法華文句記 2.53

2.53

言「近論」者，且捨中間以述伽耶。「聖后」者，聖皇之后，后亦德政故。「法身」等者，亦有古佛且云菩薩，主既降神伴亦在迹。「金姿」者，金色美容也。「大士」者，《大論》稱菩薩為大士，亦曰開士。士謂士夫，凡人之通稱，以「大」、「開」簡別，故曰大等。如世云仁士志士等，亦以仁等簡之。今人中發大心者名大，開是發之異名，引物不同故諸相各異。「空室」者，須菩提，生時室內一切皆空，表解空故。「雨寶」者，樓那。「寄辨通夢」者，舍利弗。「太子」等者，初同後異，欲奪先與故為皇等，處其極尊而為先導，如《因果經》云：「佛將降此閻浮，時有九十九億眾」，棄斯大眾及忘四天下，故云「捨國」，棄金輪位故曰「捐王」，示習世定故云「學道」，諸大士等亦示受邪化故云「請業」，過其所習故曰「兼通」，却攝彼眾故曰「宗匠」。如身子十六聲振五天，與目連共師沙然梵志，未經旬月沙然徒眾盡以付之。大法欲啟先為開闢，如陳如等；知所化既生，能化猶與分庭抗禮，如迦葉等。「抗」者，《易》云：「知進而不知退，知得而不知亡」。亦「對」也，未肯為臣故分庭不退。「崇我道真」者，具如迦葉。緣中機熟可化，故云「易染」等。諸大士各掌一職，智慧身子，神通目連，辯才迦旃延，三昧富樓那。「更度未度」者，雖師徒受化化道未休，度兼二義，若全未受化則方等中更令入小，若諸菩薩但令盡無明。言「重熟已熟」者，大小兩熟位既未終，理須進入。釋慕大中云「不知」者，秖此不知之言即大機冥發，下云「機情二索」，即此意也。「含挾」等者，謂般若中通教二乘，故彼部中通教真中具大小故，名之為含；大帶於小故名為挾，從始至終通大小故。「出內」等者，明領業也，自他之法皆令知故。出內具如下疏中說。「出內」兩字，江南多分去聲呼之，非無所以。若人之出入，「出」字可從入聲，人之所運可從去聲；「內」字南北二音義同，但恐濫內外故從南音。「共」謂通教。

"Speaking proximately" means setting aside the intermediate [kalpas] for the moment to describe Gayā. "Holy Queen" refers to the queen of the holy emperor; "queen" also signifies virtuous government. "Dharmakāya..." etc. refers to ancient buddhas who are also called bodhisattvas; since the host has descended his spirit, the companions are also in their traces. "Golden appearance" means a golden, handsome form. "Mahāsattva"—the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra* refers to a bodhisattva as a great being (mahāsattva), and also as a noble being (*kāi-shì*). "Sattva" (*shì*) means gentleman (*shì-fū*), a general term for ordinary people; differentiated by "great" (*dà*) and "noble" (*kāi*), they are thus called mahāsattva and so on. Just as in the mundane world people speak of benevolent persons or resolute persons, also differentiated by "benevolent" and so forth. Here, those among humans who generate the great aspiration are called "great"; "noble" (*kāi*) is another name for generating (*fā*); because their leading of beings differs, their various marks are each distinct. "Empty room" refers to Subhūti: at his birth, everything in the room became empty, signifying his realization of emptiness. "Raining jewels" refers to Pūrṇa. "Conveying eloquence through dreams" refers to Śāriputra. "Crown Prince" etc.: identical at first and different later; wishing to take, one must first give, hence acting as an emperor and so forth, abiding in supreme eminence to serve as a guide. As the *Sūtra of Causes and Effects* states: "When the Buddha was about to descend into this Jambudvīpa, there were ninety-nine kotis of beings"; abandoning this great assembly and forgetting the four continents is called "abandoning the kingdom"; relinquishing the rank of a gold-wheel-turning king is called "giving up kingship"; manifesting the practice of worldly samādhi is called "learning the way"; the mahāsattvas also manifested receiving heterodox conversions, hence it says "seeking instruction"; surpassing what they practiced, it says "having comprehensive mastery"; gathering back their followers, it says "master of the lineage." For example, Śāriputra at age sixteen made his fame resound throughout the Five Indies, and together with Maudgalyāyana took Sañjaya the mendicant as teacher; within a month, Sañjaya's disciples were all entrusted to him. When the great Dharma is about to open, first clearing the way is exemplified by Kauṇḍinya and others; knowing that those to be converted were still unripe, the converter still met them on equal terms, as with Kāśyapa and others. "Resisting" (*kàng*): the *Yijing* says, "Knowing how to advance but not how to retreat, knowing how to gain but not how to lose." It also means "facing"; not yet willing to be a minister, thus meeting on equal terms without retreating. "Venerating the truth of my path": fully exemplified by Kāśyapa. When capacities among conditions are ripe and ready for conversion, it is called "easily dyed" and so on. The mahāsattvas each took charge of an office: Śāriputra in wisdom, Maudgalyāyana in supernatural powers, Kātyāyana in eloquence, Pūrṇa in samādhi. "Further delivering the undelivered": although master and disciples have received conversion, the path of conversion does not cease; "delivering" combines two meanings: if completely unconverted, then in the Vaipulya they are further caused to enter the Hīnayāna; if bodhisattvas, they are merely caused to exhaust ignorance. "Re-ripening the already ripened": since the ranks of ripening for both Great and Small are not yet finished, in principle they must advance. In explaining longing for the Great, stating "not knowing": this very expression of "not knowing" is the covert emergence of the capacity for the Great; what is said below, "the capacity and mental state both seeking," carries this meaning. "Containing and clasping" etc.: this refers to the two vehicles of the Shared Teaching within Prajñā; thus, because the Shared Teaching within that section possesses both Great and Small within the true, it is called "containing"; because the Great carries the Small, it is called "clasping"; from beginning to end it permeates Great and Small. "Disbursing and taking in" etc. clarifies managing the estate; it causes one to know the teachings of both self and others. Disbursing and taking in is fully explained below in the commentary. The two characters *chū-nà* ("disbursing and taking in") in Jiangnan are mostly pronounced in the departing tone, which is not without reason. If of a person's going out and coming in, the character *chū* can take the entering tone; of what a person handles, it can take the departing tone; *nà* has the same meaning in northern and southern pronunciations, but fearing confusion between inside and outside, one follows the southern pronunciation. "Shared" refers to the Shared Teaching.