[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [法華文句記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719) › 4.168 # 法華文句記 4.168 法華文句記 4.168 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [4.168](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719.4.168) 將教及理明不用意，以破地師，先述、次破。初述中言「第五恒」等者，彼依《大經》第六〈四依品〉云：「善男子！若有眾生於一恒河沙諸如來所發菩提心，然後乃能於惡世中不謗是經、愛樂是經，不能為人分別演說。二恒正解信樂受持，亦不能廣說。三恒受持書寫，雖為他說不解深義。四恒廣說，十六分中解一分義。五恒八分，六恒十二分，七恒十四分，八恒十六分，具足解釋盡其義趣，所謂如來常恒不變（一一句如初句）。」經文一恒之前，又有一熙連河未能信受，都成九段，以熙連河近俱尸城小於恒河。言「發心」者，有云：值一佛發一願下一砂，縱值多佛不發願者亦不下砂，縱有發心不見佛者亦不下砂，見一佛縱發多願亦秖下一砂，一發心見多佛亦秖下一砂，如是積數至八恒等，以明入位初易後難故也。初之一增即得八分，此後但能二二增者，如至太尉易、丞相則難。言十六分者，如世間秤十六兩為斤，故《大論》中佛語鍱腹外道：汝若出家，比舍利弗智，十六分中不及其一。西方校量多用此意。古人五恒判在賢位，以六七八用對初地已上至十地，以對十二、十四、十六分，當知古意云多發心在方便教，實教其心無多發故，來對今教不可多發而分開等，復約賢聖立位不同。 > Using the teaching and principle to clarify the intention not to adopt \[their view\], in order to refute the Dilun masters: first recount, next refute. In recounting first, saying “the fifth Gaṅgā” and so forth: they rely on the sixth fascicle of the Great Scripture, the “Chapter on the Four Reliances,” which says: “Good sons! If there are sentient beings who, in the presence of as many Tathāgatas as the sands of one Gaṅgā River, resolve their minds on bodhi, only then can they, in an evil age, not slander this scripture and cherish it, but they cannot analyze and expound it for others. With two Gaṅgās, they have correct understanding, believe, delight in, accept, and uphold it, but they also cannot broadly expound it. With three Gaṅgās, they accept, uphold, and copy it; although they speak it for others, they do not understand its profound meaning. With four Gaṅgās, they broadly expound it, understanding one part out of sixteen parts of its meaning. With five Gaṅgās, eight parts; with six Gaṅgās, twelve parts; with seven Gaṅgās, fourteen parts; with eight Gaṅgās, sixteen parts, fully explaining and exhausting its essential meaning, namely that the Tathāgata is constant, eternal, and unchanging (each phrase being like the first phrase).” In the text of the scripture, before the one Gaṅgā, there is also one Hiraṇyavatī River where one is not yet able to believe and accept, making nine stages in all, because the Hiraṇyavatī River is near the city of Kuśinagara and is smaller than the Gaṅgā River. Regarding “resolving the mind”: some say that encountering one buddha and generating one vow puts down one grain of sand; even if one encounters many buddhas but does not generate a vow, one does not put down a grain of sand; even if one resolves the mind but does not see a buddha, one also does not put down a grain of sand; seeing one buddha, even if one generates many vows, one still only puts down one grain of sand; once resolving the mind and seeing many buddhas, one also only puts down one grain of sand. Accumulating numbers in this manner up to eight Gaṅgās and so forth serves to clarify that entering the stages is easy at first and difficult later. The very first increment already yields eight parts; after this, one can only increase by twos, just as reaching the rank of Grand Defender is easy, but becoming Chancellor is difficult. Regarding the sixteen parts: it is like worldly scales where sixteen liang make one jin; therefore, in the Great Treatise, the Buddha said to the iron-bellied non-Buddhist: ‘If you go forth into homelessness, compared to the wisdom of Śāriputra, it would not equal one part in sixteen.’ In the Western regions, calibrations frequently employ this metaphor. Ancient scholars assigned five Gaṅgās to the stages of worthies, and used six, seven, and eight to correspond to the first bhūmi and above up to the tenth bhūmi, to correspond to twelve, fourteen, and sixteen parts. One should know that the ancient view held that multiple resolutions of the mind belong to the provisional teachings; in the real teaching, that mind has no multiple resolutions. Applying this to the present teaching, one cannot use multiple resolutions to differentiate ‘open’ and the rest, and furthermore distinguish different stages by distinguishing worthies and nobles. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 4.167](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719.4.167) - [Next: 4.169](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719.4.169) - [Up: 4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719.4) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719~en-mt.4.168) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719.4.168](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1719.4.168) · Pramāṇa