妙法蓮華經玄贊 2.226

2.226

Commentary: Below there are eight causes, divided overall into two textual sections: first the prose, and later the verses. The prose is divided into two: first, seven causes providing an answer by pointing out distinct matters; later, one cause providing an answer on the mutual identity of past and present. The first section is divided into three: first, one answering by praising the rare; next, one answering by revealing subsequent supremacy and wonder; finally, five answering by detailing shared matters. First, answering by praising the rare: the treatise calls this the cause of directly perceiving what is rare, because it cannot be attained over immeasurable time. Within this there are four: first, praising the rarity of the time's great distance; second, praising the rarity of the Buddha's names and epithets; third, praising the rarity of the Dharma's supremacy and wonder; fourth, praising the rarity of answering with benefits for sentient beings. This is the first. The treatise states: “Inconceivable, incalculable, and immeasurable: this indicates that passing beyond those asamkhyeya kalpas cannot be attained.” In Sanskrit it is asaṃkhyeya; corrupted, it is said as asengqi, which means “innumerable.” The Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya states: “It is the fifty-second number; accumulating from one by tens up to this number is the ultimate, called an asaṃkhyeya; originally there were sixty numbers, the remaining eight were forgotten in transmission.” The Avataṃsaka-sūtra speaks of one hundred and twenty numbers; this is the one hundred and twelfth. Kalpa (jiélàpó), abbreviated as jie, is translated here as “distinction,” with the meaning of the distinction of periods of time. “Inconceivable” means passing beyond the sphere of conceptual calculation. “Incalculable” means passing beyond the sphere of words and discussion. “Immeasurable” means not being a sphere of analogy or calculation. Now the sūtra says “immeasurable,” which surpasses the fraction of calculation and the fraction of analogy. “Boundless” surpasses the fraction of time. “Inconceivable” surpasses the fraction of conceptual calculation; this is identical to the Prajñā's surpassing the four fractions. The “Bodhisattvabhūmi” states that there are two kinds of kalpas: “first, numbers of days, nights, and years; second, asamkhyeya kalpas.” The Yogācārabhūmi further states: “Or it is said that one period of increase and decrease is one kalpa—namely, [the periods of] famine, pestilence, and weapons; or twenty kalpas make one kalpa, namely for the Brahmā-pāriṣadya devas; or forty make one kalpa, namely for the Brahmā-purohita devas; or sixty of these make one kalpa, namely for the Mahābrahmā devas; or eighty of these make one kalpa, namely the kalpa of the fire destruction, the devas of Limited Light counting their lifespan as two such kalpas; or after seven fires there is one water destruction kalpa, namely for the devas of Utmost Light and Purity; or eight times seven fires and one times seven waters are followed by one wind destruction kalpa, namely for the devas of Vast Purity. Counting these until uncountable makes one asamkhyeya.” Only by undergoing these three great asamkhyeya kalpas cultivating causes can one become a buddha; together with the Bhadrakalpa and so forth, there are ten classes of distinctions of kalpas. In the old text of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, it is divided into three before the bhūmis, and three within each of the ten bhūmis, making thirty-three asamkhyeya kalpas: before the seventh bhūmi is small, the eighth, ninth, and tenth bhūmis are medium, and before the bhūmis is great. Although there are such different measures of kalpas, now relying on the root treatise, the kalpas spoken of in the single assembly of the Lotus Sūtra mostly rely on five kinds: first, nights; second, days; third, months; fourth, seasons; fifth, years. Here, it relies on immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable asamkhyeya years, not the other great kalpas, wishing to show that buddhas appear only once in innumerable great kalpas, and that what Mañjuśrī saw was exceedingly distant.