妙法蓮華經文句 6.39

6.39

「窮子見父有大力勢」下，是第四，見父畏避。「大力勢」者，智大故名大力，神通大故名大勢，如上身手有力義也。「恐怖」者，小機劣弱怯懼大道也。「悔來至此」者，佛本欲以大法擬之，應不稱機，但有退大之意，故言悔來至此也。「竊作是念」者，機中潛密冥有此事，非是顯對見勝應身也。「或是王王等」者，波旬是王，徒輩為等，小機灰斷無言說道絕於色像，既見勝應之像，非天人所及，所說法相逈異二乘，小智薄德未曾見聞，便謂是魔是魔所說。略開三顯一，身子狐疑將非魔作佛惱亂我心耶？若初用大逗小疑佛為魔，有過今日也。復次勝應譬長者，長者即表報身佛，故是王等，法身是報師，師即如王，諸經多名是經王，智契於法即是智與法等，故名報佛為等，此乃大乘法報，非是小乘得益之處，故或是王王等也。「非我傭力得物之處」者，小機不能受大化也。「不如往至貧里」乃至「衣食易得」者，《淨名》云「能以貧所得法，度斯下劣」也。但空之理不含萬德非如來藏，故言貧里；偏空稱於小智，故言「肆力有地」也。「衣食易得」者，能得有餘涅槃無漏衣食，行行衣惠行食也。「若久住此或見逼迫強使我作」者，行大乘道經無量劫，故言久住。我本厭怖生死，若修大乘必入生死。廣學萬行，故言逼迫。我本樂小，而今令我發大乘菩提心，是為強使。捨大取小故言「疾走」也。

From “The poor son, seeing his father possessed of such great power” downward is the fourth, seeing his father and turning away in fear. “Great power”: having great wisdom is called “great strength,” and having great spiritual superknowledges is called “great power,” just as explained above with the meaning of the body and hands possessing power. “Terrified”: the Hīnayāna capacity is inferior and weak, dreading the Great Path. “Regretted having come here”: the Buddha originally intended to match him with the Great Dharma, but because the response did not suit his capacity, he only had the intention of retreating from the Mahāyāna; hence it says “regretted having come here.” “Secretly had this thought”: this matter was secretly and latently present within his capacity; it does not mean that he visibly and directly saw the superior response body. “Or is a king or one equal to a king”: Pāpīmān is the “king,” and his followers are “those equal.” The capacity of the Hīnayāna entails ash-like cessation, having no path of verbal expression and severed from physical forms; having seen the form of the superior response, which is beyond the reach of devas and humans, and the characteristics of the Dharma expounded being vastly different from the two vehicles, possessing small wisdom and meager merit, never having seen or heard it, he considered it to be Māra or what is spoken by Māra. When briefly opening the three and revealing the one, Śāriputra was doubtful: “Could this be Māra acting as the Buddha to disturb my mind?” If at the outset one used the Mahāyāna to instruct the Hīnayāna and they suspected the Buddha to be Māra, it would have been even worse than today. Furthermore, the superior response is compared to the elder; the elder represents the Reward Body Buddha, hence he is “equal to a king.” The Dharmakāya is the teacher of the reward [body]; the teacher is like a king, and many sūtras call this the “king of sūtras.” When wisdom tallies with the Dharma, wisdom is equal to the Dharma; hence the Reward Buddha is called “equal.” This is the Dharma and Reward of the Mahāyāna, not a place where the Hīnayāna obtains benefit; hence he says “perhaps a king or one equal to a king.” “This is no place for me to hire out my labor and obtain goods”: the Hīnayāna capacity cannot receive the Mahāyāna conversion. From “I would do better to go to a poor village” up to “food and clothing are easy to obtain”: the Vimalakīrti says, “Being able to use the Dharma obtained in poverty to deliver these inferior ones.” The principle of mere emptiness does not contain the myriad virtues and is not the Tathāgatagarbha, hence it is called “a poor village”; biased emptiness suits small wisdom, hence it says “there is room to exert one's effort.” “Food and clothing are easy to obtain”: being able to obtain the unoutflow food and clothing of nirvāṇa with remainder—the clothing of practices and the food of wisdom practices. “If I stay here long, I might be oppressed and forced to work”: practicing the Mahāyāna path takes immeasurable kalpas, hence it says “stay here long.” “I originally dreaded and feared birth and death; if I cultivate the Mahāyāna, I must enter birth and death to broadly learn the myriad practices,” hence it says “oppressed.” “I originally delighted in the Hīnayāna, but now he would make me generate the Mahāyāna bodhicitta,” which is to be “forced.” Abandoning the Great and taking up the Small, it therefore says “hurried away.”