Two Kinds of Death, and the Ground Beneath All Affliction
Part 4 ended with a claim left unexplained: that arhat and pratyekabuddha "nirvāṇa" is only the Buddha's skillful device. Here Śrīmālā explains exactly why — two kinds of death, four dwelling-grounds of affliction, and a fifth, the ignorance-dwelling-ground, whose power exceeds the other four combined beyond any calculation or simile.
Two Kinds of Death
「何以故？有二種死。何等為二？謂：分段死、不思議變易死。分段死者，謂虛偽眾生。不思議變易死者，謂：阿羅漢、辟支佛、大力菩薩意生身，乃至究竟無上菩提。二種死中，以分段死故，說阿羅漢、辟支佛智，我生已盡；得有餘果證故，說梵行已立；凡夫、人天所不能辦，七種學人先所未作，虛偽煩惱斷故，說所作已辦；阿羅漢、辟支佛所斷煩惱，更不能受後有故，說不受後有。非盡一切煩惱，亦非盡一切受生，故說不受後有。何以故？有煩惱是阿羅漢、辟支佛所不能斷。」
"Why is this? There are two kinds of death. What are the two? Segmented death, and the death of inconceivable transformation. Segmented death belongs to deluded beings. The death of inconceivable transformation belongs to the mind-made bodies of arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and great-power bodhisattvas, persisting right up until the final attainment of unsurpassed bodhi. Of these two kinds of death, it is with respect to segmented death alone that the arhat's and pratyekabuddha's wisdom can rightly say, 'My rebirth is exhausted'; it is because they have attained a partial fruit and realization that they say, 'The holy life is established'; it is because they have severed the deluded afflictions that ordinary beings, and even gods and humans, cannot manage to sever, and that not even the seven kinds of learners have yet accomplished, that they say, 'What had to be done is done'; and it is because the afflictions arhats and pratyekabuddhas have severed can no longer cause them to receive further existence that they say, 'There will be no further becoming.' But this does not mean every affliction has been exhausted, nor that every kind of rebirth has been exhausted — it is only in this limited sense that they say, 'There will be no further becoming.' Why is this? Because there remains a kind of affliction that arhats and pratyekabuddhas are not able to sever."
Jizang defines the pair precisely: segmented death is "death marked by distinct bodily form and a fixed lifespan" (色形區別、壽期短長), while the death of inconceivable transformation is death without such fixed form or lifespan, consisting only in the moment-to-moment succession of a subtle mental continuity — "merely mind and spirit, thought after thought, transmitted, changing, altering" (但以心神念念相傳前變後易). He records a striking reading he attributes to his own teacher, Xinghuang Falang (興皇法朗): in ultimate reality there is neither birth-death nor nirvāṇa at all, and the two "deaths" are themselves only provisional labels applied according to the weight of one's own delusion — heavier delusion earns the name "segmented," lighter delusion earns the name "transformation" (虛妄重者說為分段、虛妄輕者稱為變易) — a warning against treating either kind of death as a fixed, independently real category rather than a name tracking degree of confusion.
On why the arhat's own four proclamations do not actually contradict the sūtra's claim that they remain incomplete, Jizang's resolution is simple: "of the two kinds of death, only segmented death has been exhausted; the death of inconceivable transformation has not yet been exhausted" (二死中但盡分段，未盡變易). The old teaching praising the arhat's attainment and this sūtra's new teaching correcting it were never in tension — they were always describing two different, non-overlapping achievements.
The Four Dwelling-Grounds, and the Power of Ignorance
「煩惱有二種。何等為二？謂：住地煩惱及起煩惱。住地有四種。何等為四？謂：見一處住地、欲愛住地、色愛住地、有愛住地。此四種住地，生一切起煩惱。起者剎那心剎那相應。世尊！心不相應無始無明住地。世尊！此四住地力，一切上煩惱依種，比無明住地，算數譬喻所不能及。
「世尊！如是無明住地力，於有愛數四住地，無明住地其力最大。譬如惡魔波旬於他化自在天，色、力、壽命、眷屬、眾具、自在殊勝。如是無明住地力，於有愛數四住地，其力最勝，恒沙等數上煩惱依，亦令四種煩惱久住。阿羅漢、辟支佛智所不能斷，唯如來菩提智之所能斷。如是世尊！無明住地最為大力。」
"Affliction is of two kinds. What are the two? Dwelling-ground affliction, and arising affliction. Dwelling-ground affliction is of four kinds. What are the four? The dwelling-ground of view-processes, the dwelling-ground of desire-attachment, the dwelling-ground of form-attachment, and the dwelling-ground of existence-attachment. These four dwelling-grounds give rise to every arising affliction. What arises does so moment by moment, mind-moment corresponding to mind-moment. World-Honored One! But the ignorance-dwelling-ground, from beginningless time, does not correspond to mind in this way. World-Honored One! The power of these four dwelling-grounds — the very seed on which every higher affliction depends — cannot be reckoned by any calculation or simile when set beside the ignorance-dwelling-ground.
"World-Honored One! Of the four dwelling-grounds counted along with existence-attachment, the ignorance-dwelling-ground's power is by far the greatest. It is like the evil Māra Pāpīyas, whose form, power, lifespan, retinue, requisites, and sovereign mastery all surpass those of the other gods in the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others' Emanations. Just so, of the four dwelling-grounds counted along with existence-attachment, the ignorance-dwelling-ground's power is supreme — the very support for Ganges-sand-like numbers of higher afflictions, and what keeps the four kinds of affliction abiding for so long. It cannot be severed by the wisdom of arhats or pratyekabuddhas; only the Tathāgata's bodhi-wisdom is able to sever it. Just so, World-Honored One, the ignorance-dwelling-ground is supreme in power above all."
Jizang asks why the sūtra lumps every view under one single dwelling-ground (見一處住地) yet splits craving into three separate ones. His answer: craving, not views, is what "moistens karma and moistens rebirth" (潤業潤生) — since this whole passage exists to explain the actual mechanism of rebirth, the sūtra elaborates craving in more detail precisely to expose how dangerous it is: "moistening karma and moistening rebirth both come from craving, and since this sūtra's own purpose here is to explain the meaning of receiving rebirth, it elaborates craving at length" (潤業潤生皆由於愛，故今此經正明受生義，故廣彰愛也).
On the Māra simile, Jizang treats it almost as a small character study: Māra Pāpīyas, though a demon, once planted good roots under the Three Jewels and thereby earned rebirth in the very highest heaven — yet repays that kindness with harm, making him "extreme evil" even among gods. Jizang lists the specific respects in which Māra surpasses the other gods of his own heaven — form, power, retinue, requisites, and sovereign authority — as the concrete image for a power that exceeds "by a margin beyond number or simile" (算數譬喻所不能及): not merely greater, but incommensurably so, the way no amount of adding up the other four dwelling-grounds could ever reach the ignorance-dwelling-ground's actual scale.
Mind-Made Bodies, and a Fraction of Nirvāṇa
「世尊！又如取，緣有漏業因而生三有。如是無明住地，緣無漏業因，生阿羅漢、辟支佛、大力菩薩三種意生身。此三地，彼三種意生身生及無漏業生，依無明住地，有緣非無緣。是故三種意生及無漏業，緣無明住地。世尊！如是有愛住地數四住地，不與無明住地業同，無明住地異，離四住地。佛地所斷，佛菩提智所斷。何以故？阿羅漢、辟支佛，斷四種住地，無漏不盡，不得自在力，亦不作證。無漏不盡者，即是無明住地。
「世尊！阿羅漢、辟支佛、最後身菩薩，為無明住地之所覆障故，於彼彼法不知不覺。以不知見故，所應斷者不斷、不究竟。以不斷故，名有餘過解脫，非離一切過解脫；名有餘清淨，非一切清淨；名成就有餘功德，非一切功德。以成就有餘解脫、有餘清淨、有餘功德故，知有餘苦、斷有餘集、證有餘滅、修有餘道，是名得少分涅槃。得少分涅槃者，名向涅槃界。若知一切苦、斷一切集、證一切滅、修一切道，於無常壞世間、無常病世間，得常住涅槃；於無覆護世間、無依世間，為護為依。何以故？法無優劣故得涅槃；智慧等故得涅槃；解脫等故得涅槃；清淨等故得涅槃。是故涅槃一味等味，謂解脫味。
「世尊！若無明住地，不斷不究竟者，不得一味等味，謂明解脫味。何以故？無明住地不斷、不究竟者，過恒沙等所應斷法，不斷、不究竟，過恒沙等所應斷法不斷故，過恒沙等法應得不得、應證不證。是故無明住地積聚，生一切修道斷煩惱、上煩惱。彼生心上煩惱、止上煩惱、觀上煩惱、禪上煩惱、正受上煩惱、方便上煩惱、智上煩惱、果上煩惱、得上煩惱、力上煩惱、無畏上煩惱，如是過恒沙等上煩惱，如來菩提智所斷。一切皆依無明住地之所建立，一切上煩惱起，皆因無明住地，緣無明住地。世尊！於此起煩惱，剎那心剎那相應；世尊！心不相應無始無明住地。
「世尊！若復過於恒沙如來菩提智所應斷法，一切皆是無明住地所持所建立。譬如一切種子皆依地生，建立、增長，若地壞者彼亦隨壞。如是過恒沙等如來菩提智所應斷法，一切皆依無明住地生，建立增長；若無明住地斷者，過恒沙等如來菩提智所應斷法，皆亦隨斷。如是一切煩惱、上煩惱斷，過恒沙等如來所得一切諸法，通達無礙一切知見，離一切過惡，得一切功德。」
"World-Honored One! And it is like how clinging, conditioned by the causes of contaminated karma, gives rise to the three realms of existence; just so the ignorance-dwelling-ground, conditioned by the causes of uncontaminated karma, gives rise to the three kinds of mind-made body — of the arhat, the pratyekabuddha, and the great-power bodhisattva. These three states — the arising of these three mind-made bodies, and the arising of uncontaminated karma itself — depend on the ignorance-dwelling-ground: they have a genuine condition, not no condition at all. This is why the three kinds of mind-made body, and uncontaminated karma, are said to be conditioned by the ignorance-dwelling-ground. World-Honored One! So too, the four dwelling-grounds counted with existence-attachment do not share the same operation as the ignorance-dwelling-ground; the ignorance-dwelling-ground is different, apart from the other four — it is what only the ground of buddhahood severs, what only the Buddha's bodhi-wisdom severs. Why is this? Arhats and pratyekabuddhas, though they sever the four lesser dwelling-grounds, have not exhausted the uncontaminated, have not attained sovereign mastery over it, and do not yet bear witness to it. What remains unexhausted of the uncontaminated is precisely the ignorance-dwelling-ground.
"World-Honored One! Arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas in their final existence, being covered and obstructed by the ignorance-dwelling-ground, remain unknowing and unaware with respect to this or that dharma. Because they neither know nor see it, what should be severed goes unsevered, incompletely. Because of this incompleteness, their liberation is called liberation with a residue of fault, not liberation free of every fault; their purity is called purity with a residue, not complete purity; their attained virtue is called virtue with a residue, not every virtue. Because they have attained only liberation, purity, and virtue with a residue, they know only a residue of suffering, sever only a residue of its origin, realize only a residue of its cessation, and cultivate only a residue of the path — this is called attaining a fraction of nirvāṇa. One who attains a fraction of nirvāṇa is said to be heading toward the realm of nirvāṇa. But one who knows all suffering, severs all its origin, realizes its complete cessation, and cultivates the complete path attains, within this impermanent, decaying world, this impermanent, sickness-ridden world, an ever-abiding nirvāṇa — becoming, within this unprotected, unsheltered world, its very shelter and its support. Why is this? Because there is no superiority or inferiority in the Dharma, one attains nirvāṇa; because wisdom is equal throughout, one attains nirvāṇa; because liberation is equal throughout, one attains nirvāṇa; because purity is equal throughout, one attains nirvāṇa. Therefore nirvāṇa is one single flavor, an equal flavor — the flavor of liberation.
"World-Honored One! If the ignorance-dwelling-ground is not severed, not brought to completion, one cannot attain that one, equal flavor — the flavor of clear liberation. Why is this? If the ignorance-dwelling-ground is not severed, not brought to completion, then dharmas to be severed beyond the sands of the Ganges likewise remain unsevered, incomplete; and because these Ganges-sand dharmas to be severed remain unsevered, Ganges-sand dharmas that should be attained go unattained, that should be realized go unrealized. This is why the accumulation of the ignorance-dwelling-ground gives rise to every affliction and higher affliction that only the path of cultivation can sever. It gives rise to higher afflictions of mind, of calming, of insight, of meditative absorption, of concentrated attainment, of skillful means, of wisdom, of fruit, of attainment, of power, and of fearlessness — Ganges-sand-like numbers of such higher afflictions, all severed only by the Tathāgata's bodhi-wisdom. Every one of them depends on and is established by the ignorance-dwelling-ground; every higher affliction arises because of, and conditioned by, the ignorance-dwelling-ground. World-Honored One, in this respect arising afflictions correspond moment by moment, mind-moment to mind-moment; but World-Honored One, the ignorance-dwelling-ground, from beginningless time, does not correspond to mind in this way.
"World-Honored One! And if there are dharmas beyond the sands of the Ganges that only the Tathāgata's bodhi-wisdom can sever, every one of them is likewise sustained and established by the ignorance-dwelling-ground. It is like how every seed depends on the earth to grow, to be established, and to increase — and were the earth itself destroyed, the seed would be destroyed along with it. Just so, Ganges-sand-like dharmas that only the Tathāgata's bodhi-wisdom can sever all depend on the ignorance-dwelling-ground to arise, to be established, and to increase; and if the ignorance-dwelling-ground is severed, Ganges-sand-like dharmas that only the Tathāgata's bodhi-wisdom can sever are all severed along with it. When every affliction and higher affliction is severed in this way, one penetrates, without any obstruction, every one of the Ganges-sand-like dharmas the Tathāgata has attained, with unobstructed knowledge and vision of them all, free of every fault, having accomplished every virtue."
Jizang explicitly rejects reading the "three mind-made bodies" here through the Laṅkāvatāra's own threefold typology (samādhi-born, awakened-to-the-nature-of-dharmas, and spontaneously arising of like kind, mapped onto specific bodhisattva grounds). Instead, this sūtra's "three kinds" simply name the mind-made bodies of the arhat, the pratyekabuddha, and the great-power bodhisattva respectively — and Jizang stresses these bodies are the resultant effect, never the causal mind that generates rebirth in the first place: "the three kinds of mind-made body all arise from ignorance" (三種意生身，生皆由無明), genuinely conditioned by the ignorance-dwelling-ground rather than arising on their own. He underscores this is a real conditioning relation, not a loose or accidental one: both the mind-made bodies and the uncontaminated karma producing them "have a condition — they do not lack a condition" (有緣非無緣), ruling out any reading in which uncontaminated karma alone, without ignorance as its condition, could somehow produce further rebirth by itself.
On "a fraction of nirvāṇa," Jizang is precise about what the word "fraction" actually qualifies: "nirvāṇa means cessation, but only the cessation of the cause and effect of segmented death — hence it is called a fraction" (涅槃云滅，但滅分段因果，故名少分). The incompleteness names a gap in which of the three virtues — dharmakāya, prajñā, liberation — have been attained, not a partial degree of cessation itself. Only the Buddha attains the "one flavor" of true, eternal nirvāṇa, because in the Buddha alone these three virtues are "without superiority or inferiority" (法無優劣), mutually entailing and equally complete — unlike the two vehicles, where the three remain unequal to one another. Jizang reaches for an ocean image to make the point vivid: however vast the three virtues are, "their substance shares a single flavor — hence it is called flavor" (體同一味，是故言味).
Finally, on the sūtra's claim that arhats' four proclamations were only ever provisional, Jizang defends this against a rival school of thought that ranked the Lotus Sūtra as not-yet-final teaching and the Śrīmālā as the truly final one. He cites the Lotus's own language directly — "merely to be freed from what is false is called liberation" (但離虛妄，名為解脫) — and argues the two sūtras agree completely on this point, calling the ranking scheme's claim "simply mistaken" (其言誤矣). The two texts were never in competition; they make the identical claim about what liberation is and is not.
Part 5 Complete
This closes Part 5: the two kinds of death, the four dwelling-grounds of affliction, the ignorance-dwelling-ground's power beyond every reckoning, and the difference between a fraction of nirvāṇa and the single, equal flavor of the real thing. Part 6 closes Chapter Five with the Tathāgata's own lion's roar — and the sūtra's answer to why refuge in Dharma and Saṅgha ultimately collapses into refuge in the Tathāgata alone.
Continue to Part 6 — The Lion's Roar, and the One True Refuge →