Thereupon the Buddha said to him, “No, no, I will not. If I do, all the gods and men in the world will be frightened and perplexed.”

By the first cease, the Buddha wanted them to cease harboring doubts. Body-son (Śāriputra) said [that the Buddha should] preach and then [they will] cease harboring doubts. Hence, the repeated request. The two words show a vast difference [in what they refer to], and yet they are the same in that they are intended for dispelling men’s doubts.

“You asked me three times with enthusiasm. How can I leave the Dharma unexpounded?

As the Sage sets forth the teaching, his speech must be unfolded gradually; awakening, likewise, is achieved step by step. As the request was made thrice, the doubts of the congregation were both prevalent and lingering; the doubts of the congregation being widely prevalent and lingering, their desire to hear was very intense. The triple request was made not because the Buddha wished it, but because the circumstances of the time [with respect to his listeners] dictated it.

Thereupon Śāriputra, seeing the doubts of the four kinds of devotees, and also because he, himself, did not understand [why the Buddha had said this], said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Why do you extol so enthusiastically [what you call] the highest [Truth, and the power of the Buddhas to employ) expedients?”

Sharing the [collective] sentiment [prevalent in the congregation] at the time, [Śāriputra] has availed himself of the opportunity to raise a question. As the doubts intensify in his mind, his will to resolve them also becomes very strong.

The path (tao) being lofty and li being recondite, who would dare to ask about them? If the Buddha did not preach, the traces would look like the Dharma they (the congregation) envisioned them to be. Therefore, the World-Honored One rose from samādhi and preached of his own accord, though unsolicited, praising the Buddha’s wisdom as “extremely profound” and immeasurable. The gāthās that follow are designed to praise [the Buddha’s wisdom] in a chant.

He expounded to us the teaching of emancipation. We obtained this teaching and reached Nirvāṇa. We do not know why he says all this. (Hurwitz translation: The Buddha has preached the doctrine of unique deliverance, which means that we, too, gaining this Dharma, shall reach nirvana. Yet now we do not know where this doctrine tends.”)

Even though there is distinction between superior and inferior in the merits and virtues of the three vehicles, there ultimately is no difference in that they all reach the abode of the eternal cessation of nirvana. Hence, it is said, “unique deliverance” (ekaiva vimuktir), “unique” (or “one”) meaning “the same.” But they do not “know where the doctrine tends’? that the Buddha praised in such utmost earnest.

The great multitude at that time included Śrāvakas. [They also included] Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, and other Arhats, twelve hundred altogether, who had already eliminated āsravas. [They also included] the bhikṣus, bhikṣunīs, upāsakās, and upāsikās, [that is, the four kinds of devotees] who had already aspired for Śrāvakahood or Pratyekabuddhahood. All of them thought:

“Why does the World-Honored One extol so enthusiastically the power of the Buddhas to employ expedients?”

The reason that [the Buddha] until now ceased to speak is to stop their doubts. But more doubts arose in those ignorant [of the Buddha’s true goal]. These voice hearers have heard the Buddha praising highly this path as being so profound, but they are far from realizing where his purport lies.