法華義疏 2.389

2.389

有二：一者、此事不可思議，小教所無唯大乘中有，欲令大眾聞佛說《法華經》起奇特想也。二者、欲顯《法華》義富文廣，故須長時說之。亦是歎《法華》以發物敬信也。

There are two reasons: First, this matter is inconceivable; it is absent from the lesser teachings and present only in the Mahāyāna; he wished to cause the great assembly, upon hearing the Buddha expound the *Lotus Sūtra*, to give rise to a sense of the extraordinary. Second, he wished to reveal that the meaning of the Lotus is profound and its text extensive, so it required a long duration to be expounded. It was also to praise the Lotus so as to arouse reverence and faith in beings.