法華義疏 12.19

12.19

說法語通，欲以通別互現故也。又上正明弘通《法華》故明說一乘，若有眾生不信一乘則說五乘之法，同上〈囑累品〉中佛令菩薩知大小機也。此品從凡至聖，故先示凡後示聖，〈觀音〉前聖後凡，從勝至劣。又〈妙音〉前一後三，〈觀音〉前三後一。

The phrase "preaching the Dharma" is general; it is because [the text] intends to show the general and the specific mutually. Furthermore, the above directly explained the propagation of the Lotus Sūtra, hence it explained the preaching of the ekayāna; if there are sentient beings who do not believe in the ekayāna, he preaches the teachings of the five vehicles, just as in the Entrustment Chapter above where the Buddha caused the bodhisattvas to know the capacities of the great and the small. This chapter moves from the ordinary to the noble, hence it first displays the ordinary and later displays the noble; the Avalokiteśvara [Chapter] has the noble first and the ordinary later, going from the superior to the inferior. Moreover, the Gadgadasvara [Chapter] has one first and three later, while the Avalokiteśvara [Chapter] has three first and one later.