爾時，須菩提白佛言：「世尊！ 當何名此經？我等云何奉持？」 佛告須菩提：「是經名為“ 金剛般若波羅蜜”。以是名字，汝當奉持。
Yifa: At that time, Subhuti addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One, what should this sutra be named? How should we respectfully uphold it?”
The Buddha told Subhuti, “This sutra is named the Vajra Prajnaparamita. By this name you should respectfully uphold it. How is this? Subhuti, the Buddha says prajnaparamita is not prajnaparamita.”
Sanskrit: evamukte āyuṣmān subhūtirbhagavantametadavocat-ko nāma ayaṃ bhagavan dharmaparyāyaḥ, kathaṃ cainaṃ dhārayāmi ? evamukte bhagavānāyuṣmantaṃ subhūtimetadavocat- prajñāpāramitā nāmāyaṃ subhūte dharmaparyāyaḥ| evaṃ cainaṃ dhāraya| tatkasya hetoḥ ? yaiva subhūte prajñāpāramitā tathāgatena bhāṣitā, saiva apāramitā tathāgatena bhāṣitā| tenocyate prajñāpāramiteti||
Diamond Sūtra Discussion
Receiving and maintaining the Dharma 如法受持分
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Receiving and maintaining the Dharma 如法受持分
Text 原文本
Comments
Some Sanskrit versions name the sūtra simply as Prajñāpāramitā without mention of Vajracchedikā but it is mentioned in this version.
Text
所以者何？須菩提！佛說般若波羅蜜， 則非般若波羅蜜。須菩提！於意云何？如來有所說法不？」 須菩提白佛言：「世尊！如來無所說。」
Yifa: “Subhuti, what does your mind say? The Tathagata has spoken the Dharma, has he not?”
Subhuti addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One, the Tathagata has not said anything.”
Sanskrit: tatkiṃ manyase subhūte-api nu asti sa kaściddharmo yastathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ ? subhūtirāha-no hīdaṃ bhagavan| nāsti sa kaściddharmo yastathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ||
Yifa: “Subhuti, what does your mind say? The Tathagata has spoken the Dharma, has he not?”
Subhuti addressed the Buddha saying, “World-Honored One, the Tathagata has not said anything.”
Sanskrit: tatkiṃ manyase subhūte-api nu asti sa kaściddharmo yastathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ ? subhūtirāha-no hīdaṃ bhagavan| nāsti sa kaściddharmo yastathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ||
Comments
The Chinese version of this sentence reads Prajñāpāramitā 般若波羅蜜 instead of dhárma, as the Sanskrit version does.
Text
「須菩提！ 於意云何？三千大千世界所有微塵是為多不？」 須菩提言：「甚多，世尊！」 「須菩提！諸微塵， 如來說非微塵，是名微塵。如來說世界，非世界， 是名世界。
Yifa: “Subhuti, what does your mind say? All the minute particles in a great trichiliocosm are many, are they not?”
Subhuti replied, “Extremely many, World-Honored One.”
“Subhuti, all minute particles, the Tathagata says, are not minute particles, so they are called minute particles. The Tathagata says a world is not a world, so it is called a world.”
Sanskrit: bhagavānāha-tatkiṃ manyase subhūte-yāvat trisāhasramahāsāhasre lokadhātau pṛthivīrajaḥ kaccit, tadbahu bhavet ? subhūtirāha-bahu bhagavan, bahu sugata pṛthivīrajo bhavet| tatkasya hetoḥ ? yattadbhagavan pṛthivīrajastathāgatena bhāṣitam, arajastadbhagavaṃstathāgatena bhāṣitam| tenocyate pṛthivīraja iti| yo'pyasau lokadhātustathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ, adhātuḥ sa tathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ| tenocyate lokadhāturiti||
Yifa: “Subhuti, what does your mind say? All the minute particles in a great trichiliocosm are many, are they not?”
Subhuti replied, “Extremely many, World-Honored One.”
“Subhuti, all minute particles, the Tathagata says, are not minute particles, so they are called minute particles. The Tathagata says a world is not a world, so it is called a world.”
Sanskrit: bhagavānāha-tatkiṃ manyase subhūte-yāvat trisāhasramahāsāhasre lokadhātau pṛthivīrajaḥ kaccit, tadbahu bhavet ? subhūtirāha-bahu bhagavan, bahu sugata pṛthivīrajo bhavet| tatkasya hetoḥ ? yattadbhagavan pṛthivīrajastathāgatena bhāṣitam, arajastadbhagavaṃstathāgatena bhāṣitam| tenocyate pṛthivīraja iti| yo'pyasau lokadhātustathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ, adhātuḥ sa tathāgatena bhāṣitaḥ| tenocyate lokadhāturiti||
Comments
The Buddha mentioned the chiliocosm in Chapter 8 and gave an analogy on filling as many chiliocosms as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River in Section 11.
Text
「須菩提！ 於意云何？可以三十二相見如來不？」 「不也，世尊！ 不可以三十二相得見如來。何以故？如來說三十二相， 即是非相，是名三十二相。」
Yifa: “Subhuti, what does your mind say? You can see the Tathagata by the thirty-two characteristics, can you not?”
“No, World-Honored One. You cannot see the Tathagata by the thirty-two characteristics. Why is this? The Tathagata says the thirty-two characteristics are not characteristics, so they are called the thirty-two characteristics.”
Sanskrit: bhagavānāha- tatkiṃ manyase subhūte dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇaistathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho draṣṭavyaḥ ? subhūtirāha-no hīdaṃ bhagavan| dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇaistathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho draṣṭavyaḥ| tatkasya hetoḥ ? yāni hi tāni bhagavan dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇāni tathāgatena bhāṣitāni, alakṣaṇāni tāni bhagavaṃstathāgatena bhāṣitāni| tenocyante dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇānīti||
Yifa: “Subhuti, what does your mind say? You can see the Tathagata by the thirty-two characteristics, can you not?”
“No, World-Honored One. You cannot see the Tathagata by the thirty-two characteristics. Why is this? The Tathagata says the thirty-two characteristics are not characteristics, so they are called the thirty-two characteristics.”
Sanskrit: bhagavānāha- tatkiṃ manyase subhūte dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇaistathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho draṣṭavyaḥ ? subhūtirāha-no hīdaṃ bhagavan| dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇaistathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho draṣṭavyaḥ| tatkasya hetoḥ ? yāni hi tāni bhagavan dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇāni tathāgatena bhāṣitāni, alakṣaṇāni tāni bhagavaṃstathāgatena bhāṣitāni| tenocyante dvātriṃśanmahāpuruṣalakṣaṇānīti||
Comments
The Buddha want us to transcend appearance. This was mentioned bodily marks in Section 5 but did not specifically state the thirty two bodily marks there. Bodily marks is discussed further in Section 20 and Section 26. The thirty two characteristics are the thirty two marks of a great man. They are only visble to certain brahmins, who know how to interpret them. The are only possessed by either a Buddha or a wheel-turning king. When the Buddha's father found out that his son possessed the thirty two bodily marks he decided to protect his son from knowledge of suffering so that he would become a wheel-turning king (Gethin 1998, ch. 1).
Text
「須菩提！ 若有善男子、善女人，以恆河沙等身命布施； 若復有人，於此經中，乃至受持四句偈等， 為他人說，其福甚多。」
Yifa: “Subhuti, if there are virtuous men and women who practice giving as many lives as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, and if, however, there are people who just receive and retain four lines of verse from this sutra and explain them to others, their rewards will be many more.”
Sanskrit: bhagavānāha-yaśca khalu punaḥ subhūte strī vā puruṣo vā dine dine gaṅgānadīvālukāsamānātmabhāvān parityajet, evaṃ parityajan gaṅgānadīvālukāsamān kalpāṃstānātmabhāvān parityajet, yaśca ito dharmaparyāyadantaśaścatuṣpādikāmapi gāthāmudgṛhyaparebhyo deśayet saṃprakāśayet, ayameva tatonidānaṃ bahutaraṃ puṇyaskandhaṃ prasunuyādaprameyamasaṃkhyeyam||13||
Yifa: “Subhuti, if there are virtuous men and women who practice giving as many lives as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, and if, however, there are people who just receive and retain four lines of verse from this sutra and explain them to others, their rewards will be many more.”
Sanskrit: bhagavānāha-yaśca khalu punaḥ subhūte strī vā puruṣo vā dine dine gaṅgānadīvālukāsamānātmabhāvān parityajet, evaṃ parityajan gaṅgānadīvālukāsamān kalpāṃstānātmabhāvān parityajet, yaśca ito dharmaparyāyadantaśaścatuṣpādikāmapi gāthāmudgṛhyaparebhyo deśayet saṃprakāśayet, ayameva tatonidānaṃ bahutaraṃ puṇyaskandhaṃ prasunuyādaprameyamasaṃkhyeyam||13||
Comments
The Buddha is making an analogy here to the practice of non-self, letting go of the self.
There is some repetation from earlier sections in this section. This is typical of teachings that are transmitted orally. In Indian religions there is a lot of emphasis on oral teachings and learning by listening. (Mittal and Thursby 2006, p18) This can be seen in the many Sanskrit terms related to learning and cultivation by listening that we do not have equivalents for in English. For example śrutamayīprajñā (wisdom from wisdom from listening 聞慧), śrotravijñāna (auditory consciousness 耳識), śrāvaka (literally, a listener but often referring to a distinguished disciple of the Buddha 聲聞), and Vaiśravaṇa (literally, the deva who listens a lot but referring to the leader of the Heavenly Kings 多聞天).
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