妙法蓮華經文句 3.3

3.3

「眉間光」下，次有五十行，頌問他土六瑞，舊云：「頌中不問三乘四眾，不問佛涅槃。今教廢三，那忽問三？方說壽量，那問滅度？於義不便故不問也。」嗚呼！不解消文，抑經就情。今明頌中具問他土六瑞，文為六：初、三行問六趣眾生；二、四行問見彼佛及說法；三、三行問他土四眾；次、一行半結前開後；次、三十一行半，問他土修菩薩行；次、七行問供養舍利，即是問佛涅槃也。

From the line "[The light emitted from] between the eyebrows" downwards, there are next fifty lines of verse that versify the inquiry about the six portents in the other lands. An ancient master stated: "In the verse, he does not ask about the three vehicles and four assemblies, nor does he ask about the Buddha's nirvāṇa. Since the present teaching abolishes the three [vehicles], how could he suddenly ask about the three? Since he is just about to preach the Lifespan, how could he ask about extinction? Because this would be conceptually inappropriate, he does not ask about them." Alas! He failed to understand the phrasing of the text, suppressing the scripture to suit his own sentiments. We now clarify that the verse fully inquires about the six portents in the other lands. The text has six parts: first, three lines ask about the sentient beings in the six destinies; second, four lines ask about seeing those buddhas and their preaching of the Dharma; third, three lines ask about the four assemblies in the other lands; next, one and a half lines conclude what precedes and open what follows; next, thirty-one and a half lines ask about the practice of the bodhisattva path in the other lands; next, seven lines ask about the offering to relics, which is asking about the Buddha's nirvāṇa.