妙法蓮華經玄贊 8.43

8.43

The Eulogy says: The following five verses properly turn [the wheel of Dharma]. There are two parts: first, two verses permit and properly expound it; second, three verses show sentient beings obtaining benefit. This is the first. Regarding 'from ignorance to old age and death, all exist from the condition of birth': this explains the prose text's 'ignorance conditions activities, activities condition consciousness' up to 'birth conditions old age and death'. The word 'birth' here is not the link of birth itself, but that which is capable of generating birth. The word 'exist' here is not the link of existence, but being as opposed to non-being; that is to say, just as the link of activities only comes to exist through the generative condition of the link of ignorance, the substance of the link of consciousness comes to exist through the generative condition of the preceding link of activities, up to old age and death which come to exist through the generative condition of the preceding link of birth. They do not arise without causes or from unequal causes, because they are all born from conditions. This reveals that ignorance comes to exist through the generative condition of old age and death; because the transmigration is endless, it is called dependent origination.