法華義疏 12.65

12.65

「若有持是」下，第二、別明救難以釋觀音之名。凡有七難：一、救火難；二、救水難；三、救風難；四、刑戮難；五、羅剎難；六、幽繫難；七、怨賊難。此並是諸難中至急，故略敘之。餘有疾病、虎狼、雷電、迷失道路，《請觀世音經》並具說之。七難為二：初三是無情難，後四是有情難，此二略攝諸難。無情難不可請救故難免，所以前說有情可得請救，是故後明。又無情難是三大災，廣而且長，長即能至三禪，廣則大千並壞，是故前說有情難不爾。鬼難云設滿大千而不至於上界，有情難短又狹故在後說。就此二難各開為三。無情三者，謂火、水、風。有情三者，謂命、身、財。無情三有二種次第：一、從急至緩；二、依三災次第從小以至大也。有情難從重以至輕，故前命次身後財；二者、從難至易，以命難難免乃至財難易脫也。就無情難又為二：第一、明救三難；第二、結觀音名。然一一難中例應有四：一、遇難；二、稱名；三、觀機；四、免難。初二句釋世音以辨境，後二句釋觀義以明智。又初二明感，後二辨應，但前後互現不同。今文為四：初、持名；二、遇難；三、免難；四、結神力也。

From "If there is one who upholds this" downward is the second, specifically clarifying the rescue from perils to explain Avalokiteśvara's name. There are altogether seven perils: first, rescue from the peril of fire; second, rescue from the peril of water; third, rescue from the peril of wind; fourth, the peril of execution; fifth, the peril of rākṣasas; sixth, the peril of imprisonment; seventh, the peril of hostile bandits. These are all the most urgent among the various perils, and are therefore briefly narrated. As for the rest—disease, tigers and wolves, thunder and lightning, losing one's way—the Sūtra of Invoking Avalokiteśvara fully explains them all.
The seven perils are divided into two: the first three are insentient perils, and the latter four are sentient perils; these two briefly subsume all perils. Insentient perils cannot be pleaded with for rescue, and so are hard to avoid; hence they are explained first. Sentient [beings] can be pleaded with for rescue; therefore they are clarified later. Furthermore, insentient perils are the three great catastrophes, which are vast and long: "long" means they can reach the third dhyāna; "vast" means that the trichiliocosm is destroyed together; therefore they are explained first. Sentient perils are not like this. As for the peril of demons, it says that even if they fill the trichiliocosm, they do not reach the upper realms; sentient perils are short and narrow, so they are explained after. With respect to these two [kinds of] perils, each is divided into three. The three insentient perils are fire, water, and wind. The three sentient perils are life, body, and wealth. The three insentient perils have two kinds of order: first, from the urgent to the gradual; second, according with the order of the three catastrophes, from the lesser to the greater. Sentient perils go from the heavy to the light, hence life comes first, body next, and wealth last; second, from the difficult to the easy, because the peril to life is difficult to avoid, while the peril to wealth is easy to escape from.
Regarding the insentient perils, it is again divided into two: first, clarifying the rescue from the three perils; second, concluding with Avalokiteśvara's name. However, within each peril there should standardly be four [parts]: first, encountering the peril; second, reciting the name; third, discerning the capacity; fourth, escaping the peril. The first two clauses explain "the sounds of the world" to distinguish the object; the latter two clauses explain the meaning of "observing" to clarify the wisdom. Moreover, the first two clarify the evoke, and the latter two distinguish the response; yet their order appears interchangeably. The present text has four parts: first, upholding the name; second, encountering the peril; third, escaping the peril; fourth, concluding with supernatural power.