妙法蓮華經文句 10.32

10.32

The verse has nineteen and a half lines. The first five and a half lines praise the second grade; next, the three lines from 'If one can uphold' onward praise the third grade; the four lines from 'If one has faith and understanding' onward praise the fourth grade; next, the seven lines from 'Reverently' onward praise the fifth grade. 'Giving rise to a mind regarding them as a Buddha' means initially relying on the person titled Tathāgata. 'Before long approaching the tree of the Path' means that their stage is on the iron wheel, and before long they can enter the copper wheel and be able to perform the eight phases of buddhahood. 'Already proceeding to the bodhimaṇḍa' indicates their place of practice. 'Sambodhi' indicates their proximity [to awakening]. This fifth grade is on a par with the fourth faith, both being stages of the wisdom gained from cultivation; in terms of entering the stages, they both belong to the stage of the purification of the six sense faculties, differing only in whether it is in the present, during the Buddha's lifetime, or in the future, after his extinction (and so forth).