法華文句記 8.145

8.145

《經》「見二」至「加趺坐」者，《法華論》云：「為顯三身為成大事」。「八萬二萬」者，八萬在〈法師品〉初，二萬在〈持品〉之首，偈中「第二八行半頌分身佛集」者，上文有七，今頌甚略仍不次第。初三行頌第二應集，義兼大樂說欲見及以請集；次一行頌土淨；次四行半頌諸佛同來。明難持中《經》云「八萬四千皆不及」者，八萬之名不必全大，具如《止觀》第一記引《俱舍》、《報恩》等經，乃至十二部亦通大小，具如《玄》文說法妙中「但令他得小六神通，亦未為難若立有頂」，此約不得通者為況，故知圓經暫讀暫說，誠為不易。「若有能持則持佛身」者，體宗用三，衣座室三，即三身故。

Regarding the passage from "seeing the two [buddhas]" to "sitting cross-legged" in the sūtra, the Treatise on the Lotus Sūtra says: "It is in order to reveal the three bodies and to accomplish the great matter." As for "eighty thousand and twenty thousand," the eighty thousand is at the beginning of the "Dharma Teacher" chapter, and the twenty thousand is at the head of the "Upholding" chapter. Regarding the "second eight and a half verses versifying the gathering of the emanation buddhas" in the verse section: the preceding prose text had seven [sections], but now the verse is extremely concise and still not in sequence. The first three verses versify the second [section, namely,] that they ought to gather, which implicitly combines Mahāpratibhāna's desire to see and his request to gather them; the next one verse versifies the purification of lands; the next four and a half verses versify the simultaneous coming of the buddhas. In explaining the difficulty of upholding, where the sūtra says "eighty-four thousand are all not equal to it," the designation "eighty-four thousand" need not be entirely Mahāyāna, just as fully set forth in the First Record of the Cessation and Contemplation citing such sūtras as the Kośa and the Sūtra on Repaying Kindness; moreover, the twelve divisions of scripture also pertain commonly to both the Great and Small [Vehicles], fully set forth under "the wonder of preaching the Dharma" in the text of the Profound Meaning. As for "merely causing others to attain the small six supernormal powers is still not difficult, nor is standing upon the Peak of Existence," this makes a comparison in terms of those who do not attain supernormal powers; hence we know that briefly reading or briefly expounding the perfect sūtra is truly not easy. As for "if someone is able to uphold it, then they uphold the Buddha's body": essence, central theme, and function are three, and robe, seat, and room are three, because they are the three bodies.