered together in the Dharma assembly.
The arhats cultivated the Four Noble Truths of suffering, origination, cessation, and path, obtained liberating wisdom, and were fully endowed with the wisdom of all knowledge (sarvajñatā). With this wisdom, they can skillfully observe where sentient beings' minds ultimately incline; seeing the dharmas that sentient beings crave and delight in, they can know which of the six paths a sentient being will incline toward at the end of life, and can also know whether a sentient being can attain liberation and enter Nirvāṇa without remainder. The minds of most sentient beings crave and cling to the worldly dharmas of the three realms; in the future they cannot escape worldly dharmas, all must undergo the bondage of the five desires and six sense objects, inclining toward transmigration in the six paths, inclining toward the six sense objects of form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharmas, inclining toward the three-realm world, unable to escape the cycle of birth and death.
"Elder" (sthavira) is an honorific title for arhats. Those who have attained the fourth fruit of arhatship are called the great assembly of śrāvakas; the Elder Śāriputra was foremost among them in wisdom, so Śāriputra occupied the foremost position among the śrāvaka assembly. In this great assembly, the śrāvaka assembly was headed by Śāriputra, and the countless bodhisattva-mahāsattvas were listed behind the great śrāvaka assembly in the great assembly, indicating that many of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas were lay followers. When the Buddha was in the world, the monastic assembly was given precedence, so the monastic assembly is presented first, and the lay assembly afterward. The śrāvaka disciples and the bodhisattva disciples all gathered at the Dharma assembly where the World-Honored One taught the Dharma, listening to the World-Honored One's instructions.
Original text: 尔时。诸比丘。在世尊所。多有疲睡。失容阿委。不能自持。于是世尊。面门晖发。如莲花开。时诸比丘。咸悉醒悟。各自严正。作如是念。今佛世尊。颜容晖焕。面光照朗。欲开何法眼。作大饶益。
Explanation: At this time, among the bhikṣu disciples in the World-Honored One's lecture hall, most were somewhat weary, some drowsy, their countenances listless and drooping, about to lose their composure and nearly asleep. While the Buddha was teaching the Dharma up front, some of the bhikṣus below were already tired and about to sleep, their deportment undignified — some yawning, some dozing off — their bodies unable to remain upright. Seeing this situation, in order to rouse these bhikṣus to alertness, the World-Honored One manifested supernatural powers.
The phrase "his face radiating brilliance" means that his face was resplendent like a lotus in bloom. When the bhikṣus saw the Buddha manifesting supernatural powers and radiating light, all their drowsiness vanished; their spirits were fully roused, and each straightened his body and sitting posture, thinking: "The Buddha is now manifesting supernatural powers; his countenance is luminous and beautiful, his radiance shining brightly. What great Dharma is he about to expound, to bring great benefit to sentient beings?"
Original text: 尔时。贤护胜上童真。修容丰美。柔和光泽。色相具足。六万商主。前后围绕。侍从轰郁。声如地震。来诣佛所。
Explanation: At this time, there was a layperson named Bhadrapāla the Excellent Youth. ("Youth" (kumārabhūta) means that he still possessed the body of a virgin youth; "excellent" indicates that this person was quite exceptional, surpassing others either in merit or in wisdom.) His appearance was refined and handsome, gentle and lustrous, his form and features complete and beautiful — this hints that Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla had cultivated great merit in past lives, thereby receiving such a dignified form. Sixty thousand merchant lords surrounded him front and back; the retinue of attendants serving him was numerous, and the sound of the crowd moving together was like an earthquake, showing how vast and profound Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla's merit was. At this time, the crowd together escorted Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla as they arrived at the lecture hall where the Buddha taught the Dharma.
Original text: 见佛世尊。寂静安隐。众德之藏。巍巍赫朗。如大金树。深心信重。合掌思惟。作如是念。众共称赞。佛一切智。普见一切。是如来阿罗诃。正等觉。诚实不虚。顶礼佛足。谛视而住。
Explanation: Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla saw the World-Honored One sitting upright on his seat, appearing tranquil and at ease; in the Buddha's five-aggregate body, in his speech and deportment and his serene countenance, were hidden the Buddha's great majestic virtues, everywhere revealing that the Buddha was the treasury of all virtues. The Buddha's thirty-two marks were majestic and dignified, awesome yet kind, resplendent and luminous, like a tall golden tree. Seeing the Buddha so adorned with major and minor marks (lakṣaṇa-vyañjana-sampad), Bhadrapāla the Excellent Youth gave rise to a deep reverence and faith in the Buddha; then, with palms joined he contemplated, giving rise to this thought: "All sentient beings together praise the Buddha's great merit; the Buddha's wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā) universally sees all dharmas; the World-Honored One is indeed the Tathāgata, Arhat, Perfectly and Completely Awakened One — true and not false." Then he bowed at the Buddha's feet and stood to one side, single-mindedly gazing upon the World-Honored One's venerable countenance.
Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla praised the World-Honored One as fully endowed with the merit of the Buddha's ten epithets. The Buddha's ten epithets are: Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Universally Knowing, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Devas and Humans, World-Honored One. The wisdom of all knowledge (sarvajñatā), according to the Hīnayāna, represents the wisdom by which the Buddha can liberate from the birth-and-death transmigration of the three-realm world; whereas the Buddha's Mahāyāna wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā) represents that the Buddha realized all dharmas, worldly and supramundane, with not a single dharma he did not know or understand. All the functional operations of the seeds contained within the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) were realized by the Buddha completely, without remainder — this is called the wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā).
