妙法蓮華經文句 信解品 · 偈頌
窮子已經進入庫藏，知道金銀放在哪裡，明白什麼應當收入、什麼應當支出；這些事一做就是二十年。可他每次計算完，仍回到門外，心裡只想領到那一日的工錢。
他缺少的不是知識，也不是經驗。他太熟悉家業，卻始終不相信自己是兒子。
我們也可能如此。熟悉一套話語，替別人解釋得清清楚楚，甚至能帶人走過難處；一回到自己，卻說：『那是給根器好的人，不是給我的。』『我只是代為轉述，並沒有真正得到。』
這種貧窮很隱微。真正一無所知的人，尚且知道自己在門外；最難發現的，是天天出入寶庫，卻把每件珍寶都記在別人的名下。
父親沒有立刻把窮子拖上高座。強行追捉，只使他昏厥逃走；父親便換上粗衣，談他聽得懂的工作，給他承受得起的工價。從除糞、勤作到掌領庫藏，一步一步，使他不只靠近家門，也漸漸能承擔家業。
所以方便不是隱瞞真相，而是保護一個人走到能領受真相的地方。父親從未忘記父子關係；祂等待的，是兒子不再被自己的卑劣想像嚇退。
正式付財時，庫藏裡沒有忽然多出一件寶物。改變的是窮子的眼光：從前他替人點算，今日才知父親所有皆是自己的家業。所謂不求自得，不是不用行走便憑空得到，而是走了很久以後，才發現一路經手的寶藏從未與自己無關。
這也使最後的歎恩不只是感激一筆饋贈。父親給的，不只是財物；祂把一個見到大宅便恐懼逃走的人，養成能入室、著衣、坐座，並能利益他人的人。這樣的恩，兩肩當然荷負不起。
下次你又說『我懂得這個道理，但它不屬於我』時，可以停下來問：我真的被拒在門外，還是早已在庫中，只因舊日的貧窮太深，不敢承認父親正在叫我的名字？
寶藏沒有離開過。要穿過的，常是那一句根深蒂固的『我不配』。
The poor son has entered the treasuries. He knows where the gold and silver are kept and understands what should be received and what should be disbursed. He does this for twenty years. Yet whenever the accounts are complete, he returns outside the gate, thinking only of the day’s wages.
What he lacks is neither knowledge nor experience. He knows the family estate intimately, yet never believes himself to be the son.
We too can be like this. We may master a body of teaching, explain it clearly to others, and even guide people through difficulties; yet when we return to ourselves, we say: “That is for people of excellent capacity, not for me.” “I merely transmit it for others; I have not truly attained it.”
This poverty is subtle. One who truly knows nothing at least knows that one stands outside the gate. Hardest to detect is entering and leaving the treasury every day while recording every jewel under someone else’s name.
The father does not immediately drag the poor son onto the high seat. Forcible pursuit only makes him faint and flee. The father therefore puts on coarse clothing, speaks of work the son understands, and offers wages he can bear. From clearing dung and diligent labor to managing the treasuries, step by step He enables the son not merely to approach the gate but gradually to bear the family estate.
Skillful means is therefore not the concealment of truth. It protects a person until that person reaches a place where truth can be received. The father has never forgotten their relation; what He awaits is the son’s no longer being frightened away by his own inferior image of himself.
When the possessions are formally entrusted, no new treasure suddenly appears in the treasury. What changes is the poor son’s vision. Formerly he counted things for someone else; only today does he know that everything the father possesses is his own family estate. “Gaining without seeking” does not mean receiving something from nowhere without having traveled. It means that after traveling for a long time, he discovers that the treasure passing through his hands was never unrelated to him.
This also means that the final praise of kindness is more than gratitude for a gift. The father gives more than possessions. He nurtures someone who once fled in fear at the sight of the great house until that person can enter the room, wear the robe, sit upon the seat, and benefit others. Such kindness cannot possibly be borne upon two shoulders.
The next time you say, “I understand this principle, but it does not belong to me,” pause and ask: have I truly been refused at the gate, or am I already within the treasury, still too deeply shaped by former poverty to believe that the father is calling my name?
The treasure has never departed. What must often be crossed is that deeply rooted sentence: “I am unworthy.”
隋天台智者大師說《妙法蓮華經文句》〔灌頂法師私記・唐天寶戊子朗和尚條倫治定本・卷端序＝鏡中沙門神逈述〕· 大正藏 T34n1718〔起 T34 0088b29〕。段/行首〔T34 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T34 0088b29〕八十六行半偈，初七十三行半，頌上；次十三行，歎佛恩深。初又二：初二行，頌法說；後七十一行半，頌譬說。法說中不頌不求，但頌自得。頌譬說又二：初四十一偈，頌開譬；次三十偈半，頌合譬。上開有四：父子相失、相見、委業、付財，今皆頌。初十三行，頌父子相失，上相失譬有四：一、子背父，二、父求子，三、子漸還，四、父念子。今頌亦四，但不次第。初，一行半，頌第一，子背父去；次第二，七行，頌弟二，父求子不得；次第三，二行，超頌第四憂念轉深；次第四，二行半，追頌第三漸還近父。上四文各二。今初，「譬如」下一行半，但頌子背父而去，不頌向國而還也。火宅中明長者所王國邑聚落語寬，此中明窮子輪迴三界名諸國，六道名五十餘年也。「其父憂念」下，第二，七行，是頌父求子不得。上亦有二，今頌亦二。初半行，頌覓子不得。「求之既疲」下六偈半，頌不以失一子廢家業事。「四方推求」者，不同於上，上四方是約四諦推理，今四方是觀四生中覓可度之機也。「造立舍宅」者，有餘國中有餘涅槃也，起慈悲舍，依性空宅也。「往來者眾」者，諸土菩薩來往聽法也。「而年朽邁」下，第三，二行，超頌第四憂念轉深。上文有二，此但頌先失子，今苦無所委付，是故憂耳。「爾時窮子求索衣食」下，第四，二行半，追頌上第三漸還向父。上文有二，今頌亦二。初二行，頌近父之由，由求衣食也。「漸次經歷」下，半行，頌正近父城也。初近父由中。「從邑至邑」者，根塵相涉如「邑」，十八界如「國」。修有漏善如「有所得」，修二乘善如「無所得」。不得大乘法食為「飢餓」，無大力用為「羸」，無大功德為「瘦」，有無善上起見思如「瘡癬」。從「傭賃」下七行半偈，頌第二父子相見。上文有二，今頌亦二。初六行半，頌子見父；次一行，頌父見子。上子見父文有四，今頌三：初半行，頌見父之由，由傭賃遂至父舍也。次「爾時長者」下，第二，二行半，頌第三見父之相也。上明見父之處，處是門側；今言「長者於其門內」者，兼得處也。「施大寶帳」等，正見父相，處踞師子座也。法身是師是王，報應是長者，「注記券疏」即是授記，明修行也。私謂以廣顯略為「注」，授決為「記」，四弘誓為「券」，修行為「疏」。「窮子見父」下三行半，頌第四生畏避之心。 〔T34 0089a15〕「長者是時」下一行，頌第二，父見子。上文有四：一、見處，二、見即識，三、見歡喜，四者適願。今但頌二：上半頌見子之處；「遙見」下第二，半行，頌見子即識也。「即勅使者追捉將來」下，第三，十行半，頌上追誘譬。今初，三行，頌傍追。上傍人追文有三：一、喚子不來，二、再喚不來，三、放捨。今初三句，頌初喚無機不來；次「迷悶」下，第二，一句，頌再喚不來；次「是人」下，第三，二行，頌無機，即是上釋放捨意也。「即以方便」下，第二，七行半，頌密遣二人誘引。上文有二，今頌亦二。初三行，頌雇作譬；次四行半，頌教作譬。上雇作文有四：一設方便，二求之即得，三陳雇作，四取價除糞。今但頌二：初二行，頌第一設方便；「窮子聞之」下一行，頌第四取價除糞也。今初設方便，「眇目」是偏空；「矬」者豎短，不窮實相之源；「陋」者橫狹，無摩訶衍眾善莊嚴也。非四無畏名「無威」，異常樂我淨名「無德」。次「窮子聞之」下，第二取價，淨六根房五陰舍也。「長者於牖」下，第二，四行半，頌上教作。上文有四，今頌亦四。初半行，頌牖中；「念子愚劣」下，第二，半行，頌羸瘦；「於是長者著」下，第三，一行，頌脫妙著麁；「方便附近」下，第四，二行半，頌正教作。上有七科法門，「語」者，即合四念處也；「令勤作」者，即四正勤也；「既益汝價」下一行，頌四如意足也；「油塗足」，能履深水如神通，又油能除風，定是無亂也；「飲食充足」，即上米麪也，「薦席厚暖」，即是觀練熏修定，能除散動也。「如是苦言汝當勤作」半行，總頌上第四安慰、第五無五過，根、力既成乃堪苦言；「又以軟語」半行，總頌第六作字、第七令常作，並是子位也。「長者有智」下，第四，十行，頌上第四領付家業。上文有二，今頌亦二。今初三行半，頌付業之由；次六行半，頌正付業。初由中有二，今頌亦二。初「長者有智」下半行，總頌心相體信，即入出也；「經二十年」下，第二，三行，頌委領家業。上委業有命、有受，今但頌受命；上受命有四，今但頌三。初一行半，頌受命；次「猶處門」下，第二，一行，頌猶居本位未捨劣心；次「父知子心」下，第三，半行，頌通泰大志大乘機動也。初、「二十年」者，不得同上，上除見思名二十，此明執作家事。或言轉大乘教教諸菩薩，斷大乘別惑見思，名二十年。或言說般若時長，凡二十年。或言住二乘位，轉大乘教，為二十年。《仁王般若》云「二十八年說摩訶般若」。從「欲與財物」下，第二，六行半，頌第二正付家業。上文有二，今頌亦二。初四行半，頌正付業；次二行，頌得付歡喜。上正付業有四，今但頌三，無時節。初「欲與」下一行，頌上第二集親族。「於此大眾」下，第二，有二行半，頌上第三定父子天性。「凡我所有」下，第三，一行，頌上第四正付與也。「子念昔貧」下，第二，二行，頌得付歡喜也。「佛亦如是」下，三，十偈半，頌合譬。「佛亦如是」合第一父子相失也，「知我樂小」一句，合父子相見譬也，「未曾說言」二句，頌合第三追喚譬。上合有二：一合再喚不來，二合放捨；今總頌其意耳。「而說我等」下一行，頌上合密遣二人誘引譬。上合齊教、探教二章，今此一行但總頌其意耳。「佛勅我等」下二十八行半，頌合第四領家業，上合有二：相信、委業，今初十八行半，但頌合委業；次十行，頌合正付。上受命中唯有二：一、受命，二、無希取；今初一行長頌命領知，上領所無也。「最上道」即是空般若，更無過其上也。次下十七行半，正領受命及無希取等，無不捨及通泰。「我承佛教」有五行，頌正受命。佛子聞法得記者，明轉教益他也。爾時謂轉教，教化菩薩不言為我。「如彼窮子」下十二行半，頌第二無希取，此文廣上也。於中又二：初一行，牒前譬帖合，次「我等雖說」下，第二，十一行半，正合無希取，又為三：初一行，正頌無希取。次「我等內滅」下九行半，具智斷故無希取，又為三：謂標、釋、結。初為二：初一行，標斷德具故無希取；次「我等若聞」下，第二，一行，標智德具故無希取。「所以者何」下六行，雙釋智、斷二章。次「我等雖為」下，第三，一行半，結釋自無希取。次「導師見」下，第三，一行，明佛見捨我，合無希取也。「如富長者」下十行，頌正付業。上合有二：一、正付業，二、得付歡喜。今頌亦二：初三行，頌正付；次七行，頌得歡喜。初三行中，上總合正付業，今亦總頌，但初一行半牒譬帖合，次一行半正頌合也。「我等今日」下七行，頌第二得付歡喜也。「得道」者，得實相道也。「得果」者，分得大乘習果也。此二句明開佛知也。「於無漏法得清淨眼」者，此二句明開佛見，見實相理也。昔日見無漏不落凡夫，今日見無漏不落二乘也。昔日慧眼見空，今淨眼見中。「持戒報」者，昔持戒梵行共顯無漏，灰身滅智無人受此果報者，今日梵行能得無漏，即了因取果義，持戒即緣因義，清淨眼所見理即正因義。「我等真是聲聞」者，即大乘真位也。十信以一音遍滿三千界，似道非真，入十住即是真也。真阿羅漢有三義，此中但舉應供一義也。若不生變易、殺通別惑，是不生、殺賊義，堪為十法界福田，即應供義，應供、殺賊互相顯也。下十三行，歎佛恩深難報，如文。私謂「世尊大恩」者，一、佛始建慈悲，拔六道苦與四聖樂，普十法界入四弘中，此如來室恩。二、如來行菩薩道示教利喜，曾教我大乘，雖復中忘，智願不失，蓋如來室清涼溫煖，大慈與樂恩。三、眾生遭苦，視父而已，佛伺其宜如犢逐母，備行六度以利眾生，蓋如來室遮寒障熱，大悲拔苦恩。四、佛成道已，應受無為寂滅之樂，而隱其神德，用貧所樂法五戒十善，冷水灑面令得醒悟，蓋是佛衣遮貪欲熱恩。五、示老比丘像，方便附近與一日價，蓋是佛衣除見寒愛熱恩。六、過是已後，心相體信彈訶貶斥，令恥小慕大，蓋佛衣遮醜陋恩。七、命領家業，金銀庫藏皆悉令知，蓋是佛衣與我莊嚴恩。八、會親族、定父子、付以家業，無上寶聚不求自得，蓋如來座恩。九、十，既坐座已，身意泰然快得安隱，以佛道聲令一切聞，一切天人普於其中應受供養，蓋如來座令我具足，自行化他恩。世尊大恩，兩肩荷負所不能報，此之謂也。 〔T34 0090b17〕妙法蓮華經文句卷第六下
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
《妙法蓮華經文句》第六卷下，天台智者大師說。
一、八十六行半怎樣分科
這一段共有八十六行半偈。前七十三行半重頌上文，後十三行讚歎佛恩深重。
前七十三行半又分兩段：最初兩行頌法說，後七十一行半頌譬說。法說部分沒有重頌『不求』，只頌『自得』。譬說又分兩段：前四十一偈頌開譬，後三十偈半頌合譬。上文開譬有父子相失、父子相見、委付作業、付與財物四段，這裡四段全都重頌。
二、父子相失：次第雖換，四事不少
最初十三行頌父子相失。上文的相失譬有四事：第一，兒子背離父親；第二，父親尋找兒子；第三，兒子逐漸回來；第四，父親思念兒子。偈頌也有這四事，只是次第不同。
第一段一行半，頌兒子背父而去。第二段七行，頌父親尋子而不得。第三段兩行，越過原有次第，先頌父親憂念更深。第四段兩行半，回頭補頌兒子漸漸回到父親附近。上文四段各有兩層，偈中也依各段的取捨來頌。
『譬如』以下一行半，只頌兒子背父離去，沒有頌他朝某一國土回來。《火宅譬》中說長者所統領的國、城、聚落，語義較寬；這裡則以窮子輪迴三界為『流轉諸國』，以往來六道為『五十餘年』。
『父親憂念』以下七行，是父親尋子不得。上文有兩層，這裡也頌兩層：先以半行頌尋覓不到兒子；從『尋找已經疲倦』以下六偈半，頌父親並不因失去一子便廢棄家業。
『向四方尋求』與上文的四方不同。上文是依四諦推究道理，這裡是觀察四種出生形態，尋找可以度化的根機。『建立房舍』，是說在有餘國中有有餘涅槃；以慈悲建立可安止之舍，依性空為宅。『往來的人很多』，是說各方國土的菩薩往來聽法。
『年紀衰老』以下兩行，越次頌父親憂念更深。上文有兩層，這裡只頌：先前失去了兒子，現在又苦於家業無人委付，所以心中憂愁。
『這時窮子尋求衣食』以下兩行半，追頌兒子漸漸回到父親附近。上文有兩層，偈中也有兩層。最初兩行說明他接近父親的原因，是四處尋求衣食；『漸次經歷』以下半行，才正式頌他走近父親所在的城。
在尋食而近父這一層，『從一城邑到另一城邑』，是以根與塵彼此涉入比作邑，以十八界比作國。修習有漏善法，比作『有所得』；修習二乘善法，比作『無所得』。沒有得到大乘法食，所以名為飢餓；沒有強大的作用，所以名為羸弱；沒有廣大功德，所以名為瘦削；又在有、無兩類善法上生起見惑、思惑，所以比作瘡癬。
三、父子相見：兒子先見父，父親後見子
從『受僱作工』以下七行半，頌父子相見。上文有兩段，偈中也有兩段：前六行半頌兒子看見父親，後一行頌父親看見兒子。
上文說兒子見父有四事，這裡頌其中三事。第一，最初半行說明見父的原因：窮子為了受僱，終於來到父舍。第二，從『這時長者』以下兩行半，頌他所見父親的形相。上文另說見父的地方在門側；偈中說『長者在門內』，已兼含地點。寶帳等莊嚴，正是窮子所見的父相；長者坐在師子座上。法身是師、是王，報身與應身如長者；『注記券疏』就是授記並說明修行。依本論自釋，廣說以顯出簡略名為注，給予決定名為記，四弘誓願如券，修行如疏。第三，『窮子看見父親』以下三行半，頌他生起恐懼而逃避的心。
從『長者這時』以下一行，頌父親看見兒子。上文有四事：第一，見子的地方；第二，一見便認得；第三，見後歡喜；第四，正合心願。偈中只頌兩事：前半行頌見子的地方；從『遠遠看見』以下半行，頌父親一見便認出了兒子。
四、追捉不成，改用方便誘引
從『立即命令使者把他追回來』以下十行半，頌上文的追逐與誘引。
前半是從旁追捉，共三行。上文旁人追子的過程有三事：第一次呼喚，兒子不來；再次呼喚，仍不來；最後放他離去。偈中最初三句頌第一次呼喚，說明兒子的根機尚未相應，所以不來；『昏迷倒地』以下一句，頌第二次呼喚仍不來；『這個人』以下兩行，頌根機尚未成熟，也就是上文解釋放捨的意思。
從『立即運用方便』以下七行半，是暗中派遣兩人誘引窮子。上文有僱人作工與教他作工兩段，偈中也有兩段：最初三行頌僱作譬，後四行半頌教作譬。
上文僱作有四事：第一施設方便，第二尋求而得到窮子，第三陳說工作，第四議定工價、叫他除糞。偈中只頌兩事：最初兩行頌施設方便；從『窮子聽見』以下一行，頌議價除糞。
施設方便時所說的五種形貌各有所指。『一目偏盲』表示偏於空；『身材矮小』表示不能窮盡實相的根源；『形貌醜陋』表示橫向狹隘，沒有大乘眾善作莊嚴；不具四種無畏，所以說沒有威勢；不同於常、樂、我、淨，所以說沒有德。從『窮子聽見』以下，是約定工價而除糞；所清除的是六根之房、五陰之舍。
從『長者在窗內』以下四行半，頌教他作工。上文有四事，偈中也四事俱全：最初半行頌長者在窗中觀看；『想到兒子愚鈍低劣』以下半行，頌他的羸弱瘦削；『於是長者穿上』以下一行，頌長者脫去華美衣服、換上粗劣衣服；『以方便接近』以下兩行半，頌正式教他工作。
上文正式教作有七科法門。『對他說話』，合於四念處；『叫他勤快工作』，合於四正勤；『再增加你的工價』以下一行，頌四如意足；『用油塗腳』，是說塗油能使雙腳踏過深水，如同神通，又能除風，使禪定不散亂；『飲食充足』，就是上文的米與麵；『墊褥厚暖』，是觀、練、熏、修等禪定，能除去散動。『這樣苦切地告訴你應當勤作』半行，總頌第四安慰與第五離五種過失；根、力既已成就，才承受得了這樣的苦切勸告。『又以柔軟的話』半行，總頌第六為他取字與第七令他經常工作；這兩件事都表示兒子的地位。
五、委領家業二十年，仍未自行取財
從『長者有智慧』以下十行，頌上文領受與付與家業。上文有付業的由來與正式付業兩段，偈中也有兩段：最初三行半頌付業之由，後六行半頌正式付業。
付業之由又有兩層。『長者有智慧』以下半行，總頌父子心意相互信任，也就是兒子能自由出入。『經過二十年』以下三行，頌委託他掌理家業。
上文委業有命令與領受兩面，偈中只頌領受命令。上文說領受命令有四事，偈中只頌三事：第一，一行半頌領命；第二，『仍舊住在門外』以下一行，頌仍居原來地位，尚未捨去低劣之心；第三，『父親知道兒子的心意』以下半行，頌他的心意已漸通達，志向轉大，大乘根機開始發動。
此處的『二十年』不能與前文作同一解釋。前文以除去見惑、思惑名為二十；這裡則是指執作家中事務。本論又記三種不同的說法。第一種說：轉說大乘教法來教導各位菩薩，斷除大乘別惑中的見惑、思惑，名為二十年。第二種說：宣說般若的時期很長，總共二十年。第三種說：安住二乘地位而轉說大乘教法，名為二十年。本論又引《仁王般若》所傳，說摩訶般若宣說了二十八年。
從『想要把財物交給他』以下六行半，頌正式付與家業。上文分正式付業與得到付與後歡喜兩段，偈中也是如此：前四行半頌正式付業，後兩行頌得付歡喜。
上文正式付業有四事，偈中只頌三事，沒有頌付業的時節。『想要交給』以下一行，頌第二事：召集親族。『在這大眾之中』以下兩行半，頌第三事：確定父子的天性關係。『凡是我所擁有的』以下一行，頌第四事：正式交付。『兒子想起從前貧窮』以下兩行，頌得到付與後的歡喜。
六、從譬轉合：先總合前三段
從『佛也是如此』以下進入合譬。這一段不可把譬中的人物、器物直接說成經文已自行宣稱的法義；本論是在這裡逐段把譬與法相合。
『佛也是如此』，合第一父子相失。『知道我們喜愛小法』一句，合父子相見。『不曾對我們說』兩句，頌合第三追逐、呼喚。上文合追喚分再次呼喚仍不來與因此放捨兩事；偈中只總頌其意。『而說我們』以下一行，頌合暗中派遣兩人誘引。上文合齊教與探教兩章，偈中這一行也只總頌其意。
七、受命轉教，卻仍沒有希求
從『佛命令我們』以下二十八行半，頌合領受家業。上文合譬有彼此相信與委領家業兩段；這裡前十八行半只頌合委業，後十行頌合正式付業。
上文領受命令只有兩事：第一受命，第二沒有希求取用。偈中先用一整行長頌命令他們掌領、知悉家業；這是上文長行所沒有的內容。所說『最上的道』，就是空般若，再沒有能超過它的。
以下十七行半，正式頌領受命令與沒有希求取用等事；沒有頌不捨本位，也沒有頌心意通泰。
『我們承受佛的教令』以下五行，頌正式受命。佛子聽法而得到授記，是說他們轉說教法，使別人獲益；在那時，他們只以為自己是在轉教、教化菩薩，並不認為這份利益也屬於自己。
『如同那位窮子』以下十二行半，頌沒有希求取用，並比上文說得更廣。它又分兩段：最初一行先重提譬喻，再貼合到法義；『我們雖然宣說』以下十一行半，正式合沒有希求取用。
後十一行半再分三段。第一，最初一行正頌沒有希求取用。第二，『我們內心已經滅除』以下九行半，說明智慧與斷除兩方面都已具足，所以沒有希求；其中又分標明、解釋、總結三層。
標明一層有兩事：最初一行標明斷德已具足，所以沒有希求；『我們如果聽見』以下一行，標明智德已具足，所以沒有希求。『為什麼呢』以下六行，同時解釋智慧與斷除兩章。『我們雖然替佛子宣說』以下一行半，是第三層，總結說明自己沒有希求取用。第三大段，『導師看見』以下一行，說明佛觀察他們的心意，暫時捨置他們，不先勸進；這仍是合沒有希求取用。
八、正式交付，今日才知所得
『如同富有長者』以下十行，頌合正式付業。上文分正式付業與得到付與後歡喜兩段，偈中也分兩段：最初三行頌正式交付，後七行頌得到後歡喜。
最初三行中，上文只是總合正式付業，偈中也總頌其意；其中前一行半重提譬喻並貼合法義，後一行半才正式頌合。
『我們今日』以下七行，頌得到付與後的歡喜。『得道』，是得到實相之道；『得果』，是分得大乘的習果。這兩句說明開顯佛知。『在無漏法中得到清淨之眼』，說明開顯佛見，也就是照見實相之理。從前所見的無漏不墮凡夫，今日所見的無漏也不墮二乘；從前以慧眼見空，今日以清淨之眼見中。
『持戒所得的果報』，是說從前持戒、修梵行，共同顯出無漏；但以灰身滅智為究竟時，已經沒有人承受這一果報。今日所修梵行能得到無漏，便有三因取果：梵行能夠了達，是了因取果；持戒是緣因；清淨眼所見之理是正因。
『我們真是聲聞』，是大乘中的真實位。十信能以一音遍滿三千世界，只是相似之道，還不是真實；進入十住，才是真實。
真阿羅漢有三義，這裡只舉應受供養一義。若不再生於變易生死，斷除通惑與別惑，便顯出不生與殺賊二義；堪作十法界的福田，便顯出應供義。應供與殺賊彼此相顯。
九、十三行十恩：兩肩也荷負不起
最後十三行讚歎佛恩深重、難以報答。以下是本論依偈義所作的十項分判。
第一恩，佛最初建立慈悲，拔除六道之苦，給與四聖之樂，把普遍利益十法界的願行攝入四弘誓願。這是如來室之恩。
第二恩，如來行菩薩道，以示、教、利、喜教導眾生，曾經教導我們大乘；我們後來雖然遺忘，佛的智慧與誓願並未失去。這如同如來之室清涼而溫暖，是大慈與樂之恩。
第三恩，眾生遭受苦惱，只能仰望父親；佛察看眾生所宜，如小牛追隨母牛，完備修行六度以利益眾生。這如同如來之室遮寒、隔熱，是大悲拔苦之恩。
第四恩，佛成道以後，本可安享無為寂滅之樂，卻隱藏自己的神德，運用貧窮眾生所喜愛的五戒、十善，如用冷水灑面，使他們甦醒。這是佛衣遮除貪欲熱惱之恩。
第五恩，佛示現年老比丘的形象，以方便接近，給與一日工價。這是佛衣除去見惑之寒、愛欲之熱的恩。
第六恩，經過這些以後，父子心意相互信任；佛又加以彈斥、訶責、貶抑，使我們以小法為恥、仰慕大法。這是佛衣遮掩醜陋之恩。
第七恩，佛命令我們掌領家業，使金、銀與各種庫藏都得知悉。這是佛衣給與莊嚴之恩。
第八恩，佛召集親族，確定父子關係，把家業正式交付；無上的寶聚因此不經求取而自然得到。這是如來座之恩。
第九恩與第十恩，是既已坐在如來座上，身心安泰，快得安穩；又以佛道之聲使一切眾生聽聞，我們應普受一切天、人供養。這是如來座使我們具足自行與化他的恩。
世尊的廣大恩德，即使用兩肩荷負，也無法報答。偈頌所說的難報，正是這個意思。
Volume six, latter part, of the Fahua Wenju (Words and Phrases of the Lotus), taught by the Tiantai Master Zhizhe.
I. How the Eighty-Six and a Half Lines Are Divided
This passage contains eighty-six and a half lines of verse. The first seventy-three and a half repeat the preceding prose, while the final thirteen praise the profundity of the Buddha’s kindness.
The first seventy-three and a half lines are further divided in two: the initial two lines chant the Dharma teaching, and the following seventy-one and a half chant the parable. The Dharma teaching does not repeat “not seeking”; it chants only “attaining of itself.” The parable likewise has two parts: the first forty-one verses chant the opening of the parable, and the following thirty and a half chant its application. The preceding opening of the parable contained four passages—father and son becoming separated, father and son seeing one another, commissioning him with the work, and entrusting him with the possessions—and the verse repeats all four.
II. Father and Son Become Separated: The Order Changes, but None of the Four Matters Is Missing
The first thirteen lines chant the separation of father and son. The preceding parable of separation contained four matters: first, the son turns his back on his father; second, the father searches for his son; third, the son gradually returns; and fourth, the father thinks anxiously of his son. The verse also has these four matters, though in a different order.
The first passage, one and a half lines, chants the son turning his back on his father and departing. The second, seven lines, chants the father’s unsuccessful search for his son. The third, two lines, passes over the original order to chant first the father’s deepening anxiety. The fourth, two and a half lines, returns to chant the son’s gradual approach to his father. Each of the four passages in the prose had two layers, and the verse chants them according to what it retains or omits in each passage.
The one and a half lines beginning “Suppose there were” chant only the son turning his back on his father and departing; they do not chant his return toward a certain land. In the burning-house parable, the elder’s dominion over a country, city, and settlement has a broader meaning. Here the poor son’s circling through the three realms is “wandering through various lands,” while his coming and going in the six destinies is “more than fifty years.”
The seven lines beginning “the father thought anxiously” concern the father’s unsuccessful search for his son. The preceding prose had two layers, and the verse chants both: the first half-line chants his failure to find the son; the six and a half verses beginning “wearied by his search” chant that the father does not abandon the family enterprise simply because he has lost one son.
“Searching in the four directions” differs from the four directions in the prose. There it meant investigating principle through the four truths; here it means observing the four modes of birth and seeking capacities that can be liberated. “Building a residence” means that in the land with remainder there is nirvāṇa with remainder: through compassion a place of rest is established, and the emptiness of inherent nature serves as its dwelling. “Many people came and went” means that bodhisattvas from lands throughout the directions came and went to hear the Dharma.
The two lines beginning “advanced in years” pass over the sequence to chant the father’s deepening anxiety. The prose had two layers, but the verse chants only this: he formerly lost his son, and now he also suffers because there is no one to whom he can entrust the family enterprise; hence sorrow fills his mind.
The two and a half lines beginning “At that time the poor son sought clothing and food” return to chant the son’s gradual approach to his father. The prose had two layers, and so does the verse. The first two lines explain why he approaches his father: he goes everywhere seeking clothing and food. Only the half-line beginning “gradually passing through” formally chants his arrival near the city where his father lives.
Within the layer of approaching his father while seeking food, moving “from one city to another” compares cities to the mutual involvement of faculties and objects and countries to the eighteen realms. Cultivating contaminated goodness is compared to “having some gain,” while cultivating the goodness of the two vehicles is compared to “having no gain.” Because he has not obtained Mahāyāna Dharma-food, he is called hungry; because he lacks powerful function, he is called weak; because he lacks vast merit, he is called thin; and because the delusions of view and thought still arise in relation to both kinds of wholesome dharma—with and without acquisition—he is compared to one afflicted with sores and ringworm.
III. Father and Son See One Another: The Son First Sees the Father, Then the Father Sees the Son
The seven and a half lines beginning “hiring himself out for work” chant father and son seeing one another. The prose had two passages, and so does the verse: the first six and a half lines chant the son seeing the father, and the final line chants the father seeing the son.
The prose gave four matters in the son’s seeing the father; the verse chants three. First, the initial half-line explains the cause of his seeing the father: seeking hire, the poor son at last reaches the father’s residence. Second, the two and a half lines beginning “At that time the elder” chant the appearance of the father as the son sees him. The prose separately said that the son saw the father from beside the gate; the verse says “the elder was within the gate,” which already includes the place. Jeweled canopies and the other adornments are precisely the father’s appearance as seen by the poor son, while the elder sits upon a lion throne. The dharma body is teacher and king; the reward body and response body are like the elder. “Registers, records, bonds, and accounts” mean bestowing predictions and explaining practice. According to the root treatise’s own explanation, expounding the extensive to reveal the abbreviated is a register; granting a determination is a record; the four universal vows are like bonds; and practices are like accounts. Third, the three and a half lines beginning “the poor son saw his father” chant the fearful impulse that makes him flee.
The one line beginning “the elder then” chants the father seeing the son. The prose had four matters: first, the place where he sees the son; second, recognizing him at first sight; third, rejoicing upon seeing him; and fourth, finding his wish exactly fulfilled. The verse chants only two: the first half-line chants the place of seeing, and the half-line beginning “seeing him from afar” chants the father’s immediate recognition of his son.
IV. Pursuit and Seizure Fail, So Skillful Means Are Used to Induce Him
The ten and a half lines beginning “he immediately ordered a messenger to pursue and bring him back” chant the preceding pursuit and inducement.
The first half concerns open pursuit and seizure and consists of three lines. The preceding pursuit of the son by another person had three matters: at the first summons, the son does not come; at the second summons, he still does not come; and finally he is released. The first three phrases of the verse chant the first summons, explaining that his capacity is not yet responsive and therefore he does not come. The phrase beginning “he fainted and fell to the ground” chants that he still does not come at the second summons. The two lines beginning “this man” chant that his capacity is not yet mature, which is the meaning of the preceding explanation for releasing him.
The seven and a half lines beginning “he immediately employed skillful means” concern secretly sending two men to induce the poor son. The prose had two passages, hiring him to work and teaching him how to work, and so does the verse: the first three lines chant the parable of hiring him, and the final four and a half chant the parable of teaching him.
The hiring in the prose had four matters: first, setting up a skillful means; second, seeking out and finding the poor son; third, explaining the work; and fourth, negotiating the wage and telling him to clear dung. The verse chants only two: the first two lines chant setting up the skillful means, and the one line beginning “the poor son heard this” chants negotiating the wage and clearing dung.
Each of the five physical features used in setting up the skillful means has a referent. “Blind in one eye” indicates partiality toward emptiness. “Short in stature” indicates inability to reach the source of the real mark. “Ugly in appearance” indicates narrowness across the breadth, without the adornment of the Mahāyāna’s manifold wholesome qualities. Because he does not possess the four fearlessnesses, he is said to have no imposing presence; because he differs from permanence, bliss, self, and purity, he is said to have no virtue. Beginning with “the poor son heard this,” the wage is agreed upon and he clears dung; what is cleared are the house of the six faculties and the dwelling of the five aggregates.
The four and a half lines beginning “the elder was within the window” chant teaching him to work. The prose had four matters, and the verse includes all four: the first half-line chants the elder observing through the window; the half-line beginning “thinking that his son was foolish and inferior” chants the son’s weakness and thinness; the one line beginning “the elder then put on” chants the elder’s removal of fine clothing and change into coarse garments; and the two and a half lines beginning “drawing near through skillful means” chant the formal instruction in the work.
The formal instruction in the prose contained seven sets of teachings. “He spoke to him” corresponds to the four foundations of mindfulness. “He told him to work diligently” corresponds to the four right efforts. The one line beginning “I will further increase your wages” chants the four bases of supernormal power. “Applying oil to the feet” means that oil enables both feet to tread through deep water, like supernormal powers, and also dispels wind so that concentration does not become scattered. “Food and drink in abundance” are the rice and flour of the prose. “Thick and warm bedding” means the contemplative, refining, perfuming, and cultivating concentrations that remove distraction. The half-line “Thus I speak to you sternly: you must work diligently” collectively chants the fourth matter, comforting him, and the fifth, freeing him from five faults; only after faculties and powers have matured can he bear such stern exhortation. The half-line “and again in gentle words” collectively chants the sixth matter, giving him a name, and the seventh, having him work constantly; both indicate the son’s standing.
V. Commissioned with the Family Enterprise for Twenty Years, He Still Does Not Take the Wealth for Himself
The ten lines beginning “the elder possessed wisdom” chant the preceding receipt and entrustment of the family enterprise. The prose had the occasion for commissioning him with the estate and the formal commission, and so does the verse: the first three and a half lines chant the occasion, and the final six and a half chant the formal commission.
The occasion has two further layers. The half-line beginning “the elder possessed wisdom” collectively chants the mutual trust between father and son, which is the son’s freedom to enter and leave. The three lines beginning “after twenty years had passed” chant the commission to manage the family enterprise.
The prose presented both the command and its reception, but the verse chants only the reception of the command. The prose gave four matters in receiving it, of which the verse chants three: first, one and a half lines chant receiving the command; second, the one line beginning “he still lived outside the gate” chants his continued residence in his original position and his failure to relinquish his inferior mind; and third, the half-line beginning “the father knew his son’s mind” chants the gradual opening of his mind, the enlargement of his aspiration, and the initial activation of his Mahāyāna capacity.
The “twenty years” here cannot be explained in the same way as in the preceding passage. There, removing the delusions of view and thought was called twenty; here it refers to conducting the household affairs. The root treatise also records three different explanations. The first says that transmitting the Mahāyāna teaching to instruct bodhisattvas and severing the delusions of view and thought among the distinct Mahāyāna delusions is called twenty years. The second says that the Prajñā teachings were spoken over a long period totaling twenty years. The third says that abiding in the position of the two vehicles while transmitting the Mahāyāna teaching is called twenty years. The root treatise further cites the tradition of the Humane Kings Prajñā, according to which the Mahāprajñāpāramitā was taught for twenty-eight years.
The six and a half lines beginning “wishing to hand the possessions over to him” chant the formal entrustment of the family enterprise. The prose divided this into formally entrusting the estate and rejoicing after receiving it, and so does the verse: the first four and a half lines chant the formal entrustment, and the final two chant the joy of receiving it.
The formal entrustment in the prose had four matters, of which the verse chants three, omitting the occasion for entrustment. The one line beginning “wishing to entrust” chants the second matter, assembling the relatives. The two and a half lines beginning “amid this great assembly” chant the third, determining the natural relation of father and son. The one line beginning “everything that I possess” chants the fourth, formally handing it over. The two lines beginning “the son recalled his former poverty” chant his joy upon receiving the entrustment.
VI. Turning from Parable to Application: First Applying the First Three Passages Collectively
Beginning with “the Buddha is likewise thus,” the text enters the application of the parable. One must not directly treat the people and objects in the parable as Dharma meanings that the scripture has already asserted on its own; only here does the root treatise apply the parable to the Dharma passage by passage.
“The Buddha is likewise thus” applies the first passage, father and son becoming separated. The phrase “knowing that we delighted in the Lesser” applies their seeing one another. The two phrases “He never told us” chant the application of the third passage, pursuit and summons. The prose application of pursuit and summons distinguished a second summons that still failed from the consequent release; the verse chants only their overall meaning. The one line beginning “but told us” chants the application of secretly sending two men to induce him. The prose applied the two chapters of correspondence with the teaching and exploratory teaching; here too the verse chants only their overall meaning.
VII. Receiving the Command to Transmit the Teaching, Yet Still Having No Wish to Seek
The twenty-eight and a half lines beginning “the Buddha commanded us” chant the application of receiving the family enterprise. The prose application had the two passages of mutual trust and commission with the family estate; here the first eighteen and a half lines chant only the application of the commission, while the final ten chant the formal entrustment.
The prose account of receiving the command had only two matters: first, receiving the command, and second, having no wish to seek or use the possessions. The verse first uses a full line at length to chant the command that they manage and understand the family estate; this content was absent from the preceding prose. The “supreme Way” spoken of here is the prajñā of emptiness, beyond which nothing can pass.
The following seventeen and a half lines formally chant receiving the command, having no wish to seek or use the possessions, and related matters. They do not chant remaining in the original position or the opening and unobstructed state of mind.
The five lines beginning “we received the Buddha’s command” chant the formal reception of the command. Buddha-sons hearing the Dharma and receiving predictions means that the disciples transmit the teaching so that others benefit. At the time, they believe only that they are transmitting the teaching and instructing bodhisattvas; they do not regard this benefit as belonging to themselves as well.
The twelve and a half lines beginning “like that poor son” chant their lack of any wish to seek or use the possessions, expanding beyond the prose. This passage has two parts: the first line briefly brings up the parable again and applies it to the Dharma; the eleven and a half lines beginning “although we proclaimed” formally apply the absence of any wish to seek or use them.
The latter eleven and a half lines are divided into three passages. First, the initial line formally chants that they have no wish to seek or use the possessions. Second, the nine and a half lines beginning “within ourselves we had already extinguished” explain that both wisdom and severance are complete and therefore they have no wish to seek; this explanation has the three layers of heading, explanation, and conclusion.
The heading layer has two matters: the first line indicates that the virtue of severance is already complete and therefore they have no wish to seek; the one line beginning “if we heard” indicates that the virtue of wisdom is already complete and therefore they have no wish to seek. The six lines beginning “Why is this?” explain together the chapters of wisdom and severance. The one and a half lines beginning “although we proclaimed it for buddha-sons” form the third layer, concluding that they had no wish to seek or use the possessions. The third main passage, the one line beginning “the Guide saw,” explains that the Buddha observes their intention, temporarily sets them aside, and does not first exhort them forward; this too applies their lack of any wish to take.
VIII. Formal Entrustment: Only Today Do They Know What They Have Attained
The ten lines beginning “just like the wealthy elder” chant the application of the formal entrustment. The prose divided this into the formal entrustment and rejoicing after receiving it, and so does the verse: the first three lines chant the formal entrustment, and the final seven chant their joy after receiving it.
Within the first three lines, the prose merely applied the formal entrustment collectively, and the verse likewise chants its overall meaning. The first one and a half lines briefly bring up the parable again and apply it to the Dharma; the final one and a half lines formally chant the application.
The seven lines beginning “today we” chant their joy upon receiving the entrustment. “Attaining the Way” means attaining the Way of the real mark; “attaining the fruit” means partially attaining the Mahāyāna fruit of cultivation. These two phrases clarify the opening and revealing of the Buddha’s knowledge. “Attaining the pure eye within the uncontaminated Dharma” clarifies the opening and revealing of the Buddha’s vision: seeing and illuminating the principle of the real mark. The uncontaminated seen formerly did not fall among ordinary beings; the uncontaminated seen today also does not fall within the two vehicles. Formerly, the wisdom-eye saw emptiness; today, the pure eye sees the middle.
“The recompense obtained from maintaining the precepts” means that formerly maintaining the precepts and cultivating pure conduct together revealed the uncontaminated; but when reducing the body to ashes and extinguishing cognition was taken as ultimate, there was no one left to receive this recompense. Pure conduct cultivated today can obtain the uncontaminated, and thus three causes take up the fruit: pure conduct’s capacity to understand is the revealing cause; maintaining the precepts is the conditioning cause; and the principle seen by the pure eye is the direct cause.
“We are true śrāvakas” means the real position within the Great Vehicle. At the ten faiths one can fill a trichiliocosm with a single sound, but this is only the path of resemblance and is not yet real; only entry into the ten abodes is real.
A true arhat has three meanings, of which this passage gives only worthiness of offerings. If one is no longer born in transformation birth-and-death and severs both shared and distinct delusions, the two meanings of no further birth and slayer of thieves are revealed. Becoming a field of merit for the ten Dharma realms reveals the meaning of one worthy of offerings. Worthiness of offerings and slaying the thieves mutually disclose one another.
IX. Thirteen Lines and Ten Kindnesses: Even Two Shoulders Cannot Bear the Debt
The final thirteen lines praise the profundity of the Buddha’s kindness and the difficulty of repaying it. What follows is the root treatise’s tenfold division according to the meaning of the verse.
The first kindness is that the Buddha initially establishes compassion, removes the suffering of the six destinies, grants the joy of the four noble states, and gathers vows and practices that universally benefit the ten Dharma realms into the four universal vows. This is the kindness of the Tathāgata’s room.
The second kindness is that, while practicing the bodhisattva path, the Tathāgata teaches living beings through demonstration, instruction, benefit, and joy and formerly instructed us in the Great Vehicle. Although we later forgot it, the Buddha did not lose His wisdom or vows. This resembles the Tathāgata’s room, cool yet warm: the kindness of great loving-kindness that grants joy.
The third kindness is that when living beings undergo suffering and distress, they can only look up to their father. The Buddha observes what is fitting for living beings, as a calf follows its mother, and fully cultivates the six perfections to benefit them. This resembles the Tathāgata’s room, which shields from cold and insulates from heat: the kindness of great compassion that removes suffering.
The fourth kindness is that after attaining the Way the Buddha could have enjoyed the quiescent bliss of the unconditioned, yet He conceals His own supernormal virtue and employs the five precepts and ten wholesome courses cherished by impoverished living beings, as though sprinkling cold water on their faces to revive them. This is the kindness of the Buddha’s robe, which shields them from the feverish distress of craving.
The fifth kindness is that the Buddha manifests the appearance of an elderly monk, draws near through skillful means, and gives a day’s wages. This is the kindness of the Buddha’s robe, which removes the cold of the delusions of view and the heat of craving.
The sixth kindness is that after these events father and son come to trust one another; the Buddha further rebukes, reproves, and humbles us, causing us to feel shame for the lesser Dharma and aspire to the great Dharma. This is the kindness of the Buddha’s robe, which covers ugliness.
The seventh kindness is that the Buddha commands us to manage the family enterprise, enabling us to know the gold, silver, and various treasuries. This is the kindness of the Buddha’s robe, which bestows adornment.
The eighth kindness is that the Buddha assembles the relatives, determines the relation of father and son, and formally entrusts the family estate; the unsurpassed mass of jewels is thereby obtained of itself without being sought. This is the kindness of the Tathāgata’s seat.
The ninth and tenth kindnesses are that, having sat upon the Tathāgata’s seat, body and mind are peaceful and secure, swiftly attaining ease; and that we cause all living beings to hear through the voice of the Buddha Way and should universally receive offerings from all gods and humans. These are the kindnesses of the Tathāgata’s seat that equip us for our own practice and the transformation of others.
The World-Honored One’s vast kindness cannot be repaid even if borne upon both shoulders. This is precisely what the verse means by the difficulty of repayment.
已經替佛掌管庫藏、轉說大法的人，為何仍認定其中沒有一物屬於自己？《信解品》的偈頌不只重述窮子譬喻，更把這個疑問從相失、相見、追誘，一路推到付財與歎恩。財物始終都在，父子天性也始終沒有改變；真正漫長的，是兒子從驚怖逃走到敢於領受的過程。
一、為何先數八十六行半
問：一段偈頌，何必先把行數算得如此細密？
答：因為本論要讓讀者看清兩條線同時前進。八十六行半之中，前七十三行半重頌上文，後十三行轉入歎恩。重頌又先以兩行承接法說，再用七十一行半展開譬說；譬說則以四十一偈開譬，以三十偈半合譬。這些數目不是外加的裝飾，而是標出偈頌何處仍在敘事、何處開始顯明譬義、何處由得到家業轉成知恩難報。
法說兩行只頌自得，不頌不求。這個取捨已經預告全段的關鍵：弟子最後所得確是自己本來未曾料想的，但在得以前，長久沒有希求取用。譬說把這一距離展成父子相失、相見、委業、付財四事；偈頌雖調換部分先後，四事並沒有缺失。
二、相失為何不是父親遺棄兒子
問：父子既然相失，責任是否各在一半？
答：偈中最初說的是兒子背父而去。輪迴諸國、經過五十餘年，是窮子離父後的流轉；父親則不因失去一子便廢棄家業，仍然四方尋求可度的根機，建立舍宅，接引往來聽法的人。兒子離開，父親並未停止尋找；所以相失的表面是兩地隔絕，內裡卻有一方始終憂念。
這也說明父親為何越到年老，憂念越深。祂不是擔心財產無人佔有，而是苦於家業無人可以委付。財富若只留在庫中，便沒有完成父親的心願；兒子若一直在外求食，也不知道自己所求的一切原來就在父家。
兒子如何漸漸回來？不是先知道父親是誰，而是因飢餓而尋找衣食，從城邑走到另一城邑，終於靠近父城。本論把根塵相涉、十八界、有所得善、無所得善，一一放入這段行旅，又把不得大乘法食、缺少力用與功德、在善法上仍起見思，分別說成飢、羸、瘦與瘡癬。譬中的困頓因此不是含混的一團貧苦；每一種形貌，都指出兒子當時能行到哪裡、尚缺少什麼。
三、父親愈莊嚴，兒子為何愈害怕
問：窮子終於走到父舍，為何不是歡喜，而是恐懼逃避？
答：因為相見並不等於相認。兒子為受僱而來，只看見門內的長者坐在師子座上，寶帳、券疏與眾多侍從環繞；他看到的是自己不能承當的威勢。法身如師、如王，報身與應身如長者，注、記、券、疏則展開授記與修行：廣說顯略是注，授與決定是記，誓願如券，依願修行如疏。父親所顯的是完整家業，兒子所感的卻是逼近禍患。
於是，同一場相見有兩種完全不同的認識。兒子只知道自己卑賤，不知道座上之人是父親；父親遠遠看見，卻立即認出兒子。上文說父見子有見處、一見即識、見而歡喜、正合所願四事，偈中只取見處與即識。父親的歡喜雖未另頌，後續所有追誘、教作與付財，正由這個認識發動。
四、為何強行追回反而必須放手
問：父親已經認出兒子，命人把他捉回來，豈不是最快的辦法？
答：第一次呼喚，兒子不來；再次呼喚，他甚至驚怖昏迷。父親因此放捨，不是放棄兒子，而是看見眼前尚無承受的根機。若只憑父親的力量把他拖進宅中，兒子所經驗的仍是威脅，不會因此知道父子關係。追捉失敗，正顯出付與不能越過領受者的能力。
所以明追改為密遣，華服使者改成形貌卑陋的兩人，所談的不是繼承家業，而是一日工價與除糞工作。偏空如一目有缺，不能窮實相之源如身形短小，缺少眾善莊嚴如形貌狹陋；無威與無德也各有所指。父親不是把這些缺陷奉為究竟，而是以兒子能接近的樣子，使他先肯入門工作。
教作又不是一句籠統的勸勤。父親從窗內觀看，知道兒子愚劣羸瘦，便脫去華美衣服、換上粗衣，親近而教。語言、勤作、增加工價、油塗雙足、飲食、墊褥、苦切之言、柔軟之語，在本論中各有次第。四念處、四正勤、四如意足，乃至能除散動的定學，都隨除糞工作的細節展開；先安慰，令其離過，再苦切督促，最後以軟語使他取得兒子之名、常在家中作業。這不是一舉宣布身分，而是使他逐步具有承擔身分的能力。
五、二十年之後，為何還住在門外
問：父子已能互信，兒子又掌理家業二十年，為何仍不敢取一餐之值？
答：本段的二十年，正解是執作家事，不與前文除見思的二十年相同。本論另錄三說：或以轉說大乘、教導菩薩並斷大乘別惑中的見思為二十年；或以般若宣說時間長達二十年為二十年；或以住二乘位而轉說大乘為二十年。記錄異說並沒有沖淡正文的主判，反而顯明此處所重在於長久經辦家事。
經辦與所有並不是同一回事。兒子能出入庫藏、領受命令、知悉財物，表示父子已經心意相互信任；他仍住門外、不捨劣心，表示內在的自我認定尚未改變。直到父親知道他的志向漸大、根機發動，才召集親族，在大眾前確定父子天性，把所有財物正式交付。
這裡最值得留意的，不是財物忽然從無變有。父親所說的是：凡我所有，全都付你。兒子所得的驚喜，來自同一座庫藏忽然改變了意義。從前他只替別人計算、出納；今日才知道掌管已久的財物正是父親交給自己的家業。窮困的回憶沒有被抹去，卻成為不求自得之喜所以深切的原因。
六、合譬為何不能倒灌回譬中
問：既然長者、窮子、家業終究都有法義，讀譬時能否一開始便把每一人物直接說成法？
答：本論自己標出轉折。譬段先讓父子相失、相見、追誘、委業、付財依故事次第成立；到了佛亦如是以下，才逐段相合。佛知弟子樂小，先不直說他們有佛分；追喚不能使他們承受，便以方便教法誘引；受命轉教時，他們使佛子聞法得記，仍以為只是替菩薩宣說，從未想到這也正是自己的所得。
因此，譬與合必須相照而不相混。譬中父親如何行事，顯出接引的耐心；合譬才明說弟子如何承佛教命、轉教利他。若把合譬所配的法提前倒入譬段，就會使兒子尚未認父時已經擁有後來的理解，也會抹掉全段最重要的轉變。
合領家業的篇幅很長，因為無希取不是一句便可說盡。弟子先受命，再說自己並無希求；又以斷德與智德分別標明、雙釋，最後總結即使為佛子說法，自己仍不企取。這不是沒有接觸大法，而是日日處理大法，卻仍把它看作別人的財物。佛觀察他們的心意，暫時捨置他們，不先勸進；這仍是在說沒有希求取用。
七、今日所得，究竟改變了什麼
問：正式交付以後，弟子說今日得道、得果、得到清淨眼，與從前有何不同？
答：本論說，得道是得實相道，得果是分得大乘習果；前者開佛知，清淨眼所見之理則開佛見。從前見無漏，只是不落凡夫；今日見無漏，也不再落於二乘。從前慧眼見空，今日淨眼見中。改變的不只是多知道一項教義，而是所見的實相與自己的位置同時被打開。
持戒梵行也因此不再導向一個無人承受的果報。梵行成為了因，持戒成為緣因，清淨眼所見之理成為正因。真聲聞不再只是傳遞別人的聲音；真阿羅漢也不只在斷盡上立名，還以堪受十法界供養顯出應供。從受命轉說到真實所得，同一個利他之行終於不再與自身成就分裂。
八、已經得財，為何結尾不是自滿而是歎恩
問：付財已經完成，偈頌為何還要用十三行讚歎恩深難報？
答：因為知道所得，才真正知道一路如何被護持。本論把十恩依如來室、佛衣、如來座分成三恩、四恩、三恩。室先拔苦與樂，又在遺忘之中保存教導眾生的智願；衣使佛隱神德而接近貧子，除其寒熱，遮其醜陋，再以庫藏莊嚴他；座則會親定子、交付寶聚，使他安穩而能以佛道之聲利益一切。
這十恩沒有把弟子變成永遠只能仰望父親的人。前面的恩使他能入室、著衣、坐座；最後的恩，使他具足自行與化他，成為能令一切聞法、堪受天人供養的人。正因父親不是只施捨一件外物，而是把兒子養成能承擔整個家業的人，所以兩肩荷負也不足以報答。
文句記之眼
湛然先校正開譬的閱讀單位：四個標文表面像四章，鏡中卻說「此四標文，文似四章但成三段」〔T34n1719 0286b18〕。這不是刪去本論的父子相失、相見、委業、付財四事，而是提醒讀者：標名與實際行文段落不必一一相等；追誘的細部組織，要到後文才完全顯出。
相失與相見的合譬，也不能各讀一句便停止。湛然說，只取佛亦如是一句合相失，意思仍未顯；只取知我樂小一句合相見，意思也仍未顯，兩句須彼此成就〔0287a04–0287a10〕。鏡眼所補的是句與句之間的承接，不是把後來的法義倒灌回窮子尚在譬中的所見。
在受命一段，鏡中明說偈頌由長行四項只頌三項，所缺的是無希取〔0286c26–0286c28〕；到了合譬，卻又多出譬頌所無的命令與領知〔0287a18–0287a19〕。同一題材並非機械複寫：有處省略，有處增長，必須依每段自己的文字判讀。
鏡中又把『內滅』歸於斷德，把『若聞』歸於智德，並將後面六行排成斷、智、斷、智相間的次第〔0287a19–0287a27〕。這一細排出自湛然；本論正文只明說智、斷兩章及標、釋、結三層，所以只能在此署名承接，不能無署名移入正文義疏。
三條鏡中異說都須連取捨一起讀。把自行配夜、利他配夙之說，湛然判為「此不應爾」〔0286b28〕；祂隨即依字義以夙為晨起、夜為黃昏，再配化初與化末〔0286b28–0286b29〕。以外國地濕、腳裂而須塗油作解，祂明斥「此語甚鄙」〔0286c25〕；注家以天地不求物報、父母不求子謝來說亡報，鏡中則判「今非領亡但領難報」〔0287b24〕。這也顯示鏡解取捨不能與被駁的前說並列為同等可採；讀者要跟著鏡家最後落下的判語，不能只按發語標誌收項。若只摘錄異說而不錄駁語，結論便會恰好反轉。
十恩的收束，鏡中明認如來室三恩、佛衣四恩、如來座三恩，並指出第八是授記之恩，第九、第十使弟子能利益眾生〔0287b01–0287b16〕。因此，難報並非取消弟子的新身分；恰恰因為受恩者已能自行、化他，才看見父親所給的不只是財物，而是承擔家業的全部能力。
Why does one who has already managed the Buddha’s treasuries and transmitted the great Dharma still insist that not one thing within belongs to oneself? The verse in the “Faith and Understanding” chapter does more than repeat the poor-son parable. It carries this question from separation, meeting, and pursuit and inducement all the way through entrusting the possessions and praising kindness. The possessions have always been present, and the natural relation of father and son has never changed. What takes so long is the son’s journey from fleeing in terror to daring to receive.
I. Why Begin by Counting Eighty-Six and a Half Lines?
Question: Why must a passage of verse first have its lines counted so precisely?
Answer: Because the root treatise wants the reader to see two trajectories moving at once. Of the eighty-six and a half lines, the first seventy-three and a half repeat the preceding prose, while the final thirteen turn to praise of kindness. The repetition first uses two lines to continue the Dharma teaching, then seventy-one and a half lines to unfold the parable. The parable uses forty-one verses to open the parable and thirty and a half to apply it. These numbers are not ornaments added from without. They mark where the verse is still narrating, where it begins to reveal the parable’s meaning, and where receiving the family estate turns into recognition that the kindness is difficult to repay.
The two lines of Dharma teaching praise only spontaneous attainment, not non-seeking. This choice already announces the key to the whole passage: what the disciples finally receive is indeed something they had never anticipated, yet before receiving it they long had no wish to seek or use it. The parable unfolds this distance through four matters—separation of father and son, their meeting, commission with the estate, and entrustment of the possessions. Although the verse changes part of their order, none of the four is absent.
II. Why Does Separation Not Mean That the Father Abandoned His Son?
Question: If father and son become separated, do they bear equal responsibility?
Answer: The verse first says that the son turns his back on the father and leaves. Circling through various realms for more than fifty years is the poor son’s wandering after leaving his father. The father does not abandon the family estate because one son is lost. He continues to seek in every direction for capacities that can be liberated, establishes residences, and receives those who come and go to hear the Dharma. The son leaves, but the father never stops searching. Outwardly, separation means dwelling apart; inwardly, one side has never ceased to care.
This also explains why the father’s concern deepens with age. He does not fear that no one will possess his wealth; he suffers because there is no one to whom he can entrust the estate. If the wealth only remains in the treasury, the father’s intention is unfulfilled. If the son continues seeking food outside, he does not know that everything he seeks has always been in his father’s house.
How does the son gradually return? He does not first learn who his father is. Driven by hunger, he seeks clothing and food, passes from one city to another, and finally approaches his father’s city. The root treatise places the interaction of faculties and objects, the eighteen realms, goodness with acquisition, and goodness without acquisition one by one within this journey. It further interprets inability to obtain Mahāyāna Dharma-food, lack of strength and function, lack of merit, and still giving rise to delusions of view and thought amid wholesome dharmas respectively as hunger, weakness, thinness, and sores and ringworm. The distress of the parable is therefore not an indistinct mass of poverty. Each feature shows how far the son can presently travel and what he still lacks.
III. Why Does the Son Become More Afraid as the Father Appears More Majestic?
Question: The poor son has finally reached his father’s residence. Why does he flee in fear rather than rejoice?
Answer: Because seeing one another is not yet recognizing one another. The son comes seeking employment and sees only an elder within the gate, seated on a lion throne and surrounded by jeweled canopies, registers, records, bonds, accounts, and many attendants. What he sees is a majesty he cannot bear. The dharma body is like a teacher and a king, while the reward body and response body are like the elder. Annotation, record, bond, and account unfold prediction and practice: explaining the extensive to reveal the abbreviated is annotation; granting a determination is record; vows are like a bond; and practice according to vows is like an account. The father displays the complete family estate; the son experiences only an approaching calamity.
Thus the same meeting contains two entirely different understandings. The son knows only that he is lowly and does not know that the man upon the seat is his father. The father sees from afar and immediately recognizes his son. The preceding prose says that the father’s seeing the son has four matters—the place of seeing, recognition at first sight, joy upon seeing him, and exact accord with his wish. The verse includes only the place of seeing and immediate recognition. Although the father’s joy is not separately chanted, every pursuit, inducement, instruction in work, and entrustment that follows is activated by this recognition.
IV. Why Must Forcible Retrieval Give Way to Release?
Question: The father has recognized his son and commands someone to seize and bring him back. Is this not the quickest method?
Answer: At the first call the son does not come; at the second, he is so terrified that he loses consciousness. The father therefore releases him. This is not abandoning the son but seeing that no present capacity can bear what is offered. If the father relies only on his own power to drag the son into the house, what the son experiences remains a threat, and he will not thereby know their relation. The failure of pursuit reveals precisely that entrustment cannot leap over the recipient’s capacity.
Open pursuit therefore becomes secret sending; a finely dressed messenger becomes two men of humble appearance; and what they discuss is not inheritance of the estate but a day’s wages and work clearing dung. Partial emptiness is like having only one eye; inability to exhaust the source of the real mark is like short stature; lack of adornment by manifold wholesome qualities is like a narrow and mean appearance; and absence of majesty and virtue each has its own referent. The father does not honor these deficiencies as ultimate. He appears in a form the son can approach so that the son will first agree to enter and work.
Instruction in work is likewise not one general exhortation to diligence. Looking through the window, the father sees that the son is foolish, inferior, weak, and thin. He removes his fine clothing, puts on coarse garments, approaches, and teaches him. Speech, diligent work, increased wages, oil applied to both feet, food and drink, bedding, stern words, and gentle speech each have their sequence in the root treatise. The four foundations of mindfulness, four right efforts, four bases of supernormal power, and even the training in concentration that removes distraction unfold through details of clearing dung. He first comforts the son and enables him to leave faults behind, then presses him sternly, and finally through gentle words has him receive the name “son” and work constantly in the house. This is not identity declared in a single stroke; it gradually gives him the capacity to bear that identity.
V. After Twenty Years, Why Does He Still Live Outside the Gate?
Question: Father and son can now trust one another, and the son has managed the family estate for twenty years. Why does he still not dare take the value of a single meal?
Answer: The primary explanation of twenty years in this passage is conducting the household affairs. It is not the same as the earlier twenty years of removing delusions of view and thought. The root treatise records three further explanations: twenty years may mean transmitting the Great Vehicle, teaching bodhisattvas, and severing the delusions of view and thought among the distinct Mahāyāna delusions; it may refer to a period of twenty years during which the Prajñā teachings were spoken; or it may mean abiding in the position of the two vehicles while transmitting the Great Vehicle. Recording these alternatives does not weaken the body’s primary judgment. It instead shows that the emphasis here is on conducting the household affairs over a long time.
Managing and owning are not the same. The son can enter and leave the treasuries, receive commands, and know the possessions, showing that father and son have come to trust one another. His still dwelling outside the gate and not relinquishing his inferior mind show that his inner judgment of himself has not changed. Only when the father knows that his aspiration is gradually expanding and his capacity is activated does he assemble the relatives, confirm their natural relation before the assembly, and formally entrust all the possessions.
What most deserves attention here is not that possessions suddenly come into being. The father says: everything I possess, I entrust to you. The son’s astonished joy arises because the same treasury suddenly changes meaning. Formerly he only counted and disbursed its contents for someone else. Today he understands that the possessions he has long managed are precisely the family estate his father entrusts to him. The memory of poverty is not erased, but becomes the reason the joy of gaining without seeking is so profound.
VI. Why Must the Application Not Be Poured Backward into the Parable?
Question: Since the elder, poor son, and family estate ultimately all have Dharma meanings, may we read the parable by directly identifying each person with a Dharma from the outset?
Answer: The root treatise itself marks the turn. The parable first lets separation, meeting, pursuit and inducement, commission, and entrustment take shape in the story’s sequence. Only beginning with “the Buddha is likewise thus” does it apply each passage. The Buddha knows that His disciples delight in the Lesser and initially does not directly tell them they have a share in buddhahood. Pursuit and calling cannot make them receive, so He induces them through skillful teachings. When commanded to transmit the teaching, they enable buddha-sons to hear the Dharma and receive predictions, yet still think they merely teach it for bodhisattvas and never imagine that this too is their own attainment.
The parable and its application must therefore illuminate without confusing one another. The father’s actions in the parable reveal the patience of guidance; only the application explicitly explains how the disciples receive the Buddha’s command and transmit the teaching for others’ benefit. Pouring the Dharma correlated in the application backward into the parable would give the son the later understanding while he has not yet recognized his father and would erase the most important transformation in the whole passage.
The application of understanding the family estate is long because no wish to take cannot be exhausted in a single sentence. The disciples first receive the command, then say they have no wish to seek. The text then distinguishes and doubly explains the virtues of severance and wisdom before concluding that even when they teach buddha-sons, they themselves still do not seek to obtain. This is not absence of contact with the great Dharma. They handle the great Dharma every day and still regard it as another’s property. Observing their intention, the Buddha temporarily sets them aside and does not first exhort them forward. This too explains their lack of any wish to take.
VII. What Exactly Changes in What Is Attained Today?
Question: After the formal entrustment, the disciples say that today they have attained the Way, attained the fruit, and attained the pure eye. How does this differ from what came before?
Answer: The root treatise says that attaining the Way means attaining the Way of the real mark, while attaining the fruit means partially attaining the Mahāyāna fruit of cultivation. The former opens the Buddha’s knowledge; the principle seen by the pure eye opens the Buddha’s vision. Formerly, seeing the uncontaminated meant merely not falling among ordinary beings; today, seeing the uncontaminated also means no longer falling within the two vehicles. Formerly, the wisdom-eye saw emptiness; today, the pure eye sees the middle. The change is not merely learning one more doctrine. The real mark that is seen and one’s own position are opened together.
Maintaining the precepts and pure conduct therefore no longer lead to a result with no one to receive it. Pure conduct becomes the revealing cause, maintaining the precepts the conditioning cause, and the principle seen by the pure eye the direct cause. A true śrāvaka no longer merely transmits another’s voice. A true arhat is not named only through exhaustion of severance but also manifests worthiness of offerings by being able to receive offerings from the ten Dharma realms. From transmitting the teaching under command to genuine attainment, the same practice benefiting others is finally no longer split from one’s own accomplishment.
VIII. If the Possessions Have Been Received, Why Does the Passage End Not in Self-Satisfaction but in Praise of Kindness?
Question: The possessions have already been entrusted. Why does the verse still use thirteen lines to praise the profundity of the kindness and the difficulty of repaying it?
Answer: Only by knowing what has been received can one truly know how one was protected along the entire path. The root treatise divides ten kindnesses among the Tathāgata’s room, the Buddha’s robe, and the Tathāgata’s seat as three, four, and three kindnesses. The room first removes suffering and grants joy, then preserves amid forgetfulness the wisdom and vows to teach living beings. The robe causes the Buddha to conceal His supernormal virtue and approach the poor son, remove his cold and heat, cover his ugliness, and adorn him with the treasuries. The seat gathers the relatives, determines the son, entrusts the mass of jewels, makes him secure, and enables him to benefit all through the voice of the Buddha Way.
These ten kindnesses do not turn the disciples into people who can forever only look up at the father. The preceding kindnesses enable them to enter the room, wear the robe, and sit upon the seat. The final kindnesses equip them for both their own practice and transforming others, making them people who can enable all to hear the Dharma and are worthy of offerings from gods and humans. Precisely because the father does not merely give an external object but raises the son into someone capable of bearing the entire estate, even carrying him upon both shoulders cannot repay the kindness.
Through the Eye of the Wenjuji
Zhanran first corrects the unit by which the opening parable is read. Although the four headings appear to form four chapters, the mirror says, “These four headings appear in wording to be four chapters, but form only three passages”〔T34n1719 0286b18〕. This does not delete the root treatise’s four matters of separation, meeting, commission, and entrustment. It reminds readers that named headings and actual textual passages need not correspond one for one; the detailed organization of pursuit and inducement becomes fully visible only later.
Nor can the applications of separation and meeting each be read as a single sentence and then abandoned. Zhanran says that taking only “the Buddha too is likewise thus” to apply separation leaves the meaning unclear, while taking only “knowing that we delight in the Lesser” to apply meeting likewise leaves the meaning unclear; the two sentences must complete one another〔0287a04–0287a10〕. The mirror supplies the connection between sentences. It does not pour the later Dharma meaning backward into what the poor son sees while he is still within the parable.
In the passage on receiving the command, the mirror expressly says that the verse chants only three of the four items in the prose and omits no wish to take〔0286c26–0286c28〕. In the application, however, the command and understanding the estate—absent from the parable’s verse—are added〔0287a18–0287a19〕. The same subject is not reproduced mechanically: some passages abbreviate and others expand, and each must be read according to its own words.
The mirror further assigns “inward extinction” to the virtue of severance and “if they hear” to the virtue of wisdom, arranging the following six lines in an alternating sequence of severance, wisdom, severance, and wisdom〔0287a19–0287a27〕. This detailed arrangement belongs to Zhanran. The root treatise itself explicitly states only the two chapters of wisdom and severance and the three layers of heading, explanation, and conclusion. The mirror may therefore be cited here as reception, but its detailed arrangement cannot be moved without attribution into the exposition of the root treatise.
Each of three alternative explanations in the mirror must be read together with its rejection or selection. Zhanran judges the explanation correlating one’s own practice with night and benefiting others with early morning as “this should not be so”〔0286b28〕. He immediately follows the graphs themselves, taking early morning as dawn and night as dusk and correlating them with the beginning and end of transformation〔0286b28–0286b29〕. He directly rejects the explanation that foreign lands are damp and feet crack unless coated with oil as “these words are extremely crude”〔0286c25〕. When an annotator uses heaven and earth not seeking repayment from things and parents not seeking thanks from children to explain “without repayment,” the mirror judges instead, “now this does not understand absence of repayment, but only the difficulty of repayment”〔0287b24〕. This shows that the mirror’s judgments cannot be placed on the same level of acceptability as the earlier explanations it refutes. The reader must follow the mirror master’s final judgment rather than merely collecting every introductory marker. Extracting the alternatives without their refutations would reverse the conclusion.
In gathering the ten kindnesses, the mirror explicitly recognizes three kindnesses of the Tathāgata’s room, four of the Buddha’s robe, and three of the Tathāgata’s seat. It identifies the eighth as the kindness of prediction and the ninth and tenth as enabling the disciples to benefit living beings〔0287b01–0287b16〕. Difficulty of repayment therefore does not cancel the disciples’ new identity. Precisely because recipients of kindness can now accomplish their own practice and transform others, they see that the father gave not merely possessions but the whole capacity to bear the family estate.
考據Apparatus
本單元消釋〈信解品〉偈頌：先總判八十六行半，再依父子相失、相見、追誘、領付家業展開譬說，繼而轉入合譬，最後以室、衣、座三類十恩收束。所帖根經自摩訶迦葉重宣起，至「於一乘道、隨宜說三」止；本論義科正文止於「此之謂也」，其後卷尾題另層保存。
一、科判定位
本單元位於迹門〈信解品〉偈頌，嚴格區間為 T34n1718〔0088b29–0090b17〕。義科正文從同一行後半的「八十六行半偈」起，止於「報，此之謂也」〔0090b16〕；〔0090b17〕是卷尾題，不屬義科正文。下一卷正文自〈藥草喻品〉起，不納入。
本論先列全偈八十六行半：前七十三行半重頌上文，後十三行歎佛恩深。前七十三行半又分法說二行與譬說七十一行半；譬說再分開譬四十一偈與合譬三十偈半。依本論自己的科名、數目及轉折，可顯為十節：
| 次第 | 首字實位 | 終點 | 本論自說 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0088b29 | 0088c05 | 八十六行半總科；二行頌法說；七十一行半頌譬說 |
| 二 | 0088c05 | 0089a03 | 頌父子相失十三行；子背父、父求子、憂念轉深、漸還近父，次第與長行不同 |
| 三 | 0089a03 | 0089a18 | 頌父子相見七行半；子見父六行半、父見子一行 |
| 四 | 0089a18 | 0089a24 | 頌傍追三行；初喚、再喚、因無機而放捨 |
| 五 | 0089a24 | 0089b17 | 頌密遣二人誘引七行半；雇作三行、教作四行半 |
| 六 | 0089b17 | 0089c10 | 頌領付家業十行；付業之由三行半、正付六行半及得付歡喜 |
| 七 | 0089c10 | 0089c16 | 合父子相失、相見、追喚與密遣二人誘引 |
| 八 | 0089c16 | 0090a06 | 合委業與無希取；受命、轉教、智斷具足而無希取、佛見而暫捨 |
| 九 | 0090a06 | 0090a25 | 合正付與得付歡喜；得道、得果、清淨眼、三因、真聲聞、真阿羅漢 |
| 十 | 0090a25 | 0090b16 | 歎佛恩深；如來室三恩、佛衣四恩、如來座三恩 |
同一行錨內有時前科方終、後科即起；上表所列首錨均以新科首字的實際位置為準，不把整行一概歸入前後任一科。
《法華文句記》的對位從「上開譬有四相失」〔T34n1719 0286b17〕起，止於「二時既別且釋荷恩」〔0287b24–0287b25〕。它沒有另為八十六行半總數與法說二行立專段，卻從開譬一路釋至十恩、難報，鏡面與本單元主體相接。
二、成立與傳本
本單元沿用全帙卷端所記的傳承層次：神逈序稱本文「灌頂法師私記，合二十卷」〔T34n1718 0001a23〕，又記唐天寶戊子朗和尚方始條倫；現行各半卷題署則作「天台智者大師說」。故義說歸智者，文字傳錄歸灌頂及後世治定；神逈、湛然與治定者之語均不倒作智者本段原說。
本單元保留二十一組大正校異，其中二十組為數字錨對舉，一組為星號回指舊校項；甲本空讀七組。正文未見所傳夾註與外字標籤。這些材料只足以呈示現行大正本與甲本的異存，不能據以復原天寶治定以前的完整次第；正文守【大】，校記並錄【甲】，不判孰勝。
三、所帖經文與所引
（一）根經逐行回錨
根經為本倉已封印的《妙法蓮華經》〈信解品〉。偈前導語及偈文在 T09n0262〔0017c10–0019a11〕，共一百一十八個大正藏行錨；下表逐行轉錄，並與本倉 canon/tiantai/fahua/treatise/04_xinjie/04_xinjie_source.md 同品對讀。
| 行錨 | T09n0262 今本逐字 |
|---|---|
| 0017c10 | 爾時摩訶迦葉欲重宣此義，而說偈言： |
| 0017c11 | 「我等今日，聞佛音教，歡喜踊躍， |
| 0017c12 | 得未曾有。佛說聲聞，當得作佛， |
| 0017c13 | 無上寶聚，不求自得。譬如童子， |
| 0017c14 | 幼稚無識，捨父逃逝，遠到他土， |
| 0017c15 | 周流諸國，五十餘年。其父憂念， |
| 0017c16 | 四方推求，求之既疲，頓止一城， |
| 0017c17 | 造立舍宅，五欲自娛。其家巨富， |
| 0017c18 | 多諸金銀、車𤦲馬腦、真珠琉璃； |
| 0017c19 | 象馬牛羊、輦輿車乘；田業僮僕、 |
| 0017c20 | 人民眾多。出入息利，乃遍他國， |
| 0017c21 | 商估賈人、無處不有。千萬億眾， |
| 0017c22 | 圍繞恭敬，常為王者，之所愛念， |
| 0017c23 | 群臣豪族，皆共宗重。以諸緣故， |
| 0017c24 | 往來者眾，豪富如是，有大力勢。 |
| 0017c25 | 而年朽邁，益憂念子，夙夜惟念， |
| 0017c26 | 死時將至。癡子捨我，五十餘年， |
| 0017c27 | 庫藏諸物，當如之何？爾時窮子， |
| 0017c28 | 求索衣食，從邑至邑、從國至國。 |
| 0017c29 | 或有所得，或無所得，飢餓羸瘦， |
| 0018a01 | 體生瘡癬。漸次經歷，到父住城， |
| 0018a02 | 傭賃展轉，遂至父舍。爾時長者， |
| 0018a03 | 於其門內，施大寶帳，處師子座； |
| 0018a04 | 眷屬圍遶，諸人侍衛，或有計算， |
| 0018a05 | 金銀寶物，出內財產，注記券䟽。 |
| 0018a06 | 窮子見父，豪貴尊嚴，謂是國王， |
| 0018a07 | 若是王等。驚怖自怪，何故至此。 |
| 0018a08 | 覆自念言：『我若久住，或見逼迫， |
| 0018a09 | 強驅使作。』思惟是已，馳走而去， |
| 0018a10 | 借問貧里，欲往傭作。長者是時， |
| 0018a11 | 在師子座，遙見其子，默而識之。 |
| 0018a12 | 即勅使者，追捉將來。窮子驚喚， |
| 0018a13 | 迷悶躄地：『是人執我，必當見殺， |
| 0018a14 | 何用衣食，使我至此？』長者知子， |
| 0018a15 | 愚癡狹劣，不信我言，不信是父。 |
| 0018a16 | 即以方便，更遣餘人，眇目矬陋， |
| 0018a17 | 無威德者：『汝可語之，云當相雇， |
| 0018a18 | 除諸糞穢，倍與汝價。』窮子聞之， |
| 0018a19 | 歡喜隨來，為除糞穢，淨諸房舍。 |
| 0018a20 | 長者於牖，常見其子，念子愚劣， |
| 0018a21 | 樂為鄙事。於是長者，著弊垢衣， |
| 0018a22 | 執除糞器，往到子所，方便附近， |
| 0018a23 | 語令勤作： |
| 0018a24 | 『既益汝價，并塗足油，飲食充足， |
| 0018a25 | 薦席厚煖。』如是苦言：『汝當勤作。』 |
| 0018a26 | 又以軟語：『若如我子。』長者有智， |
| 0018a27 | 漸令入出，經二十年，執作家事。 |
| 0018a28 | 示其金銀、真珠頗梨；諸物出入， |
| 0018a29 | 皆使令知。猶處門外，止宿草庵， |
| 0018b01 | 自念貧事：『我無此物。』父知子心， |
| 0018b02 | 漸已廣大，欲與財物。即聚親族、 |
| 0018b03 | 國王大臣、剎利居士。於此大眾， |
| 0018b04 | 說是我子，捨我他行，經五十歲。 |
| 0018b05 | 自見子來，已二十年。昔於某城， |
| 0018b06 | 而失是子，周行求索，遂來至此。 |
| 0018b07 | 凡我所有，舍宅人民，悉以付之， |
| 0018b08 | 恣其所用。子念昔貧，志意下劣， |
| 0018b09 | 今於父所，大獲珍寶，并及舍宅、 |
| 0018b10 | 一切財物。甚大歡喜，得未曾有。 |
| 0018b11 | 佛亦如是，知我樂小，未曾說言： |
| 0018b12 | 『汝等作佛。』而說我等，得諸無漏， |
| 0018b13 | 成就小乘，聲聞弟子。佛勅我等， |
| 0018b14 | 說最上道，修習此者，當得成佛。 |
| 0018b15 | 我承佛教，為大菩薩，以諸因緣、 |
| 0018b16 | 種種譬喻、若干言辭，說無上道。 |
| 0018b17 | 諸佛子等、從我聞法，日夜思惟， |
| 0018b18 | 精勤修習。是時諸佛，即授其記： |
| 0018b19 | 『汝於來世，當得作佛。』一切諸佛， |
| 0018b20 | 祕藏之法，但為菩薩，演其實事， |
| 0018b21 | 而不為我，說斯真要。如彼窮子、 |
| 0018b22 | 得近其父，雖知諸物，心不希取。 |
| 0018b23 | 我等雖說，佛法寶藏，自無志願， |
| 0018b24 | 亦復如是。我等內滅，自謂為足， |
| 0018b25 | 唯了此事，更無餘事。我等若聞， |
| 0018b26 | 淨佛國土，教化眾生，都無欣樂。 |
| 0018b27 | 所以者何？一切諸法，皆悉空寂， |
| 0018b28 | 無生無滅，無大無小，無漏無為。 |
| 0018b29 | 如是思惟，不生喜樂。我等長夜， |
| 0018c01 | 於佛智慧，無貪無著，無復志願； |
| 0018c02 | 而自於法，謂是究竟。我等長夜， |
| 0018c03 | 修習空法，得脫三界，苦惱之患， |
| 0018c04 | 住最後身、有餘涅槃。佛所教化， |
| 0018c05 | 得道不虛，則為已得，報佛之恩。 |
| 0018c06 | 我等雖為，諸佛子等，說菩薩法， |
| 0018c07 | 以求佛道；而於是法，永無願樂。 |
| 0018c08 | 導師見捨，觀我心故，初不勸進， |
| 0018c09 | 說有實利。如富長者，知子志劣， |
| 0018c10 | 以方便力，柔伏其心，然後乃付， |
| 0018c11 | 一切財物。 |
| 0018c12 | 佛亦如是，現希有事，知樂小者， |
| 0018c13 | 以方便力，調伏其心，乃教大智。 |
| 0018c14 | 我等今日，得未曾有，非先所望， |
| 0018c15 | 而今自得，如彼窮子，得無量寶。 |
| 0018c16 | 世尊我今，得道得果，於無漏法， |
| 0018c17 | 得清淨眼。我等長夜，持佛淨戒， |
| 0018c18 | 始於今日，得其果報，法王法中， |
| 0018c19 | 久修梵行，今得無漏，無上大果。 |
| 0018c20 | 我等今者，真是聲聞，以佛道聲， |
| 0018c21 | 令一切聞。我等今者，真阿羅漢， |
| 0018c22 | 於諸世間，天人魔梵，普於其中， |
| 0018c23 | 應受供養。世尊大恩，以希有事， |
| 0018c24 | 憐愍教化，利益我等，無量億劫， |
| 0018c25 | 誰能報者。手足供給，頭頂禮敬， |
| 0018c26 | 一切供養，皆不能報。若以頂戴， |
| 0018c27 | 兩肩荷負，於恒沙劫，盡心恭敬； |
| 0018c28 | 又以美饍、無量寶衣，及諸臥具、 |
| 0018c29 | 種種湯藥，牛頭栴檀，及諸珍寶， |
| 0019a01 | 以起塔廟，寶衣布地。如斯等事， |
| 0019a02 | 以用供養，於恒沙劫，亦不能報。 |
| 0019a03 | 諸佛希有，無量無邊，不可思議， |
| 0019a04 | 大神通力，無漏無為，諸法之王。 |
| 0019a05 | 能為下劣，忍于斯事，取相凡夫， |
| 0019a06 | 隨宜為說。諸佛於法，得最自在， |
| 0019a07 | 知諸眾生，種種欲樂，及其志力。 |
| 0019a08 | 隨所堪任，以無量喻，而為說法。 |
| 0019a09 | 隨諸眾生，宿世善根，又知成熟、 |
| 0019a10 | 未成熟者，種種籌量，分別知已， |
| 0019a11 | 於一乘道、隨宜說三。」 |
（二）根經段落與本論所帖
| 次第 | 根經段落 | 根經行域 | 本論所帖及首字實位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 偈前導語 | 0017c10 | 八十六行半總題〔0088b29〕；前導語不計入偈行 |
| 二 | 聞法歡喜、不求自得 | 0017c11–0017c13 | 初二行頌法說；只頌自得〔0088c02〕 |
| 三 | 童子捨父、周流諸國 | 0017c13–0017c15 | 譬如下一行半；諸國配三界，五十餘年配六道〔0088c11〕 |
| 四 | 父四方推求、頓止一城 | 0017c15–0017c16 | 其父憂念、求之既疲、四方推求〔0088c15–0088c20〕 |
| 五 | 造舍、巨富、家業不廢 | 0017c17–0017c24 | 造立舍宅、往來者眾〔0088c20–0088c22〕 |
| 六 | 父年邁、夙夜念子 | 0017c25–0017c27 | 而年朽邁以下，超頌憂念轉深〔0088c22〕 |
| 七 | 窮子求食、歷邑國、漸近父城 | 0017c27–0018a02 | 爾時窮子求索衣食、漸次經歷〔0088c25–0089a03〕 |
| 八 | 子見父：門內、寶帳、券疏、畏避 | 0018a02–0018a10 | 從傭賃、爾時長者、窮子見父〔0089a03–0089a15〕 |
| 九 | 父遙見而識子 | 0018a10–0018a11 | 長者是時、遙見〔0089a15–0089a18〕 |
| 十 | 使者追捉、窮子迷悶、長者知無機 | 0018a12–0018a15 | 即勅使者追捉將來以下；初喚、再喚、放捨〔0089a18–0089a24〕 |
| 十一 | 遣二人、雇作除糞 | 0018a16–0018a19 | 即以方便以下；雇作三行〔0089a24–0089b05〕 |
| 十二 | 長者著弊衣、附近教作 | 0018a20–0018a26 | 長者於牖以下；教作四行半及七科〔0089b05–0089b17〕 |
| 十三 | 二十年、執作家事、仍處門外 | 0018a27–0018b01 | 長者有智、經二十年、猶處門、父知子心〔0089b17–0089b27〕 |
| 十四 | 集眾、定父子、正付財物、歡喜 | 0018b02–0018b10 | 從欲與財物以下；集親族、定天性、正付與、得付歡喜〔0089c02–0089c10〕 |
| 十五 | 合相失、相見、追喚、二人誘引 | 0018b11–0018b16 | 佛亦如是、知我樂小、未曾說言、而說我等〔0089c10–0089c16〕 |
| 十六 | 受命轉教、佛子得記 | 0018b13–0018b21 | 佛勅我等、我承佛教五行〔0089c16–0089c25〕 |
| 十七 | 無希取、智斷具、佛見而暫捨 | 0018b21–0018c08 | 如彼窮子、我等雖說、我等內滅、我等若聞、導師見〔0089c25–0090a06〕 |
| 十八 | 富長者正付、佛教大智 | 0018c09–0018c13 | 如富長者以下三行正付〔0090a06–0090a10〕 |
| 十九 | 得付歡喜、得道果眼、三因、聲聞羅漢 | 0018c14–0018c23 | 我等今日以下七行〔0090a11–0090a25〕 |
| 二十 | 世尊大恩與供養不能報 | 0018c23–0019a02 | 下十三行歎恩；本論自列十恩〔0090a25–0090b16〕 |
| 二十一 | 諸佛隨機說法、於一乘隨宜說三 | 0019a03–0019a11 | 本論以歎佛恩深難報如文總攝，未另逐句開科〔0090a25〕 |
第十五、十六段在根經〔0018b13–0018b16〕相接重疊，是同一經行同時承接「而說我等」與「佛勅我等」兩個科標；不是根經重複計數。
（三）本論短標與根經今本的字面差
| T34n1718 所帖或撮義 | 本論行錨 | T09n0262 今本及行錨 | 關係 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 火宅中明長者所王國邑聚落語寬 | 0088c13 | 舍利弗！若國邑聚落有大長者〔0012b13–0012b14〕 | 跨品撮義，不是完整逐字引 |
| 注記券疏 | 0089a12 | 注記券䟽〔0018a05〕 | 疏、䟽字形不同 |
| 油塗足 | 0089b11 | 并塗足油〔0018a24〕 | 詞序不同 |
| 薦席厚暖 | 0089b13 | 薦席厚煖〔0018a25〕 | 暖、煖不同；本論自身甲本亦作煖 |
| 如是苦言汝當勤作 | 0089b14 | 如是苦言：『汝當勤作。』〔0018a25〕 | 本論省內層標點 |
| 又以軟語 | 0089b16 | 又以軟語：『若如我子。』〔0018a26〕 | 本論只取起詞；自身甲本作濡 |
| 二十年 | 0089b26 | 經二十年，執作家事〔0018a27〕；已二十年〔0018b05〕 | 根經偈有兩見；本論此處主釋貼前一見 |
| 持戒報 | 0090a16 | 持佛淨戒，始於今日，得其果報〔0018c17–0018c18〕 | 本論撮成短標 |
| 世尊大恩，兩肩荷負所不能報 | 0090b15–0090b16 | 世尊大恩〔0018c23〕、兩肩荷負〔0018c27〕、亦不能報〔0019a02〕 | 本論合攝相隔數行的經語 |
（四）本論顯名他引：《仁王般若》
本論所傳作《仁王般若》云「二十八年說摩訶般若」〔T34n1718 0089c02〕。
現行 T08n0245 作「為我等大眾，二十九年說摩訶般若波羅蜜、金剛般若波羅蜜、天王問般若波羅蜜、光讚般若波羅蜜」〔0825b21–0825b23〕。T08n0231 卷後古序亦作「大覺世尊！前已為我二十九年說《摩訶般若》、《金剛般若》、《天王問般若》、《光讚般若》」〔0725c23–0725c25〕。本論作二十八，兩個今本古籍見證作二十九；三者並錄，不以任一邊覆寫另一邊。
（五）鏡中帖經與《華嚴》引句
| 《法華文句記》所引 | 鏡行錨 | 今本對讀 | 今本行錨 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 《經》云「頓止一城」 | 0286b21 | 四方推求，求之既疲，頓止一城 | T09n0262 0017c16 |
| 《經》云「夙夜」 | 0286b27 | 而年朽邁，益憂念子，夙夜惟念 | T09n0262 0017c25 |
| 《華嚴》云：「出離垢山，若用塗身火不能燒。」 | 0287a29 | 善男子！復有香名牛頭栴檀，從離垢山王生，若以塗身，火不能燒； | T09n0278 0713b06–0713b07 |
《記》的《華嚴》引句作出離垢山、若用塗身；今本作從離垢山王生、若以塗身，且今本另有香名牛頭栴檀等前文。兩形並錄不判。《記》另以《華嚴》身相、國土、行願及〈入法界品〉授記作源指，未給出可唯一反查的完整引句。
四、文句記釋要〔鏡〕
下表均屬湛然鏡釋。它們可供義疏末段照明本論，卻不能無署名倒作智者本段已經直說。
| 對位 | T34n1719 逐字要句 | 首字實位 | 鏡中所釋 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 開譬總組織 | 此四標文，文似四章但成三段。「乃略追誘」下釋具有。 | 0286b18 | 四個標文在鏡家讀法中實成三段，追誘組織見後釋 |
| 造立舍宅 | 有餘之土非寂光自然，現勝應身非法身本有 | 0286b19 | 展開有餘土、勝應身與依空慈悲 |
| 頓止 | 「頓」謂頓乏；又「頓止」即不行也 | 0286b21–0286b22 | 先作頓乏解，再作止而不行解 |
| 憂念轉深 | 失苦得樂俱在父懷 | 0286b25 | 失子之苦與將得之樂皆由父懷攝持 |
| 夙夜異解 | 有人云：自行為夜、利他為夙。此不應爾 | 0286b27–0286b28 | 錄一說而斥；再以晨暮配化初、化末 |
| 有無善上 | 雖復時緣無所得善未能斷結，故此體上仍有見思 | 0286c03 | 無所得善亦未斷結 |
| 法身、報應 | 此文合在次文畏避段中；加著「師」者重加一譬耳；報是勝應故也 | 0286c04–0286c08 | 判配當所屬，並解師為重譬、報為勝應 |
| 注記券疏 | 誓許利他有如券約，隨修隨償如疏隨還 | 0286c13 | 以券約與隨還展開誓、行 |
| 傍人追 | 初喚為勸門二義，次喚為誡門二義；以無機故方乃息化 | 0286c16–0286c18 | 兩喚分勸、誡，無機所以放捨 |
| 顧作、教作 | 「顧作」即上齊教，「教作」即上探領 | 0286c20–0286c21 | 顧作、教作配齊教、探領 |
| 油塗足異解 | 有人云：外國下濕，使作之人足多龜坼，故以油塗。此語甚鄙 | 0286c24–0286c25 | 錄外國下濕說而明斥 |
| 受命四、偈頌三 | 初如文，第三是第四大機將動也。但闕第二而無希取 | 0286c26–0286c28 | 判偈中所缺為無希取 |
| 二十年 | 上文具引此中二十年，已辯異竟；今以別惑見思名二十也 | 0286c28–0287a01 | 回指前辨異解，並作鏡家配釋 |
| 合相失、相見 | 若單以佛亦如是一句合父子相失，意仍未顯；二句相成攝八句也 | 0287a04–0287a10 | 前兩合句須互相成義 |
| 追喚、相信、委業 | 秖一追喚即具二義，故云「總」也；相信為旁、委業為正；委即是命 | 0287a11–0287a17 | 分旁、正並解委為命 |
| 命知 | 上頌譬中全無命知 | 0287a18 | 合譬一行另長出命與知 |
| 斷德、智德 | 內即惑體，三界惑盡故云內滅，故屬斷德；既云若聞，聞教屬智 | 0287a19–0287a22 | 依內滅、若聞分斷與智 |
| 習果 | 得初住時破一品無明名為習果 | 0287a28 | 把分得大乘習果落到初住一品 |
| 十恩 | 文中自對室、衣、座三；初室有三恩；次衣恩有四；如來座恩有三 | 0287b01–0287b14 | 明認三加四加三 |
| 十恩後段 | 第八是授記恩，九十令我能利物恩 | 0287b15–0287b16 | 判第八與第九、十的功能 |
| 難報、亡報 | 注家但云物不答施於天地，子不謝生於父母，以感報斯亡；今非領亡但領難報 | 0287b20–0287b24 | 錄注家亡報說而斥，判當段為難報 |
《記》未另逐項展開四方推求、往來者眾、父見子四項、七科法門中除油塗足以外各配、三因與真聲聞、真阿羅漢三義。這些節點依本論直說自足。
五、諸家異釋
（一）本論自錄
本論在二十年一節先立主釋：此處不同上文以上除見思名二十，眼前是指執作家事〔0089b26–0089b27〕。其後自錄三說：
| 次第 | T34n1718 逐字 | 首字實位 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 或言轉大乘教教諸菩薩，斷大乘別惑見思，名二十年。 | 0089b27 |
| 二 | 或言說般若時長，凡二十年。 | 0089b29 |
| 三 | 或言住二乘位，轉大乘教，為二十年。 | 0089b29 |
第三說跨〔0089b29–0089c01〕，行錨仍取首字「或」的實位〔0089b29〕。其後《仁王般若》引句是引證，不是第四條或言。嚴格域內「有人云」「舊云」「解者不同」「一云」各零見；「私謂」兩見，分別解注、記、券、疏與十恩，均是智者自釋，不列為諸家異解。
（二）鏡中所錄
| 標誌 | T34n1719 所錄 | 鏡家取捨 | 首字實位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 有人云 | 自行為夜、利他為夙 | 此不應爾；改按夙早、夜暮解 | 0286b27 |
| 有人云 | 外國下濕，使作之人足多龜坼，故以油塗 | 此語甚鄙 | 0286c24 |
| 注家但云 | 物不答施於天地，子不謝生於父母，以感報斯亡 | 今非領亡但領難報 | 0287b20 |
三項都是鏡中誌錄；若只摘前半而不載其後取捨，便會反轉《記》的判斷。本單元未另見後世宗諍逐條展開。
六、術語
| 詞語 | 本論在本段的義位 | 分層限度 |
|---|---|---|
| 父子相失、相見、委業、付財 | 長行開譬四相，偈頌今皆頌 | 偈頌另明列追誘、領付家業，不硬壓成四個同長段 |
| 四方推求 | 觀四生中尋覓可度之機 | 本論明說不同前文約四諦推理 |
| 有餘國、有餘涅槃 | 造立舍宅所譬；起慈悲舍，依性空宅 | 勝應身、非法身本有是鏡釋 |
| 邑、國 | 根塵相涉如邑，十八界如國 | 不只按地理城市解 |
| 有所得、無所得善 | 有漏善、二乘善 | 有無承所得、無所得 |
| 飢餓、羸、瘦、瘡癬 | 無大乘法食、無大力用、無大功德、有無善上起見思 | 四項次序固定 |
| 法身、報應 | 法身是師、王；報應是長者 | 報為勝應是鏡釋 |
| 注、記、券、疏 | 廣顯略、授決、四弘誓、修行 | 根經今本作券䟽，字形分列 |
| 眇目、矬、陋、無威、無德 | 偏空、不窮實相源、無眾善莊嚴、非四無畏、異常樂我淨 | 五項不合併 |
| 七科法門 | 四念處、四正勤、四如意足、油塗足、飲食、薦席、苦言與軟語 | 依本論列序 |
| 油塗足 | 神通與定無亂 | 外國下濕說只在鏡中被錄而斥 |
| 苦言、軟語 | 前者總頌安慰、無五過；後者總頌作字、令常作 | 苦言不等於敵意辱罵 |
| 二十年 | 主釋為執作家事 | 三條或言並錄 |
| 齊教、探教 | 合密遣二人誘引的兩章 | 顧作、教作的細配是鏡釋 |
| 空般若 | 本論解最上道 | 不外加另一套教判 |
| 斷德、智德 | 我等內滅標斷德，我等若聞標智德 | 六行細配屬鏡釋 |
| 得道、得果、清淨眼 | 實相道、分得大乘習果、見實相理 | 初住破一品無明屬鏡釋 |
| 正因、了因、緣因 | 清淨眼所見理、梵行得無漏、持戒 | 守本論列序，不另造第四因 |
| 真聲聞 | 大乘真位；以佛道聲令一切聞 | 本論以十信、十住辨似真 |
| 真阿羅漢 | 不生、殺賊、應供三義 | 根經當段只明舉應受供養，本論三義互顯 |
| 十恩 | 室三、衣四、座三 | 第九、十同段書寫，仍是兩恩 |
本論嚴格域內未見五時八教、化儀、化法、藏通別圓、迹門十妙、本門十妙、一念三千七個後世約詞。這只誌字面邊界，不由零見推論相關義理在他處不存在，也不把後世用語偽裝成本段原句。
七、譬喻・互讀・承衍
本單元的譬喻網先沿父子故事行進。子離父、父求子、子漸近城、父子相見、旁人追喚、密遣二人、教作、委業、正付，各守譬段的敘事與本論所作配釋。到了根經「佛亦如是」〔T09n0262 0018b11〕，才明白轉入合譬；相失、相見、追喚、誘引、委業與正付在此各有法義帖合。譬段與合譬段互相照明，卻不把合譬才明說的受命、轉教、智斷與正付倒灌成前段故事人物自己的語意。
衣食、房舍、油、薦席及家業，使教化不只表現為一次宣告。窮子先因可接受的雇作而近父，再從清理房舍、勤作、加價、衣食與臥具逐步入出；本論以七科法門配釋這一段。其後猶居門外、心無希取，又表明知道財物與願意領受財物並非同一回事。這條意象線到正付與歡喜才閉合。
與本倉封印本〈信解品〉互讀，根經先完整敘述窮子譬，摩訶迦葉再以偈重宣；本單元正是偈頌的逐句消釋。與〈譬喻品〉互讀，本論自己提到火宅中「國邑聚落」語義較寬，只用來分辨同一類詞在不同譬喻中的義域，不把兩品諸譬合為一套人物配表。
與《法華玄義》互讀，可見教相總論如何進入逐句消文；與《摩訶止觀》互讀，只取觀機與行門的穩定接點，不把他部名目倒寫成本段。《法華玄贊》同釋〈信解品〉，可作慈恩一鏡的互讀見證，但不以一疏裁另一疏。
本論最後把十三行歎恩回溯為十恩。根經所列頂戴、荷負、飲食、寶衣、臥具、湯藥、塔廟等，是無量供養仍不能報恩；本論所列十恩，則按室三、衣四、座三，回顧從始建慈悲到自行化他的十重施恩。兩種列舉所數對象不同，不互相改造成同一張十項表。這一收束承衍前文父尋子、近子、教子、付子：寶聚之得並非故事偶然轉折，而是整段教化一路累積後的交付。
八、校本定位
（一）二十一組【大】／【甲】異讀
| 次第 | 行錨 | 校記型 | 【大】 | 【甲】 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0088c09 | 數字錨 0088006 | 弟 | 第 |
| 二 | 0088c17 | 數字錨 0088007 | 子 | 甲本缺 |
| 三 | 0088c29 | 數字錨 0088008 | 相 | 根相 |
| 四 | 0089a08 | 數字錨 0089001 | 長者 | 甲本缺 |
| 五 | 0089a11 | 數字錨 0089002 | 踞 | 甲本缺 |
| 六 | 0089a23 | 數字錨 0089003 | 即 | 甲本缺 |
| 七 | 0089b09 | 數字錨 0089004 | 合 | 甲本缺 |
| 八 | 0089b13 | 星號校，回指 0085007 | 麪 | 麵 |
| 九 | 0089b13 | 數字錨 0089005 | 暖 | 煖 |
| 十 | 0089b16 | 數字錨 0089006 | 軟 | 濡 |
| 十一 | 0089b21 | 數字錨 0089007 | 即 | 即此 |
| 十二 | 0089c22 | 數字錨 0089008 | 領 | 頌 |
| 十三 | 0089c23 | 數字錨 0089009 | 有 | 甲本缺 |
| 十四 | 0089c23 | 數字錨 0089010 | 正 | 上 |
| 十五 | 0090a09 | 數字錨 0090001 | 歡 | 付 |
| 十六 | 0090a16 | 數字錨 0090002 | 戒 | 戒得 |
| 十七 | 0090a25 | 數字錨 0090003 | 也 | 也世尊大 |
| 十八 | 0090b09 | 數字錨 0090004 | 蓋 | 蓋是 |
| 十九 | 0090b10 | 數字錨 0090005 | 皆悉 | 悉皆 |
| 二十 | 0090b17 | 數字錨 0090006 | 妙法蓮華經 | 法華 |
| 二十一 | 0090b17 | 數字錨 0090007 | 下 | 甲本缺 |
第二十、二十一組在卷尾題，屬原典抽取區間而不屬義科正文。第二十一組之後另有法隆寺本奧書資料；奧書不冒充正文異讀。星號麪、麵回指早先校項，沒有另立新數字錨；甲本七個空讀均明記為缺，不以空白或橫線含混表示。
（二）校記四型、外字與頁錨
本區間二十一組校異由二十組數字錨對舉與一組星號回指構成；單邊改訂夾註與省略式字數校記各零見。正文 <note place="inline"> 零見，外字標籤 <g> 亦零見；這兩個零值只限本單元，不外推全卷或根經。
讀者原典依頁面轉換設三枚段首行內錨：〔T34 0088b29〕、〔T34 0089a15〕、〔T34 0090b17〕。它們標示讀者層換頁與卷尾題位置；考據中的每一逐字引文仍另取引句首字前最近的大正藏行標，不能以讀者頁錨代替精確行錨。
This unit explains the verse in the “Faith and Understanding” chapter. It first gives the overall division of its eighty-six and a half lines, then unfolds the parable through the separation and meeting of father and son, pursuit and inducement, and the receipt and entrustment of the family estate. It next turns to the application of the parable and concludes with ten kindnesses grouped under room, robe, and seat. The attached root scripture begins with Mahākāśyapa’s renewed proclamation and ends with 「於一乘道、隨宜說三」 tr. “within the path of the One Vehicle He teaches three according to what is appropriate.” The root treatise’s doctrinal-outline body ends with 「此之謂也」 tr. “this is what it means”; the fascicle-end title that follows is preserved as a separate layer.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
This unit is the verse of the “Faith and Understanding” chapter in the Trace Gate. Its strict domain is T34n1718〔0088b29–0090b17〕. The doctrinal-outline body begins in the latter half of the same line with 「八十六行半偈」 tr. “eighty-six and a half lines of verse” and ends with 「報，此之謂也」 tr. “repayment—this is what it means”〔0090b16〕. Line〔0090b17〕 is the fascicle-end title and does not belong to the doctrinal-outline body. The next fascicle’s body begins with the “Medicinal Herbs” chapter and is not included.
The root treatise first enumerates all eighty-six and a half lines: the first seventy-three and a half repeat the preceding prose, and the final thirteen praise the profundity of the Buddha’s kindness. The first seventy-three and a half are further divided into two lines of Dharma teaching and seventy-one and a half lines of parable. The parable is then divided into forty-one verses opening the parable and thirty and a half applying it. Following the root treatise’s own headings, counts, and transitions, the unit can be displayed in ten sections:
| Sequence | Actual Position of Opening Graphs | Endpoint | Root Treatise’s Own Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 0088b29 | 0088c05 | Overall division of eighty-six and a half lines; two lines chant the Dharma teaching; seventy-one and a half chant the parable |
| II | 0088c05 | 0089a03 | Thirteen lines chant the separation of father and son; the son turns from the father, the father searches for the son, his anxiety deepens, and the son gradually returns near the father, in an order different from the prose |
| III | 0089a03 | 0089a18 | Seven and a half lines chant father and son seeing one another; six and a half on the son seeing the father and one on the father seeing the son |
| IV | 0089a18 | 0089a24 | Three lines chant open pursuit: first summons, second summons, and release because there is no responsive capacity |
| V | 0089a24 | 0089b17 | Seven and a half lines chant secretly sending two men to induce him; three lines on hiring him and four and a half on teaching him |
| VI | 0089b17 | 0089c10 | Ten lines chant the receipt and entrustment of the family enterprise; three and a half on the occasion for commissioning him, six and a half on the formal commission and his joy after receiving it |
| VII | 0089c10 | 0089c16 | Application of father and son becoming separated, seeing one another, pursuit and summons, and the secret sending of two men to induce him |
| VIII | 0089c16 | 0090a06 | Application of the commission with the estate and no wish to take; receiving the command, transmitting the teaching, possessing wisdom and severance yet having no wish to take, and the Buddha’s observing and temporarily setting them aside |
| IX | 0090a06 | 0090a25 | Application of formal entrustment and joy upon receiving it; attaining the Way, fruit, and pure eye, the three causes, true śrāvakas, and true arhats |
| X | 0090a25 | 0090b16 | Praise of the Buddha’s profound kindness: three kindnesses of the Tathāgata’s room, four of the Buddha’s robe, and three of the Tathāgata’s seat |
Within a single line anchor, one section sometimes ends and the next begins. Each opening anchor in the table therefore marks the actual position of the new section’s first graph; it does not assign the whole line indiscriminately to either the preceding or following section.
The corresponding domain in the Fahua Wenjuji begins with 「上開譬有四相失」 tr. “above, the opening parable had four [matters], beginning with separation”〔T34n1719 0286b17〕 and ends with 「二時既別且釋荷恩」 tr. “since the two occasions differ, for now explain bearing the kindness”〔0287b24–0287b25〕. It does not establish a separate passage for the overall count of eighty-six and a half lines or the two lines of Dharma teaching, but explains continuously from the opening parable through the ten kindnesses and the difficulty of repayment; its mirror surface therefore corresponds to the body of this unit.
II. Formation and Transmission
This unit inherits the transmission layers recorded at the head of the complete work. Shenjiong’s preface says, 「灌頂法師私記，合二十卷」 tr. “Master Guanding’s private record, in twenty fascicles altogether”〔T34n1718 0001a23〕, and further records that in the Tang Tianbao era, the wuxu year, Master Lang first arranged it into orderly form. The headings of the present half-fascicles, meanwhile, read 「天台智者大師說」 tr. “spoken by the Great Master Zhiyi of Tiantai.” The doctrinal exposition is therefore attributed to Zhiyi, while its textual recording belongs to Guanding and later redaction. The words of Shenjiong, Zhanran, and the redactors are not retroactively presented as Zhiyi’s own statements in this passage.
This unit preserves twenty-one Taishō variant groups: twenty numerical-anchor pairs and one starred reference back to an earlier variant. Witness A has seven empty readings. No transmitted inline note or gaiji tag occurs in the body. These materials suffice only to display the differences preserved between the present Taishō text and witness A; they do not permit reconstruction of the complete sequence before the Tianbao redaction. The body follows witness Taishō, and the apparatus records witness A without adjudicating between them.
III. Sutra Passages Explained and Works Cited
1. Line-by-Line Anchoring of the Root Scripture
The root scripture is the “Faith and Understanding” chapter of this repository’s sealed Lotus Sutra. Its introductory sentence and verse occupy T09n0262〔0017c10–0019a11〕, a total of 118 Taishō line anchors. The table transcribes each line verbatim and checks it against the same chapter in canon/tiantai/fahua/treatise/04_xinjie/04_xinjie_source.md.
| Line Anchor | Present T09n0262 Verbatim |
|---|---|
| 0017c10 | 爾時摩訶迦葉欲重宣此義，而說偈言：tr. “At that time Mahākāśyapa, wishing to proclaim this meaning again, spoke in verse:” |
| 0017c11 | 「我等今日，聞佛音教，歡喜踊躍，tr. “Today, hearing the Buddha’s voice and teaching, we rejoice and leap with joy,” |
| 0017c12 | 得未曾有。佛說聲聞，當得作佛，tr. “having gained the unprecedented. The Buddha says that śrāvakas shall attain buddhahood,” |
| 0017c13 | 無上寶聚，不求自得。譬如童子，tr. “and the unsurpassed mass of jewels has come of itself without being sought. Suppose there were a young child,” |
| 0017c14 | 幼稚無識，捨父逃逝，遠到他土，tr. “immature and ignorant, who abandoned his father and fled far away to another land,” |
| 0017c15 | 周流諸國，五十餘年。其父憂念，tr. “wandering through various countries for more than fifty years. His father thought of him anxiously,” |
| 0017c16 | 四方推求，求之既疲，頓止一城，tr. “searching in the four directions. Wearied by the search, he stopped in a certain city,” |
| 0017c17 | 造立舍宅，五欲自娛。其家巨富，tr. “where he built a residence and enjoyed the five desires. His household was immensely wealthy,” |
| 0017c18 | 多諸金銀、車𤦲馬腦、真珠琉璃；tr. “with much gold and silver, agate, carnelian, pearls, and vaiḍūrya;” |
| 0017c19 | 象馬牛羊、輦輿車乘；田業僮僕、tr. “elephants, horses, cattle, sheep, litters, conveyances, and carriages; fields, servants,” |
| 0017c20 | 人民眾多。出入息利，乃遍他國，tr. “and a multitude of people. His investments and profits extended even into other countries,” |
| 0017c21 | 商估賈人、無處不有。千萬億眾，tr. “and his merchants and traders were found everywhere. Myriads of koṭis of people” |
| 0017c22 | 圍繞恭敬，常為王者，之所愛念，tr. “surrounded and revered him, and kings constantly cherished him,” |
| 0017c23 | 群臣豪族，皆共宗重。以諸緣故，tr. “while ministers and powerful clans all honored him. For these various reasons,” |
| 0017c24 | 往來者眾，豪富如是，有大力勢。tr. “many people came and went. So great was his wealth, and he possessed immense power.” |
| 0017c25 | 而年朽邁，益憂念子，夙夜惟念，tr. “But as he advanced in years, he thought still more anxiously of his son, pondering day and night:” |
| 0017c26 | 死時將至。癡子捨我，五十餘年，tr. “‘The time of my death draws near. My foolish son abandoned me more than fifty years ago;” |
| 0017c27 | 庫藏諸物，當如之何？爾時窮子，tr. “what shall become of the possessions in my treasuries?’ At that time the poor son” |
| 0017c28 | 求索衣食，從邑至邑、從國至國。tr. “sought clothing and food, going from city to city and country to country.” |
| 0017c29 | 或有所得，或無所得，飢餓羸瘦，tr. “Sometimes he obtained something and sometimes nothing; hungry, weak, and thin,” |
| 0018a01 | 體生瘡癬。漸次經歷，到父住城，tr. “his body broke out in sores and ringworm. Passing gradually onward, he reached the city where his father lived,” |
| 0018a02 | 傭賃展轉，遂至父舍。爾時長者，tr. “and, hiring himself out repeatedly, at last came to his father’s residence. At that time the elder” |
| 0018a03 | 於其門內，施大寶帳，處師子座；tr. “was within his gate beneath a great jeweled canopy, seated upon a lion throne;” |
| 0018a04 | 眷屬圍遶，諸人侍衛，或有計算，tr. “relatives surrounded him and attendants stood guard, while some calculated” |
| 0018a05 | 金銀寶物，出內財產，注記券䟽。tr. “the gold, silver, precious things, and the property going out and coming in, recording registers, bonds, and accounts.” |
| 0018a06 | 窮子見父，豪貴尊嚴，謂是國王，tr. “The poor son saw his father, powerful, noble, honored, and majestic, and supposed him to be a king” |
| 0018a07 | 若是王等。驚怖自怪，何故至此。tr. “or the equal of a king. Startled and afraid, he wondered why he had come there.” |
| 0018a08 | 覆自念言：『我若久住，或見逼迫，tr. “He further thought: ‘If I remain long, perhaps I will be forced” |
| 0018a09 | 強驅使作。』思惟是已，馳走而去，tr. “and driven into labor.’ Having thought this, he hurried away,” |
| 0018a10 | 借問貧里，欲往傭作。長者是時，tr. “inquiring after a poor neighborhood where he might hire himself out. The elder then,” |
| 0018a11 | 在師子座，遙見其子，默而識之。tr. “upon the lion throne, saw his son from afar and silently recognized him.” |
| 0018a12 | 即勅使者，追捉將來。窮子驚喚，tr. “He immediately commanded a messenger to pursue, seize, and bring him back. The poor son cried out in terror” |
| 0018a13 | 迷悶躄地：『是人執我，必當見殺，tr. “and fainted to the ground: ‘This man has seized me; I shall surely be killed.” |
| 0018a14 | 何用衣食，使我至此？』長者知子，tr. “What use are clothing and food, which have brought me here?’ The elder knew that his son” |
| 0018a15 | 愚癡狹劣，不信我言，不信是父。tr. “was foolish, narrow, and inferior and would believe neither his words nor that he was the father.” |
| 0018a16 | 即以方便，更遣餘人，眇目矬陋，tr. “He immediately used skillful means and sent other men, one-eyed, short, and ugly,” |
| 0018a17 | 無威德者：『汝可語之，云當相雇，tr. “with neither imposing presence nor virtue: ‘You may tell him that he will be hired” |
| 0018a18 | 除諸糞穢，倍與汝價。』窮子聞之，tr. “to clear away the filth and dung and will be paid double wages.’ Hearing this, the poor son” |
| 0018a19 | 歡喜隨來，為除糞穢，淨諸房舍。tr. “gladly followed them, clearing away the filth and dung and cleaning the rooms.” |
| 0018a20 | 長者於牖，常見其子，念子愚劣，tr. “The elder, through the window, constantly saw his son and thought him foolish and inferior,” |
| 0018a21 | 樂為鄙事。於是長者，著弊垢衣，tr. “delighting in lowly work. The elder therefore put on worn and soiled clothing,” |
| 0018a22 | 執除糞器，往到子所，方便附近，tr. “took up a dung-clearing implement, went to the son, and skillfully drew near,” |
| 0018a23 | 語令勤作：tr. “speaking to make him work diligently:” |
| 0018a24 | 『既益汝價，并塗足油，飲食充足，tr. “‘I will increase your wages, apply oil to your feet, and provide abundant food and drink” |
| 0018a25 | 薦席厚煖。』如是苦言：『汝當勤作。』tr. “and thick, warm bedding.’ Thus he spoke sternly: ‘You must work diligently.’” |
| 0018a26 | 又以軟語：『若如我子。』長者有智，tr. “Again he said gently: ‘Be as my son.’ The elder possessed wisdom” |
| 0018a27 | 漸令入出，經二十年，執作家事。tr. “and gradually allowed him to enter and leave. For twenty years he conducted the household affairs.” |
| 0018a28 | 示其金銀、真珠頗梨；諸物出入，tr. “He showed him the gold, silver, pearls, and crystal; all the possessions going out and coming in” |
| 0018a29 | 皆使令知。猶處門外，止宿草庵，tr. “were made known to him. Yet he still stayed outside the gate and lodged in a grass hut,” |
| 0018b01 | 自念貧事：『我無此物。』父知子心，tr. “thinking of his poverty: ‘I have none of these things.’ The father knew that his son’s mind” |
| 0018b02 | 漸已廣大，欲與財物。即聚親族、tr. “had gradually enlarged and wished to give him the possessions. He assembled the relatives,” |
| 0018b03 | 國王大臣、剎利居士。於此大眾，tr. “king, ministers, kṣatriyas, and householders. Amid this great assembly” |
| 0018b04 | 說是我子，捨我他行，經五十歲。tr. “he said: ‘This is my son. He left me and traveled elsewhere for fifty years.” |
| 0018b05 | 自見子來，已二十年。昔於某城，tr. “It has been twenty years since I saw my son return. Formerly, in a certain city,” |
| 0018b06 | 而失是子，周行求索，遂來至此。tr. “I lost this son and traveled everywhere searching until I came here.” |
| 0018b07 | 凡我所有，舍宅人民，悉以付之，tr. “Everything I possess—residence and people—I entrust entirely to him,” |
| 0018b08 | 恣其所用。子念昔貧，志意下劣，tr. “to use as he wishes.’ The son remembered his former poverty and inferior aspiration,” |
| 0018b09 | 今於父所，大獲珍寶，并及舍宅、tr. “but now, from his father, he had gained precious things in abundance, together with the residence” |
| 0018b10 | 一切財物。甚大歡喜，得未曾有。tr. “and all the possessions. He rejoiced exceedingly and gained the unprecedented.” |
| 0018b11 | 佛亦如是，知我樂小，未曾說言：tr. “The Buddha is likewise thus. Knowing that we delighted in the Lesser, He never said:” |
| 0018b12 | 『汝等作佛。』而說我等，得諸無漏，tr. “‘You will become buddhas.’ Instead, He said that we had attained the uncontaminated,” |
| 0018b13 | 成就小乘，聲聞弟子。佛勅我等，tr. “accomplished the Lesser Vehicle, and become śrāvaka disciples. The Buddha commanded us” |
| 0018b14 | 說最上道，修習此者，當得成佛。tr. “to teach the supreme Way: those who cultivate it shall attain buddhahood.” |
| 0018b15 | 我承佛教，為大菩薩，以諸因緣、tr. “Receiving the Buddha’s instruction, for great bodhisattvas we used various causes and conditions,” |
| 0018b16 | 種種譬喻、若干言辭，說無上道。tr. “various parables, and diverse words to teach the unsurpassed Way.” |
| 0018b17 | 諸佛子等、從我聞法，日夜思惟，tr. “The buddha-sons heard the Dharma from us, contemplated it day and night,” |
| 0018b18 | 精勤修習。是時諸佛，即授其記：tr. “and cultivated it diligently. At that time the buddhas bestowed predictions upon them:” |
| 0018b19 | 『汝於來世，當得作佛。』一切諸佛，tr. “‘In a future age, you shall attain buddhahood.’ The Dharma” |
| 0018b20 | 祕藏之法，但為菩薩，演其實事，tr. “of the secret treasury of all buddhas was proclaimed in its real import only for bodhisattvas,” |
| 0018b21 | 而不為我，說斯真要。如彼窮子、tr. “and this true essence was not taught for us. Like that poor son” |
| 0018b22 | 得近其父，雖知諸物，心不希取。tr. “who drew near his father and knew the possessions but had no wish to take them,” |
| 0018b23 | 我等雖說，佛法寶藏，自無志願，tr. “although we proclaimed the treasury of the Buddha Dharma, we ourselves had no aspiration,” |
| 0018b24 | 亦復如是。我等內滅，自謂為足，tr. “and were likewise. Within ourselves we had extinguished [afflictions] and considered this sufficient,” |
| 0018b25 | 唯了此事，更無餘事。我等若聞，tr. “understanding only this matter and nothing further. If we heard of” |
| 0018b26 | 淨佛國土，教化眾生，都無欣樂。tr. “purifying buddha lands and teaching and transforming living beings, we felt no joy or delight.” |
| 0018b27 | 所以者何？一切諸法，皆悉空寂，tr. “Why? All dharmas are entirely empty and quiescent,” |
| 0018b28 | 無生無滅，無大無小，無漏無為。tr. “without birth or extinction, greatness or smallness, uncontaminated and unconditioned.” |
| 0018b29 | 如是思惟，不生喜樂。我等長夜，tr. “Thinking in this way, we gave rise to no joy. Throughout the long night,” |
| 0018c01 | 於佛智慧，無貪無著，無復志願；tr. “we neither craved nor clung to buddha-wisdom and no longer aspired to it;” |
| 0018c02 | 而自於法，謂是究竟。我等長夜，tr. “regarding our own Dharma as ultimate. Throughout the long night,” |
| 0018c03 | 修習空法，得脫三界，苦惱之患，tr. “we cultivated the Dharma of emptiness and escaped the painful afflictions of the three realms,” |
| 0018c04 | 住最後身、有餘涅槃。佛所教化，tr. “abiding in the final body and nirvāṇa with remainder. The Buddha’s teaching and transformation” |
| 0018c05 | 得道不虛，則為已得，報佛之恩。tr. “enabled us to attain the Way without falsity, and we considered that we had repaid the Buddha’s kindness.” |
| 0018c06 | 我等雖為，諸佛子等，說菩薩法，tr. “Although for the buddha-sons we taught the bodhisattva Dharma” |
| 0018c07 | 以求佛道；而於是法，永無願樂。tr. “through which to seek the Buddha Way, we ourselves forever had no aspiration or delight in this Dharma.” |
| 0018c08 | 導師見捨，觀我心故，初不勸進，tr. “The Guide saw and set us aside. Because He observed our minds, He did not at first exhort us forward” |
| 0018c09 | 說有實利。如富長者，知子志劣，tr. “by teaching that there was real benefit. Like the wealthy elder, who knew that his son’s aspiration was inferior,” |
| 0018c10 | 以方便力，柔伏其心，然後乃付，tr. “He used the power of skillful means to soften and tame our minds and only then entrusted” |
| 0018c11 | 一切財物。tr. “all the possessions.” |
| 0018c12 | 佛亦如是，現希有事，知樂小者，tr. “The Buddha is likewise thus. Manifesting a rare deed and knowing those who delight in the Lesser,” |
| 0018c13 | 以方便力，調伏其心，乃教大智。tr. “through the power of skillful means He tames their minds and then teaches great wisdom.” |
| 0018c14 | 我等今日，得未曾有，非先所望，tr. “Today we have gained the unprecedented, which we never expected before” |
| 0018c15 | 而今自得，如彼窮子，得無量寶。tr. “but which has now come of itself, like the poor son gaining immeasurable jewels.” |
| 0018c16 | 世尊我今，得道得果，於無漏法，tr. “World-Honored One, today we have attained the Way and the fruit, and within the uncontaminated Dharma” |
| 0018c17 | 得清淨眼。我等長夜，持佛淨戒，tr. “attained the pure eye. Throughout the long night we maintained the Buddha’s pure precepts,” |
| 0018c18 | 始於今日，得其果報，法王法中，tr. “and only today have gained their recompense. Within the Dharma of the Dharma king,” |
| 0018c19 | 久修梵行，今得無漏，無上大果。tr. “having long cultivated pure conduct, we now attain the uncontaminated, unsurpassed great fruit.” |
| 0018c20 | 我等今者，真是聲聞，以佛道聲，tr. “We now are true śrāvakas, causing all to hear” |
| 0018c21 | 令一切聞。我等今者，真阿羅漢，tr. “through the voice of the Buddha Way. We now are true arhats,” |
| 0018c22 | 於諸世間，天人魔梵，普於其中，tr. “universally amid all worlds, gods, humans, māras, and brahmās,” |
| 0018c23 | 應受供養。世尊大恩，以希有事，tr. “worthy of receiving offerings. Through rare deeds, the World-Honored One’s great kindness” |
| 0018c24 | 憐愍教化，利益我等，無量億劫，tr. “compassionately teaches, transforms, and benefits us. For immeasurable koṭis of kalpas,” |
| 0018c25 | 誰能報者。手足供給，頭頂禮敬，tr. “who could repay it? Serving with hands and feet and bowing reverently with the crown of the head,” |
| 0018c26 | 一切供養，皆不能報。若以頂戴，tr. “no offering can repay it. Even carrying Him upon the crown of one’s head” |
| 0018c27 | 兩肩荷負，於恒沙劫，盡心恭敬；tr. “or bearing Him on both shoulders and revering Him wholeheartedly for Ganges-sands kalpas;” |
| 0018c28 | 又以美饍、無量寶衣，及諸臥具、tr. “or offering fine food, immeasurable jeweled robes, bedding,” |
| 0018c29 | 種種湯藥，牛頭栴檀，及諸珍寶，tr. “various medicinal decoctions, ox-head sandalwood, and precious things,” |
| 0019a01 | 以起塔廟，寶衣布地。如斯等事，tr. “using them to build stupas and temples and spread jeweled robes over the ground—by such deeds” |
| 0019a02 | 以用供養，於恒沙劫，亦不能報。tr. “of offering for Ganges-sands kalpas, one still could not repay the kindness.” |
| 0019a03 | 諸佛希有，無量無邊，不可思議，tr. “The buddhas are rare, immeasurable, boundless, and inconceivable,” |
| 0019a04 | 大神通力，無漏無為，諸法之王。tr. “possessing great supernormal power, uncontaminated and unconditioned, kings of all dharmas.” |
| 0019a05 | 能為下劣，忍于斯事，取相凡夫，tr. “For the sake of the inferior, They can patiently endure these matters; for ordinary beings attached to marks,” |
| 0019a06 | 隨宜為說。諸佛於法，得最自在，tr. “They teach according to what is fitting. The buddhas attain supreme mastery of the Dharma” |
| 0019a07 | 知諸眾生，種種欲樂，及其志力。tr. “and know living beings’ various desires, delights, aspirations, and powers.” |
| 0019a08 | 隨所堪任，以無量喻，而為說法。tr. “According to what they can bear, They teach the Dharma through immeasurable parables.” |
| 0019a09 | 隨諸眾生，宿世善根，又知成熟、tr. “Following living beings’ wholesome roots from former lives, They also know those that are mature” |
| 0019a10 | 未成熟者，種種籌量，分別知已，tr. “and immature; having variously considered and discerned them,” |
| 0019a11 | 於一乘道、隨宜說三。」tr. “within the path of the One Vehicle They teach three according to what is appropriate.” |
2. Root-Scripture Passages and the Words Attached by the Root Treatise
| Sequence | Root-Scripture Passage | Root-Scripture Domain | Attached Words and Actual Position of Opening Graphs in the Root Treatise |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Introduction before the verse | 0017c10 | Overall heading of eighty-six and a half lines〔0088b29〕; the introduction is not counted among the lines of verse |
| II | Joy upon hearing the Dharma; spontaneous attainment without seeking | 0017c11–0017c13 | The first two lines chant the Dharma teaching; only spontaneous attainment is chanted〔0088c02〕 |
| III | The child abandons his father and wanders through various countries | 0017c13–0017c15 | Beginning with “Suppose there were,” one and a half lines; the various countries correspond to the three realms and more than fifty years to the six destinies〔0088c11〕 |
| IV | The father searches in four directions and stops in a city | 0017c15–0017c16 | The father’s anxiety, weariness from searching, and searching in four directions〔0088c15–0088c20〕 |
| V | Building the residence, immense wealth, and no abandonment of the family enterprise | 0017c17–0017c24 | Building a residence and the many who come and go〔0088c20–0088c22〕 |
| VI | The aged father thinks of his son day and night | 0017c25–0017c27 | Beginning with advanced in years; passing over the sequence to chant his deepening anxiety〔0088c22〕 |
| VII | The poor son seeks food, passes through cities and countries, and gradually nears his father’s city | 0017c27–0018a02 | The poor son then seeks clothing and food and gradually passes through〔0088c25–0089a03〕 |
| VIII | The son sees the father: within the gate, jeweled canopy, bonds and accounts, fear and avoidance | 0018a02–0018a10 | Beginning with hiring himself out, the elder at that time, and the poor son seeing his father〔0089a03–0089a15〕 |
| IX | The father sees and recognizes the son from afar | 0018a10–0018a11 | The elder at that time and seeing from afar〔0089a15–0089a18〕 |
| X | The messenger pursues and seizes him, the poor son faints, and the elder knows there is no responsive capacity | 0018a12–0018a15 | Beginning with commanding the messenger to pursue and bring him back; first summons, second summons, and release〔0089a18–0089a24〕 |
| XI | Sending two men and hiring him to clear dung | 0018a16–0018a19 | Beginning with immediately using skillful means; three lines on hiring him〔0089a24–0089b05〕 |
| XII | The elder puts on worn clothes, approaches, and teaches the work | 0018a20–0018a26 | Beginning with the elder at the window; four and a half lines on teaching him and the seven sets〔0089b05–0089b17〕 |
| XIII | Twenty years, conducting the household affairs, yet still outside the gate | 0018a27–0018b01 | The elder possessed wisdom, after twenty years, still outside the gate, and the father knew his son’s mind〔0089b17–0089b27〕 |
| XIV | Assembling the people, determining father and son, formally entrusting the possessions, and joy | 0018b02–0018b10 | Beginning with wishing to give him the possessions; assembling the relatives, determining the natural relation, formally entrusting, and joy upon receiving it〔0089c02–0089c10〕 |
| XV | Application of separation, meeting, pursuit and summons, and inducement by the two men | 0018b11–0018b16 | The Buddha is likewise thus, knowing that we delighted in the Lesser, He never said, and instead He told us〔0089c10–0089c16〕 |
| XVI | Receiving the command to transmit the teaching; buddha-sons receive predictions | 0018b13–0018b21 | The Buddha commanded us and the five lines beginning “we received the Buddha’s instruction”〔0089c16–0089c25〕 |
| XVII | No wish to take, complete wisdom and severance, and the Buddha’s observing and temporarily setting them aside | 0018b21–0018c08 | Like that poor son, although we proclaimed, within ourselves we had extinguished, if we heard, and the Guide saw〔0089c25–0090a06〕 |
| XVIII | The wealthy elder formally entrusts; the Buddha teaches great wisdom | 0018c09–0018c13 | Three lines beginning “like the wealthy elder” formally chant the entrustment〔0090a06–0090a10〕 |
| XIX | Joy upon receiving the entrustment; attaining the Way, fruit, and eye; the three causes; śrāvakas and arhats | 0018c14–0018c23 | Seven lines beginning “today we”〔0090a11–0090a25〕 |
| XX | The World-Honored One’s great kindness and the inability of offerings to repay it | 0018c23–0019a02 | The final thirteen lines praise the kindness; the root treatise itself enumerates ten kindnesses〔0090a25–0090b16〕 |
| XXI | The buddhas teach according to capacities and teach three appropriately within the One Vehicle | 0019a03–0019a11 | The root treatise gathers these under the general statement that the Buddha’s kindness is profound and difficult to repay, without establishing a separate phrase-by-phrase division〔0090a25〕 |
The fifteenth and sixteenth passages meet and overlap at root-scripture lines〔0018b13–0018b16〕. The same scripture lines simultaneously carry the two sectional markers 「而說我等」 tr. “instead He said of us” and 「佛勅我等」 tr. “the Buddha commanded us”; this is not a duplicate count of the root scripture.
3. Literal Differences between the Root Treatise’s Short Markers and the Present Root Scripture
| Wording Attached or Summarized in T34n1718 | Root-Treatise Line Anchor | Present T09n0262 and Line Anchor | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
火宅中明長者所王國邑聚落語寬 tr. “in the burning house, the country, city, and settlement ruled by the elder have a broader wording” | 0088c13 | 舍利弗！若國邑聚落有大長者 tr. “Śāriputra! Suppose in a country, city, or settlement there were a great elder”〔0012b13–0012b14〕 | An intratextual summary, not a complete verbatim quotation |
注記券疏 tr. “registers, records, bonds, and accounts” | 0089a12 | 注記券䟽 tr. “registers, records, bonds, and accounts”〔0018a05〕 | The graph forms 疏 and 䟽 differ |
油塗足 tr. “oil applied to the feet” | 0089b11 | 并塗足油 tr. “and apply oil to the feet”〔0018a24〕 | Different word order |
薦席厚暖 tr. “thick, warm bedding” | 0089b13 | 薦席厚煖 tr. “thick, warm bedding”〔0018a25〕 | The graphs 暖 and 煖 differ; witness A of the root treatise itself also reads 煖 |
如是苦言汝當勤作 tr. “thus he spoke sternly: you must work diligently” | 0089b14 | 如是苦言：『汝當勤作。』 tr. “thus he spoke sternly: ‘You must work diligently’”〔0018a25〕 | The root treatise omits the inner punctuation |
又以軟語 tr. “again, with gentle words” | 0089b16 | 又以軟語：『若如我子。』 tr. “again, he said gently: ‘Be as my son’”〔0018a26〕 | The root treatise gives only the opening words; its witness A reads 濡 |
二十年 tr. “twenty years” | 0089b26 | 經二十年，執作家事 tr. “for twenty years, he conducted the household affairs”〔0018a27〕; 已二十年 tr. “already twenty years”〔0018b05〕 | The root scripture’s verse has two occurrences; the root treatise’s primary explanation here attaches to the first |
持戒報 tr. “recompense of maintaining the precepts” | 0090a16 | 持佛淨戒，始於今日，得其果報 tr. “maintaining the Buddha’s pure precepts, only today do we gain their recompense”〔0018c17–0018c18〕 | The root treatise condenses it into a short marker |
世尊大恩，兩肩荷負所不能報 tr. “the World-Honored One’s great kindness cannot be repaid even by bearing Him on both shoulders” | 0090b15–0090b16 | 世尊大恩 tr. “the World-Honored One’s great kindness”〔0018c23〕, 兩肩荷負 tr. “bearing Him on both shoulders”〔0018c27〕, 亦不能報 tr. “still cannot repay it”〔0019a02〕 | The root treatise gathers scriptural words separated by several lines |
4. Explicit Citation in the Root Treatise: Humane Kings Prajñā
The root treatise’s transmitted text says that the Humane Kings Prajñā states, 「二十八年說摩訶般若」 tr. “for twenty-eight years He taught the Mahāprajñāpāramitā”〔T34n1718 0089c02〕.
Present T08n0245 reads, 「為我等大眾，二十九年說摩訶般若波羅蜜、金剛般若波羅蜜、天王問般若波羅蜜、光讚般若波羅蜜」 tr. “for our great assembly, for twenty-nine years He taught the Mahāprajñāpāramitā, Vajraprajñāpāramitā, Prajñāpāramitā Questions of the Heavenly King, and Prajñāpāramitā Praised by Light”〔0825b21–0825b23〕. The old preface after the fascicle in T08n0231 likewise reads, 「大覺世尊！前已為我二十九年說《摩訶般若》、《金剛般若》、《天王問般若》、《光讚般若》」 tr. “Greatly Awakened World-Honored One! Previously, for twenty-nine years, You taught us the Mahāprajñāpāramitā, Vajraprajñāpāramitā, Questions of the Heavenly King, and Prajñāpāramitā Praised by Light”〔0725c23–0725c25〕. The root treatise reads twenty-eight, while these two present old textual witnesses read twenty-nine. All three are recorded side by side without adjudication; neither side overwrites the other.
5. Scripture Attached in the Mirror and the Citation from the Avataṃsaka
| Quotation in the Fahua Wenjuji | Mirror Line Anchor | Present-Text Comparison | Present-Text Line Anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| The scripture says, 「頓止一城」 tr. “he stopped in a certain city” | 0286b21 | 四方推求，求之既疲，頓止一城 tr. “searching in the four directions, wearied by the search, he stopped in a certain city” | T09n0262 0017c16 |
| The scripture says, 「夙夜」 tr. “day and night” | 0286b27 | 而年朽邁，益憂念子，夙夜惟念 tr. “as he advanced in years, he thought still more anxiously of his son, pondering day and night” | T09n0262 0017c25 |
| The Avataṃsaka says, 「出離垢山，若用塗身火不能燒。」 tr. “It comes from Stainless Mountain; if it is applied to the body, fire cannot burn it” | 0287a29 | 善男子！復有香名牛頭栴檀，從離垢山王生，若以塗身，火不能燒； tr. “Good son! There is also a fragrance called ox-head sandalwood, produced from King Stainless Mountain; if it is applied to the body, fire cannot burn it” | T09n0278 0713b06–0713b07 |
The Wenjuji citation from the Avataṃsaka reads 出離垢山 tr. “comes from Stainless Mountain” and 若用塗身 tr. “if it is used to coat the body,” whereas the present text reads 從離垢山王生 tr. “produced from King Stainless Mountain” and 若以塗身 tr. “if it is applied to the body,” and also has the preceding words about a fragrance named ox-head sandalwood. Both forms are recorded without adjudication. The Wenjuji also points to bodily marks, lands, practices and vows, and prediction in the “Entering the Dharma Realm” chapter of the Avataṃsaka, but gives no complete quotation that can be uniquely traced.
IV. Essential Explanations from the Wenjuji [the Mirror]
Every row in the following table belongs to Zhanran’s mirror explanation. These materials may illuminate the root treatise in the concluding passage of the exposition, but cannot be presented without attribution as though Zhiyi had already stated them directly in this unit.
| Alignment | T34n1719 Verbatim Essential Wording | Actual Position of Opening Graphs | What the Mirror Explains |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall organization of the opening parable | 此四標文，文似四章但成三段。「乃略追誘」下釋具有。 tr. “These four headings appear in wording to be four chapters, but form only three passages. The explanation beginning ‘then, in brief, pursuit and inducement’ supplies the details.” | 0286b18 | In the mirror master’s reading, four headings actually form three passages; the organization of pursuit and inducement is explained later |
| Building a residence | 有餘之土非寂光自然，現勝應身非法身本有 tr. “The land with remainder is not naturally quiescent light; the excellent response body is manifested and is not originally inherent as the dharma body” | 0286b19 | Expands the land with remainder, excellent response body, and compassion grounded in emptiness |
| Stopping | 「頓」 tr. “‘abruptly’” means sudden weariness; moreover, 「頓止」 tr. “‘stopped abruptly’” means that he traveled no farther | 0286b21–0286b22 | First explains it as sudden weariness, then as stopping and no longer traveling |
| Deepening anxiety | 失苦得樂俱在父懷 tr. “the suffering of loss and joy of recovery are both held within the father’s concern” | 0286b25 | Both the suffering of losing the son and the joy of his future recovery are sustained by the father’s concern |
| Divergent explanation of day and night | 有人云：自行為夜、利他為夙。此不應爾 tr. “Someone says: one’s own practice is night and benefiting others is daybreak. This should not be so” | 0286b27–0286b28 | Records and rejects one explanation, then correlates morning and evening with the beginning and end of transformation |
| Goodness with and without acquisition | 雖復時緣無所得善未能斷結，故此體上仍有見思 tr. “although at times conditioned by goodness without acquisition, one has not yet severed the bonds; therefore delusions of view and thought remain upon this very basis” | 0286c03 | Even goodness without acquisition has not yet severed the bonds |
| Dharma body and reward-response bodies | 此文合在次文畏避段中；加著「師」 tr. “this text should be placed in the following passage on fear and avoidance; adding ‘teacher’” is merely an additional simile; 報是勝應故也 tr. “the reward body is the excellent response body” | 0286c04–0286c08 | Determines the proper alignment, explains teacher as an added simile, and reward as excellent response |
| Registers, records, bonds, and accounts | 誓許利他有如券約，隨修隨償如疏隨還 tr. “vowing to benefit others resembles a contractual bond; repaying in accordance with each cultivation resembles repayment according to an account” | 0286c13 | Uses contractual bond and successive repayment to expand vow and practice |
| Open pursuit by another | 初喚為勸門二義，次喚為誡門二義；以無機故方乃息化 tr. “the first summons is the two meanings of the gate of exhortation, and the second the two meanings of the gate of admonition; only because there was no responsive capacity did transformation cease” | 0286c16–0286c18 | Divides the two summons into exhortation and admonition; absence of capacity explains the release |
| Hiring and teaching him | 「顧作」 tr. “‘hiring him to work’” is the preceding correspondence with the teaching; 「教作」 tr. “‘teaching him to work’” is the preceding exploratory understanding | 0286c20–0286c21 | Correlates hiring and teaching him with correspondence and exploration |
| Divergent explanation of oil applied to the feet | 有人云：外國下濕，使作之人足多龜坼，故以油塗。此語甚鄙 tr. “Someone says: foreign lands are damp below, so laborers’ feet often crack and are therefore coated with oil. These words are extremely crude” | 0286c24–0286c25 | Records and explicitly rejects the explanation based on damp foreign lands |
| Four matters in receiving the command, three in the verse | 初如文，第三是第四大機將動也。但闕第二而無希取 tr. “the first is as in the text; the third is the fourth, the impending activation of the great capacity. Only the second, no wish to take, is missing” | 0286c26–0286c28 | Determines that what the verse omits is no wish to take |
| Twenty years | 上文具引此中二十年，已辯異竟；今以別惑見思名二十也 tr. “the preceding text fully cited the twenty years here and finished distinguishing the divergent explanations; now the delusions of view and thought among the distinct delusions are called twenty” | 0286c28–0287a01 | Refers back to the preceding distinction and gives the mirror master’s correlation |
| Application of separation and meeting | 若單以佛亦如是一句合父子相失，意仍未顯；二句相成攝八句也 tr. “if only the single phrase ‘the Buddha is likewise thus’ applies the separation of father and son, the meaning remains unclear; the two phrases complete one another and encompass eight phrases” | 0287a04–0287a10 | The first two application phrases must complete one another’s meaning |
| Pursuit and summons, mutual trust, and commission with the estate | 秖一追喚即具二義，故云「總」 tr. “the single pursuit and summons itself contains both meanings and is therefore called ‘collective’”; 相信為旁、委業為正；委即是命 tr. “mutual trust is ancillary and commission with the estate primary; commission means command” | 0287a11–0287a17 | Distinguishes ancillary and primary and explains commission as command |
| Command to know | 上頌譬中全無命知 tr. “above, in the verse chanting the parable, command and knowledge are entirely absent” | 0287a18 | The application adds a separate line on commanding and knowing |
| Virtues of severance and wisdom | 內即惑體，三界惑盡故云內滅，故屬斷德；既云若聞，聞教屬智 tr. “inward means the substance of delusion; because the delusions of the three realms are exhausted, it says inward extinction and therefore belongs to the virtue of severance. Since it says ‘if they hear,’ hearing the teaching belongs to wisdom” | 0287a19–0287a22 | Distinguishes severance from wisdom through inward extinction and if they hear |
| Fruit of cultivation | 得初住時破一品無明名為習果 tr. “when attaining the first abode, breaking one degree of ignorance is called the fruit of cultivation” | 0287a28 | Places partial attainment of the Mahāyāna fruit of cultivation at the first abode’s breaking one degree |
| Ten kindnesses | 文中自對室、衣、座三；初室有三恩；次衣恩有四；如來座恩有三 tr. “the text itself correlates them with the three—room, robe, and seat; first, the room has three kindnesses; next, the robe has four; the Tathāgata’s seat has three” | 0287b01–0287b14 | Explicitly recognizes three plus four plus three |
| Later portion of the ten kindnesses | 第八是授記恩，九十令我能利物恩 tr. “the eighth is the kindness of prediction; the ninth and tenth are the kindnesses enabling us to benefit living beings” | 0287b15–0287b16 | Determines the functions of the eighth and of the ninth and tenth |
| Difficulty of repayment and absence of repayment | 注家但云物不答施於天地，子不謝生於父母，以感報斯亡；今非領亡但領難報 tr. “the annotator merely says that things do not answer heaven and earth for their bounty and children do not thank their parents for birth, so responsive repayment is absent; now this does not understand absence of repayment, but only the difficulty of repayment” | 0287b20–0287b24 | Records and rejects the annotator’s account of absent repayment, judging the passage to concern difficulty of repayment |
The Wenjuji does not separately expand each of the following: searching in the four directions, the many who come and go, the four matters in the father’s seeing the son, the correspondences of the seven sets of teachings other than applying oil to the feet, the three causes, or the three meanings of true śrāvaka and true arhat. These points are self-sufficient in the root treatise’s direct exposition.
V. Explanations of Various Masters
1. Recorded by the Root Treatise
In the passage on twenty years, the root treatise first establishes its primary explanation: here, unlike the preceding passage where removing the delusions of view and thought is called twenty, the present phrase refers to conducting the household affairs〔0089b26–0089b27〕. It then records three explanations:
| Sequence | T34n1718 Verbatim | Actual Position of Opening Graphs |
|---|---|---|
| I | 或言轉大乘教教諸菩薩，斷大乘別惑見思，名二十年。 tr. “Some say that transmitting the Mahāyāna teaching to teach the bodhisattvas and severing the delusions of view and thought among the distinct Mahāyāna delusions is called twenty years” | 0089b27 |
| II | 或言說般若時長，凡二十年。 tr. “Some say that the Prajñā teaching was spoken for a long period totaling twenty years” | 0089b29 |
| III | 或言住二乘位，轉大乘教，為二十年。 tr. “Some say that abiding in the position of the two vehicles while transmitting the Mahāyāna teaching is called twenty years” | 0089b29 |
The third explanation crosses〔0089b29–0089c01〕, but the line anchor still follows the actual position of its opening graph 「或」 tr. “some”〔0089b29〕. The subsequent citation from the Humane Kings Prajñā is evidence, not a fourth “some say.” Within the strict domain, 「有人云」 tr. “‘someone says,’” 「舊云」 tr. “‘an old explanation says,’” 「解者不同」 tr. “‘explainers differ,’” and 「一云」 tr. “‘one explanation says’” each occur zero times. 「私謂」 tr. “‘in my own judgment’” occurs twice, once explaining registers, records, bonds, and accounts and once explaining the ten kindnesses. Both are Zhiyi’s own explanations and are not listed as interpretations of various masters.
2. Recorded in the Mirror
| Marker | T34n1719 Record | Mirror Master’s Selection | Actual Position of Opening Graphs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Someone says | 自行為夜、利他為夙 tr. “one’s own practice is night and benefiting others is daybreak” | This should not be so; it instead explains daybreak as morning and night as evening, correlating them with the beginning and end of transformation | 0286b27 |
| Someone says | 外國下濕，使作之人足多龜坼，故以油塗 tr. “foreign lands are damp below, so laborers’ feet often crack and are therefore coated with oil” | These words are extremely crude | 0286c24 |
| The annotator merely says | 物不答施於天地，子不謝生於父母，以感報斯亡 tr. “things do not answer heaven and earth for their bounty, and children do not thank their parents for birth, so responsive repayment is absent” | Now this does not understand absence of repayment, but only difficulty of repayment | 0287b20 |
All three are records in the mirror. Extracting only the first half without its subsequent rejection or selection would reverse the judgment of the Wenjuji. No separate itemized later sectarian controversy appears in this unit.
VI. Terminology
| Term | Doctrinal Position in This Passage of the Root Treatise | Layering Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Separation, meeting, commission with the estate, and entrustment of the possessions | The four aspects in the prose opening of the parable, all chanted in the verse | The verse separately enumerates pursuit and inducement and receipt and entrustment of the family enterprise; it is not forcibly compressed into four equally long passages |
| Searching in the four directions | Observing the four modes of birth and seeking capacities that can be liberated | The root treatise explicitly distinguishes this from the preceding investigation of principle through the four truths |
| Land with remainder; nirvāṇa with remainder | What building the residence represents: establishing a compassionate refuge grounded in the dwelling of the emptiness of inherent nature | The excellent response body and its not being originally inherent as the dharma body are mirror explanations |
| City and country | The mutual involvement of faculties and objects is like a city; the eighteen realms are like a country | Not read merely as geographical cities |
| Goodness with acquisition and goodness without acquisition | Contaminated goodness and the goodness of the two vehicles | “With” and “without” govern acquisition |
| Hunger, weakness, thinness, sores and ringworm | Lacking Mahāyāna Dharma-food, powerful function, and great merit, and producing delusions of view and thought upon goodness with and without acquisition | The order of the four is fixed |
| Dharma body and reward-response bodies | The dharma body is teacher and king; the reward and response bodies are the elder | That the reward body is the excellent response body belongs to the mirror explanation |
| Register, record, bond, and account | Revealing the abbreviated through the extensive, bestowing a determination, the four universal vows, and practice | The present root scripture reads 券䟽 tr. “bond and account”; the graph forms are separately recorded |
| One-eyed, short, ugly, without imposing presence, without virtue | Partial emptiness, not reaching the source of the real mark, lacking the adornment of manifold goodness, not possessing the four fearlessnesses, and differing from permanence, bliss, self, and purity | The five are not combined |
| Seven sets of teachings | Four foundations of mindfulness, four right efforts, four bases of supernormal power, oil applied to the feet, food and drink, bedding, and stern and gentle words | Follows the sequence enumerated by the root treatise |
| Oil applied to the feet | Supernormal powers and undisturbed concentration | The explanation involving damp foreign lands is only recorded and rejected in the mirror |
| Stern words and gentle words | The former collectively chant comforting him and freedom from five faults; the latter collectively chant giving him a name and having him work constantly | Stern words do not mean hostile abuse |
| Twenty years | The primary explanation is conducting the household affairs | The three “some say” explanations are recorded together |
| Correspondence with the teaching and exploratory teaching | The two chapters applying the secret sending of two men to induce him | Their detailed correlation with hiring and teaching him belongs to the mirror explanation |
| Prajñā of emptiness | The root treatise’s explanation of the supreme Way | No additional taxonomy of teachings is imposed |
| Virtue of severance and virtue of wisdom | Within ourselves we had extinguished indicates severance; if we heard indicates wisdom | The detailed alignment of the six lines belongs to the mirror explanation |
| Attaining the Way, attaining the fruit, and the pure eye | The Way of the real mark, partial attainment of the Mahāyāna fruit of cultivation, and seeing the principle of the real mark | The first abode’s breaking one degree of ignorance belongs to the mirror explanation |
| Direct, revealing, and conditioning causes | The principle seen by the pure eye, pure conduct attaining the uncontaminated, and maintaining the precepts | Follows the root treatise’s sequence and invents no fourth cause |
| True śrāvaka | The true Mahāyāna position; causing all to hear through the voice of the Buddha Way | The root treatise distinguishes resemblance from reality through the ten faiths and ten abodes |
| True arhat | The three meanings of no further birth, slayer of thieves, and worthy of offerings | The present passage of the root scripture explicitly gives only worthiness of offerings; the root treatise mutually discloses the three meanings |
| Ten kindnesses | Three of the room, four of the robe, and three of the seat | The ninth and tenth are written in the same passage but remain two kindnesses |
Within the root treatise’s strict domain, the seven later classificatory terms “five periods and eight teachings,” modes of conversion, contents of conversion, Tripiṭaka-Shared-Distinct-Perfect, ten subtleties of the Trace Gate, ten subtleties of the Origin Gate, and three thousand in one thought-moment do not occur. This records only the literal boundary. It does not infer from zero occurrences that the related meanings are absent elsewhere, nor disguise later terminology as the original wording of this passage.
VII. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
The simile network of this unit first proceeds along the father-and-son narrative. The son leaves the father, the father searches for the son, the son gradually approaches the city, father and son see one another, an attendant pursues and summons him, two men are secretly sent, he is taught to work, commissioned with the estate, and formally entrusted with it; each remains within the narrative passage of the parable and the correlations made by the root treatise. Only at the root scripture’s 「佛亦如是」 tr. “the Buddha is likewise thus”〔T09n0262 0018b11〕 does the text explicitly turn to the application. Separation, meeting, pursuit and summons, inducement, commission with the estate, and formal entrustment each receive their Dharma correspondence there. The parable and application illuminate one another, but the receiving of commands, transmitting the teaching, wisdom and severance, and formal entrustment that are stated only in the application are not poured backward into the story characters’ own meanings.
Clothing, food, rooms, oil, bedding, and the family enterprise make transformation more than a single declaration. The poor son first approaches his father through work he can accept, then gradually enters and leaves by way of cleaning the rooms, diligent labor, increased wages, clothing and food, and bedding; the root treatise interprets this passage through seven sets of teachings. His later continued residence outside the gate and absence of any wish to take also show that knowing the possessions and being willing to receive them are not the same. This imagistic line closes only with the formal entrustment and joy.
Read alongside this repository’s sealed “Faith and Understanding” chapter, the root scripture first narrates the poor-son parable in full and Mahākāśyapa then proclaims it again in verse; the present unit is the phrase-by-phrase explanation of that verse. Read alongside the “Parables” chapter, the root treatise itself notes that the wording 「國邑聚落」 tr. “country, city, and settlement” in the burning house has a broader semantic domain. This distinguishes the domain of related terms in different parables without merging the parables of the two chapters into a single character-correlation chart.
Read alongside the Fahua Xuanyi, one can see how the general account of doctrinal classification enters phrase-by-phrase exegesis. Read alongside the Mohe Zhiguan, only stable points of contact concerning observation of capacities and gates of practice are taken; names from another work are not written backward into this passage. The Fahua Xuanzan also explains the “Faith and Understanding” chapter and can serve as a comparative witness from the Ci’en tradition, but one commentary is not used to adjudicate another.
The root treatise finally traces the thirteen lines praising kindness back through ten kindnesses. The root scripture’s carrying upon the head, bearing on the shoulders, food, jeweled robes, bedding, medicines, stupas, temples, and other offerings show that immeasurable offerings still cannot repay the kindness. The root treatise’s ten kindnesses, by contrast, are grouped as three of the room, four of the robe, and three of the seat and review ten layers of beneficence from the initial establishment of compassion to one’s own practice and the transformation of others. The two enumerations count different objects and are not recast into one ten-item table. This conclusion carries forward the father’s searching for, approaching, teaching, and entrusting his son: gaining the mass of jewels is not an accidental turn in the story but the handing over toward which the entire sequence of transformation has accumulated.
VIII. Placement of the Editions
1. Twenty-One Paired Readings of Witness Taishō and Witness A
| Sequence | Line Anchor | Apparatus Type | Witness Taishō | Witness A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 0088c09 | Numerical anchor 0088006 | 弟 | 第 |
| II | 0088c17 | Numerical anchor 0088007 | 子 | Witness A lacks the graph |
| III | 0088c29 | Numerical anchor 0088008 | 相 | 根相 |
| IV | 0089a08 | Numerical anchor 0089001 | 長者 | Witness A lacks the graphs |
| V | 0089a11 | Numerical anchor 0089002 | 踞 | Witness A lacks the graph |
| VI | 0089a23 | Numerical anchor 0089003 | 即 | Witness A lacks the graph |
| VII | 0089b09 | Numerical anchor 0089004 | 合 | Witness A lacks the graph |
| VIII | 0089b13 | Starred variant referring back to 0085007 | 麪 | 麵 |
| IX | 0089b13 | Numerical anchor 0089005 | 暖 | 煖 |
| X | 0089b16 | Numerical anchor 0089006 | 軟 | 濡 |
| XI | 0089b21 | Numerical anchor 0089007 | 即 | 即此 |
| XII | 0089c22 | Numerical anchor 0089008 | 領 | 頌 |
| XIII | 0089c23 | Numerical anchor 0089009 | 有 | Witness A lacks the graph |
| XIV | 0089c23 | Numerical anchor 0089010 | 正 | 上 |
| XV | 0090a09 | Numerical anchor 0090001 | 歡 | 付 |
| XVI | 0090a16 | Numerical anchor 0090002 | 戒 | 戒得 |
| XVII | 0090a25 | Numerical anchor 0090003 | 也 | 也世尊大 |
| XVIII | 0090b09 | Numerical anchor 0090004 | 蓋 | 蓋是 |
| XIX | 0090b10 | Numerical anchor 0090005 | 皆悉 | 悉皆 |
| XX | 0090b17 | Numerical anchor 0090006 | 妙法蓮華經 | 法華 |
| XXI | 0090b17 | Numerical anchor 0090007 | 下 | Witness A lacks the graph |
The twentieth and twenty-first groups occur in the fascicle-end title and belong to the extracted source domain but not to the doctrinal-outline body. After the twenty-first group there is also colophon material from the Hōryūji manuscript; the colophon is not presented as a body-text variant. The starred 麪 and 麵 refer back to an earlier apparatus item and do not establish a new numerical anchor. All seven empty readings in witness A are explicitly recorded as omissions rather than represented ambiguously by a blank or dash.
2. Four Apparatus Types, Gaiji, and Page Anchors
The twenty-one variant groups in this domain consist of twenty paired numerical-anchor readings and one starred reference back; unilateral editorial inline notes and abbreviated character-count variants each occur zero times. The body contains zero <note place="inline"> elements and zero gaiji <g> tags. These zero values apply only to this unit and are not generalized to the complete fascicle or root scripture.
Three opening inline anchors are set in the reader source according to page transitions:〔T34 0088b29〕,〔T34 0089a15〕, and〔T34 0090b17〕. They mark page changes and the position of the fascicle-end title in the reader layer. Every verbatim quotation in the apparatus still takes the nearest preceding Taishō line marker before its opening graph; reader page anchors cannot replace exact line anchors.