妙法蓮華經玄贊 10.464

10.464

贊曰：下第四普賢勸發。有四：一明護持，二與現益，三「若但書寫是人命終當生忉利天上」下與後益，四「有如是等功德利益」下結勸發心。此初也。《大集經．月藏分》說「佛滅度後初五百年解脫堅固，第二五百年禪定堅固，第三五百年多聞堅固，第四五百年造塔寺等福德堅固，第五五百年鬪諍堅固。」此有三釋：一云，今當第三五百年多聞堅固，依於大乘正法一千年，正法之後故言後五百年。二云，今當第五五百年，此中所言後五百歲，當最後故。依上二解，此前此後有受持經，雖非不護，此後時中人多弊惡，信者為難，故須擁護。三云，世尊記別時分，一一種類各五百歲，皆名滅後後五百歲。於此諸時菩薩皆護，由擁護中《十地論》說有三護法：一護教法，書寫讀誦為他演說故；二護行法，思惟修習於修行時，有諸障難攝受救濟故；三護證法，三佛菩提攝此證法，教化轉授故。即顯菩薩正法之時護此三法，猶有證故。像法之中護教、行法，更無證故。末法之後但護教法，又無行故。《禪法祕要》非大乘宗，不須和會。《悲華經》及真諦所云「如來滅後後五十年」，理恐文錯。有云，滅後人年五十歲時，故不相違。

Eulogy: Below is the fourth part, Samantabhadra's encouragement. There are four sections: first, explaining protection and upholding; second, granting present benefits; third, beginning from 'If someone merely copies it, at the end of their life they will be born in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven', granting future benefits; and fourth, beginning from 'Having such merits and benefits', concluding with encouragement to arouse the mind [for bodhi]. This is the first. The Candragarbha section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra says: 'In the first five hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, liberation is solid; in the second five hundred years, dhyāna-concentration is solid; in the third five hundred years, extensive hearing is solid; in the fourth five hundred years, merit from building stūpas and monasteries is solid; in the fifth five hundred years, strife and conflict are solid.' Regarding this, there are three explanations: The first says that the present time corresponds to the third five hundred years, where extensive hearing is solid; relying on the True Dharma of the Mahāyāna lasting one thousand years, what comes after the True Dharma is termed 'the latter five hundred years'. The second says that the present corresponds to the fifth five hundred years; the 'latter five hundred years' spoken of here corresponds to the very last. According to these two explanations, although those who uphold the sūtra before or after this time are not without protection, during this latter time people are mostly vile and evil, and believers are rare, so they particularly require protection. The third says that the Bhagavat's prophecies of time periods designate each category as five hundred years, and all are termed 'the latter five hundred years after the extinction'. In all these periods bodhisattvas provide protection. In providing protection, the Daśabhūmikā-śāstra states that there are three kinds of Dharma protection: first, protecting the teaching Dharma, because one copies, reads, recites, and expounds it for others; second, protecting the practice Dharma, because when contemplating and cultivating during one's practice, one is gathered in and rescued amid obstacles and hardships; third, protecting the realization Dharma, because the three bodies of the Buddha gather in this realization Dharma, teaching, transforming, and transmitting it. This shows that in the time of the True Dharma, bodhisattvas protect these three dharmas, because realization still exists. In the Semblance Dharma, they protect the teaching and practice dharmas, because there is no longer realization. After the Final Dharma, they protect only the teaching Dharma, because there is also no longer practice. The Secret Essentials of Dhyāna Methods does not belong to the Mahāyāna school, so it does not need to be reconciled. As for what the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka-sūtra and Paramārtha say about 'the latter fifty years after the Tathāgata's extinction', the principle suggests the text is corrupt. Some say it refers to the time after the extinction when human lifespan is fifty years; thus they do not contradict each other.