妙法蓮華經玄贊 2.185

2.185

贊曰：下十三頌半頌地前凡夫信解行道，六度亂脩即為六也。一頌勤、一頌戒、一頌半忍、二頌定、五頌施、三頌慧。此勤也。飲食知量、減劣睡眠，初夜後夜覺悟瑜伽，《遺教》亦言：「初夜後夜亦勿有廢，中夜誦經以自消息，無以睡眠因緣，令一生空過無所得也。」「甞」試也，謂暫為之；今不暫為故言未甞。經行林中，西域地濕疊塼為道，於中往來消食誦經，如經布綃之來去，故言經行。此乃策勵脩四正斷：於已生惡不善法脩律儀斷，於未生惡不善法修斷斷，於已生善法修防護斷，於未生善法修修習斷，以求佛道。故《華嚴》云：「佛子善諦聽，　我說如實義，　或有速出要，　或有難解脫，　若欲求除滅，　無量諸過惡，　應當一切時，　勇猛大精進，　譬如微小火，　焳濕即能滅，　於佛法教中，　懈怠者亦爾。　譬如人鑽火　未出、數休息，　火勢隨止滅，　懈怠者亦爾。　譬如淨火珠，　離緣而求火，　畢竟不可得，　懈怠者亦爾。　譬如明淨日，　閉目求見色，　於佛教法中，　懈怠者亦爾。」由初發心精進為最，信為欲依，欲為精進依故。此但以精進為首，十信心中信後精進故。

Eulogy: The thirteen and a half verses below praise ordinary beings prior to the bhūmis practicing the path of faith and understanding, cultivating the six perfections without fixed sequence, which makes six categories: one verse on vigor, one verse on morality, one and a half verses on patience, two verses on meditative concentration, five verses on generosity, and three verses on wisdom. This is vigor. Knowing moderation in food and drink, reducing sleep, and practicing the yoga of awakening in the first and latter parts of the night. The Testament Sūtra also says: "Do not neglect practice in the first and latter parts of the night either; in the middle of the night, recite the sūtras to reflect upon yourselves, and do not let a lifetime pass in vain with nothing attained because of sleep." Cháng (甞) means to try, implying doing something temporarily; here, because they never do it even temporarily, it says "have not yet" (未甞). "Walking in the forest" (經行林中): in the Western Regions, the ground is damp, so bricks are laid to make a path where they walk back and forth to digest food and recite sūtras, just like the back-and-forth movement of warp threads on a loom; hence it is called cankramaṇa (經行). This is exerting effort to cultivate the four right abandonments: cultivating the abandonment of restraint toward unwholesome, non-virtuous dharmas that have already arisen; cultivating the abandonment of cutting off toward unwholesome, non-virtuous dharmas that have not yet arisen; cultivating the abandonment of guarding toward wholesome dharmas that have already arisen; and cultivating the abandonment of cultivation toward wholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen, so as to seek the Buddha Path. Thus the Avataṃsaka-sūtra says:
"Buddha-sons, listen well and carefully!
I will preach the truth as it really is:
Some have swift liberation,
While some find liberation difficult.
If one wishes to eradicate
Immeasurable faults and evils,
One should at all times
Exercise fierce and great vigor.
Just like a tiny spark of fire
Is extinguished upon burning what is damp,
Within the Buddha's Dharma and teachings,
Those who are indolent are also like this.
Just like a man drilling for fire
Who rests repeatedly before it appears,
The force of fire dies out accordingly—
Those who are indolent are also like this.
Just like with a pure fire-pearl,
Seeking fire apart from conditions
Is ultimately impossible to attain—
Those who are indolent are also like this.
Just like the bright and clear sun,
Seeking to see forms with closed eyes—
Within the Buddha's teachings and Dharma,
Those who are indolent are also like this."
Because for the initial generation of the mind vigor is foremost, and faith is the basis for aspiration, while aspiration is the basis for vigor. Here it simply takes vigor as the beginning, because in the mind of the ten faiths, vigor comes after faith.