Nine Similes for the Hidden Treasure
Chapter Five explained the tathāgatagarbha through ten meanings; Chapter Six now explains how it lies wrapped in affliction through nine similes — the most visually memorable images in the whole treatise, matched one-to-one against nine named categories of affliction, from the coarsest bonds of greed and hatred to the last subtle taints cut only on the higher bodhisattva grounds.
Chapter Six: Wrapped in Immeasurable Affliction
論曰：偈言：
向說如來藏， 十種義示現，
次說煩惱纏， 以九種譬喻。
此偈明何義？向依如來藏說無始世界來彼法恒常住法體不轉變，明如來藏有十種義。自此以下，依無始世界來煩惱藏所纏，說無始世界來自性清淨心具足法身，以九種譬喻明如來藏過於恒沙煩惱藏所纏，如修多羅說應知。
九種譬喻者，如偈說言：
萎華中諸佛； 眾蜂中美蜜；
皮糩等中實； 糞穢中真金；
地中珍寶藏； 諸果子中芽；
朽故弊壞衣， 纏裹真金像；
貧賤醜陋女， 懷轉輪聖王；
焦黑泥模中， 有上妙寶像。
眾生貪瞋癡， 妄想煩惱等，
塵勞諸垢中， 皆有如來藏。
此偈示現何義？自此以下依此略說四偈句義，餘殘譬喻五十四偈廣說應知。此四行偈總略說，彼廣偈中義應知。又依彼義，略說二偈：
華蜂糩糞穢， 地果故壞衣，
貧賤女泥模， 煩惱垢相似。
佛蜜實真金， 寶牙金像王，
上妙寶像等， 如來藏相似。
此偈示現何義？偈言：
華蜂等諸喻， 明眾生身中，
無始世界來， 有諸煩惱垢。
佛蜜等諸喻， 明眾生身中，
無始來具足， 自性無垢體。
The treatise says: A verse says:
Having explained the tathāgatagarbha by way of ten meanings,
next its being wrapped in affliction will be explained through nine similes.
What meaning does this verse make clear? Above, in dependence on the tathāgatagarbha, it was explained that, from beginningless time, this dharma is ever-abiding, its essence unchanging, clarifying that the tathāgatagarbha has ten meanings. From here on, in dependence on its being wrapped, from beginningless time, in the storehouse of affliction, it will be explained that the mind pure by its own nature, from beginningless time, is complete with the dharmakāya, and, through nine similes, that the tathāgatagarbha is wrapped in a storehouse of affliction surpassing the sands of the Ganges — as the sūtras explain, this should be understood.
As for the nine similes, a verse says:
Buddhas within a wilted flower; sweet honey amid a swarm of bees;
the kernel within husk and chaff; true gold within filth and excrement;
a treasure-store of jewels within the earth; a sprout within the fruit's seed;
a golden image wrapped in an old, rotted, worn-out cloth;
a universal monarch in the womb of a lowly, ugly woman;
and a supreme, wondrous jeweled image within a scorched, blackened clay mold.
Within sentient beings' greed, hatred, and delusion, false thought and affliction,
and every worldly, dust-laden taint, the tathāgatagarbha is present in every one.
What meaning do these verses reveal? From here on, this is a brief statement, in these four lines of verse, of the meaning that the remaining fifty-four verses of simile explain at length; it should be understood that this is a total summary of these four lines, whose meaning is found at length in those fuller verses. Furthermore, in dependence on that same meaning, two verses briefly state:
The flower, the bees, the husk, the filth, the earth, the fruit, the old worn-out cloth,
the lowly woman, and the clay mold — these resemble affliction and taint.
The buddha, the honey, the kernel, the true gold, the treasure, the sprout, the golden image, the monarch,
and the supreme, wondrous jeweled image — these resemble the tathāgatagarbha.
What meaning do these verses reveal? A verse says:
The similes of the flower, the bees, and the rest clarify that, within the body of sentient beings,
from beginningless time, there are every kind of affliction and taint.
The similes of the buddha, the honey, and the rest clarify that, within the body of sentient beings,
from beginningless time, there is present, in full, a stainless essence that is theirs by their own nature.
The Nine Kinds of Affliction
又復略說此如來藏，修多羅中明一切眾生界從無始世界來客塵煩惱染心，從無始世界來淨妙法身如來藏不相捨離。是故經言：依自虛妄染心眾生染，依自性清淨心眾生淨。云何自心染？依自心染有九種喻，謂萎華等應知。
此偈明何義？略說有九種煩惱，於自性清淨如來法身界中，如萎華等九種譬喻，於諸佛等常外客相諸煩惱垢，亦復如是於真如佛性常客塵相。何等以為九種煩惱？一者貪使煩惱、二者瞋使煩惱、三者癡使煩惱、四者增上貪瞋癡結使煩惱、五者無明住地所攝煩惱、六者見道所斷煩惱、七者修道所斷煩惱、八者不淨地所攝煩惱、九者淨地所攝煩惱。此如是等九種煩惱，以彼九種譬喻示現應知。
此明何義？世間貪等眾生身中所攝煩惱，能作不動地業行緣，成就色界無色界果報，出世間智能斷，名為貪瞋癡使煩惱。又增上貪瞋癡眾生身中所攝煩惱，能作福業罪業行緣，但能成就欲界果報，唯有不淨觀智能斷，名為增上貪瞋癡等結使煩惱。又阿羅漢身中所攝煩惱，能作無漏諸業行緣，能生無垢意生身果報，唯如來菩提智能斷，名為無明住地所攝煩惱。又有二種學人。何等為二？一者凡夫、二者聖人。凡夫身中所攝煩惱，初出世間心見出世間法智能斷，名為見道所斷煩惱。聖人身中所攝煩惱，如先見出世間法修道智能斷，名為修道所斷煩惱。又不究竟菩薩，謂從初地乃至七地所攝煩惱，七住地中所對治法，八地已上三住地中修道智能斷，名為不淨地所攝煩惱。又畢竟究竟菩薩身中所攝煩惱，八地已上三地修道智所對治法，金剛三昧智能斷，名為淨地所攝煩惱。是名略說九種煩惱次第。萎華等九種譬喻，我已廣說應知。又復即此九種煩惱，依八萬四千眾生行故，有八萬四千煩惱差別。如如來智無量無邊故，有如是無量無邊煩惱纏如來藏故，言無量煩惱藏所纏如來藏。是故偈言：
愚癡及羅漢， 諸學及大智，
次第四種垢， 及一二復二。
如是次第說， 四凡一聖人，
二學二大智， 名為不淨地。
此偈明何義？此九種譬喻，於無漏界中如是次第四種譬喻及第五譬喻，後時二二煩惱諸垢依，煩惱垢染故，言不清淨。又復云何知此九種貪等煩惱於萎華等九種譬喻相似相對？又云何知如來藏於諸佛等九種譬喻相似相對？偈言：
Furthermore, briefly stated, this tathāgatagarbha is explained in the sūtras: the realm of every sentient being, from beginningless time, has a mind stained by adventitious affliction, and yet, from beginningless time, the pure, wondrous dharmakāya, the tathāgatagarbha, is never separated from it. Hence a sūtra says: "Sentient beings are defiled in dependence on their own false, defiled mind; sentient beings are purified in dependence on the mind pure by their own nature." How is the mind itself defiled? In dependence on the mind's own defilement, there are nine similes, namely the wilted flower and the rest, which should be understood.
What meaning does this make clear? Briefly stated, there are nine kinds of affliction within the realm of the dharmakāya, the tathāgata, pure by its own nature; just as, in the wilted flower and the other nine similes, the buddha and the rest are always in an adventitious, external relation to their surrounding matter, so too these nine afflictions are always in an adventitious relation to true suchness, buddha-nature. What are the nine kinds of affliction? First, the affliction that is the bond of greed; second, the affliction that is the bond of hatred; third, the affliction that is the bond of delusion; fourth, the affliction that is the intensified bond of greed, hatred, and delusion combined; fifth, the affliction subsumed under the ignorance-dwelling-ground; sixth, the affliction to be cut by the path of seeing; seventh, the affliction to be cut by the path of cultivation; eighth, the affliction subsumed under the impure grounds; ninth, the affliction subsumed under the pure grounds. It should be understood that these nine kinds of affliction are revealed through these nine similes.
What does this clarify? The worldly affliction of greed and the rest, subsumed within the body of sentient beings, can serve as the condition for the karmic activity of meditative absorption, accomplishing the fruit of the form and formless realms, and can be cut only by transcendent wisdom — this is called the affliction of the bonds of greed, hatred, and delusion. Furthermore, the intensified affliction of greed, hatred, and delusion, subsumed within the body of sentient beings, can serve as the condition for the karmic activity of meritorious and sinful deeds, accomplishing only the fruit of the desire realm, and can be cut only by the wisdom of the contemplation of impurity — this is called the affliction of the intensified bond of greed, hatred, and delusion. Furthermore, the affliction subsumed within the body of an arhat, which can serve as the condition for uncontaminated karmic activity, able to produce the fruit of the stainless mind-made body, and can be cut only by the Tathāgata's bodhi-wisdom — this is called the affliction subsumed under the ignorance-dwelling-ground. Furthermore, there are two kinds of trainee. What are the two? First, the ordinary person; second, the noble one. The affliction subsumed within the body of the ordinary person, cut by the wisdom that first sees transcendent dharmas with a transcendent mind, is called the affliction to be cut by the path of seeing. The affliction subsumed within the body of the noble one, cut by the wisdom of the path of cultivation that follows upon first seeing transcendent dharmas, is called the affliction to be cut by the path of cultivation. Furthermore, the affliction subsumed within the not-yet-ultimate bodhisattva — namely, from the first ground up through the seventh ground — is the dharma to be counteracted on those seven abiding-grounds, and is cut by the wisdom of the path of cultivation on the three abiding-grounds from the eighth ground upward; this is called the affliction subsumed under the impure grounds. Furthermore, the affliction subsumed within the body of the bodhisattva who has reached the ultimate — the dharma to be counteracted by the wisdom of the path of cultivation on the three grounds from the eighth ground upward — is cut by the wisdom of the vajra-samādhi; this is called the affliction subsumed under the pure grounds. This is a brief statement of the order of the nine kinds of affliction. It should be understood that I have already explained at length the wilted flower and the other nine similes. Furthermore, these same nine afflictions, in dependence on the eighty-four thousand practices of sentient beings, have eighty-four thousand distinctions. Just as the Tathāgata's wisdom is immeasurable and boundless, so too there are immeasurable, boundless afflictions wrapping the tathāgatagarbha — hence it is called "the tathāgatagarbha wrapped in the storehouse of immeasurable affliction." Hence a verse says:
The ignorant person and the arhat, the trainees and the greatly wise —
in this order, four kinds of taint, and one, then two, then again two.
Thus, in this order: four for the ordinary person, one for the noble one,
two for the trainees, and two for the greatly wise — these are called the impure grounds.
What meaning does this verse make clear? Of these nine similes, within the uncontaminated realm, the afflictions are grouped in this order: the first four similes, then the fifth simile, and thereafter, in twos, the remaining pairs — each group resting upon its corresponding taint of affliction; because of this defilement by taint, they are called "impure." Furthermore, how is it known that these nine afflictions — greed and the rest — correspond to the nine similes of the wilted flower and the rest? And how is it known that the tathāgatagarbha corresponds to the nine similes of the buddha and the rest? A verse says:
The nine afflictions form a single ladder running the entire length of the path, not a static inventory: coarse greed, hatred, and delusion give way to arhatship's own subtle taint, "the ignorance-dwelling-ground" — the same technical term this site's Śrīmālā translation identifies as underlying even an arhat's remaining fear — which in turn gives way to the bodhisattva grounds' own residue, cut only by the vajra-samādhi at the very threshold of buddhahood. What is called affliction changes entirely in character from bottom to top of this ladder, yet the treatise insists on naming all nine with the same word, because each one stands in the identical structural relation to buddha-nature: adventitious, external, never touching what it obscures.
The Nine Similes in Verse
依佛神力故， 有彼眾妙華，
初榮時則愛， 後萎變不愛。
如華依榮悴， 有愛有不愛，
貪煩惱亦爾， 初樂後不樂。
群蜂為成蜜， 瞋心嚙諸花，
瞋恚心起時， 生種種苦惱。
稻等內堅實， 外為皮糩覆，
如是癡心纏， 不見內堅實。
猶如臭穢糞， 智觀貪亦爾，
起欲心諸相， 結使如穢糞。
譬如彼地中， 種種珍寶藏，
眾生無天眼， 是故不能見。
如是自在智， 為無明地覆，
眾生無智眼， 是故不能見。
如子離皮糩， 次第生芽等，
見道斷煩惱， 次第生諸地。
以害身見等， 攝取妙聖道，
修道斷煩惱， 故說弊壞衣。
七地中諸垢， 猶如胎所纏，
遠離胎藏智， 無分別淳熟。
三地知諸垢， 如泥模所泥，
大智諸菩薩， 金剛定智斷。
萎華至泥模， 如是九種喻，
示貪瞋癡等， 九種煩惱垢。
垢中如來藏， 佛等相對法，
如是九種義， 以三種體攝。
By the Buddha's spiritual power, there are wondrous flowers of every kind —
when first they bloom, they are loved; when later they wilt, they are loved no more.
As the flower, through blooming and withering, is loved and then unloved,
so too is the affliction of greed: pleasing at first, and later displeasing.
A swarm of bees, to make honey, angrily besets the flowers —
when the mind of anger arises, every kind of suffering and distress is born.
The rice grain's firm kernel within is covered outside by husk and chaff —
just so, wrapped by the deluded mind, the firm kernel within cannot be seen.
Just as with foul, filthy excrement, wisdom observes greed to be the same —
the marks of a mind giving rise to desire, the bond, are like that filth.
It is like a treasure-store of every kind of jewel within the earth —
sentient beings, lacking the heavenly eye, are therefore unable to see it.
Just so, the wisdom of mastery is covered by the ground of ignorance —
sentient beings, lacking the eye of wisdom, are therefore unable to see it.
As the seed, freed from husk and chaff, in turn gives rise to a sprout and the rest —
so the path of seeing, cutting affliction, in turn gives rise to the [bodhisattva] grounds.
By destroying the view of self and the rest, one takes up the wondrous noble path —
the path of cultivation cutting affliction is therefore likened to a worn-out cloth.
The taints within the seven grounds are like being wrapped within a womb —
apart from the wisdom hidden in that womb, non-discriminating wisdom fully ripens.
The three grounds' known taints are like the clay covering a mold —
the great wisdom of the bodhisattvas is cut by the wisdom of the vajra-samādhi.
From the wilted flower to the clay mold, these are the nine similes,
revealing greed, hatred, delusion, and the rest — the nine taints of affliction.
The tathāgatagarbha within the taint, corresponding to the buddha and the rest —
these nine meanings are subsumed within three real substances.
The nine similes are not a random gallery of images but track a precise arc: the first four (flower, bees, husk, filth) picture ordinary affliction as something repellent to the senses — ugly, painful, foul — while the last five (buried treasure, seed-sprout, worn cloth, womb, clay mold) shift register entirely, picturing not repulsion but simple invisibility, something precious merely waiting, unseen, for the right conditions to reveal it. This matches the ninth kind of affliction's own trajectory: the earlier afflictions must be actively destroyed, the later ones almost seem to dissolve on their own once wisdom simply arrives, the way a golden image needs no violence done to the clay mold — only the mold's removal — to be seen at last.
Part 18 Complete
Part 19 explains how these nine similes reduce to three real substances — dharmakāya, suchness, and the tathāgatagarbha itself — and unfolds the treatise's teaching that no sentient being exists apart from the Buddha's own wisdom, "as no form exists apart from space."
Continue to Part 19 — No Being Apart from the Buddha's Wisdom →