法華玄論 9.169

9.169

答：《法華論》有此文，不應違也。但今讀論與舊意不同，舊義但如前釋之，今所明者義起有由，正為二乘人謂釋迦王宮始生雙林終滅。如《大經》云「是名二乘邪曲之見」。今為破此病，故云久已成佛非始伽耶，復倍上數非終雙樹。為破始終，故言無始終耳。然如來豈是始終無始終等四句可取耶？

Answer: The Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa contains this passage, so one should not contradict it. However, the present reading of the treatise differs from the old view: the old view merely explained it as above, whereas what is clarified now has a rationale for its arising. It is precisely because people of the two vehicles thought that Śākyamuni was first born in the royal palace and ultimately underwent extinction in the Twin Trees—as the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says, 'This is called the perverted and crooked view of the two vehicles.' Now, in order to dismantle this fault, it says that he accomplished Buddhahood long ago, not first at Gayā, and that it is 'again double the above number', not ending at the Twin Trees. It is in order to dismantle 'beginning and end' that it speaks of 'no beginning and no end'. But how could the Tathāgata be grasped through the four propositions of having a beginning and end, having no beginning and end, and so forth?