法華義疏 2.18

2.18

I now prove through five points that this Innumerable Meanings Sūtra is indeed the Innumerable Meanings Sūtra prior to the Lotus Sūtra: First, identity of location: because it was likewise expounded on Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha. Second, general identity of the assembly's numbers: because there were twelve thousand śrāvakas and eighty thousand bodhisattvas. Third, identity of time: the Lotus Sūtra says, 'It was expounded more than forty years after attaining the Way,' and the Innumerable Meanings Sūtra likewise says, 'For more than forty years since I attained the Way, I have not yet expounded the true-aspect Dharma.' Fourth, identity of meaning: although it does not speak explicitly of opening the three and revealing the one, its purport secretly opens the ekayāna. Fifth, the translator, the monk from Central India, himself stated that it was expounded prior to the Lotus Sūtra; it ought to be applied accordingly.