The Lotus Sūtra 1.2

1.2

昔如來於耆闍崛山中，與大阿羅漢阿若憍陳如、摩訶迦葉無量等眾，演說大乘真經，名無量義。是時天雨寶華布濩充滿，慧光現瑞洞燭幽顯，普佛世界六種震動，一切人天得未曾有，咸皆歡喜讚歎，以為是經乃諸佛如來祕密之藏，神妙叵測，廣大難名，所以拔滯溺之沈流，拯昏迷之失性，功德弘遠莫可涯涘。泝求其源，肇彼竺乾流於震旦，爰自西晉沙門竺法護者初加翻譯，名曰正法華；暨東晉龜茲三藏法師鳩摩羅什重翻，名曰妙法蓮華；至隋天竺沙門闍那笈多所翻者，亦名妙法。雖三經文理重沓互陳，而惟三藏法師獨得其旨。第歷世既遠不無訛謬，匪資刊正漸致多疑，用是特加讐校，仍命鏤梓以廣其傳。

In the past, on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, the Tathāgata, together with an immeasurable assembly including the great arhats Ājñātakauṇḍinya and Mahākāśyapa, expounded the true Mahāyāna sūtra entitled Innumerable Meanings. At that time, the heavens rained down precious flowers that showered and filled everywhere; the light of wisdom revealed auspicious signs, illuminating both the hidden and the manifest; and all the Buddha-worlds shook in six ways. All humans and gods attained what they had never had before, and they all rejoiced and praised it, considering that this sūtra is the secret treasury of the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas, divine and unfathomable, vast and difficult to name; whereby those submerged in stagnation are drawn forth, and the benighted who have lost their nature are rescued, its merit being so immense that it has no bounds. Tracing back its origin, it began in India and flowed to China. Starting from the Western Jin, the śramaṇa Dharmarakṣa first translated it, entitling it True Lotus; then, in the Eastern Jin, the Tripiṭaka Master Kumārajīva from Kucha retranslated it, entitling it Saddharmapuṇḍarīka; and coming to the Sui, the Indian śramaṇa Jñānagupta translated one that was also entitled Saddharma. Although the texts and principles of the three sūtras are repeated and present variations, the Tripiṭaka Master alone captured its essential meaning. However, as generations have long passed, corruptions were not absent; lacking collation and correction, doubts would gradually multiply. For this reason, it has been specially collated and ordered to be carved onto printing blocks to spread its transmission widely.