法華經義記 1.16

1.16

經者，訓法訓常為義也。若具存胡本，應言薩達摩分陀利修多羅。外國云薩，此方言妙；天竺云達摩，此翻為法；胡云分陀利，此方云蓮花；外國云修多羅，此方對經。今具存此土之音，故言妙法蓮花經也。所以知妙名翻薩者只是善，然惡既是麁鄙之法，善即是精妙可珍，如讚詠唱薩，則是唱善，善即是妙。復言法翻達摩者，此則與三寶義中法寶相會，外國云達摩，此方言法寶也。《大智論》云：「外國云分陀利，此間言蓮花也。」修多羅既是外國語，然經出之時，翻譯之始，仍用經字代修多羅。然經既訓法訓常，是故《大智論》解修多羅備有五義：一出生、二微妙發、三涌泉、四繩墨、五花鬘也。五義之中有涌泉、繩墨，今取二義與法常相符。何者？涌泉無窮，此與常義相會；繩墨之用本除斜取正，正而不斜，可軌可則，此與法義相符。曲解經字，如《大涅槃義記》所述也。

'Sūtra' takes 'model' and 'constant' as its meaning. If preserved fully in the foreign text, it should say Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra. In the foreign country they say *sad*, which here is translated as 'sublime'; in India they say *dharma*, which here is translated as 'dharma'; in the foreign language they say *puṇḍarīka*, which here is translated as 'lotus'; in the foreign country they say *sūtra*, which here corresponds to 'sūtra'. Now, fully retaining the sounds of this land, it is called the Sublime Dharma Lotus Flower Sūtra. How do we know that the name 'sublime' translates *sad*? It is simply 'good'; yet since evil is a coarse and lowly dharma, the good is refined, sublime, and precious. As when praising and singing one chants *sad*, that is chanting 'good', and good is sublime. Furthermore, saying that 'dharma' translates *dharma*: this aligns with the Jewel of Dharma among the meanings of the Three Jewels; in the foreign country they say *dharma*, and here they say 'Jewel of Dharma'. The *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* says: 'In the foreign country they say *puṇḍarīka*, which here is called lotus.' Since *sūtra* is a foreign word, when sūtras appeared and translation began, the character *jing* ('classic/warp') was used in place of *sūtra*. Since *jing* is glossed as 'model' and 'constant', the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* explains that *sūtra* has five meanings: first, emerging; second, subtly revealing; third, bubbling spring; fourth, marking line; fifth, garland. Among the five meanings there are 'bubbling spring' and 'marking line'; now we take these two meanings as corresponding to 'constant' and 'model'. Why? A bubbling spring is inexhaustible, which accords with the meaning of 'constant'; the function of a marking line is originally to remove the crooked and adopt the straight, being straight without slant, serving as a guideline and model, which accords with the meaning of 'model' (dharma). The detailed explanation of the character *jing* is as described in the *Commentary on the Meaning of the Mahāparinirvāṇa [Sūtra]*.