法華文句記 6.2

6.2

Next is the verse text. Above it was said that the verse text sets forth receiving and understanding separately; in the preceding prose passage, the body was taken as receiving and the mind as understanding, appearing entirely to set them forth separately. But the reason it was called "combined" is that within receiving, understanding was combined, and within understanding, receiving was combined; hence it was merely called "combined." Now, in speaking of "separately," the three karmas each have receiving and understanding; although they appear to be explained in combination, within each individual karma, receiving and understanding are naturally differentiated, hence they are called "separate." They must be briefly divided into sections, after which one may follow the text; having divided them into three, these are: marking, explaining, and concluding. First, in the general marking: "I heard" marks speech, and "rejoiced" marks mind. The phrase "accompanied by the Buddha" means accompanied by coming from the Buddha, which also marks the body. Since this is a general marking, it begins with "I heard." From "this dharma sound" downward is receiving; "the mind harbored great joy" is understanding. Next, explaining the three karmas: in the first verse and a half praising the receiving and understanding of the body, the first verse is bodily receiving, and the next half-verse is bodily understanding. Next, from "Where I stayed" downward, eleven verses clarify verbal receiving and understanding, within which there are also two parts: the first nine verses clarify bodily distance, and the next two verses clarify entering the dharma-nature. The first part also has two: the first eight verses clarify verbal receiving, and the next verse clarifies verbal understanding, in order to receive and understand the past fault of speech. In entering the dharma-nature there are two: the first verse and a half clarifies verbal receiving, and the next half-verse clarifies verbal understanding, in order to receive and understand the past attainment of speech. Next, from "And now" downward, in the nine and a half verses on mental receiving and understanding, the first eight verses are mental receiving, and the next verse and a half is mental understanding. In the final two and a half verses of the general conclusion, the first verse and a half concludes receiving, and the next verse concludes understanding. Receiving refers externally to receiving what the Buddha said, and understanding is internally accepting the Buddha's intention. The reason why they were combined in the prose and separated in the verses is that together they constitute one meaning. Furthermore, summing up these nine and a half verses of text on mental receiving and understanding, they versify the mind above attaining wondrous understanding; provisionally following the preceding text, they are likewise designated as "understanding." However, one must make further nuanced subdivisions within them, which can also be made into eight: first, two verses receive that the past was not real; second, one verse directly versifies the wondrous understanding heard in the initial cycle, that is, it versifies revealing the real within skillful means; third, one verse looks back to versify the arising of doubt and regret at the time of the brief explanation at the beginning of the cycle of preaching the Dharma above; fourth, one verse versifies the section on the buddhas above—"variously" versifies opening the provisional above, and "parables" versifies the udumbara blossom above; fifth, from "The Buddha said" downward, one verse versifies the section on past buddhas; sixth, from "Present" downward, one verse versifies the section on present and future buddhas; seventh, from "As now" downward, one verse versifies the section on Śākyamuni above; eighth, from "World-Honoured One" downward, one verse and a half repents past faults and reproaches oneself, verifying that the fault of the initial doubt lay with myself. In the preceding bodily receiving, the sūtra says: "The golden thirty-two [marks] down to the eighteen unshared dharmas," etc., which are all as in the seventh fascicle of *Great Calming and Contemplation*. Here the text belongs to the perfect [teaching], which can be seen by comparison with that explanation. Furthermore, regarding the eighty minor marks, based on the text of the *Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra*, the Buddha's marks are measureless; as for there being only eighty in this physical form, because mundane sentient beings served eighty gods, the Buddha was complete with them to give rise to respect. The sūtra's textual intention here merely narrates the past loss in general. However, each of the eighty marks is endowed with the four siddhāntas to benefit others, and is not necessarily entirely for the eighty gods; hence every single mark is nothing other than an ocean of marks. Now, hearing the opening of the provisional, he directly receives the past loss; the inconceivable marks are fully described in the chapter on Devadatta below.