法華文句記 1.118

1.118

次釋「佛」字。因緣中亦秖應釋覺，而但云時處等者，明覺之感應時及處耳。非其時處不感佛興，時處異故當世界也。劫初劫盡是極長極短極苦極樂之時，餘三天下富壽無我，非感佛緣，多病是減極，三小災起謂刀、疾、飢，疾居其中故略云病。《俱舍》云：「刀、疾、飢如次，七日月年止，長壽時樂重舉劫初，短壽時苦重舉劫盡」。「東天下」去，舉不興處也。並由壽定樂定、保樂保常，不成機緣故不感佛。此仍且約人中處耳。若論天上，小乘亦有得小果者，如梵王得三果等。若准《華嚴》，四天王及化樂天并無色處並不感佛；餘經非無，但除難處。言「富壽」者，東名勝，身勝南洲，故富壽亦爾。西名牛貨，以牛為貨，故云多牛羊也。北名俱盧，此云勝處，亦云勝生，於四洲中有情處貨皆最勝故。南名贍部，從樹為名，於南洲中但舉初後中間亦有六四二萬，且云八萬是減初也。百年是方極，故後減之。初則彌勒也，今減方極則釋迦也。「未見果」等，明感佛緣，雖略云地亦應云時。「離車」等者，《大經》二十六云：「佛為離車說不放逸。離車云：我等自知是放逸人。何以故？若不放逸，如來世尊應生我國，何故棄我出摩竭提？時婆羅門子名曰無勝，語離車言：頻婆大王已獲大利，佛出其國，猶如大池生大蓮華，華雖在水水不能染。佛亦如是，雖生彼國，世法不染。汝迷五欲不知親近，名放逸人，非佛出彼名為放逸（無勝者阿逸多）。汝耽五欲，縱生汝國，汝亦不見。」故此時處亦據多分，舍衛三億非關苦樂。「摩竭提」者，此云不害，劫初已來無刑殺故；至阿闍世截指為刑，後自齧指痛，復息此刑。佛當生其地故吉兆預彰，所以先置不害之名。「日若不出」等者，《大論》文也。日喻佛興，池喻摩竭，華喻物機。佛若不出，已未二善皆悉不成。未者下種，已者熟脫，然合喻中且約世間有漏善法，故舉剎利等況出世善，故輕繫地獄尚因佛出，乃有一念厭惡之因，後方得離，況復人天？故論云：「若持五戒，釋迦文佛在汝家中」。四姓舉二且從勝說。對治中斷有頂種，即斷三界惡故，故名破惡。

Next, the explanation of the character "Buddha." Under "causes and conditions," one should also have merely explained "Awakened One," but it only mentions time, place, and so on, in order to clarify the time and place of the stimulus and response of awakening. If it is not the proper time and place, they do not stimulate the Buddha's arising; because the time and place differ, this corresponds to the worldly [siddhānta]. The beginning of a kalpa and the end of a kalpa are times of extreme length, extreme brevity, extreme suffering, and extreme pleasure. In the other three continents there is wealth, long life, and lack of self-grasping, which are not conditions that stimulate the Buddha. Abundance of disease marks the extreme of the decrease, where the three minor calamities arise—namely weapons, pestilence, and famine. Pestilence is among them, so it is briefly called disease. The Kośa says: "Weapons, pestilence, and famine last respectively / for seven days, seven months and seven days, and seven years and seven months; / the pleasure of the time of long life is illustrated again by the beginning of the kalpa, / and the suffering of the time of short life is illustrated again by the end of the kalpa." The passage from "the eastern continent" onward adduces places where he does not arise. All of these, because life span is fixed and pleasure is fixed, and they cling to pleasure and permanence, do not form faculties and conditions, and hence do not stimulate the Buddha. This is still provisionally considering places among humans. If we discuss the heavens, in the Hīnayāna there are also those who attain lesser fruits, such as the Brahmā King attaining the third fruit. If according to the Avataṃsaka, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, and the formless realms all do not stimulate the Buddha; in other sūtras they are not absent, except in the places of difficulty. "Rich and long-lived": the eastern [continent] is named Superior (Pūrvavideha), its bodies being superior to the southern continent, so its wealth and life span are also like that. The western [continent] is named Cattle-Exchange (Aparagodānīya), using cattle as commodities, and thus is said to have many cattle and sheep. The northern [continent] is named Kuru (Uttarakuru), translated here as Superior Place or Superior Birth, because among the four continents its sentient beings, place, and commodities are all supreme. The southern [continent] is named Jambudvīpa after the tree. In the southern continent, [the text] mentions only the beginning and the end; in between there are also sixty, forty, and twenty thousand [years], but it provisionally states eighty thousand as the beginning of the decrease. One hundred years is the extreme of the decrease, so it decreases to this later. The beginning refers to Maitreya; the present extreme of the decrease refers to Śākyamuni. "Having not yet seen the fruit," and so forth, clarifies the conditions for stimulating the Buddha; although it briefly mentions the land, it should also mention the time. Regarding the Licchavis and so on, chapter twenty-six of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: "The Buddha spoke to the Licchavis on non-negligence. The Licchavis said: 'We ourselves know that we are negligent people. Why is this? If we were not negligent, the Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, should have been born in our kingdom; why did he abandon us and appear in Magadha?' At that time a brahmin's son named Ajita (Wu-sheng) spoke to the Licchavis, saying: 'King Bimbisāra has already attained great benefit. The Buddha appearing in his kingdom is like a great lotus flower growing in a great pond: although the flower is in the water, the water cannot defile it. The Buddha is also like this; although born in that kingdom, he is undefiled by worldly dharmas. You are deluded by the five desires and do not know to draw near to him; this is why you are called negligent people, not because the Buddha's appearing there makes you negligent (Wu-sheng is Ajita). You indulge in the five desires; even if he were born in your kingdom, you would not see him.'" Therefore, these times and places are also based on the majority; the three hundred million of Śrāvastī have nothing to do with suffering or pleasure. "Magadha" is translated here as Non-harming, because from the beginning of the kalpa onward there were no penal executions; up until Ajātaśatru, who made cutting off fingers a punishment, but later bit his own finger in pain and ceased this punishment again. Because the Buddha was to be born in that land, auspicious omens were manifested in advance, which is why it was beforehand given the name Non-harming. "If the sun did not rise," and so forth, is text from the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa. The sun exemplifies the Buddha's arising; the pond exemplifies Magadha; the flowers exemplify the faculties of beings. If the Buddha did not appear, neither of the two goods—past or future—would be accomplished. For the unaccomplished, the seed is planted; for the already accomplished, they are ripened and liberated. However, within the application of the metaphor, it provisionally refers to worldly defiled good dharmas; thus it cites kṣatriyas and so on to illustrate supra-mundane good. Therefore, even those lightly bound in the hells, due to the Buddha's arising, come to have the cause of a single thought of revulsion, and only later are able to escape; how much more so humans and devas? Thus the Treatise says: "If you uphold the five precepts, Śākyamuni Buddha is in your house." Of the four castes, two are cited, provisionally following the superior. In the remedying [siddhānta], severing the seed of the peak of existence means severing the evils of the three realms; hence it is called destroying evil.