妙法蓮華經玄贊 5.176

5.176

贊曰：此中有三：一明產業，有四：一財富，喻七聖財滿故。二田，喻智斷二種生德處故。三宅，喻諸眾生異熟本識，故說本識亦為宅識。如世國王四海為家光宅天下，佛亦如是，以諸眾生而為其家，體即本識。故《無垢稱》云「諸有情土是為菩薩嚴淨佛土」，眾生無量故言多有。頌中唯指一人，故言有一大宅，或如一六合而光宅，故此言多。下言有一，亦如等視眾生猶如一子，或此約眾生各別故言多有，下依佛為其主故言有一。其實此宅一多無別，以由異熟識為家，是故宅中堂閣朽故災難紛起。若說禪定名之為家，如何有災說朽故等？家宅便別。四「僮僕」下合說中喻佛神通縱任自在故，又喻佛示現起諸煩惱。《無垢稱經．菩提分品》云：「煩惱為賤隷僕使，隨意而轉」，如來能以煩惱為賤隷，甚輕鄙之、驅筞斷滅，亦以為僕使隨意而轉，愛語羅睺、叱呵調達，利眾生故。下以智慧、神通為佛身手之力，故今僮僕非定神通。《說文》「男有罪為奴曰僮，女仕從於嫁曰僕。又給使也馭役也。」「僕」又「𬽵」也，附著於人。「童」獨也，今為「僮」字。五「其家廣大」，宅相也。本識為家，准下合說周三界故，或無始有，或復含容一切種子變為三界，體通二死故言廣大。其家即宅，名別體同。六「唯有一門」，門者出宅之所因，此長行中於喻及合總有五門：一此中所說唯有一門，二所燒之門，三狹小之門，四今在門外，五以佛教門出三界苦。初四門在喻內，後一門在合中。門有二種：一中大正門，唯一乘教行；二邊小側門，唯二乘教行。五中初三唯說中大正門，體即一乘之教行故；後之二門中邊、大小、正側之門，並名為門，體即三乘之教行故，能出三界變易宅故，所以初門名之為一，不名為三。第二佛從所燒之門安隱而出，不從二乘教行中出。第三而復狹小不容二乘，故知初三門唯一乘教行。第四三車俱在門外，豈是二乘亦出一乘教行之外。第五見諸眾生以佛教門出三界苦得涅槃樂，然後等與大車，即是二乘俱已出門，以此故知後二通於中邊、大小、正側俱名為門。與前不同所望義別，亦不相違。餘門之義至彼文中一一當釋。今說二利行圓寬容出二死處，故門稱一不說餘二，此說出三界之戶、非入淨土之門，彼以大空、無相、無願解脫為所入門，所望別故。此以教對理、以因對果名之為門，彼以智對境名之為門。又此望三界名之為出，若望淨土亦名為入，體是一故。此明出三界門、不明入三界門，入三界門、煩惱及業，所望異故亦不相違。

Eulogy: Here there are three [aspects]: First, explaining his estate, which has four parts: 1. "Vast wealth," which illustrates the fullness of the seven noble treasures. 2. "Fields," which illustrate the places generating virtues, namely the two kinds: wisdom and abandonment. 3. "Houses," which illustrate the ripening fundamental consciousness (vipāka-mūlavijñāna) of all sentient beings; hence the fundamental consciousness is also called the "house-consciousness." Just as a worldly king regards the four seas as his household and presides over the whole realm, the Buddha is likewise: he takes all sentient beings as his household, the essence of which is precisely the fundamental consciousness. Hence the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa says, "The lands of sentient beings are the pure buddha-lands that the bodhisattva adorns." Because sentient beings are measureless, it says "many." In the verses it only points to one person, so it says there was "one great house"; or, just as a single realm of six directions is illumined as one house, it is called "many" here. Below it says there was "one," which is also like regarding sentient beings equally as an only child; alternatively, here it says "many" in terms of sentient beings being distinct from one another, whereas below it says "one" based on the Buddha being their master. In fact, this house is neither single nor multiple in essence; because it takes the ripening consciousness as its household, the halls and pavilions inside the house are dilapidated and old, and disasters arise in profusion. If one were to call meditative absorption a "house," how could there be disasters and descriptions of dilapidated decay? The house would then be different. 4. "Servants and retainers" and below: in the subsequent combined explanation, it illustrates the unconstrained and sovereign nature of the Buddha's supernatural powers; it also illustrates the Buddha's manifested arising of the afflictions. The Bodhipakṣya Chapter of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa-sūtra says: "Afflictions are vile slaves and servants, turned at will." The Tathāgata can treat afflictions as vile slaves, utterly despising them and driving them toward eradication; he also treats them as servants turned at will, speaking affectionately to Rāhula and rebuking Devadatta, for the benefit of sentient beings. Below, wisdom and supernatural powers serve as the strength of the Buddha's body and hands; therefore here servants are not definitively supernatural powers. The Shuowen says: "A male convicted of a crime who becomes a slave is called a tong; a female servant who follows in marriage is called a pu. It also means one who serves and is driven." Pu is also written with the radical ren, meaning attached to a person. Tong means alone, now written with the radical ren. 5. "Its house was vast and large," which is the features of the house. The fundamental consciousness is the house; according to the combined explanation below, it encompasses the three realms, or it has existed from beginningless time, or it accommodates all seeds and transforms into the three realms, its essence extending to both forms of death; hence it is called "vast and large." "Household" is simply the "house"; the names differ, but the essence is identical. 6. "There was only one gate." The gate is the cause for exiting the house. In the prose here, across the metaphor and the application, there are five gates in total: First, the "only one gate" spoken of here. Second, the gate that was on fire. Third, the narrow and small gate. Fourth, now outside the gate. Fifth, exiting the suffering of the three realms by means of the Buddha's gate of teaching. The first four gates are within the metaphor; the last gate is in the application. There are two kinds of gates: First, the central, large, main gate, which is exclusively the teaching and practice of the Single Vehicle. Second, the peripheral, small, side gates, which are exclusively the teachings and practices of the Two Vehicles. Among the five, the first three speak solely of the central, large, main gate, because its essence is precisely the teaching and practice of the Single Vehicle. The latter two gates encompass the central and peripheral, large and small, main and side gates, and all are called "gates," because their essence is the teachings and practices of the Three Vehicles, which can lead out of the house of the three realms and inconceivable transformation; for this reason the first gate is called "one" and not called "three." Second, the Buddha safely exited through the burned gate, not through the teachings and practices of the Two Vehicles. Third, it was furthermore narrow and small, not accommodating the Two Vehicles; thus we know the first three gates are exclusively the teaching and practice of the Single Vehicle. Fourth, all three carts were outside the gate; how could the Two Vehicles also exit outside the teaching and practice of the Single Vehicle? Fifth, seeing all sentient beings exit the suffering of the three realms and attain the bliss of nirvāṇa through the Buddha's gate of teaching, he then equally bestows the great carts—that is, the Two Vehicles have both already exited the gate. By this we know that the latter two gates encompass both central and peripheral, large and small, main and side, all being called gates. Being different from the former, the intended meanings differ, and thus they are not contradictory. The meanings of the remaining gates will each be explained when reaching those passages. Here, speaking of the practice of dual benefit being complete and spacious enough to exit the two forms of death, the gate is named "one" and does not mention the other two. This speaks of the doorway to exit the three realms, not the gate of entering the pure land; that uses the great emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness liberations as the gate of entry, because their orientations differ. This takes teaching versus principle, cause versus effect, and names it a gate; that takes wisdom versus its object and names it a gate. Moreover, viewed from the perspective of the three realms, this is called "exiting"; if viewed from the perspective of the pure land, it is also called "entering," because their essence is one. This clarifies the gate of exiting the three realms, not the gate of entering the three realms; the gates of entering the three realms are afflictions and karma; because their orientations differ, they are not contradictory.