法華義疏 9.184

9.184

「爾時」者，明塔現時也。有人言：寶塔來意為欲證經，非今始涌出，應在廣說之前。何以知然？前放光動地召集有緣，若當一人不集，眾生受道緣則不具，是以得知應在略說之後、廣說之前、三請中央，乃至普賢、妙音亦並前來，以略說一周如來則止，若列其事則隔絕經文、義勢不次，是故待詶請廣說，乃至流通竟方得列之。今謂此事難知，若在前列則有二過：一者、夫論證說要待說經竟，是故《華嚴》及《普賢觀》等經皆在後證說；若在前者不成證義。二者、寶塔涌現為開身權身實，前但辨乘權乘實故不應涌現，故知在後出也。設令前出亦未得發聲印證，以未說《法華》平等大慧，何由得唱如是之言耶？又依《普賢觀》亦最後出，為證行者罪滅故來，則知證說不在初也。今言「爾時」者，一、開法身時，二、證說時也。

"At that time" explains the time when the stūpa manifested. Some say: The purpose of the jeweled stūpa's coming was to verify the sūtra, and it did not only now first emerge from the earth, but should have been before the extensive preaching. How is this known? Previously, emitting light and shaking the earth summoned and gathered those with whom there was affinity; if even a single person were not gathered, the conditions for sentient beings to receive the Path would be incomplete. Therefore we know it should have been after the brief preaching, before the extensive preaching, and in the middle of the three requests, and even Samantabhadra and Gadgadasvara also both came earlier; because after the one cycle of brief preaching the Tathāgata ceased, if those matters were listed then the sūtra text would be interrupted and the momentum of the meaning would lack sequence, and therefore one had to wait until responding to the requests with the extensive preaching, down to the completion of the dissemination, before they could be listed. We now say this matter is difficult to know, and if it were listed earlier there would be two faults: First, verification of what was spoken must wait until the preaching of the sūtra is completed; therefore, in sūtras such as the Avataṃsaka and the Samantabhadra Contemplation, the verification of what was spoken is entirely at the end; if it were before, it would not fulfill the meaning of verification. Second, the jeweled stūpa emerged and manifested in order to open the body's expedient and the body's real; previously only the vehicle's expedient and the vehicle's real were distinguished, so it should not have emerged and manifested, from which we know it appeared later. Even if it had appeared earlier, it could not yet have emitted a voice to give seal and verification, for before the Lotus Sūtra's equal great wisdom was spoken, on what basis could it proclaim such words? Furthermore, according to the Samantabhadra Contemplation, it also appeared at the very end, coming to verify the eradication of the practitioner's sins; thus we know that verification of what was spoken is not at the beginning. Now, "at that time" refers, first, to the time of opening the dharmakāya, and second, to the time of verifying what was spoken.