妙法蓮華經文句 1.91

1.91

Third, explaining their stage: they are all arhats. The Abatsu jing says ‘one who responds to the true’; the Ruiying [benqi jing] says ‘true person’; these all explain arhat as ‘unborn.’ According to old translations, it is rendered ‘unattached,’ ‘unborn,’ or ‘worthy of offerings.’ Some say it is untranslatable, because the name contains three meanings: when the chaff of ignorance is removed, one does not receive the retributive fruit of birth and death in the field of future lifetimes, hence ‘unborn’; the afflictions of the ninety-eight latent proclivities are exhausted, hence ‘slayer of foes’; and being endowed with the virtues of knowledge and severance, capable of being a field of merit for humans and devas, hence ‘worthy of offerings.’ Containing these three meanings explains ‘arhat.’ Or it is said: when first learning the unborn, birth is not yet unborn; though first frightening Māra, Māra is not yet greatly frightened; though first a mendicant, one is not yet clearly worthy of offerings; now having attained the patient acceptance of the unborn and having completely destroyed the foes of afflictions, one is a good and fertile field—thus matching the effect to the cause to explain the three meanings of arhat. If discussing accomplishment, one should take the three meanings of the effect; if extending to the beginning, one also takes the three meanings of the cause. Explanations such as this are merely the intentions of the Tripiṭaka and shared teachings. If according to the distinctive and perfect teachings, the meaning is not so: not only slaying the foes, but also slaying the non-foes—‘non-foes’ refers to nirvāṇa, and because this too must be broken, this is the meaning of ‘slaying foes.’ Not being born in birth, nor being born in non-birth—the undefiled is non-birth; not only being worthy of offerings, but also making offerings to others—all sentient beings are those to whom offerings should be made; these all praise the virtues of the first bhūmi and the first abidance.