法華玄論 3.37

3.37

Question: Although you have extensively criticized the three teachings and rejected the five periods, how do you reconcile and synthesize the five passages cited from the earlier treatises? The Biography of Nāgārjuna says: "The sun of wisdom had already set; this man caused it to shine again. The world had long slept in darkness; this man awakened it to awareness. Foreign lands erected temples for him and revered him like a buddha." The Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra says: "There is a monk of great virtue named Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva, who abides in the first stage of Joy and explains the Mahāyāna for people." The Sūtra of Queen Māyā says: "Within seven hundred years there shall be a monk named Nāgārjuna, who will destroy the banner of wrong views and light the torch of the true Dharma." Deducing from the scriptures and biographies, the principle is not an erroneous statement. If these words can be comprehended, it is like the bright sun illuminating one's breast and amṛta flowing through one's four limbs; if they are not yet understood, one's mind has nothing to rely upon, dark as a night journey. We ask you to resolve them so that not the slightest obstruction remains.