法華義疏 4.197

4.197

「我始坐道場」下，第二、以眾生有五濁，故初成道時一乘化不得也。上既大悲內充，今明方便外救。但聖人雖能救，物不能受。就文亦三：第一、明不得說一乘；第二、諸天勸請；第三、違請。初文又三：半行，明思惟處；次半行，明思惟時；後一行半，正明思惟事也。「我始坐道場」者，摩竭提界寂滅道場初成正覺也。「觀樹亦經行」者，有人言：因名以表意，樹者欲樹立眾生於大乘善根也，行者欲表如來必行樹立之事也。有人言：如來在此樹下成道，念於樹恩故觀樹也；行者向為取道故坐，今得道竟是故經行，即欲行善利物報樹恩也。解云此解出經。有人言：此是隨從世法，即世界悉檀也。世人思惟凡有二種：一、觀物思惟，二、經行思惟。今隨從世法亦作此二。《注經》云「樹以靜為體，行以動為相，欲發思惟之兆，決語默之機也」。「於三七日中」者，第二、明思惟時也。《彌沙塞律》云「三昧七日」，此與《十地論》同。彼論問云「本為利物成道，何故七日思惟不說？」答云「顯示自受大法樂故。顯己法樂，為令眾生於如來所增長愛敬心故；復捨如是妙樂，悲愍眾生為說法故，此則初七日不說、第二七日方始說法。」此經明過三七日方說；律中及薩婆多傳過六七四十二日方說；《十二由經》成道竟第二年方度五人，則一年不說。《智度論》云「五十七日不說法」，或可則是五十七日，或是五十箇七日，計近一年，與《十二由經》相應，適緣見聞，不須會也。《薩婆多論》云「何故六七四十二日不說？一者梵天未來請故，又陳如等善根未熟故，又前自安身然後始說故，又令眾生生尊重故」。今明如來久知應說不說，但為示法深妙、眾生鈍根，隨從世法故，示三思而後說耳。七是一數之窮，三思是俗之常法，故有三七之言也。

From "When I first sat at the site of awakening" down is the second part: because sentient beings have the five turbidities, when [the Buddha] first attained the Path, he could not convert them with the ekayāna. Above, great compassion was replete within; now, upāya is explained as an outward rescue. However, although the Sage can rescue them, beings are unable to receive it. Regarding the text, there are also three parts: first, explaining that he could not teach the ekayāna; second, the devas entreating him; third, refusing their entreaty. The first text also has three parts: half a verse explains the place of contemplation; the next half-verse explains the time of contemplation; the following verse and a half directly explains the matter of contemplation. "When I first sat at the site of awakening" means that in the realm of Magadha, at the site of awakening of quiescent extinction, he first realized correct awakening. "Contemplating the tree and also walking": some say: through the name, meaning is expressed; "tree" (shu) means wishing to establish (shuli) the roots of good of the Mahāyāna in sentient beings; "walking" (xing) expresses that the Tathāgata must carry out (xing) the work of establishing them. Some say: the Tathāgata attained the Path under this tree, and out of gratitude for the tree's benevolence, he contemplated the tree; "walking" means that whereas previously he sat in order to attain the Path, now that he had attained the Path, he walked, wishing to perform good to benefit beings and repay the tree's benevolence. In commentary, it is said that this explanation comes from a sūtra. Some say: this is conforming to worldly conventions, which is the worldly siddhānta. Worldly people have two kinds of contemplation: first, contemplating objects while reflecting; second, walking while reflecting. Now, conforming to worldly conventions, he also performed these two. The Zhujing states: "The tree has stillness as its essence, while walking has movement as its mark; it is intended to trigger the signs of contemplation and decide the opportune moment for speech or silence." "For three times seven days" is the second part: explaining the duration of contemplation. The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya states: "in samādhi for seven days"; this is the same as the Daśabhūmika Śāstra. That treatise asks: "Originally having attained the Path to benefit beings, why did he contemplate for seven days without speaking?" It answers: "To manifest his own enjoyment of the great Dharma's bliss. Manifesting his own Dharma bliss was to cause sentient beings to increase their love and respect for the Tathāgata; furthermore, casting aside such wondrous bliss out of compassion for sentient beings, he taught the Dharma for them. Thus he did not speak for the first seven days, and only in the second seven days did he begin to speak the Dharma." This sūtra explains that he spoke only after three times seven days; in the Vinaya and Sarvāstivāda transmissions, he spoke only after six times seven, forty-two days; the Shi'er you jing states that only in the second year after attaining the Path did he deliver the five persons, which means he did not speak for a year. The Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: "He did not teach the Dharma for fifty-seven days." Or perhaps it means fifty-seven days, or fifty periods of seven days, amounting to nearly a year, which accords with the Shi'er you jing. These are adapted to what beings could see and hear, and need not be harmonized. The Sarvāstivāda Śāstra states: "Why did he not speak for six times seven, forty-two days? First, because Brahmā had not yet come to entreat him; also because the roots of good of Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya and the others were not yet mature; also because he first settled his own person and only then began to speak; also to cause sentient beings to give rise to veneration." Now we explain that the Tathāgata had long known whether he should speak or not speak, but in order to show that the Dharma is profound and wondrous while sentient beings have dull faculties, he conformed to worldly conventions and demonstrated thinking thrice before speaking. Seven is the exhaustion of a unit of number; thinking thrice is a common worldly practice; hence there is the expression "three times seven."