妙法蓮華經玄贊 6.5

6.5

The Commentary says: In the second section of thirty-two and a half verses versifying the metaphor of the peril and ruin of the five destinies, the prose had four items; here it is divided into three: first, three verses on the mansion being perilous and decayed; next, half a verse on the people being very numerous; finally, twenty-nine verses on disasters arising on all sides. It does not versify the fourth, the children playing and dwelling. In the mansion being perilous and decayed, it is divided into two: seven lines generally explain the impermanence of the five aggregates of the triple world; five lines specifically explain the meanings of impermanence, non-self, impurity, and emptiness of the physical body. 'That mansion was very old': vertically considered, the consciousness aggregate is from beginningless time arising and ceasing moment by moment, like an illusion, hence called 'very old'. Horizontally considered, it also undergoes sudden decay, not ceasing gradually. 'Dilapidated' (bi) means broken down and ruined. 'The halls and rooms high and precarious': the impermanence of the form aggregate; taking rooms in place of upper chambers, what is high will easily tilt, and what is precarious will surely be unstable, just like a mass of foam being insubstantial. 'Pillars and bases broken and rotting': the impermanence of the conditioning aggregate; shifting and passing away moment by moment, when karma is exhausted all die, hence called 'broken and rotting'. 'Broken' (cui) means snapped, fallen, rotted, and destroyed, like a plantain tree. 'Beams and ridgepoles slanting and askew': the impermanence of the sensation aggregate; having lost proper sensation, how could it be secure? Like floating bubbles. 'The base and steps collapsed and ruined': this is also the conditioning aggregate; volitional thoughts of karma are called the base and steps, because they support the pillar of the life-faculty. 'Collapsed' (tui) means fallen down; 'ruined' (hui) means destroyed. The conditioning aggregate subsumes many dharmas, with karma and fruit being two distinct things, hence opened into two lines.