妙法蓮華經文句 3.6

3.6

From "If someone encounters suffering" downwards, the third part of three lines asks about the four assemblies in those lands; that is, after the sudden preaching, it next clarifies the Tripiṭaka teaching. "If someone encounters suffering" opens the śrāvaka vehicle. This verse fully clarifies the Four Noble Truths, which is distinct in the text (and so on). If someone encounters suffering and creates unwholesome karma, suffering cannot be ended; the lowest sentient beings are such as this. If someone encounters suffering and creates wholesome karma, suffering is likewise not ended; they detest what is below and grasp at what is above, as when Nanda observed the precepts for the sake of desire. If someone encounters suffering and seeks liberation in non-Buddhist teachings, increasing erroneous views and compounding faults, suffering is likewise not ended. If someone encounters suffering, detests the accumulation [of afflictions], and further detests the dependent result, prompting the Buddha to preach nirvāṇa, this person is capable of ending the limits of all suffering. That other land also opens this vehicle. The one line from "If someone has merit" downwards opens the middle vehicle. If one makes few offerings to the Buddha, one encounters suffering and incurs distress; if one makes many offerings to the Buddha, although one encounters suffering, one has merit. Therefore it is said that śrāvakas plant merit over three lifetimes, while pratyekabuddhas plant merit over a hundred kalpas; in contrast to those śrāvakas, they are said to have merit. "Aspiring to seek the superior Dharma": śrāvakas practice because they detest suffering, whereas pratyekabuddhas practice because they seek the Way, deeply investigating the superior and wondrous principle of conditioned arising; this is the opening of the middle vehicle in that other land. From "If there are Buddha-sons" downwards opens the Mahāyāna of the six pāramitās. Because true compassion can continue the lineage of the Buddhas, they are called Buddha-sons; because they practice the six pāramitās, it is called "various practices"; because of aspiring to seek, it is called "unsurpassed wisdom." Within the six pāramitās there are no six hindrances, just as within medicine there is no disease; hence it is called the "pure path," though it is not ultimately pure. Furthermore, for the śrāvaka, the truth of suffering is the gate of contemplation; for the pratyekabuddha, the truth of accumulation is the gate; for the bodhisattva of the six pāramitās, the truth of the path is the gate; hence it is called the pure path.