仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經卷上科疏卷一
(Outline Commentary on the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra of Humane Kings Who Protect Their Countries, Volume One, Part One)
唐三藏沙門大廣智不空奉 詔譯
Translated into English, the title is:
明慈慧寺開山比丘蜀東普真貴述
Biography of the Founding Monk of Mingci Hui Temple, Shudong Puzhen Gui
△三、正釋經文三：初、釋經總題。
III. Explanation of the Sutra Text: Three Sections 1. Explanation of the Sutra’s General Title.
仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經。
The Sutra of the Benevolent Kings to Protect Their Countries on the Perfection of Wisdom
代宗有國，重譯此經。意與黔黎，共臻實相。故自敘云：懿夫護國，實在茲經。竊景行於波斯，庶闡揚於調御。至若高張五忍，足明惻隱之深；永祛眾難，寔惟化清之本。據此，則般若之可護國也，不待條分縷析，數星擘兩，自然明如日月，潤同雲雨者矣。然佛經立題，有人法、體用、因果、譬喻，單複不同。今從人法、體用，亦隱法喻。釋有三對：一、人法。謂仁王護國，是奉持般若之人。般若等言，乃擁護王國之法。即密證、權化、仁心、仁政之王，御天地、宗社、山河、臣民之國。必依般若虗玄之妙門，為超真越俗之坦道，護國安邦之金湯，空心寂境之指南，絕愆滅禍之巨闕也。然通理事槩而言之，所護國土即事，能護般若即理。故二、體用。就前法中，須分體用。謂般若是體，正翻云慧。即神悟玄奧，妙證真源，照萬法空，相應本覺之慧也。然此有三種：一、實相般若。謂所觀真性，即本覺也。此性如智同源，無明本盡，真照圓明，諸幻俱離，乃名實相。故後文云：自性清淨，名為本覺。二、觀照般若。謂能觀妙慧，即始覺也。此智因果，皆依能所無二，存而不有，忘而不無，乃云觀照。故後文云：智照實性，非有非無。三、文字般若。謂詮上之教。如經云：我依文字般若，而證諸法實相。又云：總持無文字，文字顯總持。淨名云：文字性空，即是解脫。後文又云：一十二分所有宣說，一切皆如，無非實相，乃至名為修文字者，而能得證般若真性。斯則理智教三，不一不二，為護國妙法。一心萬行，孰可昧此。然有謂因名般若，果位名智。以般若能斷，故在因位。佛果無斷，轉受智名，一往如之。且智論亦云：般若翻為智慧。盖性宗二法，總是般若之一心故。非如法相，因中名慧，果上名智。何則？揀擇決斷，眼目殊稱。因果雖懸，妙體何異。所以若慧若智，隨舉皆得波羅蜜多，是用此云彼岸。到彼岸約喻，謂此妙慧，離生死此岸，越煩惱中流，至涅槃彼岸。此語似倒。若兼般若迴文，應云到彼岸慧，即揀不到彼岸之慧，故以為名。淨名謂一切眾生，即寂滅相，不復更滅。但以迷倒，妄見生死，名在此岸。若悟生死本空，元來寂滅，名到彼岸。亦同後文即離即到，即此即彼義耳。故知菩薩悲智俱修，空有雙照。以智導悲，恒到也。以悲導智，恒不到也。則到與不到，兩途一致。亦猶華嚴謂菩薩不住彼岸，不住中流，而能運載此岸眾生，到於彼岸等。三教義經字即教，仁王等即義。經者，梵語修多羅，此云契經。契謂符諸佛理，叶眾生心，即契理合機之教。若揀不契理合機之教，即揀別依主。若契理合機，依主得名。此乃詮仁王護國般若等義之教，依主釋也。若就下文，文字性空，即是般若。即般若體持文字，用體持業，用持業釋也。
During the reign of Emperor Daizong, this sutra was retranslated with the intention that the common people might together reach the ultimate reality. In the preface, it is stated: "How grand is the protection of the nation, truly residing in this sutra." Taking inspiration from the past, we hope to illuminate the teachings of the Buddha. The mention of the "Five Patiences" (Five Kṣāntis) highlights the depth of compassion, while the permanent removal of various calamities is the root of an ordered and pure society. Based on this, the fact that Prajñā (Wisdom) can protect a nation does not require detailed analysis or meticulous breakdown; it is naturally as bright as the sun and moon and as nourishing as clouds and rain.
Buddhist sutras are titled using combinations of person and dharma, essence and function, cause and effect, or metaphor. These vary in complexity. This title employs person and dharma, essence and function, and implicitly, metaphor. There are three pairs of interpretation:
First, Person and Dharma: The "Benevolent King" (Renwang) represents those who uphold Prajñā. "Prajñā" and the following words represent the Dharma that protects the kingdom. A king of benevolent mind and governance—secretly realizing the truth and transforming others through skillful means—rules over the land, the ancestral temples, the mountains, the rivers, and the people. He must rely on the profound and mysterious gates of Prajñā as a smooth path to transcend the mundane, as a fortress for national security, as a guide to empty the heart and still the environment, and as a great wall to prevent wrongdoing and eliminate disaster. In terms of principle and phenomena, the land being protected is the phenomenon, while the Prajñā that protects it is the principle.
Second, Essence and Function: Within the aforementioned Dharma, we must distinguish between essence and function. Prajñā is the essence, translated as "Wisdom." It is the wisdom of spiritual insight into the profound, the subtle realization of the true source, and the illumination that all dharmas are empty, corresponding to original enlightenment. This wisdom is of three types:
1. Real-Aspect Prajñā (Śūnyatā-Prajñā): This refers to the true nature being observed, which is "original enlightenment." This nature and wisdom share the same source. When ignorance is fundamentally exhausted, the true light is perfectly clear and all illusions vanish; this is called the "Real Aspect." As stated later in the text: "Self-nature is pure, which is called original enlightenment."
2. Contemplative Prajñā: This refers to the subtle wisdom capable of observation, which is "initial enlightenment." In this wisdom, cause and effect rely on the non-duality of subject and object; it exists without being substantive, and is forgotten without being non-existent. This is called "Contemplative." As stated later in the text: "Wisdom illuminates the real nature, which is neither existent nor non-existent."
3. Literary Prajñā: This refers to the teachings that interpret the above. As the sutra says: "I rely on Literary Prajñā to realize the true aspect of all dharmas." It also says: "Total retention (Dhāraṇī) has no words, yet words reveal total retention." The Vimalakīrti Sutra states: "The nature of words is empty; this is liberation." The text later says: "All the teachings of the twelve divisions are 'such,' all being the real aspect... for one who practices via words can realize the true nature of Prajñā."
These three—Principle, Wisdom, and Teaching—are not one, yet not two; they are the marvelous Dharma for protecting the nation. Who could be ignorant of this path of mind and action?
Some say "Prajñā" refers to the cause, while "Wisdom" refers to the result. Because Prajñā can "sever" (afflictions), it is in the causal stage. Because the Buddha's fruit has nothing left to sever, it takes the name of "Wisdom." Generally, this is so. However, the Treatise on Wisdom (Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra) says that Prajñā is translated as "Wisdom." In the nature-school, both terms refer to the one mind of Prajñā; it is not like the Dharma-character school, which distinguishes wisdom in the cause from wisdom in the result. Why? Because though the names for discernment and resolution differ, the subtle essence is the same. Thus, whether we say "Wisdom" or "Prajñā," both point to *Pāramitā*, which means "arriving at the other shore."
"Arriving at the other shore" is a metaphor: this subtle wisdom leaves the shore of birth-and-death, crosses the current of afflictions, and reaches the other shore of Nirvana. If we combine this with the cyclic nature of Prajñā, it should be called "Wisdom that arrives at the other shore," distinguishing it from wisdom that does not. The Vimalakīrti Sutra states that all sentient beings are of the nature of cessation and do not need to be "ceased" further. It is only due to delusion and confusion that they perceive birth-and-death, calling it "this shore." If one realizes that birth-and-death is originally empty and essentially quiescent, that is called "arriving at the other shore." This matches the meaning of "arriving through departing" mentioned later in the text. Thus, we know the Bodhisattva cultivates both compassion and wisdom, illuminating both emptiness and existence. By using wisdom to guide compassion, one is always "arriving"; by using compassion to guide wisdom, one is "not arriving." Thus, "arriving" and "not arriving" are the same. This is like the Avataṃsaka Sutra, which says a Bodhisattva does not abide on the other shore, nor in the middle of the current, yet is able to ferry sentient beings from this shore to the other.
Third, Teaching and Meaning: The word "Sutra" refers to the teaching, while "Benevolent King" and the rest refer to the meaning. "Sutra" is the transliteration of the Sanskrit *Sūtra*, which means a "thread" or "well-fitting text." "Fitting" means it conforms to the principles of all Buddhas and matches the capacities of sentient beings; it is a teaching that fits the principle and matches the capacity. If we distinguish this from teachings that do not fit the principle or match the capacity, we are using the "Dependent-Master" classification. Since this sutra fits both, the name is well-applied. This is a teaching that interprets the meaning of the Benevolent King protecting the nation and Prajñā, which is a Dependent-Master interpretation. If we look further, the statement "The nature of words is empty, which is Prajñā" means that the essence of Prajñā supports the words, and the function of the essence supports the karma—this is a functional interpretation of karma.
△二、譯主時德。
2. The Translator's Time and Virtue
唐三藏沙門大廣智不空奉 詔譯。
李氏都長安，國號建唐。三藏，即經律論也。此師依國號法藏彰名，即將他顯己，有財釋也。沙門，釋子通稱，梵語沙迦門曩，此云勤息，即修善斷惡之號。此師即四沙門中勝道者也。大廣智，即制授之號。繇肅宗厭世，代宗即位，恩渥隆厚，譯仁王、密嚴二經畢，帝為敘焉。頌行之日，慶雲俄現，舉朝表賀。永泰元年十一月一日，制授特進試鴻臚卿，加號大廣智三藏。不空，師之名也。梵語阿目伽䟦折羅，華言不空金剛，今止行二字，略金剛也。本北天竺婆羅門種，幼失所天，隨叔父觀光東國。年十五，師事金剛智三藏，授以梵本悉曇聲明，浹旬已通，師大異之。故翻經之時，常令共譯。凡聲明論一紀之功，六月已畢；誦文殊、普賢行願一年之限，再夕而終。其敏利皆此類也。後授五部三秘及毗盧遮那經，蘇悉帝軌則盡授無遺。厥後師滅，追諡已畢，曾奉遺旨，遂議遐征，即開元二十年也。初行感文殊現身，沿途息黑風大鯨，神應赫奕，難以盡述。後達師子國，王臣敬禮，逈出常儀矣。然空為法遺，世不暇計。顯榮自爾學無常師，廣求密藏及諸經論五百餘部，本三昧耶諸尊密印，儀形色像、壇法幖幟、文義性相，無不盡源。次遊五印，屢彰靈應。至天寶五年還京，時值亢旱，制曰：時不得賖，雨不得暴。師奏立孔雀壇法，未盡三日，雨以浹洽。一日，大風卒起，隨止隨効。帝賜號智藏焉。天寶八年，許還本國。十五載，詔還京，住大興善寺。至德初，鸞駕在寧武鳳翔，師常密奉表起居，肅宗亦密遣使者求秘密法。洎收京反正之日，事如所料。厥後福國祐民之法，無非百發百中之効。所譯經論凡一百二十餘卷，七十七部，并目錄、筆授、僧俗名字，略出念誦儀軌。寫畢進上，勑編入藏。此起自天寶，迄於大歷六年完成也。俄爾示疾，上表告辭。勑使勞問，賜醫藥，加開府儀同三司，封肅國公，食邑三千戶。固讓不俞，空甚不悅，且曰：聖眾儼如，舒手相慰。白月圓滿，吾當逝矣。奈何臨終，更竊名位。乃以五股金剛鈴杵數珠等物，附中使李憲誠進上。沐浴東首，望闕以大印身，定中而寂。享年七十，僧臘五十。帝輟朝三日，賜賚造塔，勑中使護喪，禮盡隆厚。茶毗之後，就寺置祭。贈司空，諡大辨正廣智三藏。火滅，收舍利數百粒、八十粒進內。其頂骨不然，中有舍利一顆，半隱半顯。勑於本院別起塔焉。空之化利居多，唯總持門最彰殊勝，測其忍位，莫定高卑。始者玄宗猶推重焉，故天寶中西番大石康三國帥兵圍西涼，詔空，帝御於道場，師秉香爐誦仁王密語二七徧，帝見神兵可五百員在於殿庭，驚問師曰：毗沙門天王領兵救安西，請急設食發遣。四月二十四日果奏曰：二月二十一日城東北三十許里雲霧間見神兵長偉，皷角喧鳴，山地崩震，蕃部驚潰，彼營壘中有鼠金色，咋弓弩絃皆絕，城北門樓有光明，天王怒視，蕃部大奔。帝覧謝師。然師終後，三朝所賜墨制一一進上，生榮死哀，西域傳法至此，今古少類矣。奉詔譯者，即奉代宗詔命翻譯此經，故前敘云：朕哀纏欒棘，悲感霜露，捧戴遺詔，不敢怠遑，延振錫之羣英，終為山之九仞，開府朝恩，許國以身，歸佛以命，弼我真教，申夫妙門。於大明宮南桃園詳譯護國般若是已。此略明之，具如宋高僧傳。系曰：傳教令輪者，東夏以金剛智為始祖，不空為二祖，慧朗為三祖，以下宗承所損益可知也。自後岐分派別，咸曰傳瑜伽大教，多則多矣，而少驗者何？亦猶羽嘉生應龍，應龍生鳳凰，鳳凰已降生庶鳥矣，欲無變革，其可得乎？