Lecture No. 0223

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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0223

Lamrim: P2-L7 ~ P2-L8

Lamrim Volume 1: P34-L26 ~ L32

Date: 2020-05-18 ~ 2020-05-20

Topic: The Holy Land where Dharma was Propagated - Vikramalasila (The Four Interwoven Annotations)

Everyone, please turn to page 86 of the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, Chinese text. Today, we will continue our study of the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, starting from page 86 with the quote from the Four Interwoven Annotations. Let me read it over first. [00:16]

Later, [the Buddhist teaching was spread to the Vikramalasila. Venerable Yu explained that this monastery was in the north of Magadha, on the [top of a] hill by the Ganges River, with 108 Shrine Halls and walls surrounding the monastery. The Panditas residing there carried out all kinds of sublime Dharma Works, and Vikramalasila was the place that provided the most favorable living conditions for the Sangha community. Also, it was at the Vikramalasila that Master Atisha was invited to Tibet. The monastery was founded by Emperor Dharmapala, who was the patron of Commentator Haribhadra. In the centre of the adytum was enshrined the Mahabodhi statue, which was the same size as the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha.*] When Buddhism was at its peak, the adepts in the Vikramalasila agreed that they would explain the teaching from the three topics: the greatness of the author of the teaching, the greatness of the teaching, and how one should explain and listen to that teaching. Specifying which method to follow: between these two methods, the latter is applied. [01:16]

[*Please refer to teaching #217]

Next let’s look at Rinpoche’s elaboration. The glorious Nalanda Monastery explained the teaching by way of three purities; this is the rule in the lineage of the Nalanda Monastery to explain the teaching. What is the other method to explain the teaching? “Later”, that is after Nalanda Monastery, there was another grand monastery named Vikramalasila, also known as Chāo-Jiè-si [in Chinese] [means temple of supreme precepts]..The essence that all the scholars in the Vikramalasila explained was basically the same as that of the Nalanda monastery; the difference was in the literal presentation – [to be more exact,] the presenting approaches were different.   [01:56]

As for “the Buddhist teaching was spread to the Vikramalasila” let’s take a look at the 5th note, on page 98 of the Chinese text of the Four Interwoven Annotations. It says, Vikramalasila, located by the Ganges River, was a monastery in ancient India. In Sanskrit, the monastery is pronounced as Bi-kram-ma-la-shi-la, known as Jiè-xiāng-sì (means temple of fragrance of precepts) or Chāo-jiè-sì [in Chinese] (means temple of supreme precepts). Some people also translated it as the Néng-yìng-fù-jiè-sì (also means a temple of fragrance of precepts). It was located on the top of a hill by the Ganges River, in the north of Magadha; this monastery was perched on the top of the hill.   [02:30]

I wonder whether you have ever been to a monastery located on a hilltop? Usually, you would need to take a long ride from somewhere far away to get there. I am not sure if this was the case with this monastery. I remember the trip I ever had to one Tibetan monastery; it was a long journey by car. From the base of the mountain, the cab driver drove on the winding narrow road, all the way up to the top of the mountain, with bottomless chasm on one side, and the lofty, steep mountain on the other side. The car was on the trail adjacent to the mountain. The driver must have been so familiar with the route that he drove as if he was dashing to get to the destination. Seated by the window, I looked to the left and what I saw down below was the mist-veiled chasm. And to my right was the mountain. The road was narrow, winding all the way up to the top of the mountain. If it were a cold day, it would be chilly and windy as well. Despite all of these, there were many monastics residing there. That was really admirable!    [03:26]

It seemed that the mountain [where Vikramalasila was located] was not that high. The monastery was built on the top of the hill. Some said that emperor Devapala built this monastery, while some said it was his son the emperor Dharmapala that built it. In the centre of the monastery was Buddha’s Shrine hall. There were 54 Sutrayana repositories and 53 Tantrayana centres in its immediate vicinity, 108 halls in total. With 108 halls and walls surrounding the monastery, one can imagine how magnificent and extensive the Vikramalasila monastery was! Eminent Sage, Master Atisha and many great Indian masters resided in this monastery before. It was later destroyed by the Islamic troops.   [04:11]

Let’s turn back to the explanation in the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations. It says, “the Buddhist teaching was spread to the Vikramalasila;” the text then moves to Venerable Yu’s annotation; “Venerable Yu explained that this monastery was located in the north of Magadha, on the [top of a] hill by the Ganges River”. The Magadha was today the Bodh Gaya. The Magadha was located at the base of the hill, on the north of the Ganges River. We often heard about Magadha, what era was this kingdom in? Magadha was the name of an ancient kingdom in central India, located in the middle and lower reaches of the Ganges River, which was approximately equivalent to the south-central region of Bihar today. At that time, there was a very unique kind of rice produced only at that place. It is said that the grains were comparatively larger, with beautiful color and aromatic fragrance. The locals named the grains as the “rice for offering to the Excellency”. This reminds me of a kind of rice from northern China – Wuchang rice, which is also very famous. I used to give the rice in the northeast China to people, and I also offered them to the monastery. People who had tasted it said it was very, very fragrant. Thus this “rice for offering to the Excellency,” reminds me of the rice from northeast China. [05:19]

The custom in Magadha was very simple and unsophisticated. The people valued the importance of education and devoutly believed in Buddhism. Take heed! How wealthy was this Magadha Kingdom? In this Kingdom were the famous Vajradhara, the Mahabodhi Temple, the Nalanda Monastery, and other Buddhist sacred places. Emperor Asoka and Candra-gupta the 2nd were once the monarchs when Buddhism was in its prime. This part of the history was recorded in the newer edition of The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions. Try to visualize this: in addition to the famous rice, the Magadha kingdom had such grand monasteries and numerous exceptional scholars! The word “wealthy” alone couldn’t describe the affluence and prosperity of this kingdom.   [06:02]

Now, let’s go back to the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations. It says that Magadha was what is today, the Bodh Gaya, at the base of the hill, north to the Ganges River. “With 108 Shrine Halls and walls surrounding the monastery, the Panditas residing there carried out all kinds of sublime Dharma Works.” There were many Panditas residing there. Some gave teachings, while others engaged in debating; they employed various ways to engage in Dharma Works to promulgate Dharma. For instance, some Panditas sat guarding the east gate or the west gate to the Monastery. Have you ever wondered why virtuous teachers would sit guarding the east gate or the west gate? What do you think that was for? If any heretic teachers approached and tried to challenge them, the scholars guarding the gate would debate with them. Also, some held the responsibility as abbots to give teachings. These scholars at Vikramalasila applied various methods to propagate the Dharma. [06:52]

Vikramalasila“ was the place that provided the most favorable living conditions for the Sangha community,” which indicates that the monastics lived in favorable condition. Master Atisha, whom we are deeply indebted to, resided in this monastery. It was at Vikramalasila Monastery that Master Atisha was invited to Tibet. [07:19]

Eng

【全球广论 II 讲次: 0223】

讲次 0223

标题 弘扬教法圣地──止迦摩啰室啰寺（四家注）

音档 -

日期 2020-05-18 ~ 2020-05-20

广论段落 P2-L7 ~ P2-L8 后时止迦摩啰室啰……应如后释。

入门段落 第1册 P86-LL7 ~ P87-LL3 后时〔止迦摩啰室啰……当时尊者就住在那里。

备注 四家合注《白话校注集》 第1册 P98-L9 注释⑤~ P98-LL6 注释⑥完 止迦摩啰室啰……鼎盛时期的两位统治者。

00:00

请大家把《四家合注入门》翻到 86 页，今天我们来继续学习《四家合注入门》，86 页下面原文的部分。我先念一下。 00:16

后时〔止迦摩啰室啰，师云：此寺于摩羯陀北方，恒河畔小丘脚下，具一百零八佛殿，外有围墙环绕，安住其中诸班智达，行种种圣教事业，亦为僧伽资生极妙善处，觉窝大师亦从此处迎赴藏地。建寺者为法王达摩波罗，彼即狮子贤论师之施主。内殿中央供奉与金刚座大菩提像等量之世尊像。 〕圣教盛行，彼诸智者，则许三种而为初要：谓正法造者殊胜、正法殊胜、如何讲闻彼法规理。明当随于何规：今于此中，应如后释。 01:16

下面我们来看仁波切的讲记。胜那兰陀寺以三种清净门宣说正法，那兰陀寺的讲法传规就是这样的。另一种方式是什么呢？ “后时”，就是之后，继那兰陀寺之后，印度另有一座很大的寺院，叫止迦摩啰室啰寺，也就是戒香寺。这里边所有的智者讲说的方式，在义理上和前一种讲规大致相同，但字面上不太一样──说的方式不同。 01:56

“止迦摩啰室啰寺”，我们可以看一下《四家合注》（P98）后面的第五个注。它是古印度的一个寺院，在恒河边，梵语是“比札马拉希拉”，义为戒香寺或超戒寺；也有译成是能映覆戒。它就位于摩羯陀北方恒河边一座山丘的山顶上──这座寺院是在山顶上。 02:30

我不知道诸位有没有去过位于山顶上的寺院？去那里通常就是要从很远的地方坐车，我不知道这座寺院是不是？因为我去过藏地的寺院，坐车就坐很久，然后到山脚下开始沿着山路向山去。我曾经去过一个寺院，它的山路就是窄窄的一条，这边就是万丈深渊，然后这边就是高山，车就在这边走。当时给我们开车的司机可能是路太熟了，所以我感觉到他好像在冲刺一样。向左侧一看──我是坐在边上，就直接可以看到深渊，那底下雾茫茫的，直接可以看下去；然后右边就是山。窄窄的路，一直爬、爬，爬到山顶上。如果是在冷天的时候，真的就非常冷，风也非常大，但是还是有很多出家人驻锡在上面，真的是叹为观止！ 03:26

听起来这座山不是很高，一座山丘的山顶，有的说这个寺院是提婆波罗国王建的；也有说是他的儿子，就是达摩波罗国王建的。这个寺院是以佛陀的殿堂为中心，周围有五十四座显教的经院、五十三座密法院，共有一百零八间殿堂。可以想想应该是规模非常地宏伟，一百零八间殿堂！最外边有围墙环绕，规模真的是很宏伟的。最著名的圣阿底峡尊者，还有许多印度的祖师都驻锡过这个寺院。最后就遭到伊斯兰教军队的破坏。 04:11

我们再回来看《四家合注入门》的讲解。“ 止迦摩啰室啰寺”，这里边就进入语王尊者的笺注，说：“师云：此寺于摩羯陀北方，恒河畔小丘脚下”，印度的摩羯陀即现在的菩提迦耶，在北方恒河边的小山脚下。我们常常听到摩羯陀国，摩羯陀国是什么时代的？是中印度古国的名字，它也是位于恒河中下游地区，大体相当于今天比哈尔邦的中南部。这个地方当时出产一种奇特的稻米，米粒硕大，色香俱全，颜色也很好看，又很香，被当地人称为“供大人米”。想起了我们北方的大米──五常大米，也是很有名的。我把东北的大米曾经送给别人，也去供养寺院，吃过的人都说非常非常香。所以看到这供大人米想起了东北的大米。 05:19

摩羯陀国的风俗是非常纯朴的，百姓重视学业、笃信佛法。注意喔！这个摩羯陀国多富呢？著名的金刚座、大菩提寺、那兰陀寺等佛教的圣地都在这个国家内。阿育王还有旃陀罗笈多二世，也是这个国家佛教鼎盛时期的两位统治者。这段介绍在《新译大唐西域记》里有。大家可以想像那摩羯陀国，除了那么有名的大米之外，居然有这么大的寺院，圣者辈出啊！不是用一个富庶所能形容的。 06:02

再回过头来看《四家合注入门》，说印度的摩羯陀就是现在的菩提迦耶，在北方恒河边的小山脚下，“具一百零八佛殿，外有围墙环绕，安住其中诸班智达，行种种圣教事业”。在那里边有很多很多班智达驻锡，有的说法、有的辩论，以各种各样不同的事业来承事教法，用不同的方式弘扬教法。比如说，有些人坐镇在东门或西门。有没有想过为什么还有善知识要坐镇东门、西门？大家可以想想是做什么呢？如果有外道前来，就同他辩论；然后有些人当住持说法，用不同的形式来弘扬佛法。 06:52

“亦为僧伽资生极妙善处”，这是指当时僧人的生活是很优渥的。对我们有深恩的阿底峡尊者，当时就驻锡在这座寺院里面。阿底峡尊者去西藏的时候就是从这个地方被迎请进入藏地的，就是从止迦摩啰室啰寺。 07:19