妙法蓮華經玄贊 3.143

3.143

贊曰：此下明與授記為之解釋也。論云：「有六種：一未聞令聞，此等文是。二者說，『舍利弗！諸佛隨宜所說』下是。三者依何等義，『所以者何？諸佛世尊唯以一大事』下是。四者令住，『舍利弗！如來但以一佛乘故為眾生說法』下是。五者依法，『舍利弗！一切十方諸佛法亦如是』下是。六者遮，『舍利弗！十方世界中尚無二乘』下是。」未聞令聞者，歎法希有顯令聞故。說者，明所說法意難知事。依何等義者，謂未聞令聞，及方便所說。依何等義，謂依佛所得深難解法。住者，勸令來住一乘之中。法者，十方三世佛所共行儀軌法式。初隨宜說，意令久後取佛種智。遮者，遮破二執、遮遣二真，令歎法希。未聞令聞有三：一歎希，二舉喻，三勸信。此即初二。此若頻說無智不欣，時乃說之愚智同樂。梵云鄔曇鉢羅，此云瑞應，金輪王出大海減少，金輪路現其華乃生，應金輪之御世名瑞應華，此《法華經》法輪王出、生死海減，一乘道顯方演說之，故舉為喻歎法希有。鶖子往劫曾所未聞，今者令聞令渴仰故。

The Commentary says: From here down explains the giving of the prophecy. The treatise says: "There are six kinds: First, causing them to hear what they have not yet heard, which is this passage. Second, expounding, which begins below with 'Śāriputra! That which the buddhas preach as appropriate'. Third, relying on what meaning, which begins below with 'Why is this? The buddhas, the Bhagavats, solely for one great matter'. Fourth, causing them to abide, which begins below with 'Śāriputra! The Tathāgata, solely by means of the single buddha-vehicle, preaches the Dharma for sentient beings'. Fifth, relying on the Dharma, which begins below with 'Śāriputra! The Dharma of all the buddhas of the ten directions is also like this'. Sixth, warding off, which begins below with 'Śāriputra! In the worlds of the ten directions there are not even two vehicles'." Causing them to hear what they have not yet heard praises the Dharma as rare in order to clearly prompt them to hear it. Expounding explains that the purport of the Dharma expounded is difficult to understand. Relying on what meaning refers to causing them to hear what they have not yet heard and that which was expounded through expedient means; on what meaning does it rely? It means relying on the profound, difficult-to-understand Dharma attained by the Buddha. Abiding means exhorting them to come and abide within the Single Vehicle. Dharma means the ceremonial models and rules practiced in common by the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions. Initially preaching in accord with suitability, the intention is to lead them in the long run to acquire the Buddha's omniscience. Warding off means warding off and breaking the two attachments, and warding off and eliminating the two truths, causing them to praise the Dharma as rare. Causing them to hear what they have not yet heard has three parts: first, praising its rarity; second, offering an analogy; third, exhorting faith. This [passage] consists of the first two. If this were preached frequently, the unwise would not rejoice in it; being preached only once in a long time, the foolish and the wise rejoice together. In Sanskrit it is called udumbara, which here translates as "propitious response." When the golden-wheel-turning king emerges, the great ocean diminishes, and when the path for the golden wheel appears, its flower then blooms; responding to the golden wheel's reign over the world, it is called the flower of propitious response. In this Lotus Sūtra, when the Dharma wheel-turning king emerges and the ocean of birth-and-death diminishes, the path of the Single Vehicle becomes evident and only then is it expounded; therefore it is cited as an analogy to praise the Dharma's rarity. In past kalpas the son of Śāri had never heard it; now he causes him to hear it to make him thirst for and revere it.