法華玄論 7.136

7.136

Answer: If there is benefit, it is bestowed upon them; this meaning is also valid. The treatise explains five kinds of prophecies: First, Śāriputra and Kāśyapa had different names and were also known to the assembly, so they were given individual prophecies. Second, the five hundred including Pūrṇa and the one thousand two hundred had the same name, so they were given prophecies simultaneously. Third, those in training and those beyond training all shared the same name and were not known to the assembly, so they were given prophecies at one time. Fourth, giving a prophecy to Devadatta demonstrated that the Tathāgata has no mind of enmity or ill will. Fifth, giving prophecies to the bhikṣuṇīs and the dragon girl showed that whether women are lay or monastic, cultivating bodhisattva practice, all realize the fruit of buddhahood. The treatise simply explains that throughout the Lotus Sūtra, bestowing prophecies upon five kinds of people differs. Next, discussing prophecies horizontally, according to a single person, they possess two kinds of prophecies. For example, because the śrāvakas of the three capacities generated the bodhicitta, it is a prophecy upon generating the aspiration; receiving it in person from the Buddha makes it a prophecy face-to-face. Śrāvakas of overweening pride, precisely because they receive a prophecy without having generated the bodhicitta, are a prophecy before generating the aspiration; hearing the sūtra in person from Sadāparibhūta is a prophecy face-to-face. Such analogies can be understood accordingly.