妙法蓮華經文句 3.3

3.3

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.