法華論疏 1.148

1.148

「何等十七」下，第二解釋。問：論何故辨此經有十七種名耶？答：略明五義。一者天親作論，多作總別釋經，此十七是一經之總目，十七之外是一經之別。二者欲顯十七名有十七功德，勸一切眾生受持供養，生尊極之心。三者欲定教淺深，使讀誦之流改邪從正。有人謂法華是無常教，二者謂是覆相明常，三者執定性常住，今具十七種名，竝破此三說。故下第十二名一切諸佛堅固舍利，謂如來真如法身於此修多羅不壞故。已明真如法身，故知非無常、非覆相，真如之體言忘慮絕，亦非定性之常也。四者正欲解一經之題，題云妙法蓮華，妙法者謂如來淨妙法身也。五者從來講人謂《無量義》異《妙法蓮華》，今釋隨義異，故立於異名，或名無量義、或名妙法華。就釋十七種名，則成十七。

From "What are the seventeen?" below is the second [part], the explanation. Question: Why does the treatise delineate that this sūtra has seventeen names? Answer: It briefly clarifies five meanings. First, when Vasubandhu composed treatises, he mostly made general and specific explanations of sūtras; these seventeen are the general headings of the whole sūtra, while what lies outside the seventeen constitutes the specific details of the whole sūtra. Second, it intends to reveal that the seventeen names possess seventeen merits, exhorting all sentient beings to accept, uphold, and make offerings to it, generating an attitude of supreme veneration. Third, it intends to determine the depth of the teaching, causing the class of reciters to turn from the erroneous to the correct. Some people claim that the Lotus is an impermanent teaching; a second group claims that it reveals permanence through veiled characteristics; a third group clings to a determinate nature of permanent abidance. Now, by providing seventeen names, it refutes all three of these views. Therefore, the twelfth name below is "the solid śarīra of all Buddhas," meaning that the Tathāgata's dharmakāya of thusness is indestructible in this sūtra. Having clarified the dharmakāya of thusness, one therefore knows that it is neither impermanent nor veiled in characteristics; the essence of thusness is beyond words and thought, nor is it a permanence of determinate nature. Fourth, it specifically intends to explain the title of the sūtra; the title says "Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma," and "Wonderful Dharma" refers to the Tathāgata's pure and wondrous dharmakāya. Fifth, traditionally commentators have claimed that the Immeasurable Meanings [Sūtra] is different from the Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma; now it is explained that different names are established according to different senses, so it is sometimes called "Immeasurable Meanings" and sometimes called "Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma." When it comes to explaining the seventeen names, they become seventeen.