法華義疏 2.17

2.17

「名無量義」者，大乘是其通名，無量義是其別稱。所以標大乘者，密欲顯唯有於大乘無有小乘為法華序也。「無量義」者，解釋不同，印法師云：「此經辨無量萬善也。以現在行無量萬善，故來世成佛。」問：若說萬善成佛，與《法華》何異？彼答云：此中但覆相明萬善成佛，不言萬善之外無別三乘義，此但是顯實，未開權也。故與《法華》為異，稱之為序也。基法師解云：「無量義者所謂空也。若是有法即有分限名為有量，空義深廣稱為無量。」問：若爾，與第二時大品教何異？彼答云：前教明空為三乘行本，不得為法華序；此中明空為大乘行本，故得為法華序，是故為異也。《名僧傳》云「基公聽竺道生講，善於《法華》雖有二判，無以取決」。次注《無量義經》云「其無量義經雖《法華》首載，而中夏未覩其說，每臨講肆，未甞不廢談而欽見於斯文，忽有武當山比丘慧表，生自羗曹，偽帝姚略從子，國破之日為晉軍河澹之所得，數歲聰黠，澹之字曰螟蛉，養為假子。俄放出家，便懃苦求道，南北遊尋不擇夷嶮，以齊建元三年復訪奇𭸬祕，遠至嶺南於廣州朝亭寺遇中天竺沙門曇摩伽陀耶舍，手能隸書、口解齊音，言欲傳此經未知其所授。慧表便慇懃致請，心形相俱到，淹歷旬月僅得一本，仍還嵩北高入武當山，以今永明三年九月十八日頂載出山，見授弘通。奉覿真文，欣敬兼誠詠歌不足，手舞莫宣。遂便注解云：正以空為無量義。」基覽經本，便謂解與經符。而印師執固不移，云明空無量義經者，別是餘時說耳，非法華前辨無量義經也。法華前無量義經正明萬善成佛，不來此土。乃至光宅法師猶存印師之解也。

'Named Innumerable Meanings': 'Mahāyāna' is its common name, and 'Innumerable Meanings' is its distinctive designation. The reason for specifying 'Mahāyāna' is secretly to reveal that there is only the Mahāyāna and no Hīnayāna, serving as a preface to the Lotus Sūtra. Regarding 'Innumerable Meanings,' explanations differ. Dharma Master Yin said: 'This sūtra explains the innumerable myriad good deeds. Because one practices the innumerable myriad good deeds in the present life, one becomes a Buddha in a future life.' Question: If it says that the myriad good deeds lead to Buddhahood, how does it differ from the Lotus Sūtra? He replied: 'Here it only explains coveredly that the myriad good deeds lead to Buddhahood; it does not say that outside the myriad good deeds there is no separate meaning of the three vehicles. This only reveals the real without yet opening the expedient (upāya). Therefore it differs from the Lotus Sūtra and is designated its preface.' Dharma Master Ji explained: 'What is called "innumerable meanings" is emptiness. If it were a conditioned phenomenon with existence, it would have boundaries and limits, being termed "finite" (measurable); the meaning of emptiness is profound and broad, hence termed "innumerable" (immeasurable).' Question: If so, how does it differ from the second-period teaching of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra? He replied: 'The former teaching explains emptiness as the basis of the practices of the three vehicles and cannot serve as the preface to the Lotus Sūtra; here, emptiness is explained as the basis of the Mahāyāna practices, and therefore it can serve as the preface to the Lotus Sūtra. Hence they are different.' The Mingseng zhuan states: 'Master Ji listened to Chu Daosheng lecture and was skilled in the Lotus Sūtra, yet although there were two interpretations, he had no means of deciding between them.' Next, his commentary on the Innumerable Meanings Sūtra states: 'Although the Innumerable Meanings Sūtra is recorded at the head of the Lotus Sūtra, its exposition had not yet been seen in China. Whenever arriving at the lecture hall, I never failed to set aside my talk and yearn to see this text. Suddenly, there was the monk Huibiao of Mount Wudang, born of the Qiang tribe, a nephew of the illegitimate emperor Yao Lue. On the day their state fell, he was captured by the Jin army's He Danzhi. A few years old and intelligent, Danzhi called him "mingling" (adopted son) and raised him as a foster child. Shortly thereafter he was released to leave the household, whereupon he diligently and austerely sought the Way, traveling north and south without avoiding rugged or dangerous places. In the third year of the Jianyuan era of the Qi dynasty, he again sought out rare and secret scriptures, traveling far to Lingnan. At Chaoting Monastery in Guangzhou, he encountered the monk Dharmagatayaśas from Central India, whose hand could write clerical script and whose mouth understood the speech of Qi. [Dharmagatayaśas] said he wished to transmit this sūtra, but did not know to whom to bestow it. Huibiao then earnestly made his request, mind and body completely dedicated. After a whole month had passed, he barely obtained one copy. He then returned north of Mount Song and went high into Mount Wudang. On the eighteenth day of the ninth month in the third year of the present Yongming era, he carried it on his head and came out of the mountain to bestow it upon me for propagation. Beholding the true text, my joy and reverence were profound; singing and chanting were insufficient, and dancing with hands and feet could not express it. Thereupon I composed a commentary stating: "It takes emptiness precisely as the innumerable meanings."' When Ji examined the text of the sūtra, he deemed that his interpretation agreed with the sūtra. Yet Master Yin held fast and did not waver, saying that the Innumerable Meanings Sūtra which explains emptiness was expounded at another time and was not the Innumerable Meanings Sūtra prior to the Lotus Sūtra. The Innumerable Meanings Sūtra prior to the Lotus Sūtra precisely explains that the myriad good deeds lead to Buddhahood, and has not arrived in this land. This reached down to Dharma Master Guangzhai, who still maintained Master Yin's interpretation.