法華義疏 8.312

8.312

「譬如五百由旬」下，第、二譬說。凡有九句，少第九聞一乘得益，開為三章：第一、初說大乘譬；第二、中途說小譬；第三、後還說大譬。所以開此三者，有三種義：一者、譬上二世始終有於三事，十六沙彌初為說大。二者、中間退失大乘為說小法，謂釋迦初趣鹿苑竟靈山之前也。三者、廢小說大，謂法華會也。二世始終唯此三事，故立三章也。二者、三世諸佛有三種法輪：一者、根本法輪，謂一乘教也。二、支末法輪，於一說三。三、收末歸本，謂攝三歸一。為顯三輪故立三譬。三者、上〈譬喻品〉破本乘聲聞初小後大故開六譬，今為退大證小聲聞，故初明說大、次明於小、後攝小歸大。初文三句：一、所度惡道譬；二、欲度之人譬；三、導師將導譬也。「五百由旬」者，所度惡道也。有人言：五百者喻五道生死也。今謂不然，豈免三塗三百名為二乘？又二乘已免五道，應已度五百。有人言：有四種生死：一、流來生死；二、變易生死；三、中間生死；四、分段生死。度三百，免分段生死；度四百，免七地二國中間生死；度五百，免八地以上變易生死。有人言：三界為三百，七住二乘為一百，八住以上復為一百。今謂義並不然，《玄》中具釋。今正取三界為三百，二乘為二百，所以作此釋者有義有文。言有義者，今正化二乘人令趣佛道，昔已度三界，未度二乘地，猶在惡道，豈住惡道之內為涅槃也。宜應捨之，則必到佛道。

From "Suppose there were a five hundred yojana [road]" onward is the second [section], the teaching through parable. In all there are nine clauses, omitting the ninth on obtaining benefit from hearing the ekayāna; it opens into three chapters: first, the parable of initially teaching the Mahāyāna; second, the parable of teaching the Hīnayāna midway along the path; third, the parable of subsequently returning to teach the Mahāyāna. The reason for opening into these three has three meanings: First, it exemplifies the three events from beginning to end across the two lifetimes [of past and present]: the sixteen śrāmaṇeras first teaching the Mahāyāna for them; second, midway, when they retrogressed from and lost the Mahāyāna, teaching the Hīnayāna Dharma for them—referring to the period from Śākyamuni's initial departure for the Deer Park up to the time before Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa; third, discarding the Hīnayāna and teaching the Mahāyāna, which refers to the Lotus assembly. Across the two lifetimes from beginning to end there are only these three events; therefore three chapters are established. Second, the Buddhas of the three periods of time have three kinds of Dharma-wheels: first, the fundamental Dharma-wheel, which refers to the ekayāna teaching; second, the branch-and-tip Dharma-wheel, teaching three based on the one; third, gathering the tips and returning to the root, which refers to integrating the three into the one. In order to reveal the three wheels, three parables are established. Third, above in the "Parable Chapter", to break the śrāvakas of their original vehicle going from Hīnayāna first to Mahāyāna later, six parables were opened; here, for the sake of śrāvakas who retrogressed from the Mahāyāna and realized the Hīnayāna, it first explains teaching the Mahāyāna, next explains the Hīnayāna, and afterwards gathers the Hīnayāna back into the Mahāyāna. In the first text there are three clauses: 1. the parable of the perilous path to be crossed; 2. the parable of the people desiring to cross; 3. the parable of the guide leading them. "Five hundred yojanas" is the perilous path to be crossed. Some say: 'Five hundred' exemplifies the saṃsāra of the five destinies. We now say this is not so: how could avoiding the three paths [of bad rebirth], which would be three hundred, be termed the two vehicles? Moreover, since the two vehicles have already escaped the five destinies, they should have already crossed five hundred. Some say: There are four kinds of saṃsāra: 1. flowing-forth saṃsāra; 2. inconceivable transformation saṃsāra; 3. intermediate saṃsāra; 4. saṃsāra of discrete lifetimes. Crossing three hundred escapes the saṃsāra of discrete lifetimes; crossing four hundred escapes the intermediate saṃsāra of the two lands on the seventh stage; crossing five hundred escapes the transformation saṃsāra from the eighth stage onward. Some say: The three realms make three hundred, the two vehicles at the seventh abodement make one hundred, and from the eighth abodement onward makes another hundred. We now say none of these meanings is correct; they are fully explained in the Xuan[lun]. We now properly take the three realms as three hundred, and the two vehicles as two hundred. The reason for making this explanation is that it has both doctrinal sense and textual support. To say it has doctrinal sense: here it properly transforms the people of the two vehicles to make them proceed toward the Buddha path; in the past they had already crossed the three realms, but had not crossed the ground of the two vehicles, still remaining on the perilous path; how could abiding within the perilous path be nirvāṇa? They ought properly to abandon it, and then they will surely reach the Buddha path.