金光明經文句記 3.209

3.209

初、分文。皆言行者，古以散說一十七字為行。偈頌二等，四五言則四句為行，七言偈則二句為行。所以古師分經，悉以行數為準。邇世變亂製度、增減字數，致損元規。豈但使古疏分經參差，亦令目錄紙數無準。寄語有識，當依古製。

First, dividing the text. Where all refer to "lines": in ancient times, seventeen characters of prose were counted as one line. In verses (gāthās) there are two kinds: in four- or five-character [verses], four lines make one line [of text]; in seven-character verses, two lines make one line [of text]. Therefore, ancient masters divided sūtras entirely based on the number of lines as the standard. In recent times, the system has been altered and disordered, increasing or decreasing the number of characters, which damages the original rules. Not only does this make ancient commentaries' divisions of sūtras inconsistent, but it also leaves the number of sheets in catalogues without a standard. I address those with understanding: one should rely on the ancient system.