法華義疏 5.273

5.273

凡有三義：一者、或開聲聞緣覺為二乘，或合為一小乘，以開合不定所以言或。例如上「一百二百乃至五百」，修羅或開或合故有「乃至」之言。二者、就昔三乘根性不定，如《大品》六十菩薩退為羅漢，迦葉本是緣覺根性，值佛故成聲聞，聲聞之人若不值佛即成緣覺，以不定故所以言或。三者、昔雖有三乘根性終並成菩薩，故復云「或」也。

There are generally three meanings. First, the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are sometimes opened into two vehicles, and sometimes combined into a single Hīnayāna; because opening and combining are indefinite, it says 'or.' For instance, just as it stated above, 'one hundred, two hundred, or even up to five hundred,' because asuras are either opened or combined, there is the expression 'or even up to.' Second, with regard to the past, the capacities and dispositions of the three vehicles were indefinite; as in the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, sixty bodhisattvas regressed to become arhats, and Kāśyapa originally had the capacity and disposition of a pratyekabuddha, but encountering the Buddha, he became a śrāvaka. If a person of the śrāvaka [disposition] did not encounter a Buddha, he would become a pratyekabuddha. Because they were indefinite, it says 'or.' Third, although in the past they had the capacities and dispositions of the three vehicles, ultimately they all become bodhisattvas; therefore it also says 'or.'