妙法蓮華經玄贊 1.71

1.71

The commentary states: The fourth is the place of conversion. Moving about to convert beings and dwelling at rest are designated as 'dwelling'; 'dwelling' carries the senses of residing, wandering to convert, and resting peacefully. Residing was on the mountain; wandering to convert was in the city; the Buddha relied on these places to wander, convert, and rest peacefully. Ancient masters, based on this, explained the dwellings of sages, gods, Brahmā, buddhas, and so forth; although the name 'dwelling' is the same, the intended meaning is entirely distinct. To pay no heed to passages where the language is profound and the meaning abstruse, while making baseless citations of texts where the names are identical but the principles differ—this is inadmissible. In Sanskrit it is called the city of Kuśāgrapura, rendered in Chinese as the City of Superior Kuśa Grass, located in the exact center of Magadha, the place where former kings had their capitals; because superior, auspicious kuśa grass grows there abundantly, it was named after it. Lofty mountains surround it on all four sides as an outer wall, with a narrow path opening to the west and a mountain gate opening to the north. It is long from east to west and narrow from north to south, over one hundred and fifty li in circumference; the inner palace city is forty li in circumference. Karṇikāra trees line all the roads, their blossoms containing an exquisite fragrance and dazzling like gold; in the late month of spring, the forests are all golden in color. Outside the north gate of the palace city is a stūpa, where Devadatta and King Ajātaśatru formed a friendship and unleashed the intoxicated elephant Dhanapāla wishing to harm the Tathāgata, and from the Tathāgata's fingertips five lions emerged, at which the intoxicated elephant knelt in submission. Next, to the northeast, is a stūpa, which is the place where Śāriputra met the monk Aśvajit and attained the first fruit. Next, not far to the north, is a great deep pit, which is where Śrīgupta—rendered here as 'Supreme Secret'—attempted to harm the Buddha with a fire pit and poisoned rice. Going fourteen or fifteen li to the northeast of the palace city, one reaches Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa, rendered in Chinese as Vulture Peak or Vulture Terrace. Connected to the south of the northern mountain, it rises solitary and exceptional; it is both inhabited by vultures and resembles a lofty terrace, the empty space and verdant hues reflecting one another in shades of dark and light. In the nearly fifty years after the Buddha attained enlightenment, he mostly dwelt on this mountain to expound the wondrous Dharma extensively. In the past it was called Mt. Qishegue, then called Spiritual Vulture Mountain; because vultures ate human corpses here, calling it 'Spiritual Vulture Mountain' was an error and an abbreviation. King Bimbisāra, for the sake of hearing the Dharma, mobilized laborers to lay stones as steps from the foot of the mountain to the summit, spanning the ravines and ascending the crags, over ten paces wide and five to six li long. Along the road are two stūpas: the first is called 'Dismounting from the Carriage,' where the king proceeded on foot upon reaching this point; the second is called 'Turning Back Ordinary People,' where ordinary people were excluded and not allowed to proceed together. The summit of the mountain is long from east to west and narrow from north to south; perched on the western cliffside is a brick vihāra, lofty, wide, of rare design, with its door opening to the east; when the Tathāgata was in the world, he mostly dwelt there to preach the Dharma. Now an image of him preaching the Dharma has been made, equal in size to the Tathāgata's body. To the east of the vihāra is a long stone, which the Buddha trod when walking in meditation. Beside it is a large rock, fourteen or fifteen feet high and over thirty paces around; this is where Devadatta threw a stone from afar to strike the Buddha, wounding his foot so that it bled. Below its southern cliff is a stūpa, the place where the Buddha preached the Lotus Sūtra. Going a little over one li from the north gate of the mountain city, one reaches the Karaṇḍa Bamboo Grove; east of the grove is a stūpa erected by King Ajātaśatru for worship after receiving a share of the śarīra. Going five or six li to the southwest of the Bamboo Grove, on the north slope of the southern mountain, amidst a great bamboo forest, is a large stone chamber; this is where Mahākāśyapa compiled the Dharma treasury. Going a little over two hundred paces north of the Bamboo Grove, one reaches the Karaṇḍa Lake. Going two to three li to the northwest of the lake, one reaches the city of Rājagṛha, rendered in Chinese as the House of the King. The outer wall is already ruined with no remaining ramparts; although the inner city is destroyed, its foundations still survive, over twenty li in circumference, with one gate on each face. Formerly, King Bimbisāra had his capital in the palace city of Superior Kuśa Grass; the registered households frequently suffered fire disasters. If one family was negligent, the four neighbors suffered disaster; unsettled in their dwellings, the multitude lamented and complained. The king said: 'Because of my lack of virtue, the people suffer misfortune; what virtuous deeds may be cultivated to avert it?' The ministers addressed the king: 'The Great King's virtuous transformation is great, but the commoners are careless. We pray that strict penal codes be enacted to punish future offenders; if there are any who offend again, banish them to the Śītavana.' The Śītavana is a place for discarding corpses, colloquially called an ominous place. With human traffic cut off, it is just like being a cast-out corpse. Since they would be ashamed to reside there, they will naturally exercise restraint and caution. The king followed their advice and enacted the strict order, whereupon a fire disaster occurred in the palace itself due to negligence. The king said: 'I shall banish myself.' He then ordered the crown prince to supervise the affairs left behind, and banished himself to the Śītavana. When the king of Vaiśālī heard that he was dwelling in the wilderness, he mobilized an army to attack; the border scouts reported it, and the king thereupon constructed a city and resided there; because the king resided here first, it was therefore called Rājagṛha (House of the King). Some say that it was only after Ajātaśatru succeeded to the throne that this city was built, but it was merely made higher and thicker, not newly constructed. When King Aśoka moved the capital to Pāṭaliputra, he gave the city of Rājagṛha to the brahmins; therefore in the city today there are no longer commoners, but only about a thousand families of brahmins. Ancient masters said: 'The mountain city was Rājagṛha, having nine hundred million households'; or said: 'A thousand kings were established here.' These are all errors. Since the royal capital was in Rājagṛha and the Buddha dwelt on Vulture Peak, the two locations—city and mountain—jointly display oneself and others, and both kinds of teaching are expounded, benefiting both monastics and laity. The Treatise states: 'Regarding the perfection of the introductory portion, this teaching demonstrates the perfection of two kinds of significance: First, being the most supreme among all teachings, just as Rājagṛha surpasses all other cities and dwellings, for the city is in the exact center of Magadha, the capital of human kings, symbolizing that the Single Vehicle is the Middle Way of the three vehicles, the realm where the Dharma King abides; just as the city surpasses other cities, so the sūtra surpasses other sūtras. Second, demonstrating the perfection of sovereign merit, just as Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa surpasses all other mountains, revealing the supremacy of this Dharma; although the city of Kusuma is a mountain city and there are many mountains near Rājagṛha, this mountain is uniquely supreme, lofty, and prominent, symbolizing that the Dharma is lofty, prominent, and surpasses the two vehicles, being sovereign, majestic, and complete in merit.' Or again: just as the city surpasses other cities and produces every magnificent thing, so the Dharma surpasses other teachings and is complete in every excellent virtue; just as the mountain surpasses other mountains and is the roost of fine birds, so the Dharma surpasses other teachings and is the resort of superior men. It also states: 'Wondrous analogies apply to both teaching and principle'; or the teaching is wondrous like the city because it encompasses wondrous principle, and the principle is lofty like the mountain because it surpasses the two vehicles; therefore, this sūtra's being in the royal city and dwelling on Vulture Peak has what it symbolizes. Prajñā permeates the five gates, and Śrāvastī is abundant in its four virtues, so he mostly dwelt there and did not rely on other places. 'Gold is produced in the Li River' is a common saying in the East; that the Airāvatī River contains gold is known to all in the Western lands; birth-and-death is like a river flowing without ceasing, while nirvāṇa is like gold worthy of being treasured and respected; since gold is found within the river, this symbolizes that complete tranquility is found within birth-and-death, which is why he preached the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] on the banks of the Airāvatī River. Each has what it symbolizes, having a long-standing origin. Ancient explanations held that this sūtra ought to occupy four places: first, on the Spiritual Mountain; second, the stūpa welling up into the air; third, the buddhas assembling in the pure land; fourth, in the Entrustment Chapter, after the emanated buddhas return, dwelling in the defiled land. Now I explain that the places are three, but the expositions are only two. That there are three places means that there is no returning to the defiled land. The Entrustment Chapter is placed at the end, and only then do the emanated buddhas return; right up to the end of the sūtra it is entirely the pure land, and returning to transform into the defiled land occurs when the preaching of the sūtra is already finished. Defiled and pure are only two: first, at the beginning on the defiled land of the Spiritual Mountain; second, when the emanated buddhas are about to assemble, the Buddha then transforms it to pure; together with the stūpa welling up into the air, the places are three. Expositions are only two: first, initiating the assembly on the ground of the Spiritual Mountain, proclaiming the Single Vehicle for the sake of the two vehicles and others; later, the stūpa wells up into the air, the emanated buddhas assemble, and Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna sit together on the seat to urge faith in this sūtra, right up to the end of the sūtra when the Buddha commands them to return respectively, and the preaching of the sūtra being concluded, only then does the Buddha reside on the ground, no longer preaching the Lotus Sūtra thereafter; therefore we know that the places of exposition are merely two. Indicating now the initial assembly, he therefore speaks of the mountain city; 'dwelling' indicates the place of conversion, and the Buddha speaks as an emanation body, wishing to make the three vehicles rejoice alike, revealing that the Buddha's compassion is deep and both vehicle and body are wondrous, able to bestow conversion in a defiled place; if he had indicated the reward buddha and revealed the pure land, he feared the assembly of the two vehicles would suspect it was not their portion and be unable to practice; for this reason, he reveals only the defiled place and the emanation body.