法華經義記 1.16

1.16

'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]*.