[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [妙法蓮華經文句](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718) › 9.88 # 妙法蓮華經文句 9.88 妙法蓮華經文句 9.88 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [9.88](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718.9.88) 「又善男子」下，第二大段，結三世益物物得實益。又為三：先明諸佛出五濁，必先三後一、先近後遠；次明皆是為化眾生；後明皆非虛妄也。「譬如」下，第二，譬說，有開譬、合譬。開譬為二：一、良醫治子譬，譬上三世應化所宜；二、治子實益譬，譬上三世利物不虛。上未來文少，此中具有。就初為三：一、醫遠行譬，譬過去益物；二、還已復去，譬現在應化；三、尋復來歸，譬未來應化。過去文為二：一、發近顯遠，二、明過去應化所宜。今但譬應化所宜。所宜有三：一、處所，二、拂迹疑，三、正應化，今但譬應化。應化又二：一、機感，二、正應化，今具譬之。「如有良醫」者，超譬上「我以佛眼觀」，有能應之智也。從「多諸子息」，是追譬上「若有眾生來至我所」，能感之機也。上應化所宜又二：一、益物，二、明歡喜，今但譬益物。上益物又二：一、非生現生，二、非滅現滅，今但譬現滅。初「良醫」者，醫有十種：一者治病病增無損，或時致死，譬空見外道，恣意行惡教人起邪斷善根，法身既亡慧命亦死。二者治病不增不損，譬有見苦行外道，投巖赴火苦行行善，不得禪定不能斷結即是無損，亦不能斷善即是不增也。三者治病損而無增，但世醫所治差已還復生，即是修定斷結外道也。四者治病能令差已不復發，而所治不遍，即二乘人止治一兩種有緣者，不能遍治一切也。五者雖能兼遍，而無巧術用治苦痛，《釋論》呼為拙度，即是六度菩薩慈悲廣治也。六、治病妙術，治無痛惱而不能治必死之人，譬通教菩薩體法，但治有反復凡夫，不治焦種二乘也。七、雖治難愈之病，而不一時治一切病，即是別教菩薩也。八、能一時治一切病，而不能令平復如本，即圓教初心十信也。九、能遍治一切，亦能平復如本，而不能令過本，即圓教後心也。十、一時治一切病即能平復，又使過本，即是如來。前三種醫即《大經》中之舊醫用乳藥也；後七並客醫，無術者，但用無常苦等法，如用辛苦酢藥也，有術遠來還令服乳，最後究竟良醫也。良者善也，內有三達五眼即是八術。妙得藥性善治者，外識病源能用藥也。「智慧」者，權實二智，深知二諦也。「聰達」者，五眼鑒機頓漸不差也。十二部教文理甚深，如「明鍊方藥」，依四悉檀治眾生病，如「善治眾病」也。《無量義》云「醫王大醫王」，以大醫故稱為良醫。「多諸子息」，「若十」，聲聞；「二十」，支佛；「百數」，菩薩。菩薩之子，凡有三種子義：一、就一切眾生，皆有三種性德，佛性即是佛子，故云「其中眾生悉是吾子」，此文云「多諸子息」也。約十心數法即有百子，心王為正因佛性，慧是了因性，餘九相扶起屬緣因性，一數起時九數扶助，如是成百也。性德佛子非善非惡而通善惡，故此十數及與心王為通心數，是以性德三因，悉屬正因佛子。二者就昔結緣為佛子，如十六王子覆講《法華》，時聞法者亦生微解，即成了因性；昔微能修行，為緣因性；正性為本，此三因並屬緣因，資發今日一實之解，故以昔日結緣，為緣因佛子，即火宅中三十子也。此約十信，一信起時即具餘九，還有百信，故得結緣為佛子也。三者了因之子，即是今日聞《法華經》，安住實智中，我定當作佛，決了聲聞法，是諸經之王，從佛口生、得佛法分，故名真子。此亦有三因性，今既顯了見於佛性，並屬了因佛子；百子之義還將十數入十善法中，十信入初住中，是故正因通於本末。此文明百子，不取了因子，了因子屬下不失心服藥中明之。「以有事緣遠至他國」者，譬過去應化中現滅也。「諸子於後」下，第二，還已復去，譬現世益物，又二：一、諸子於後飲毒，譬上機應相關，見諸眾生德薄垢重，眾生於佛滅後，樂著三界邪師之法，故云「飲他毒藥」，即是「遊行詣他國」，輪轉諸趣墮在三界，故云「宛轉于地」。「是時其父還來歸家」下，譬上我少出家得三菩提第二非生現生也。上有二，形聲及利益不虛，今言諸子飲毒去譬上形益，信受邪師之法名為「飲毒」，「失心」是無大小機感生，不失心是有大小機感生。又失心者，貪著三界，失先所種三乘善根也，為是人非滅唱滅。不失心者，雖著五欲而不失三乘善根，為是人故非生現生，善強惡輕見佛即能修道斷結，如子見父求藥病愈；善輕惡重得見佛，亦求護而不修道，如子見父求救不肯服藥，父為此子唱言應死。「遙見」者，明佛出世時眾生亦見色身，而為見、思障隔五分，不得親奉法身，故云「遙」也。見聞佛出皆有喜敬之事，現諸經文梵王請等，例是求救之辭也。「父見子等苦」下，譬上聲益，又二：初譬佛受請轉二諦法輪也。「而作是言」下，譬誡勸。「經方」者，即十二部教也，「藥草」即教所詮八萬法門也。從佛出十二部乃至出《涅槃》，此出漸頓藥草也。直從佛出十二部，此出頓藥草也；從佛出修多羅，此出漸藥草也。「色」者譬戒，戒防身口事相彰顯也。「香」者譬定，功德香熏一切也。「味」者譬慧，能得理味也。此戒定慧即八正道，修八正道能見佛性。又「色」是般若，照了法性之色分明無礙；「香」是解脫，斷德離臭也；「味」是法身，理味也。三法不縱不橫名祕密藏，依教修行得入此藏也。說三乘空三昧力如「擣」、無相如「篩」、無作如「合」，一一三昧具戒定慧也。又空觀如「擣」、假觀如「篩」、中觀如「合」，此三觀各不離戒定慧。將此法與漸頓眾生令修行，名「服」也。從「而作是言」乃至「可服」，即是勸門也。從「速除苦惱」乃至「無復眾患」，即是誡門也。將誡勸二教，令諸眾生服法藥也。「其諸子中不失心者」下，譬上得益不虛。上有二：一、不虛，次、釋不虛，今云「其諸子中不失心者服藥病差」，即譬上皆實不虛也。釋不虛，不作譬也。 > From "Furthermore, good sons" onwards is the second major section, concluding the benefit to beings across the three periods of time, wherein beings attain the real benefit. This also has three parts: first, explaining that when the Buddhas emerge into the five turbidities, they must first \[preach\] the three and then the one, first the near and then the distant; second, explaining that all this is for the sake of transforming sentient beings; and third, explaining that all this is not false. From "Suppose, for example" onwards is the second \[major part\], the parabolic exposition, which contains the opening of the parable and the joining of the parable. The opening of the parable has two parts: first, the parable of the skilled physician curing his sons, which illustrates what was appropriate to the responses and transformations across the three periods of time above; and second, the parable of the sons' actual benefit from the cure, which illustrates that benefiting beings across the three periods of time above is not in vain. The preceding text on the future was brief, whereas here it is fully detailed. The first part has three aspects: first, the parable of the physician traveling far away, which illustrates benefiting beings in the past; second, returning and departing again, which illustrates responses and transformations in the present; and third, soon returning once more, which illustrates responses and transformations in the future. The preceding text on the past had two parts: first, revealing the distant by bringing forth the near; and second, explaining what was appropriate to the past responses and transformations. Here, it illustrates only what was appropriate to the responses and transformations. What was appropriate has three aspects: first, the location; second, sweeping away doubts concerning the traces; and third, the actual response and transformation. Here, it illustrates only the response and transformation. The response and transformation also has two parts: first, the receptivity of capacity; and second, the actual response and transformation. Here, both are fully illustrated. "Suppose there is a skilled physician" leaps backward to illustrate the line above, "I perceive with the Buddha eye," indicating the wisdom capable of responding. From "having many sons and offspring," this retrospectively illustrates the line above, "If there are sentient beings who come to where I am," indicating the capacity capable of eliciting the response. What was appropriate to the responses and transformations above also had two parts: first, benefiting beings; and second, explaining their joy. Here, it illustrates only benefiting beings. Benefiting beings above also had two parts: first, appearing to be born without being born; and second, appearing to pass into extinction without passing into extinction. Here, it illustrates only appearing to pass into extinction. Regarding the first, "a skilled physician": there are ten kinds of physicians. First, one who treats illness such that the illness increases without lessening, or sometimes leads to death; this illustrates external paths of the view of emptiness, who indulge in evil deeds, teach people to give rise to heterodoxy, and sever their good roots, so that their Dharma-body is lost and their wisdom-life also dies. Second, one who treats illness such that it neither increases nor lessens; this illustrates external paths of the view of existence and ascetic practices, who throw themselves from cliffs, enter fire, practice asceticism, and perform good deeds, yet because they do not attain dhyāna-concentration and cannot sever defilements, there is no lessening, and because they also cannot sever goodness, there is no increase. Third, one who treats illness such that it lessens without increasing, but like worldly physicians whose cures relapse after recovery, this is the external path of cultivating concentration to sever defilements. Fourth, one who treats illness and can ensure that once cured it does not recur, but whose treatment is not universal; this refers to the people of the two vehicles, who only treat one or two types who have karmic affinity, and cannot treat all universally. Fifth, one who, though able to treat universally, lacks skillful techniques and uses methods causing pain and distress, which the Commentary calls "clumsy salvation"; this refers to the bodhisattvas of the six pāramitās who treat broadly with compassion. Sixth, one with marvelous methods for treating illness, who treats without pain or distress but cannot treat those destined to die; this illustrates the bodhisattvas of the shared teaching who comprehend dharmas, treating only ordinary beings who are receptive, but not treating the scorched seeds of the two vehicles. Seventh, one who, though treating hard-to-cure illnesses, does not treat all illnesses at the same time; this is the bodhisattva of the distinctive teaching. Eighth, one who can treat all illnesses at the same time, but cannot restore them to their original state; this refers to the initial ten stages of faith in the perfect teaching. Ninth, one who can treat all universally, and can also restore them to their original state, but cannot make them surpass the original; this refers to the subsequent stages of the perfect teaching. Tenth, one who treats all illnesses at the same time, immediately restores them, and furthermore makes them surpass the original; this is the Tathāgata. The first three kinds of physicians are the old physicians in the Great Sūtra who use milk medicine; the latter seven are guest physicians. Those among them who lack methods merely use doctrines such as impermanence and suffering, just like using bitter, acrid, and sour medicines; the one who possesses methods comes from afar and causes them to take milk again, being the ultimate skilled physician. "Skilled" means good; possessing internally the three penetrations and the five eyes constitutes the eight methods. Wonderfully grasping the nature of medicines and treating well means externally recognizing the source of illness and being able to apply medicines. "Wisdom" means the two wisdoms, expedient and real, deeply knowing the two truths. "Intelligent and penetrating" means the five eyes observing capacities without mistaking sudden or gradual. The twelve divisions of the teachings are profound in text and principle, which is "clarifying and concocting prescriptions and medicines"; relying on the four siddhāntas to cure the illnesses of sentient beings is "expertly curing all illnesses." The Immeasurable Meanings says, "King of physicians, great king of physicians." Because he is a great physician, he is called a "skilled physician." "Having many sons and offspring": "if ten" refers to śrāvakas; "twenty" refers to pratyekabuddhas; "hundreds" refers to bodhisattvas. As for the sons being bodhisattvas, there are generally three meanings of "sons": First, with respect to all sentient beings, all possess the three kinds of innate virtue, and the Buddha-nature is itself the son of the Buddha; hence it is said, "The sentient beings therein are all my children," which this text expresses as "having many sons and offspring." In terms of the ten mental factors, there are a hundred sons: the mind-king is the primary-cause Buddha-nature, wisdom is the revealing-cause nature, and the remaining nine mutually support and arise, belonging to the conditional-cause nature; when one factor arises, the nine factors support it, and thus a hundred are formed. Innate-virtue sons of the Buddha are neither good nor evil yet extend through good and evil; hence these ten factors together with the mind-king are common mental factors, and thus the innate-virtue three causes all belong to primary-cause sons of the Buddha. Second, with respect to establishing affinity in the past to become sons of the Buddha: for example, when the sixteen princes repeated the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra, those who heard the Dharma at that time also gave rise to subtle understanding, which became the revealing-cause nature; their slight ability to practice in the past was the conditional-cause nature; and with the primary nature as the foundation, these three causes all belong to the conditional cause, assisting and giving rise to today's understanding of the one real truth; hence establishing affinity in the past constitutes conditional-cause sons of the Buddha, namely the thirty sons in the burning house. This is understood in terms of the ten stages of faith: when one faith arises, it immediately includes the remaining nine, so there are also a hundred faiths, whereby they were able to establish affinity and become sons of the Buddha. Third, revealing-cause sons: namely, those who hear the Lotus Sūtra today, abide peacefully in real wisdom, \[resolve that\] "I will definitely become a Buddha," clearly understand the śrāvaka Dharma, know that this is the king of all sūtras, are born from the Buddha's mouth, and obtain a portion of the Buddha's Dharma, and thus are called true sons. These also possess the three-cause nature; now that they have distinctly seen the Buddha-nature, they all belong to revealing-cause sons of the Buddha. The meaning of the hundred sons also integrates the ten factors into the ten good dharmas, and the ten faiths into the initial stage of abiding; therefore, the primary cause pervades both the fundamental and the derivative. This passage mentions the hundred sons and does not take revealing-cause sons; revealing-cause sons are explained below under those who have not lost their minds and take the medicine. "Owing to some business or cause, he traveled far to another country" illustrates appearing to pass into extinction among the past responses and transformations. From "The sons, afterward" onwards is the second part: returning and departing again, which illustrates benefiting beings in the present world. This also has two parts: first, the sons drinking poison afterward, which illustrates the mutual relevance between capacity and response above, seeing that sentient beings are deficient in virtue and heavy in defilement; after the Buddha's extinction, sentient beings delight in clinging to the teachings of heterodox teachers of the three realms, hence it says "drank another's poison," which corresponds to "traveling and going to other countries," transmigrating through the destinies and falling into the three realms, hence it says "rolling about on the ground." From "At that time, their father returned home" onwards illustrates the second \[aspect\] above, appearing to be born without being born, as in "In my youth, I left home and attained sambodhi." The preceding had two parts: form and voice, and that the benefit is not in vain. Now, saying that the sons drank poison and went away illustrates the benefit of form above: believing and accepting the teachings of heterodox teachers is called "drinking poison"; "losing their minds" means lacking the capacity of the great or small to elicit \[the Buddha's\] birth, while not losing their minds means possessing the capacity of the great or small to elicit \[the Buddha's\] birth. Furthermore, those who have lost their minds are greedily attached to the three realms and have lost the good roots of the three vehicles planted previously; for these people, he proclaims extinction without passing into extinction. Those who have not lost their minds, though attached to the five desires, have not lost the good roots of the three vehicles; for the sake of these people, he appears to be born without being born; their goodness being strong and evil light, upon seeing the Buddha they are immediately able to cultivate the Path and sever defilements, like sons seeing their father, seeking medicine, and being cured of their illness. Those whose goodness is light and evil heavy, though seeing the Buddha, also seek protection but do not cultivate the Path, like sons seeing their father and seeking rescue yet refusing to take the medicine; the father proclaims that he must die for the sake of these sons. "Saw from afar" explains that when the Buddha emerges into the world, sentient beings also see his physical form, yet being obstructed by the five parts of view and thought, they cannot personally attend upon the Dharma-body, hence it says "from afar." Seeing and hearing of the Buddha's emergence are both matters of joy and reverence; what appears in the texts of various sūtras, such as the requests of King Brahmā, are all instances of words seeking rescue. From "The father, seeing the suffering of his sons" onwards illustrates the benefit of voice above, which also has two parts: first, illustrating the Buddha accepting the request and turning the Dharma wheel of the two truths. From "and made this statement" onwards illustrates admonition and exhortation. "Classic prescriptions" refers to the twelve divisions of the teachings; "medicinal herbs" refers to the eighty thousand dharma doors expounded by the teachings. From the Buddha producing the twelve divisions down to producing the Nirvāṇa, this is producing gradual and sudden medicinal herbs. Producing the twelve divisions directly from the Buddha is producing sudden medicinal herbs; producing sūtras from the Buddha is producing gradual medicinal herbs. "Color" illustrates discipline, discipline guarding body and speech whose phenomena are manifest. "Fragrance" illustrates concentration, the fragrance of merit perfuming all. "Flavor" illustrates wisdom, being able to attain the flavor of principle. These discipline, concentration, and wisdom are the Noble Eightfold Path; cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path enables one to see the Buddha-nature. Furthermore, "color" is prajñā, distinctly and unobstructed observing the color of the Dharma-nature; "fragrance" is liberation, the virtue of severance free from foulness; "flavor" is the Dharma-body, the flavor of principle. The three dharmas neither vertical nor horizontal are called the secret treasury; cultivating according to the teaching enables entry into this treasury. Preaching the power of the three vehicles' samādhi of emptiness is like "pounding"; signlessness is like "sifting"; and aimlessness is like "compounding"; each samādhi is complete with discipline, concentration, and wisdom. Furthermore, the contemplation of emptiness is like "pounding," the contemplation of the provisional is like "sifting," and the contemplation of the middle is like "compounding"; none of these three contemplations is separate from discipline, concentration, and wisdom. Giving this Dharma to gradual and sudden sentient beings to cause them to cultivate it is called "taking \[the medicine\]." From "and made this statement" down to "it may be taken" is the door of exhortation. From "it will quickly eliminate suffering and distress" down to "no further afflictions" is the door of admonition. Employing both admonition and exhortation, he causes sentient beings to take the Dharma medicine. From "Among the sons, those who had not lost their minds" onwards illustrates that the benefit attained above is not in vain. The preceding had two parts: first, not being in vain; and second, explaining not being in vain. Here, saying "among the sons, those who had not lost their minds took the medicine and their illness was cured" illustrates that what was described above is all real and not in vain. The explanation of not being in vain is not given a parable. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 9.87](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718.9.87) - [Next: 9.89](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718.9.89) - [Up: 9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718.9) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718~en-mt.9.88) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718.9.88](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1718.9.88) · Pramāṇa