法華義疏 7.71

7.71

「逃逝」者，迷教惑理是隱密之事，而眾生不知不覺，故名為逃；背理向惑所以稱逝。「久住他國」者，以大乘理為自國，背理起惑惑即是他國也。違理積時為久，執惑不捨為住也。「或十二十至五十歲」者，釋上久住之義也。十謂天趣、二十謂人趣、五十即餘三趣。初失觀起惑猶輕故生天，惑勢漸重故生人，惑勢轉重遂至三途。而言或者，不定之辭，不必備經或可遍歷。又言或者，如下五十餘年，餘年既擬修羅，今或還例之也。「年既長大」者，以去大化久，故稱長大。「加復窮困」者，背化轉久，新善不生為窮，舊善稍盡稱困，窮子之名顯在斯句。

'Running away': being confused about the teaching and deluded about the principle is a hidden matter, yet sentient beings do not know and are not aware of it; hence it is called 'running'; turning away from the principle toward delusion is why it is called 'away'. 'Dwelling in another country for a long time': taking the Mahāyāna principle as one's own country, turning away from the principle and giving rise to delusion—delusion is the other country. Opposing the principle for an extended period is 'a long time'; clinging to delusion without abandoning it is 'dwelling'. 'Ten, twenty, or up to fifty years' explains the meaning of 'dwelling for a long time' above. Ten refers to the realm of gods; twenty refers to the realm of humans; fifty refers to the remaining three realms. At first, losing contemplation and giving rise to delusion was still light, so one was born in heaven; the force of delusion gradually grew heavier, so one was born as a human; the force of delusion grew even heavier, so one finally reached the three miserable destinies. Saying 'or' is an expression of uncertainty; one does not necessarily experience all of them, or one may traverse them all. Furthermore, saying 'or' is like the 'more than fifty years' below: since the remaining years are compared to asuras, here it may also follow that analogy. 'As he grew older' means that because he had been away from the great conversion for a long time, he is said to have 'grown older'. 'And furthermore fell into dire poverty': turning away from the conversion for an increasingly long time, new wholesome [roots] did not arise, which is 'poverty'; old wholesome [roots] were gradually exhausted, which is 'dire'; the designation 'poor son' is manifested in this sentence.