妙法蓮華經文句 5.47

5.47

Second, the parabolic explanation has prose and gāthās. The prose contains opening the parable and joining the parable. The different ways of opening the parable have already been discussed above; here they are twofold: 1. General; 2. Specific. The general parable corresponds to the two-line gāthā in the section on Śākyamuni, "Now I also am like this," which briefly versifies the opening of the expedient and revealing of the real. The specific parable corresponds to the forty-one and a half lines of gāthā in the section on Śākyamuni, "I with the buddha-eye observe and see," which broadly versifies the six meanings of opening the expedient and revealing the real. The general parable has six aspects: 1. The elder; 2. The house; 3. The single gate; 4. The five hundred people; 5. The fire starting; 6. The thirty sons. The elder exemplifies "myself", and "myself" is Śākyamuni, the master of this single teaching period; the burning house exemplifies the previously mentioned location, where peace and security contrast with the lack of peace and security in the three realms above; the single gate exemplifies the gate of proclaiming and revealing the Buddha path above; the five hundred people exemplify the sentient beings above; the fire starting exemplifies the five turbidities and eight sufferings in the teaching of lack of peace and security above; the thirty sons exemplify the practitioners of the three vehicles who know the dispositions and desires of sentient beings above.