法華經義記 6.13

6.13

「臨欲終時而命其子」此下是第八付家業譬，此則領火宅中第八長者賜諸子珍寶大車，言「爾時長者各賜諸子等一大車」，譬〈方便品〉中「於諸菩薩中，正直捨方便，但說無上道」，即是說《法華》明萬善同歸，明三乘人皆轉作菩薩，皆成佛道。就此譬中自有四階，一者付家業之時，二者集於證明之眾，三者會父子天性，四者正付家業。「臨欲終時」此一句是第一付家業之時，只稱臨終故付，內合〈如來品〉初說《法華》時三乘化功勢未息，此即如〈方便品〉略說開三顯一，于時未的道無三，三乘化功有漸廢之義。若使說《法華》究竟明無三之義，三乘化功已廢如死，說《法華》既未周竟，《波若》勢由未盡故名臨終也。「而命其子并會親族」此下是第二集證明之眾，內合明如來放光動地招集有緣，即是「爾時世尊四眾圍遶」義，分身諸佛為親族，多寶佛塔如國王，十地菩薩如大臣，九地菩薩如剎利，八地已還菩薩如居士。「即自宣言」此下是第三敘父子天性，內合會通今昔之意，即是今於《法華》座席唱言，昔日已佛用大乘化汝，今復大乘化也。「此實我子」者，此實是昔日所化大乘之子也。「於某城中」者，即二萬億佛教為某城也。「捨吾逃走」者，昔日佛用大乘化，後眾生失大乘解，既失解密有遠佛之義，故言捨吾逃走也。既失大解廣起煩惱，備經六道，故言「辛苦五十餘年」。「其本字某我名某甲，昔在本城懷憂推覓」者，於二萬億佛以來恒覓眾生一乘機，故言推覓。今始大機發，稱本來之意，故言「得之」也。「此實我子」者，實是菩薩子，逕受大乘化。「我實其父」也，我實逕大乘化也。「吾今所有一切財物」此下是第四正付家業，內合正說《法華經》為諸菩薩受記得佛。「今吾所有皆是子有」者，付顯一之義，語三乘人言，汝未來得佛果如我無異，故言是子有也。「先所出內」者，付開三之義，語言我昔來所說三乘等教，悉令眾生知是方便，故言是子所知。

"When he was on the verge of dying, he summoned his son" from here onward is the eighth parable, that of entrusting the family estate. This then corresponds to the eighth [parable] in the burning house, where the elder bestows upon the sons the great cart of precious jewels, saying: "At that time the elder bestowed upon each of the sons a great cart"; it is a parable for the passage in Chapter [2], "Expedient Means": "Among the bodhisattvas, honestly discarding expedient means, I preach only the unsurpassed path." That is to say, expounding the Lotus Sūtra clarifies that myriad goods converge in the same destination, and clarifies that those of the three vehicles all transform into bodhisattvas and all achieve the Buddha path. Within this parable there are naturally four stages: first, the time of entrusting the family estate; second, assembling the congregation of witnesses; third, bringing together the natural bond between father and son; fourth, the actual entrusting of the family estate. The single line "when he was on the verge of dying" is the first stage, the time of entrusting the family estate. He entrusted it merely because he was on the verge of death. In its inner application, at the beginning of the expounding of the Lotus Sūtra in the "Tathāgata Chapter", the momentum of the transformative work of the three vehicles had not yet ceased; this is just as in the "Expedient Means" chapter where the opening of the three and revealing of the one is briefly expounded, but at that time he had not yet explicitly declared that there are no three, so the transformative work of the three vehicles carried the sense of being gradually set aside. If he had expounded the Lotus Sūtra completely to clarify the meaning of there being no three, the transformative work of the three vehicles would have been set aside like death; since the expounding of the Lotus Sūtra was not yet complete, the momentum of the Prajñā[-pāramitā] was not yet exhausted, hence it is called "on the verge of dying." "He summoned his son and assembled his relatives" from here onward is the second stage, assembling the congregation of witnesses. In its inner application, it clarifies the Tathāgata emitting light and shaking the earth to gather together those with affinity; this is precisely the meaning of "at that time the World-Honoured One was surrounded by the fourfold assembly": the emanation Buddhas are the relatives, the Prabhūtaratna Stūpa is like the king, the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds are like the great ministers, the bodhisattvas of the ninth ground are like kṣatriyas, and the bodhisattvas of the eighth ground and below are like householders. "He then made a proclamation himself" from here onward is the third stage, recounting the natural bond between father and son. In its inner application, it harmonises the intent of the present and the past; that is, now at the assembly of the Lotus Sūtra he proclaims: "In the past the Buddha already used the Great Vehicle to transform you, and now again he transforms you with the Great Vehicle." "This is truly my son" means: this is truly the son of the Great Vehicle transformed in the past. "In a certain city" refers to the teachings of the twenty billion Buddhas being the "certain city." "Abandoned me and ran away" means: in the past the Buddha used the Great Vehicle to transform them, but later sentient beings lost their understanding of the Great Vehicle; having lost their understanding, they implicitly drifted far from the Buddha, hence it is said that they abandoned him and ran away. Having lost their great understanding, they broadly gave rise to afflictions and passed through the six destinies in full, hence it says "toiled in suffering for over fifty years." "His original name was so-and-so, and my name was so-and-so. Formerly in that city, harboring sorrow, I searched for him" means: since the time of the twenty billion Buddhas, he has constantly searched for sentient beings' capacity for the One Vehicle, hence it is said that he searched for him. Now that their great capacity has finally manifested, fulfilling his original intention, it is said that he "found him." "This is truly my son" means: he is truly a bodhisattva son who has undergone transformation by the Great Vehicle. "I am truly his father" means: I have truly carried out transformation through the Great Vehicle. "All the wealth and goods I now possess" from here onward is the fourth stage, the actual entrusting of the family estate. In its inner application, it is the actual expounding of the Lotus Sūtra to bestow upon the bodhisattvas the prediction of attaining Buddhahood. "Everything I now possess belongs to my son" refers to entrusting the meaning of revealing the one; he tells the people of the three vehicles: "In the future, the Buddha fruition you attain will be no different from mine," hence it says it belongs to the son. "What was formerly brought out and taken in" refers to entrusting the meaning of opening the three; he tells them: "All the teachings of the three vehicles and so forth that I have expounded from the past to the present are completely made known to sentient beings as expedient means," hence it says that it was known by the son.