妙法蓮華經玄贊 2.354

2.354

贊曰：此第二善堅實如來法輪因。若依小乘於三無數劫，逆次逢勝觀、燃燈、寶髻佛，初釋迦牟尼初劫初逢釋迦牟尼佛，更逢七萬五千佛。第二劫初逢寶髻佛，更逢七萬六千佛。第三劫初逢燃燈佛，更逢七萬七千佛。第三劫滿百劫修相好業，初逢勝觀佛，即毘婆尸。由翹足讚歎底沙超於九劫，所以經中往往言過去九十一劫有毘婆尸佛。若依大乘，第四依菩薩供養八恒河沙諸佛，始今解涅槃十六分義。古來配在第十地中，今亦未定，只言八恒河沙，何必即是第十地也。真諦釋言：「初劫遇五恒，第二劫逢六恒，第三劫逢七恒河沙佛。」所以今言得入八地，仍言當見無數諸佛。

The Commentary says: This is the second: the cause of the Dharma-wheel of the Well-Firm Tathāgata. According to the Hīnayāna, over three incalculable kalpas, in reverse order one meets Vipaśyin, Dīpaṃkara, and Ratnaśikhin buddhas. Śākyamuni first, at the beginning of the first kalpa, met Śākyamuni Buddha, and met a further seventy-five thousand buddhas. At the beginning of the second kalpa he met Ratnaśikhin Buddha, and met a further seventy-six thousand buddhas. At the beginning of the third kalpa he met Dīpaṃkara Buddha, and met a further seventy-seven thousand buddhas. At the completion of the third kalpa, for one hundred kalpas he cultivated the karmic causes for the physical marks, first meeting Vipaśyin Buddha, who is Vipaśyī. Because he praised Tiṣya while standing on one foot, he skipped over nine kalpas; therefore sūtras often say that ninety-one kalpas in the past there was Vipaśyin Buddha. According to the Mahāyāna, a bodhisattva of the fourth reliance makes offerings to buddhas as numerous as the sands of eight Ganges rivers, only then understanding the sixteenfold meaning of nirvāṇa. From ancient times this was assigned to the tenth bhūmi; nowadays it is also not fixed—it merely says 'sands of eight Ganges rivers', so why must it be the tenth bhūmi? Paramārtha's explanation says: 'In the first kalpa one meets five Ganges; in the second kalpa one meets six Ganges; in the third kalpa one meets buddhas as numerous as the sands of seven Ganges rivers.' Therefore it now says that upon obtaining entry into the eighth bhūmi, it still says one shall see countless buddhas.