妙法蓮華經文句 藥草喻品 · 略述成（雙述善哉）
我們很容易把稱讚聽成句點。只要有人說我理解得很好，便以為不必再問；只要後來又指出不足，又覺得先前的理解全被推翻。
佛對四位弟子的述成，不落在這兩邊。祂兩度稱善，印可他們確實領會了權宜與真實，也確實說出了從結緣、追誘到付財的深恩。這份理解不是錯的，更不是客套話。
可是，佛隨即指出他們所領不及。大雲普覆，大雨俱霑；弟子從自己所得說起，卻還沒有說到人天小草、菩薩上草與大小樹，也沒有說盡十方三世一切所受的利益。
一株藥草充分受潤，不等於它已能代替整片大地說話。它可以真實呈現雨水的滋養，也可以尚未說盡同一場雨如何落在其他草木上。『真的懂了』與『還沒說完』，原來可以同時成立。
本論因此特別提醒：說不及，並不是頓然奪去已有的領解。初心已含後心的功德，如初阿已具後茶；只是具備，不等於已把橫豎周遍的一切逐一展開。
這也改變我們面對肯定與修正的方式。受到肯定時，不必急著把局部所得封成全部；受到修正時，也不必把已經走過的路一筆抹去。真正穩固的理解，既能安住於已得，也能為未盡保留空間。
下次有人稱許你的理解，可以再問一步：我是否把一株藥草所得的滋潤，誤當成整片大地的全部？下次有人指出遺漏，也可以再問：他是在否定我已得，還是在讓我看見同一場雨原來更廣？
善哉不是終點。不及也不是撤回。前者使人不自棄，後者使人不自滿；兩者共同把已經萌芽的理解，帶向更廣的生長。
We readily hear praise as a full stop. Once someone says that we understand well, we assume there is no need to ask further; once a later correction points out what is lacking, we feel that our earlier understanding has been overturned altogether.
The Buddha’s confirmation of the four disciples falls into neither extreme. Twice He calls their words excellent, confirming that they truly understood both the provisional and the real and truly spoke of the profound kindness extending from forming the connection and pursuit and inducement to entrustment of the possessions. Their understanding is not wrong, much less a mere courtesy.
Yet the Buddha immediately points out what their understanding did not reach. The great cloud covers all and the great rain moistens all alike. The disciples begin from what they themselves have attained, but have not yet spoken of humans and gods as lesser plants, bodhisattvas as superior plants and small and great trees, or the complete benefit received throughout the ten directions and three times.
One medicinal herb fully moistened cannot thereby speak for the whole earth. It can truly show the rain’s nourishment while still not exhausting how the same rain falls upon all the other plants and trees. “Truly understanding” and “not yet having said everything” can both be true at once.
The root treatise therefore takes special care to remind us: saying that their understanding does not reach everything does not abruptly strip away the understanding they already possess. The initial mind already contains the qualities of the later mind, as the first syllable a already possesses the final syllable ḍha; possessing them, however, does not mean that everything extending horizontally and vertically has already been unfolded one by one.
This also changes how we meet affirmation and correction. When affirmed, we need not hasten to seal a partial attainment as the whole. When corrected, we need not erase with a stroke the path already traveled. Truly stable understanding can abide in what has been attained while keeping room for what has not yet been exhausted.
The next time someone commends your understanding, you might ask one step further: have I mistaken the moisture received by one medicinal herb for the whole of the earth? The next time someone points out an omission, you might ask: are they denying what I have attained, or enabling me to see how much broader the same rain truly is?
“Excellent” is not the endpoint. “Not reaching” is not a withdrawal. The former keeps one from abandoning oneself; the latter keeps one from self-satisfaction. Together they carry an understanding that has already sprouted toward broader growth.
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 0090b20〕。段/行首〔T34 …〕＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨（換頁一枚）。
〔T34 0090b20〕妙法蓮華經文句卷第七上 天台智者大師說 釋藥草喻品 此中具山川雲雨，獨以「藥草」標名者，土地是能生，雲雨是能潤，草木是所生所潤，所生所潤通皆有用，而藥草用強，有漏諸善悉能除惡，無漏為最，無漏眾中四大弟子，以譬領佛譬深會聖心，佛讚善哉甚為希有，述其得解以喻其人，故稱「藥草喻品」。夫藥草叢育日久，一蒙雲雨扶疏暐曄，芽莖豐蔚於外，力用充潤於內，譬諸無漏住最後身有餘涅槃，更不願求無上佛道；今得聞經自乘佛乘兼以運人，文云「我等今日真是聲聞」，以佛道聲令一切聞，內外自他具勝力用，故稱「藥草喻品」。夫藥草者，能除四大風冷，補養五臟還年駐色，今蒙雲雨忽成藥王，餌之遍治眾病變體成仙，譬諸無漏聞經，破無明惑開佛知見，文云「我等今日真是佛子，無上寶聚不求自得」，佛子所應得者皆已得之，面於佛前得受記莂，嘉著而稱微，故言「藥草喻品」。前一番是師弟領述，世界悉檀意也；次一番生善，為人意也；次一番是對治、第一義兩悉檀意也。是名「因緣釋品」。餘約教、本迹、觀心，準例可知，不復記〔云云〕。 此品是譬說中第三述成段。舊云：述其十三偈歎佛恩深，又述其教作人譬文言曲巧。師云：不應偏爾，經稱善說如來真實功德，備述其領權領實，明文在此；十三偈止是二乘齊教荷恩，教作人譬是佛權功德耳。今言都述其周遍領解，始天性結緣、中間追誘、終於付財，自微自著無量無邊諸恩德也。其文為二：一、略述成，二、廣述成。略述又二：一、雙述善哉，二、領所不及。雙述者，一善哉述其兩處領實，一善哉述其兩處領權。「善說如來真實功德」者，「真實」是述實，「功德」是述權。又《華嚴》之擬宜領實也，三藏之誘引領權也，方等之體信，《般若》之領教，俱領權實也，《法華》之付財，專論實也。辭致曲巧故言「善說」，皆是佛法故言「真實」。「誠如所言」者，印定之旨也。又從「如來復有」下，述其領所不及。云何不及？謂退進、橫豎、亦橫亦豎、非橫非豎皆不及也。所以者何？大雲普覆遍荷清涼，大雨俱霑無不蒙澤，咸令世間皆得知見未曾有法，那忽齊教止領二乘得益？不道人天小草，是為退所不及。菩薩名上草，亦名小樹大樹，敷榮欝茂自他饒益而復不領，是為進所不及。又十法界同成佛法界，那忽止領二乘，餘八法界都不涉言？是為橫所不及。又七方便從淺至深皆入真實，餘五方便都不在言，是為豎所不及。又三世利益未曾暫廢，是為亦橫亦豎所不及。夫山川谿谷〔云云〕，總言一地，一地能生未嘗揀擇攘彼受此，草木種子皆依於地更無餘依，一雲靉靆無處不密，一雨一味不隔枯榮，普潤既同普得增長，如來平等不可思議，實不先頓後漸、初三末一，如龍興慶雲普雨於一切身心不降雨除熱得清涼，是為五乘七方便十方三世平等廣大，甚深博遠不可思議無有差別，是為非橫非豎領所不及。不及之旨非都頓奪，特以初心望後心，未窮極地故云不盡耳。又初悟初阿，亦具後茶功德，但齊教之領未暇進領橫豎周遍耳。又權行大士宜應如此也。
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》卷第七上，天台智者大師說。以下解釋〈藥草喻品〉。
一、為什麼只以藥草標出品名
這一品同時具有山川、雲、雨等形象，為什麼單獨以『藥草』標出品名？土地能夠生長草木，雲雨能夠滋潤草木，草木則是土地所生、雲雨所潤之物。凡是受生、受潤的草木，普遍都有用途；其中藥草的作用最強。有漏的種種善行都能除惡，而無漏之善最為殊勝。在無漏聖眾之中，四位大弟子以譬喻領解佛所說的譬喻，深深契會佛心；佛讚歎他們『善哉』，稱此事極為稀有，又印可他們已經得到理解，並以藥草譬喻這些領解之人，所以稱作〈藥草喻品〉。
藥草叢生，長養已有許多時日；一旦蒙受雲雨滋潤，外在的嫩芽與莖幹便枝葉疏朗、光彩明盛而豐茂，內在的力量與功用也得到充實滋養。這譬喻無漏聖者住於最後一身，安住有餘涅槃，原來不再願求無上佛道；如今聽聞這部經，不僅自己乘佛乘，也以佛乘運載他人。經文說，他們今天才真正是聲聞：以佛道之聲，使一切眾生都能聽聞。內與外、自己與他人，都具備殊勝的力量和作用，所以稱作〈藥草喻品〉。
藥草又能祛除四大中的風、冷，補養五臟，使人恢復年華、常保氣色。如今藥草蒙受雲雨，忽然成為藥王；服食以後能普遍治癒眾病，甚至使形體轉變而成仙。這譬喻無漏聖者聽聞此經，破除無明之惑，開啟佛的知見。經文說，他們今天才真正是佛子，無上寶聚沒有追求便自然得到；凡是佛子應當得到的，他們如今都已得到，又當著佛的面獲得授記。於是善始善終，所聞契合微妙義理，所以稱作〈藥草喻品〉。
第一番釋名，說的是老師與弟子之間的領解與印可，是世界悉檀之意。第二番釋名，說的是生起善法，是為人悉檀之意。第三番釋名，同時含有對治悉檀與第一義悉檀之意。這三番合稱依因緣解釋品名。其餘依教法、本迹、觀心等解釋，都可照前例理解，此處不再記述。〔以下從略〕
二、譬說中的第三段述成：舊說、師說與今說
這一品是譬說周中的第三段述成。
舊說認為，佛所述成的有兩項：一是述成十三首偈所讚歎的佛恩深重，二是述成教導作工之人那段譬喻的文辭曲折巧妙。
師說認為，不應當只偏取這兩項。經文明明稱讚弟子善能說出如來真實功德，已經完整述及他們對權宜與真實兩方面的領解。十三首偈只說二乘人依自己所得教法共同承受佛恩；教導作工之人的譬喻，也只顯示佛的權宜功德而已。若只取這兩處，便不能涵蓋經文明說的全部領解。
現在的解釋是：佛在這裡總體述成弟子周遍的領解。從最初由天性結下因緣，到中間追尋、誘導，再到最後交付家財；從微隱到顯著，其中有無量無邊的恩德，佛都一併印可。
三、略述成分成兩段
述成的文字分成兩大部分：第一是略述成，第二是廣述成。略述成又分成兩段：第一是兩次述成『善哉』，第二是述成弟子所領解不到的地方。
所謂兩次述成，就是一個『善哉』述成弟子在兩處對真實的領解，另一個『善哉』述成他們在兩處對權宜的領解。經文所說『善能說出如來真實功德』，其中『真實』二字述成對真實的領解，『功德』二字述成對權宜的領解。
還可以依先後五段分別來看：在《華嚴》時為眾生作初步擬宜，是領解真實；以三藏教誘導眾生，是領解權宜；到了方等時體會、相信，又在《般若》會中領受教法，兩者都同時領解權宜與真實；到了《法華》會上交付家財，便專門說真實。弟子敘說得委曲而巧妙，所以佛稱讚他們『善說』；他們所領解的全是佛法，所以稱為『真實』。經文又說『的確如你們所說』，就是佛加以印定的意旨。
四、為什麼佛又說他們仍有領解不到之處
從經文『如來還有』以下，佛開始述成弟子領解不到的地方。他們在哪些方面還沒有領解到？共有退、進、橫、豎、亦橫亦豎、非橫非豎六項，全都有所不及。
為什麼這樣說？廣大的雲普遍覆蓋，使一切眾生都承受清涼；大雨一同霑潤，沒有誰不蒙受恩澤。佛使世間眾生都能得到從未曾有之法的知見，弟子怎麼可以只依自己所得的教法，領解二乘人所獲的利益？
第一，弟子沒有說到人、天，如同沒有說到小草。只說二乘而未及人、天，是向下退一步時仍有領解不到之處。
第二，菩薩名為上草，也名為小樹、大樹。他們枝葉繁盛、茂密生長，既能充實自己，也能利益他人；弟子的領解卻沒有說到他們。這是向上進一步時仍有領解不到之處。
第三，十法界共同成為佛法界，弟子卻只說到二乘，其餘八法界全未涉及。這是橫向遍看各類眾生時仍有領解不到之處。
第四，七種方便由淺到深，全都進入真實；弟子只領解其中兩種，其餘五種方便全未說到。這是縱向察看由淺入深的次第時仍有領解不到之處。
第五，佛在過去、現在、未來三世利益眾生，從來不曾片刻停止；弟子的領解沒有遍及三世。這是橫向與縱向合看時仍有領解不到之處。
五、同一土地、雲與雨，也不是一道可被框限的線
山、川、溪、谷〔以下從略〕，總合而言都是同一片土地。土地能生長萬物，從不分別這一種應當排拒、那一種應當接受；所有草木種子都依土地而生，此外沒有別的依處。一片雲層層密布，沒有一處不被覆蓋；一場雨只有一味，並不隔開枯萎與茂盛。既然普遍滋潤相同，一切草木也就普遍得到增長。
如來的平等不可思議，實際上並不是先有頓法、後有漸法，也不是最初三乘、最後才成一乘。譬如龍興起祥雲，把雨普降於一切；身心不降雨，卻能除去熱惱、得到清涼。五乘、七種方便、十方與三世，都在這平等、廣大、甚深、博遠、不可思議而沒有差別的滋潤之中。這是既不能以橫向框定，也不能以縱向框定時，弟子的領解仍有所不及。
六、說『不及』，並不是把最初的領解全部奪去
佛指出領解不及的意旨，並不是頓然否定弟子已有的理解。只是把初心與後心相比，初心還沒有窮盡最後的境地，所以說領解尚未完全。
又如最初領悟第一個阿字時，也已具備最後一個茶字的功德；只是弟子當時的領解與自己所得教法相齊，尚未來得及進一步領會橫向、縱向以及周遍無盡的利益。又或者，行於權宜的大士，本來就應當如此。
Volume seven, first part, of the Fahua Wenju (Words and Phrases of the Lotus), taught by the Tiantai Master Zhizhe. What follows explains the “Parable of the Medicinal Herbs” chapter.
I. Why Does the Chapter Title Name Only Medicinal Herbs?
This chapter contains the images of mountains, rivers, clouds, and rain together, so why does its title single out “medicinal herbs”? The earth can produce plants and trees, clouds and rain can moisten them, and plants and trees are what the earth produces and cloud and rain moisten. All plants that are produced and moistened have uses, but medicinal herbs have the strongest function. All kinds of contaminated wholesome practice can remove evil, but uncontaminated goodness is supreme. Among the uncontaminated noble assembly, the four great disciples use a parable to understand the parable taught by the Buddha and deeply accord with the Buddha’s mind. The Buddha praises them as “excellent,” calls this extremely rare, and confirms that they have attained understanding. Because medicinal herbs illustrate those who understand, the chapter is called “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs.”
Medicinal herbs have grown in abundance and been nurtured over a long time. As soon as they receive the moisture of cloud and rain, their tender sprouts and stems become open-branched, radiant, and luxuriant outwardly, while their power and function are replenished and nourished inwardly. This illustrates uncontaminated noble ones abiding in their final bodies and in nirvāṇa with remainder, who formerly no longer wished to seek the unsurpassed Buddha Way. Now, hearing this scripture, they not only ride the Buddha Vehicle themselves but also carry others upon the Buddha Vehicle. The scripture says that only today are they true śrāvakas: through the voice of the Buddha Way, they cause all living beings to hear. Inwardly and outwardly, for themselves and others, they possess supreme power and function; hence it is called “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs.”
Medicinal herbs can also dispel wind and cold among the four elements, nourish the five organs, restore one’s youth, and preserve one’s complexion. Now, after receiving cloud and rain, the medicinal herbs suddenly become a king of medicines. Once ingested, they can cure all illnesses and even transform the body so that one becomes an immortal. This illustrates uncontaminated noble ones who, upon hearing this scripture, break the delusion of ignorance and open the Buddha’s knowledge and vision. The scripture says that only today are they true buddha-sons: the unsurpassed mass of jewels comes naturally without being sought; everything buddha-sons should receive has now been received, and they further obtain predictions in the Buddha’s presence. Thus the beginning and end are both excellent and what is heard accords with the subtle meaning; hence it is called “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs.”
The first explanation of the title concerns understanding and confirmation between teacher and disciples and expresses the world siddhānta. The second concerns the arising of wholesome dharmas and expresses the siddhānta for the individual. The third contains the meanings of both the therapeutic siddhānta and the siddhānta of ultimate truth. Together, these three are called interpretation of the chapter title through causes and conditions. Interpretations in terms of the teaching, origin and trace, contemplating the mind, and the rest can be understood by analogy with the preceding examples and are not recorded further here. [The following is abbreviated.]
II. The Third Passage of Confirmation in the Teaching through Parable: Old Explanation, Teacher’s Explanation, and the Present Explanation
This chapter is the third passage, confirmation, within the cycle of teaching through parable.
The old explanation holds that the Buddha confirms two things: first, the profundity of the Buddha’s kindness praised in the thirteen verses; and second, the intricate and skillful wording in the parable’s passage on teaching the worker.
The teacher’s explanation holds that only these two should not be selected. The scripture expressly praises the disciples for skillfully expressing the Tathāgata’s real qualities and thus already gives a complete confirmation of their understanding of both provisional and real. The thirteen verses speak only of practitioners of the two vehicles jointly receiving the Buddha’s kindness in accordance with the teaching they themselves attained; the parable of teaching the worker reveals only the Buddha’s provisional qualities. Selecting only these two places therefore cannot encompass all the understanding explicitly stated by the scripture.
The present explanation is that the Buddha here collectively confirms the disciples’ pervasive understanding. From the natural relation that first formed the connection, through pursuit and inducement in the middle, to the final entrustment of the family possessions; from hidden and subtle to manifest—throughout, the Buddha confirms the immeasurable and boundless kindness together.
III. The Brief Confirmation Has Two Passages
The confirmation is divided into two main parts: first the brief confirmation and second the extensive confirmation. The brief confirmation is further divided into two passages: first, the twofold confirmation through “excellent”; and second, confirmation of what the disciples’ understanding does not reach.
In the twofold confirmation, one “excellent” confirms the disciples’ understanding of the real in two places, while the other “excellent” confirms their understanding of the provisional in two places. In the scriptural phrase “skillfully express the Tathāgata’s real qualities,” the word “real” confirms their understanding of the real, while “qualities” confirms their understanding of the provisional.
This can also be distinguished through the preceding and following five passages. The initial formulation of what is appropriate for living beings in the Avataṃsaka period is an understanding of the real. Inducing living beings through the Tripiṭaka Teaching is an understanding of the provisional. Coming to understand and trust during the Vaipulya period and receiving the teaching in the Prajñā assembly both understand provisional and real together. Entrusting the family possessions in the Lotus assembly treats the real exclusively. Because the disciples’ account is intricate and skillful, the Buddha praises them for “speaking well.” Because everything they understand is Buddha Dharma, it is called “real.” The scripture further says, “It is truly as you have said,” which is the Buddha’s act of sealing and determining their words.
IV. Why Does the Buddha Then Say That Their Understanding Still Does Not Reach Everything?
Beginning with the scriptural words “the Tathāgata further possesses,” the Buddha starts to confirm what the disciples’ understanding does not reach. In what respects has it not reached? There are six: receding, advancing, horizontal, vertical, both horizontal and vertical, and neither horizontal nor vertical. Their understanding falls short in all six.
Why is this so? The vast cloud covers all, causing every living being to receive coolness; the great rain moistens all alike, so no one fails to receive its benefit. The Buddha enables living beings throughout the world to attain knowledge and vision of a Dharma never possessed before. How could the disciples, relying only on the teaching they themselves attained, understand only the benefit gained by practitioners of the two vehicles?
First, the disciples do not speak of humans and gods, just as they do not speak of lesser plants. Speaking only of the two vehicles without reaching humans and gods is something their understanding still does not reach when receding a step downward.
Second, bodhisattvas are called superior plants and also small and great trees. Luxuriant and densely growing in branches and leaves, they both fulfill themselves and benefit others, yet the disciples’ understanding does not mention them. This is what remains unreached when advancing a step upward.
Third, the ten Dharma realms together become the buddha Dharma realm, but the disciples speak only of the two vehicles and do not touch the other eight realms at all. This is what remains unreached when viewing all classes of living beings horizontally and pervasively.
Fourth, the seven kinds of skillful means, from shallow to profound, all enter the real, but the disciples understand only two and do not mention the remaining five. This is what remains unreached when viewing vertically the sequence of entering the profound from the shallow.
Fifth, the Buddha benefits living beings throughout past, present, and future without ever pausing even for a moment, but the disciples’ understanding does not extend throughout the three times. This is what remains unreached when horizontal and vertical are viewed together.
V. The Same Earth, Cloud, and Rain Are Not a Single Line That Can Be Confined
Mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys [the following is abbreviated] are, taken together, the same earth. The earth produces the myriad things without distinguishing one kind as to be rejected and another as to be accepted. The seeds of all plants and trees arise in dependence on the earth and have no other support. A single cloud spreads densely in layers, leaving no place uncovered. One rain has only one flavor and does not divide the withered from the flourishing. Because the same moisture reaches all universally, every plant and tree universally obtains growth.
The Tathāgata’s equality is inconceivable. In reality, it is not that the sudden Dharma comes first and the gradual Dharma afterward, or that there are initially three vehicles and only at the end one vehicle. It is like a dragon raising an auspicious cloud and sending rain everywhere upon all. Although body and mind do not themselves send down rain, heat and distress are removed and coolness attained. The five vehicles, seven kinds of skillful means, ten directions, and three times all lie within this equal, vast, extremely profound, far-reaching, inconceivable, and undifferentiated moisture. This is what the disciples’ understanding still does not reach when it can be confined neither horizontally nor vertically.
VI. Saying “Not Reaching” Does Not Strip Away the Initial Understanding
The Buddha’s intent in pointing out what their understanding does not reach is not abruptly to negate the understanding the disciples already possess. It is only that, when the initial mind is compared with the later mind, the initial mind has not yet exhausted the final state and therefore their understanding is said to be incomplete.
Likewise, when one first awakens to the first syllable a, one already possesses the qualities of the final syllable ḍha. Yet at the time the disciples’ understanding was only equal to the teaching they themselves had attained; they had not yet had leisure to understand further the horizontal, vertical, and universally inexhaustible benefit. Alternatively, a great being practicing provisionally should naturally be so.
這一段先用很長的篇幅解釋藥草之名，接著才進入佛對弟子領解的述成。表面看來，兩件事似乎一在釋題，一在消文；實際上，藥草如何受生、受潤、發揮力用，正好使述成中的兩面同時可見：弟子的領解確實已經生長成熟，所以值得稱善；一場雲雨所潤又遠超幾株藥草已能說出的範圍，所以稱善之後仍可指出不及。
問題因此不是弟子究竟懂或不懂，而是已有的理解真實到什麼程度，又尚未說盡什麼。若只看稱善，容易把領解當成全部完成；若只看不及，又會抹掉佛已親自印可的所得。本論把兩者放在同一個略述成中，使肯定與開拓彼此不相妨礙。
一、山川、雲雨、草木都有，為何偏取藥草
本品並不缺少其他意象。土地能生，雲雨能潤，草木是所生、所潤；所有草木普遍都有用途，藥草卻因除病之用最強而得以標名。品名並非把土地、雲雨與其他草木排除，而是從全部意象之中，取最能顯出作用的一項。
第一番釋名先從除惡說起。有漏的善也能除惡，無漏之善最為殊勝；四位大弟子以譬喻領會佛所說的譬喻，深合佛心，因而得到稱善與述成。此時藥草的力用，是領解能契合佛意。
第二番把時間拉長。藥草叢生已久，一經雲雨滋潤，外在的芽莖豐茂，內在的力量充足。弟子原來住於最後身，不再願求無上佛道；如今聽聞此經，不但自己乘佛乘，也能運載他人。藥草之用於是由自己得益展開到使他人聽聞，內外、自他都具力量。
第三番再把藥草寫成藥王。世間藥草原可治風冷、養五臟；蒙受雲雨以後，卻能遍治眾病，乃至使形體轉變。譬喻所顯，是聞經以後破除無明、開佛知見，得到佛子所應得之法，並在佛前受記。第一番顯契會，第二番顯自他之用，第三番顯聞經後所得；本論由藥草本有的除病作用，逐步寫到一場雲雨所成就的殊勝力用。
這三番又分別安置世界、為人、對治與第一義四悉檀。師弟領述、生善、除病與所得，隨藥草意象自身的展開而依次顯出；其餘三種解釋只說準例可知，不再鋪寫。
二、佛述成的是兩小段，還是整個領解歷程
進入述成以後，本論先保存一項分歧。舊說只取十三偈所歎的佛恩，以及教導作工之人那一段譬喻的文辭巧妙。師說反對偏取，理由直接出自眼前經文：既然佛稱讚弟子善說如來真實功德，文字已經同時涉及權宜與真實，便不能只用兩個局部把述成的範圍縮小。
本論自己的收束更進一步：佛總體述成的是弟子周遍的領解。這一領解從最初的天性結緣開始，經過中間的追尋、誘導，直到最後交付家財；從微隱到顯著，其中無量無邊的恩德都在述成之內。
這個分歧之所以重要，不只是科判要取長或取短。若只取兩個局部，佛的稱善便只落在少數說得巧妙的句子上；若依本論所判，稱善所印可的則是從結緣到付財的整段領解。局部文辭仍在，卻須放回弟子所領受的全部歷程中理解。
三、兩個善哉，為什麼不是一句稱讚的重複
略述成分成兩段：先雙述善哉，再述領所不及。雙述之中，一個善哉述成弟子在兩處對真實的領解，另一個善哉述成他們在兩處對權宜的領解。因此，兩次稱善不是把同一句讚語說兩遍，而是分別印可領解中的兩面。
經文以『善說如來真實功德』作總結。『真實』述成對實的領解，『功德』述成對權的領解；『善說』則稱許他們敘說得委曲巧妙。接著，本論把先後五段放回這兩面中：最初擬宜領實，三藏誘引領權，方等體信與《般若》領教都兼領權實，《法華》付財則專論實。五段的次序沒有被兩個善哉抹平，兩個善哉也沒有被拆成彼此無關的稱讚。
佛又以『誠如所言』印定弟子的話。這一印定使下文的『不及』不能被讀成全盤否定：若前面的領解根本錯誤，便無從稱善，也無從印定。佛所指出的，是已經正確領會的弟子仍未把佛意說盡。
四、既然領解真實，為什麼仍然不盡
佛從『如來復有』以下轉入領所不及。轉折的根據，先由雲雨本身顯出：大雲普覆，一切都承受清涼；大雨俱霑，沒有誰不蒙受滋潤。弟子的敘說若只停在二乘所得，便比佛所普遍成就的利益狹窄。
這裡不能把『不及』理解成另一次判錯。佛不是說弟子所領全都不成立，而是說他們以自己所得為出發點，已能真實說出一部分佛恩，卻尚未遍說同一雲雨之下所有眾生所得。領解之真，與所說未盡，可以同時成立。
藥草意象在這裡也顯出另一面。品名雖取藥草，雲雨所潤卻不限於藥草；即使藥草已充分受潤、發揮強用，也不能因此斷定小草、上草與大小樹全都不在雨中。佛先肯定藥草的力用，再把視野帶回雲雨普覆，正好保住所得而不把所得封成邊界。
五、退、進、橫、豎各自漏掉了什麼
本論以六項說明領解不及，每一項所漏不同，不能合併成一句籠統的『尚未周全』。
第一是退所不及。弟子只說二乘所得，沒有說到人、天，如同只說藥草而沒有說小草；向下看時，仍有未領之處。
第二是進所不及。菩薩如上草，也如小樹、大樹，枝葉繁茂，既能充實自己，也能饒益他人；向上看時，弟子也沒有領到這些利益。
第三是橫所不及。十法界都成佛法界，弟子卻只說二乘，其餘八法界全未涉及。這裡所缺的不是前後次第，而是同時遍看其餘眾類。
第四是豎所不及。七種方便由淺至深都入真實，弟子只說其中二種，其餘五種未見於言。這裡所缺的是由淺到深的次第。
第五是亦橫亦豎所不及。佛在過去、現在、未來利益眾生，未曾暫停；弟子沒有把三世的利益一同說出。
第六是非橫非豎所不及。佛的平等廣大、甚深博遠，不可只用橫向眾類或縱向次第加以框限。這最後一項不是在前五項以外再補一類眾生，而是指出佛意本身不被橫豎窮盡。
六、一地、一雲、一雨，為何仍容許種種生長
本論接著讓山川、溪谷、土地、雲雨與草木全部回到眼前。地形雖有山川溪谷，總體而言同是一地；土地生長萬物，不曾排拒一種、偏受另一種。草木種子都依地而生，沒有第二個依處。一雲密布，沒有地方不被覆蓋；一雨一味，也不隔開枯萎與茂盛。普遍滋潤相同，便普遍得到增長。
同一土地沒有取消草木種子的不同，一雨一味也沒有把小草、上草、大小樹改成同一形貌。此段著眼的，是土地不作揀擇、雲雨不作隔斷；各種草木都在不被排除的滋潤中增長。由此，如來平等不可思議，並不受先頓後漸、初三末一的先後外相限制。
龍興起慶雲，把雨普降於一切；眾生由此除熱而得清涼。五乘、七種方便、十方、三世，都在這平等廣大、甚深博遠而無差別的利益中。弟子的領解已說到自己所受之潤，佛的述成則使人看見：同一雲雨之下，尚有不可用自己的所得加以限量者。
七、不盡不是奪去，而是從初心望向後心
本論在最後親自防止過度解讀：所謂不及，並不是把弟子的領解全部頓然奪去。只是以初心望後心，初心尚未窮盡最後境地，所以說不盡。
初悟第一個阿字時，也已具備最後茶字的功德；具備並不等於已把中間一切功德逐一說完。弟子的領解與當時所得教法相齊，尚未來得及進一步領會橫、豎與周遍利益。若是行於權宜的大士，也正應示現如此。
於是，兩次稱善與指出不及不再互相衝突。稱善守住已得：弟子確實領會權實，並把從結緣到付財的佛恩說了出來。不及守住未窮：佛的雲雨普覆十方三世，不能被已有的敘說封住。成熟的理解不必靠自稱窮盡來證明自己；它能承受佛的印可，也能在印可之後繼續展開。
文句記之眼
湛然先辨品名所指的通與別。祂說「佛意雖通述，其得解別在迦葉」〔T34n1719 0288a11–0288a12〕，又以「悟必通該、領述從別」〔0288a18〕收束：佛所述的利益本來廣通，眼前領解與述成則從別人、別事顯出。這層通別判讀只屬鏡文。
湛然又據經文所說諸大弟子，判「信知得悟不專四人」〔0288a17–0288a18〕。因此，從四人領解來釋藥草，是就眼前領述的代表而言；所悟、所得並未被限定為只有四人。這一擴充仍是鏡文的判釋。
對舊說、師說與雙述，鏡文補出兩項身分判定。《記》明說「「師云」者，正指南嶽」〔0288b26〕，又說「兩處謂方便、火宅也」〔0288c09–0288c10〕。智者本文只存師云與兩處，並未在本段署出這個人名，也未把兩處逐一命名。
對領所不及，湛然說「說不能盡之言，寄之以明不盡」〔0288c21〕。所謂不及，正在已領而未能說盡，不是反稱前領為錯。祂又以「以二乘位望上為進、望下為退」〔0288c24–0288c25〕校準進退的觀察位置，使上草、大小樹與人天小草各有所屬，而不把進退誤作二乘自身的得失。
對橫豎，鏡文再說「十界各各自有因果，不由次第故名為橫」〔0288c25–0288c26〕，並把一人由淺漸起繫於豎義。這些話把智者已列的十界、七方便分別照明，卻沒有把六種不及合成一項；進、退、橫、豎、兩者兼具與兩者皆非，仍須各守本論原來的列序。
到了初阿與後荼，湛然把迦葉所證繫於初阿，又說初阿即具後荼，故遍領本無別〔0289a27–0289a28〕。這正照出智者何以一面說初悟已具後德，一面仍說眼前敘說未暇周遍：所具不被否定，尚未盡說也不因而消失。
鏡文最後把差與無差收在同一語勢中：「即空故差即無差，即假故無差即差，即中故非差非不差」〔0289b01–0289b02〕。這是湛然對一地、一雨而草木各異的進一步判釋。它照明平等並非抹除差別、差別也不隔斷同一滋潤；這組語句不在智者本段。
This passage first devotes considerable space to explaining the title “medicinal herbs,” and only then enters the Buddha’s confirmation of the disciples’ understanding. On the surface, one appears to concern interpretation of the title and the other phrase-by-phrase exegesis. In fact, the way medicinal herbs are born, moistened, and brought into effective use makes both sides of the confirmation visible at once: the disciples’ understanding has genuinely grown and matured and therefore deserves to be called excellent, yet what a single cloud and rain moisten extends far beyond what a few medicinal herbs can already say, so what their understanding does not reach can still be shown after they have been praised.
The question, then, is not whether the disciples understand or do not understand, but how far their existing understanding is true and what it still has not fully expressed. Looking only at “excellent” easily turns their understanding into total completion; looking only at “not reaching” erases the attainment the Buddha Himself has confirmed. The root treatise places both within the same brief confirmation, allowing affirmation and further opening to stand without obstructing one another.
I. If Mountains, Rivers, Clouds, Rain, and Plants Are All Present, Why Select Medicinal Herbs?
This chapter lacks none of the other images. The earth can produce, clouds and rain can moisten, and plants and trees are what is produced and moistened. All plants and trees have uses, but medicinal herbs are named because their power to remove illness is strongest. The chapter title does not exclude the earth, clouds and rain, or other plants. It selects from the entire field the one image that most clearly reveals effective function.
The first explanation of the title begins from removing evil. Contaminated goodness can also remove evil, but uncontaminated goodness is supreme. The four great disciples understand through parable the parable taught by the Buddha and deeply accord with His mind; consequently, He calls their words excellent and confirms them. At this point the effective power of the medicinal herbs is the understanding’s accord with the Buddha’s intent.
The second explanation lengthens the timescale. Medicinal herbs have long grown in abundance; once moistened by cloud and rain, their sprouts and stems flourish outwardly and their power becomes full inwardly. The disciples formerly abided in their final bodies and no longer wished to seek unsurpassed buddhahood. Now, hearing this scripture, they not only ride the Buddha Vehicle themselves but also carry others upon it. The medicinal herb’s function thus expands from benefiting oneself to enabling others to hear; inwardly and outwardly, for oneself and others, its power is complete.
The third explanation writes the medicinal herb as a king of medicines. Ordinary herbs can treat wind and cold and nourish the five organs; after receiving cloud and rain, however, they can cure every illness and even transform the body. The parable reveals that after hearing the scripture one breaks ignorance, opens the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, attains what buddha-sons should attain, and receives a prediction in the Buddha’s presence. The first explanation reveals accord, the second the function for oneself and others, and the third what is attained after hearing the scripture. Beginning with medicinal herbs’ inherent ability to remove illness, the root treatise progressively writes the supreme effective power accomplished by one cloud and rain.
These three explanations respectively establish the four siddhāntas of the world, the individual, therapeutic treatment, and ultimate truth. The teacher’s confirmation of the disciples’ understanding, the arising of goodness, removal of illness, and attainment unfold in sequence through the medicinal-herb image itself; the remaining three kinds of interpretation are said only to follow by analogy and are not elaborated.
II. Does the Buddha Confirm Two Short Passages or the Entire Course of Understanding?
Upon entering the confirmation, the root treatise first preserves a disagreement. An old explanation selects only the profound kindness of the Buddha praised in the thirteen verses and the literary subtlety of the passage in the parable where the worker is instructed. The teacher’s explanation opposes this partial selection for a reason drawn directly from the present scripture: because the Buddha praises the disciples for well expressing the Tathāgata’s real qualities, the wording already concerns both the provisional and the real, and the range of the confirmation cannot be reduced to only two local passages.
The root treatise’s own conclusion goes further: what the Buddha confirms collectively is the disciples’ pervasive understanding. This understanding begins with the natural relation that first formed the connection, passes through pursuit and inducement in the middle, and culminates in the entrustment of the family possessions. From the hidden and subtle to the manifest, the immeasurable and boundless kindness throughout is included in the confirmation.
This disagreement matters not merely because the doctrinal division may take a longer or shorter passage. If only two local passages are selected, the Buddha’s praise falls only upon a few artfully expressed sentences. According to the root treatise’s judgment, however, “excellent” confirms the entire course of understanding from forming the connection to entrusting the possessions. The local wording remains, but must be understood within the whole course that the disciples have received.
III. Why Are the Two “Excellents” Not a Repetition of the Same Praise?
The brief confirmation has two passages: first the twofold confirmation through “excellent,” then confirmation of what their understanding does not reach. Within the twofold confirmation, one “excellent” confirms the disciples’ understanding of the real in two places, while the other confirms their understanding of the provisional in two places. Thus the two commendations do not merely repeat the same word of praise; each confirms one side of their understanding.
The scripture summarizes this as “well expressing the Tathāgata’s real qualities.” “Real” confirms their understanding of the real, “qualities” confirms their understanding of the provisional, and “well expressing” praises the intricate skill of their account. The root treatise then returns the preceding and following five passages to these two sides: the initial deliberation of what was appropriate understands the real; inducement through the Tripiṭaka Teaching understands the provisional; mutual trust in the Vaipulya period and receiving the teaching in the Prajñā assembly each understand both provisional and real; and entrustment of the possessions in the Lotus treats the real exclusively. The sequence of the five passages is not flattened by the two “excellents,” nor are the two “excellents” broken into unrelated praises.
The Buddha further seals the disciples’ words with “truly, it is as you have said.” This seal means that the following “not reaching” cannot be read as a total negation. If their preceding understanding were fundamentally wrong, there would be nothing to praise or seal. What the Buddha indicates is that disciples who have already understood correctly still have not fully expressed His intent.
IV. If Their Understanding Is True, Why Does It Still Not Exhaust the Matter?
Beginning with “the Tathāgata further possesses,” the Buddha turns to what their understanding does not reach. The basis of the transition first appears through cloud and rain themselves: the great cloud covers all, so all receive coolness; the great rain moistens all alike, so none fails to receive its benefit. If the disciples’ account stops with what the two vehicles attain, it is narrower than the benefit universally accomplished by the Buddha.
Here, “not reaching” cannot be understood as another judgment of error. The Buddha does not say that everything the disciples understood fails. He says that, beginning from what they themselves attained, they can truthfully express part of the Buddha’s kindness but have not yet spoken universally of what all living beings receive beneath the same cloud and rain. The truth of their understanding and the incompleteness of their expression can coexist.
The medicinal-herb image also reveals another side here. Although the chapter title selects medicinal herbs, what cloud and rain moisten is not limited to them. Even if the medicinal herbs have been fully moistened and exercise powerful functions, one cannot therefore conclude that lesser plants, superior plants, and small and great trees are all outside the rain. The Buddha first affirms the herbs’ effective power and then returns the field of vision to the cloud and rain that cover all, thereby preserving what is attained without sealing attainment into a boundary.
V. What Does Each of Receding, Advancing, Horizontal, and Vertical Omit?
The root treatise explains what their understanding does not reach through six items. Each omits something different and cannot be merged into the single vague statement that their understanding “is not yet comprehensive.”
First is what receding does not reach. The disciples speak only of what the two vehicles attain and do not speak of humans and gods, just as they speak only of medicinal herbs and not of lesser plants. Looking downward, something still remains outside their understanding.
Second is what advancing does not reach. Bodhisattvas are like superior plants and also like small and great trees, luxuriant in branches and leaves, able both to fulfill themselves and benefit others. Looking upward, the disciples have not understood these benefits either.
Third is what the horizontal does not reach. All ten Dharma realms become the buddha Dharma realm, but the disciples speak only of the two vehicles and do not touch the other eight realms at all. What is missing here is not a temporal sequence but the simultaneous, pervasive view of the other kinds.
Fourth is what the vertical does not reach. The seven kinds of skillful means, from shallow to profound, all enter the real, but the disciples speak of only two and do not mention the remaining five. What is missing here is the sequence from shallow to profound.
Fifth is what is both horizontal and vertical and remains unreached. The Buddha benefits living beings in past, present, and future without ever pausing, but the disciples do not express the benefit throughout the three times together.
Sixth is what is neither horizontal nor vertical and remains unreached. The Buddha’s equality is vast, extremely profound, and far-reaching and cannot be confined solely through horizontal kinds or vertical sequence. This final item does not add another class of living beings beyond the preceding five; it points out that the Buddha’s own intent cannot be exhausted by horizontal and vertical.
VI. Why Do One Earth, One Cloud, and One Rain Still Allow Diverse Growth?
The root treatise next brings mountains, rivers, streams, valleys, earth, clouds, rain, and plants back into view together. Although the terrain includes mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys, in total it is one earth. The earth produces the myriad things without rejecting one kind and favoring another. The seeds of all plants and trees are born depending upon the earth and have no second support. One cloud densely spreads, leaving no place uncovered; one rain with one flavor does not separate the withered from the flourishing. Because the same moisture reaches all, all obtain growth.
The sameness of the earth does not cancel differences among the seeds, nor does one rain with one flavor transform lesser plants, superior plants, and small and great trees into the same appearance. The point of the passage is that the earth does not select and cloud and rain do not divide; every kind of plant grows within moisture from which none is excluded. Thus the Tathāgata’s equality is inconceivable and is not constrained by the outward sequence of the sudden before the gradual or an initial three followed by a final one.
A dragon raises an auspicious cloud and sends rain universally upon all; living beings thereby remove heat and gain coolness. The five vehicles, seven kinds of skillful means, ten directions, and three times all lie within this equal, vast, extremely profound, far-reaching, and undifferentiated benefit. The disciples’ understanding has spoken of the moisture they themselves receive; the Buddha’s confirmation enables one to see that beneath the same cloud and rain there is still something that cannot be measured by one’s own attainment.
VII. Not Exhausting Does Not Strip Anything Away but Looks from the Initial Mind toward the Later Mind
At the end, the root treatise itself prevents an excessive reading: “not reaching” does not abruptly strip away the disciples’ entire understanding. It is only that, viewed from the later mind, the initial mind has not yet exhausted the final state and therefore is called incomplete.
When one first awakens to the first syllable a, one already possesses the qualities of the final syllable ḍha; possessing them does not mean that every intervening quality has been expressed one by one. The disciples’ understanding is equal to the teaching they had attained at that time, and they have not yet had leisure to understand further the horizontal, vertical, and universally pervasive benefit. A great being practicing provisionally should indeed manifest in this way.
The two praises and the indication of what does not reach therefore no longer conflict. “Excellent” preserves what has been attained: the disciples truly understand provisional and real and have spoken of the Buddha’s kindness from forming the connection to entrusting the possessions. “Not reaching” preserves what has not been exhausted: the Buddha’s cloud and rain cover the ten directions and three times and cannot be sealed within the existing account. Mature understanding need not prove itself by claiming exhaustion. It can receive the Buddha’s confirmation and continue to unfold after it.
Through the Eye of the Wenjuji
Zhanran first distinguishes the universal and particular references of the chapter title. He says, “Although the Buddha’s intent in confirming is universal, the particular attainment of understanding lies with Kāśyapa”〔T34n1719 0288a11–0288a12〕, and concludes, “awakening necessarily encompasses universally, while understanding and confirmation follow the particular”〔0288a18〕. The benefit confirmed by the Buddha is originally extensive and universal, while the present understanding and confirmation appear through particular persons and events. This universal-particular judgment belongs only to the mirror text.
Zhanran further relies on the scripture’s reference to the great disciples and judges, “one can confidently know that attaining awakening is not restricted to four persons”〔0288a17–0288a18〕. Thus explaining medicinal herbs through the understanding of four persons takes them as representatives in the present confirmation; awakening and attainment are not limited to only four. This extension remains the mirror text’s judgment.
Concerning the old explanation, the teacher’s explanation, and the twofold confirmation, the mirror text supplies two identifications. The Wenjuji explicitly says, “‘The teacher says’ refers precisely to Nanyue”〔0288b26〕, and further says, “the two places mean the ‘Skillful Means’ teaching and the burning house”〔0288c09–0288c10〕. Zhiyi’s text preserves only “the teacher says” and “two places”; it does not name this person or identify the two places one by one in this passage.
Concerning what their understanding does not reach, Zhanran says, “the words that speech cannot exhaust are used to clarify non-exhaustion”〔0288c21〕. What does not reach is precisely what has been understood but cannot yet be fully expressed; it is not a retroactive declaration that the earlier understanding was wrong. He further calibrates the standpoint of advance and retreat through “from the position of the two vehicles, looking upward is advance and looking downward is retreat”〔0288c24–0288c25〕. Superior plants, small and great trees, and humans and gods as lesser plants thereby have their respective positions; advance and retreat are not mistakenly read as gains and losses within the two vehicles themselves.
Concerning horizontal and vertical, the mirror text further says, “each of the ten realms has its own cause and fruit; because this does not follow a sequence, it is called horizontal”〔0288c25–0288c26〕, and connects a single person’s gradual arising from the shallow with the vertical meaning. These words illuminate the ten realms and seven kinds of skillful means already enumerated by Zhiyi without merging the six things not reached into one item. Advance, retreat, horizontal, vertical, both together, and neither must still preserve the root treatise’s original order.
At the point of the initial a and final ḍha, Zhanran connects Kāśyapa’s realization with the initial a and further says that the initial a itself possesses the final ḍha, so pervasive understanding is originally without distinction〔0289a27–0289a28〕. This precisely illuminates why Zhiyi says both that the initial awakening already possesses the later qualities and that the present account has not yet had time to be universally pervasive: what is possessed is not denied, and what has not yet been fully expressed does not thereby disappear.
The mirror text finally gathers difference and non-difference in a single cadence: “because they are empty, difference is itself non-difference; because they are conventional, non-difference is itself difference; because they are the middle, they are neither different nor not different”〔0289b01–0289b02〕. This is Zhanran’s further judgment on one earth and one rain amid the differences of plants and trees. It illuminates how equality does not erase difference and difference does not interrupt the same moisture; these words do not occur in Zhiyi’s passage.
考據Apparatus
本單元自卷七上卷題起，先用三番解釋〈藥草喻品〉之名，再把本品判為譬說中的第三述成段，依次解釋雙述善哉與領所不及。智者所帖根經以〈藥草喻品〉為主，又回看〈信解品〉的領解、前指〈授記品〉的記莂，並引《華嚴》與《大品》作譬。本論所引與今本有同有異，均照原字並錄。
一、科判定位
嚴格域為 T34n1718〔0090b20–0091a26〕，共九百九十六個漢字。起於卷題「妙法蓮華經文句卷第七上」〔0090b20〕，止於「又權行大士宜應如此也」〔0091a25–0091a26〕。同一行其後「廣述成又二：長行、偈頌」已開下一單元，不納入本域。
本單元位於迹門〈藥草喻品〉釋的開端，也是本品「略述成」全段。依本論自己的唱數與轉折，可分六科：
| 次第 | 行域 | 本論內容 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0090b24–0090c16 | 三番解釋藥草品名，依次配世界、為人、對治與第一義；約教、本迹、觀心略而不記 |
| 二 | 0090c16–0090c23 | 標本品為譬說第三述成，先錄舊說，再錄師說，後立周遍領解 |
| 三 | 0090c23–0091a02 | 本品二分，略述又二分；以兩個善哉分述兩處領實、兩處領權 |
| 四 | 0091a02–0091a14 | 從「如來復有」起，依次說退、進、橫、豎、亦橫亦豎所不及 |
| 五 | 0091a14–0091a22 | 以一地、一雲、一雨的平等廣大，說非橫非豎所不及 |
| 六 | 0091a22–0091a26 | 說所不及並非頓奪已有領解，而是初心望後心、初阿具後茶及權行大士的限定 |
本論明列的數目不可互換：品名因緣釋有三番；全品先分略述成、廣述成二段；略述成再分雙述善哉、領所不及二段；雙述又以一善哉述實、一善哉述權。領所不及先合稱退進、橫豎、亦橫亦豎、非橫非豎四組，後文實際逐面解作退、進、橫、豎、亦橫亦豎、非橫非豎。
《法華文句記》的對位域自「《法華論》以七譬立七對治」〔T34n1719 0287c06〕起，至「即中故非差非不差，橫豎例知」〔0289b02〕止；同一行其後「廣述成中二段」已轉下一單元。鏡文連續對應本論六科，沒有跨入廣述成。
二、成立與傳本
本帙神逈序稱本文「迺是灌頂法師私記，合二十卷」〔T34n1718 0001a23–0001a24〕，又記天寶戊子東陽朗和尚條倫治定。現行本單元卷題後只署「天台智者大師說」〔0090b22〕；故義說歸智者，文字傳錄歸灌頂及後世治定。神逈所記治定本「方始條倫」而「非苟求同異輒有增減」〔0001a25 起〕，只足以誌明傳承所自陳，沒有另一部治定前原序可逐字對勘。
嚴格域保存八個校記錨與兩枚隨文夾註，可見現行字面有可考異存；這些材料不等同完整傳本譜系。正文守大正本，甲本異讀並列，不據今義選勝。
三、所帖經文與所引
（一）根經〈藥草喻品〉十二段
本論逐句消釋的根經，已在本倉封存的《妙法蓮華經》原典中保存：
| 項 | 磁碟所見 |
|---|---|
| 品題 | 「藥草喻品第五」〔T09n0262 0019a18〕 |
| 正文域 | 0019a19–0020b24 |
| 封存原典 | canon/tiantai/fahua/treatise/05_yaocaoyu/05_yaocaoyu_source.md，正文第四至八十二行 |
| 覆蓋口徑 | 下列十二段依位元順序覆蓋全品正文；同一行錨內前段收尾、後段起句可以共享行錨 |
依經文行次分為十二段：
| 次第 | 根經行域 | 經文主題 | 本單元主要對位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0019a19–0019a27 | 雙善哉、真實功德、說不能盡與如來說法 | 0090c24–0091a04、0091a22–0091a25 |
| 二 | 0019a27–0019b06 | 一地、一雲、一雨與草木差別 | 0090b24–0090b29、0091a14–0091a18 |
| 三 | 0019b06–0019b23 | 如來如大雲，隨眾生根性說法，各得生長 | 0091a04–0091a21 |
| 四 | 0019b23–0019c06 | 一相一味，唯佛知眾生種性與所住之地 | 0091a09–0091a22 |
| 五 | 0019c06–0019c09 | 迦葉希有，能知隨宜說法，轉入重頌 | 0090b27–0090b29 |
| 六 | 0019c10–0019c15 | 法王隨眾生欲，以種種緣隨力為說 | 品名與述成的說法背景 |
| 七 | 0019c15–0019c29 | 雲雨、山川、草木，同受一雨而各自滋茂 | 0090b24–0090c02、0091a14–0091a18 |
| 八 | 0019c29–0020a12 | 佛如大雲，以甘露一味常為大乘作因緣 | 0091a04–0091a21 |
| 九 | 0020a13–0020a20 | 無彼此愛憎，恆為一切平等說法、等雨法雨 | 0091a17–0091a22 |
| 十 | 0020a21–0020b04 | 小、中、上三藥草與小、大二樹 | 0091a06–0091a12 |
| 十一 | 0020b04–0020b17 | 演說一法，眾生隨力修行，藥草諸樹各得增長 | 0090c01–0090c12、0091a15–0091a21 |
| 十二 | 0020b18–0020b24 | 一味雨、方便開示佛道，聲聞所行皆是菩薩道 | 0090b27–0090c12 |
第一段根經作「善哉，善哉！迦葉善說如來真實功德。」〔T09n0262 0019a19〕，又說「汝等若於無量億劫說不能盡。」〔0019a21〕。第二、三段以「山川谿谷土地所生卉木叢林及諸藥草」〔0019a28〕起譬，又說「隨其所堪而為說法」〔0019b17〕與「如其種性，具足蒙潤，各得生長」〔0019b22〕。第十段依序列小藥草、中藥草、上藥草、小樹、大樹〔0020a22–0020b02〕；本論所說退、進，正回看這組經文類名。
（二）本論顯引根經的異同
| T34n1718 本論所引 | 本論行錨 | T09n0262 今本 | 今本行錨 | 並錄 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 「我等今日真是聲聞」 | 0090c04 | 「我等今者，真是聲聞」 | 0018c20 | 今日／今者不同 |
| 「以佛道聲令一切聞」 | 0090c05 | 「以佛道聲，令一切聞」 | 0018c20–0018c21 | 字同，今本有逗號 |
| 「我等今日真是佛子，無上寶聚不求自得」 | 0090c09–0090c10 | 長行「我等昔來真是佛子」；偈頌「無上寶聚，不求自得」 | 0017c04；0017c13 | 今本分在兩處，今日／昔來不同 |
| 「佛子所應得者皆已得之」 | 0090c10 | 「如佛子所應得者皆已得之」 | 0017c09 | 今本句首多「如」 |
| 「善說如來真實功德」 | 0090c18、0090c26 | 「迦葉善說如來真實功德」 | 0019a20 | 本論分段起錨省略主語 |
| 「誠如所言」 | 0091a01 | 「誠如所言」 | 0019a20 | 字同 |
| 「如來復有」 | 0091a02 | 「如來復有無量無邊阿僧祇功德」 | 0019a21 | 本論只取起句作分段錨 |
| 「山川谿谷」 | 0091a14 | 「山川谿谷土地所生卉木叢林及諸藥草」 | 0019a28 | 本論後接〔云云〕表示省文 |
（三）〈信解品〉的周遍領解
本論說「今言都述其周遍領解，始天性結緣、中間追誘、終於付財」〔T34n1718 0090c21–0090c23〕。它所回看的〈信解品〉不只末十三偈與教作人譬，而有下列十個宏段：
| 次第 | T09n0262 行域 | 封存原典行 | 首句／收句 | 與本單元的關係 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0016b08–0016b24 | 四 | 首見「爾時慧命須菩提」，收於「無量珍寶、不求自得」 | 四弟子起領解，先述不求而今自得 |
| 二 | 0016b25–0016c11 | 五 | 首見「我等今者樂說譬喻」，收於「無復憂慮」 | 父子相失，父親尋子 |
| 三 | 0016c11–0016c22 | 六 | 首見「爾時窮子傭賃」，收於「疾走而去」 | 父子相見，窮子畏懼逃走 |
| 四 | 0016c22–0017a07 | 七 | 首見「時富長者於師子座」，收於「往至貧里以求衣食」 | 急追、放捨，窮子仍往貧里 |
| 五 | 0017a07–0017a12 | 八 | 首見「爾時長者將欲誘引」，收於「具陳上事」 | 密遣二人，設方便雇作 |
| 六 | 0017a12–0017a29 | 九 | 首見「爾時窮子先取其價」，收於「然其所止猶在本處」 | 教作、作字、心相體信 |
| 七 | 0017a29–0017b15 | 十 | 首見「爾時長者有疾」，收於「先所出內是子所知」 | 領知家業、定父子、付財 |
| 八 | 0017b15–0017b17 | 十一 | 首見「是時窮子聞父此言」，收於「今此寶藏自然而至」 | 得付歡喜，寶藏自至 |
| 九 | 0017b18–0017c10 | 十二 | 首見「大富長者則是如來」，收於「爾時摩訶迦葉欲重宣此義」 | 合譬，含真是佛子與皆已得之 |
| 十 | 0017c12–0019a11 | 十三至一百二十九 | 首見「我等今日」，收於「隨宜說三」 | 全段偈頌，末十三偈歎佛恩深 |
教作譬的長行有「語諸作人：『汝等勤作，勿得懈息。』」〔T09n0262 0017a17〕，偈頌又作「方便附近，語令勤作」〔0018a22〕與「如是苦言：『汝當勤作。』」〔0018a25〕。末十三偈從「世尊大恩，以希有事」〔0018c23〕起，止於「於一乘道、隨宜說三」〔0019a11〕。智者並未刪除這兩處，只說它們不足以周遍涵蓋始、中、終的領解。
「始天性結緣」在根經另有久遠因緣可對：十六菩薩各化眾生，眾生「世世所生與菩薩俱，從其聞法，悉皆信解」〔T09n0262 0025b20〕，又說「以此因緣，得值四百萬億諸佛世尊，于今不盡。」〔0025b22〕。把這裡具體判作大通佛所，是《文句記》的鏡釋。
本帙較早又把窮子譬分成五科：
| 本帙原句 | 行錨 | 與本單元濃縮語的關係 |
|---|---|---|
| 「一、從「捨父逃逝」下，名父子相失譬」 | T34n1718 0080b02 | 父子天性的背景 |
| 「二、從「窮子傭賃」下，名父子相見譬」 | 0080b03–0080b04 | 相見 |
| 「三、從「即遣傍人急追將還」下，名追誘譬」 | 0080b05–0080b06 | 中間追誘 |
| 「四、從「過是已後心相體信」下，委知家業譬」 | 0080b07–0080b09 | 體信與領知家業 |
| 「五、從「復經少時父知子意」下，名付家業譬」 | 0080b09–0080b10 | 終於付財 |
（四）受記莂的前向經文
本論以「面於佛前得受記莂」〔T34n1718 0090c11〕概括後續〈授記品第六〉。四大弟子的授記按經文次序分為五段：
| 次第 | T09n0262 行域 | 經文宏段 | 起句 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0020b26–0020c27 | 大迦葉授記長行與偈頌 | 「爾時世尊說是偈已，告諸大眾」 |
| 二 | 0020c28–0021a15 | 目犍連、須菩提、摩訶迦旃延共同請記 | 「爾時大目犍連、須菩提、摩訶迦栴延等」 |
| 三 | 0021a16–0021b16 | 須菩提授記長行與偈頌 | 「爾時世尊知諸大弟子心之所念」 |
| 四 | 0021b17–0021c14 | 大迦旃延授記長行與偈頌 | 「爾時世尊復告諸比丘眾」 |
| 五 | 0021c15–0022a17 | 大目犍連授記長行與偈頌 | 「爾時世尊復告大眾」 |
這是本論語句的前向指涉；各弟子的劫、國、壽命並未在本單元逐項展開。
（五）擬宜、誘引、體信、領教、付財
本論原句作：「又《華嚴》之擬宜領實也，三藏之誘引領權也，方等之體信，《般若》之領教，俱領權實也，《法華》之付財，專論實也。」〔T34n1718 0090c27–0090c29〕。這五項是智者對四弟子所領一代教化的配屬，不是五部經中共同存在的一條原句；本帙較早的支點如下：
| 配屬 | 本帙原句 | 行錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 華嚴擬宜 | 起於「即遣傍人，傍人所說乃譬《華嚴》圓頓」，止於「以此擬二乘人」 | T34n1718 0086b12–0086b15 |
| 三藏誘引 | 「密遣二人說除糞法，此譬息大之後鹿苑說三」 | 0086b15–0086b18 |
| 方等體信 | 「心相體信入出無難，譬三藏之後說方等」 | 0086b19–0086b20 |
| 般若領教 | 「委以家業，使其領教為大菩薩說摩訶般若」 | 0086b29–0086c01 |
| 法華付財 | 「會三歸一付財與記說《法華》之教」 | 0086c06–0086c07 |
（六）《華嚴》偈與「如龍興」
本論作「如龍興慶雲普雨於一切身心不降雨除熱得清涼」〔T34n1718 0091a18–0091a20〕。T09n0278 今本最接近的連續四句為：
「如龍興慶雲，普雨於一切，身心不降雨，除熱得清涼。」〔T09n0278 0788a10–0788a11〕
同經另有「普雨甘露法，隨器皆充滿，如龍興慶雲，等雨於一切。」〔0398b04–0398b05〕。前一處與本論的普雨、身心、除熱四句連續相應；後一處作等雨。兩處並列，不判智者所據版本。
（七）初阿、後茶與《大品》
本帙較早引《大品》作「初阿字門，具四十一字功德，後茶亦具諸字功德，中間亦爾，字等、語等、功德亦等。」〔T34n1718 0022b03–0022b04〕。今本 T08n0223 可對：
| 今本原句 | 行錨 | 與本單元的關係 |
|---|---|---|
| 「字等語等諸字入門。何等為字等語等諸字入門？阿字門，一切法初不生故。」 | T08n0223 0256a07–0256a08 | 字門以阿起 |
| 「荼字門，入諸法邊竟處故不終不生，過荼無字可說。」 | 0256b10–0256b11 | 字門以荼收 |
| 「一字皆入四十二字，四十二字亦入一字。」 | 0396b24–0396b25 | 一字與四十二字互入 |
本論及本帙早文作茶，今本字門作荼；字形並錄，不改正文。
（八）鏡文所引經論的今本對讀
《文句記》先說「《法華論》以七譬立七對治」〔T34n1719 0287c06〕。T26n1519 今本總句作「自此以下，次為七種具足煩惱染性眾生說七種喻，對治七種增上慢心，此義應知。」〔0008a25–0008a26〕，七項次序如下：
| 次第 | T26n1519 今本 | 行錨 | 鏡文所撮 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一 | 起於「顛倒求諸功德增上慢心」，止於「為說火宅譬喻應知」 | 0008b05–0008b08 | 求人天果報，以火宅對治 |
| 二 | 起於「聲聞一向決定增上慢心」，止於「為說窮子譬喻應知」 | 0008b09–0008b11 | 聲聞乘等如來乘，以窮子對治 |
| 三 | 起於「大乘一向決定增上慢心」，止於「為說雲雨譬喻應知」 | 0008b12–0008b14 | 謂無二乘，以雲雨對治 |
| 四 | 起於「實無謂有增上慢心」，止於「為說化城譬喻應知」 | 0008b15–0008b17 | 實無涅槃而生涅槃想，以化城對治 |
| 五 | 起於「散亂增上慢心」，止於「為說繫寶珠譬喻應知」 | 0008b18–0008b21 | 不求大乘而取虛妄解脫，以繫珠對治 |
| 六 | 起於「實有功德增上慢心」，止於「輪王解自髻中明珠與之譬喻」 | 0008b22–0008b24 | 取非大乘，以髻珠對治 |
| 七 | 起於「實無功德增上慢心」，止於「為說醫師譬喻應知」 | 0008b25–0008b28 | 不取第一乘，以醫師對治 |
鏡文又引嘉祥作「草木有二，一不知同，二不知異。」〔T34n1719 0287c20–0287c21〕。T34n1721 今本作「一切草木凡有二義：一、不知同；二、不知異。不知同者，不知一地所生、一雨所潤也。不知異者，不知草木自有差別也。」〔0558b23–0558b25〕，並說「而迦葉一人能知理同、能知教異，乃名奇特。」〔0558b27–0558b28〕。T34n1720 另見「有二種不知，一不知同、二不知異。」〔0368b06–0368b07〕。兩部都保存同、異對舉，各守原字。
鏡文引《爾雅》作「林有草木曰蔬。」〔T34n1719 0288a25〕；本地大正藏沒有另一份《爾雅》本文可供獨立對校，只誌所傳，不以未得第二見證改字。
鏡文對《玄》與《止觀》的源指如下：
| 鏡文源指 | 行錨 | 本地可定位的今本入口 | 結果 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「觀心具如《玄》文利益妙後」 | T34n1719 0288b21 | T33n1716「十、功德利益妙」〔0697c04〕；「利益妙者，謂果益」起〔0697c27〕 | 源指範圍較廣 |
| 「又約藥為觀者，如《止觀》第十」 | T34n1719 0288b21–0288b22 | T46n1911 卷十所見見思、塵沙、無明的病藥語域 | 只有章卷源指 |
本論的四大風冷、五臟、還年駐色、藥王與變體成仙〔0090c06–0090c09〕沒有在本段標出書名；扶疏暐曄、嘉著而稱微、靉靆也未署外典。這些只作本論譬語與字面。
四、文句記釋要〔鏡〕
湛然的鏡文自品名三番一路釋到末後限定，十二段工作如下：
| 次第 | 鏡文行域 | 釋要 |
|---|---|---|
| 一 | 0287c06–0287c18 | 先引《法華論》七譬七治，辨論以雨為名而經以藥草為名的問題 |
| 二 | 0287c18–0287c28 | 立藥草與一雨的不同著眼，錄嘉祥不知同、不知異之說 |
| 三 | 0287c28–0288a20 | 把第一番品名釋細分為世界悉檀的譬、合、證、結 |
| 四 | 0288a21–0288b04 | 解叢、育、日久、扶蔬、暐曄、芽莖與力用，結為為人悉檀 |
| 五 | 0288b05–0288b18 | 解世藥三品、四大、五臟、藥王、嘉著、稱微，分對治與第一義 |
| 六 | 0288b18–0288b23 | 補本論略去的約教、本迹、觀心三釋，並指《玄》與《止觀》 |
| 七 | 0288b23–0288c05 | 評舊說範圍不足，判「師云」所指，說教作只是權法少分 |
| 八 | 0288c05–0288c15 | 解始天性、自微與兩處，說遍述權實 |
| 九 | 0288c15–0288c24 | 三重說明領所不及的用意，以說不能盡顯領解有窮 |
| 十 | 0288c24–0289a05 | 解退、進、橫、豎、七方便、三世與十方十界 |
| 十一 | 0289a05–0289a21 | 解非橫非豎及差、無差，並錄地譬、雲譬三說 |
| 十二 | 0289a21–0289b02 | 解非都頓奪、初心望後心、初阿後荼、權行及差無差 |
鏡文對第一番說「佛意雖通述，其得解別在迦葉」〔0288a11–0288a12〕，又說「悟必通該、領述從別」〔0288a18〕；對第二番說「既開顯已自利兼物」〔0288b03〕；對第三番則說「從遍治邊即對治義，從成仙邊即第一義」〔0288b17–0288b18〕。這些都是湛然對智者三番的疏通。
本論只說其餘三釋準例可知，鏡文則補作「草木即是三教，地雨即是圓教，即為約教」〔0288b19–0288b20〕、「若本迹者，本住智地曾施雲雨，迹為草木引彼增長」〔0288b20–0288b21〕及觀心源指〔0288b21–0288b22〕。
對述成，鏡文判「「師云」者，正指南嶽」〔0288b26〕；又把「始天性」指向大通佛所〔0288c05–0288c06〕，把兩處指為方便、火宅〔0288c09–0288c10〕。對領所不及，鏡文說「說不能盡之言，寄之以明不盡」〔0288c21〕，又以十界因果、多人次第、諸味八教等細解橫豎〔0288c24–0289a04〕。這些指認與配釋都由湛然明立。
鏡文在卷題、題署、品題，記莂，辭致曲巧、印定，不降雨的句讀，以及「宜應如此」的表層語法上沒有逐詞專釋。無專釋不等於無義。
五、諸家異釋
本論在嚴格域中自錄一組舊說與師說，並另立今言：
| 說者標法 | 本論原句 | 行錨 | 本論後續 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 舊云 | 「舊云：述其十三偈歎佛恩深，又述其教作人譬文言曲巧。」 | T34n1718 0090c16–0090c18 | 把述成重點放在末十三偈與教作譬 |
| 師云 | 「師云：不應偏爾，經稱善說如來真實功德，備述其領權領實，明文在此；十三偈止是二乘齊教荷恩，教作人譬是佛權功德耳。」 | 0090c18–0090c21 | 認為不應只偏取兩處，須兼領權實 |
| 今言 | 「今言都述其周遍領解，始天性結緣、中間追誘、終於付財，自微自著無量無邊諸恩德也。」 | 0090c21–0090c23 | 正面立周遍領解 |
T1718 只寫「師云」，沒有在本段署名。《文句記》說「「師云」者，正指南嶽」〔T34n1719 0288b26〕，這一人名判定只歸鏡文。
鏡文另錄三項說法：嘉祥「草木有二，一不知同，二不知異」〔0287c20–0287c21〕；「初有人以地譬賴耶常住，其理不成」〔0289a10〕；「生公以雲喻法，注家以雲喻應」〔0289a15–0289a16〕。後兩項是湛然所錄而非智者本段自錄，並且鏡文已明載其處置。
本論嚴格域沒有「有人云」「或言」「解者不同」「一云」「有師云」等其他異解標記。這一零見只限定本段文字。
六、術語
| 詞語 | 本論中的義位 | 鏡文所釋與限度 |
|---|---|---|
| 能生、能潤；所生、所潤 | 土地能生、雲雨能潤，草木是所生所潤；藥草因作用顯著而標名 | 土地約今、草木兼昔及佛述義通，均是鏡釋 |
| 有漏、無漏 | 有漏諸善能除惡，無漏為最；四大弟子在無漏眾中 | 鏡文的昔今合釋不改本論字面 |
| 最後身、有餘涅槃 | 說諸無漏者昔日不願再求無上佛道的處境 | 二萬億、積習與初住定位只見鏡文 |
| 自乘佛乘、兼以運人 | 聞經後自己乘佛乘，又兼運他人 | 「既開顯已自利兼物」是鏡中提要 |
| 四大、五臟、藥王 | 世藥三層譬，後合破無明、開佛知見、受記莂 | 四住、五分身、三惑與常住藥王均是鏡釋 |
| 四悉檀 | 三番依次配世界、為人、對治與第一義 | 鏡文細分三番而不另改次序 |
| 第三述成 | 本品在譬說中的段位 | 十恩及「師云」人名由鏡文補釋 |
| 雙述善哉 | 一善哉述兩處領實，一善哉述兩處領權 | 兩處具名為方便、火宅只見鏡文 |
| 領所不及 | 退、進、橫、豎、亦橫亦豎、非橫非豎六面 | 十界因果、多人次第等細配只見鏡文 |
| 齊教 | 限定二乘當時所領的範圍，不抹去佛恩與已有得解 | 鏡文說是且述己所入之法 |
| 一地、一雲、一雨一味 | 不揀擇、不隔枯榮、普潤普長，結如來平等無差別 | 五陰、五乘七善及其他配釋只見鏡文 |
| 初阿、後茶 | 初悟已具後茶功德，本帙早文以四十二字互具疏通 | 鏡文另判迦葉所證與遍領無別 |
| 權行大士 | 本論末句以「宜應如此」收束 | 本迹與唯闕觀心之判只見鏡文 |
本段字面沒有五時八教、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。鏡文另見「諸味八教」〔T34n1719 0289a03〕。
七、譬喻・互讀・承衍
三番品名釋以同一藥草意象逐層轉動。第一番從土地、雲雨、草木與藥草辨能生、能潤、所生、所潤，再以藥草作用強盛喻四大弟子得解；第二番以久育藥草一蒙雲雨而內外充盛，喻昔住最後身而今聞經自利利他；第三番從世藥治病、養身、駐色轉到藥王，喻聞經破惑、開佛知見與受記。三番各有自己的譬、合與結，不宜壓成同一配表。
雙善哉把〈藥草喻品〉開首佛讚，接回〈信解品〉四弟子的領解。舊說只取末十三偈與教作譬；本論則由父子相失、追誘、體信一直看到付財，使一句「善說如來真實功德」承擔權、實兩面。與本倉〈信解品〉、〈藥草喻品〉原典並讀，可沿經文次序檢查每一個回指。
退、進、橫、豎先顯出領述未曾明說的人天、菩薩、餘八法界、餘五方便及三世利益；一地、一雲、一雨隨後又把各種差別帶回平等普潤。這不是取消前面的差別，而是說同一地、同一雲雨不揀枯榮，草木仍各依種性生長。與根經「雖一地所生，一雨所潤，而諸草木，各有差別」〔T09n0262 0019b05–0019b06〕互讀，平等與差別在同一譬中並存。
《法華玄義》可互讀本論如何把全經教相落到逐句消文，《摩訶止觀》只取由解入行的穩定接點；《法華玄贊》同釋一經，可作另一古疏見證。此段承衍至下一單元廣述成時，本論已先立略、廣二分及領所不及的問題；後文長行、偈頌須回到這一科脊展開。
八、校本定位
（一）嚴格域八個校記錨
| 行錨 | 【大】 | 【甲】 | 校記形態 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0090b20 | 妙法蓮華經 | 法華 | 對舉式校記；同錨另有文字化校註 |
| 0090b20 | 上 | 甲本缺 | 空讀 |
| 0090b22 | 天台智者大師說 | 甲本缺 | 單邊校註，以首末字及七字表示 |
| 0090b27 | 除 | 治 | 異字 |
| 0090c01 | 芽 | 可 | 異字 |
| 0090c07 | 臟 | 藏 | 異字 |
| 0090c14 | 一義 | 義一 | 次序異讀 |
| 0091a14 | 〔云云〕 | 甲本缺 | 夾註本身的空讀 |
除題署七字外，七錨有正文、異讀對舉；題署只有單邊校註。嚴格域沒有星號回指型校記。甲本空讀共三錨：卷題的上、題署七字及第二枚〔云云〕。其餘五錨是字句異讀。諸讀只並錄，不覆寫正文。
鏡文對位域另有兩組自身校讀：今本作「育」、大正原讀作「有」〔T34n1719 0288a21〕；今本作「下」、大正原讀作「不」〔0288b13〕。兩組屬 T1719，不混入 T1718 的八錨。
（二）隨文夾註與外字
本論嚴格域有兩枚隨文夾註，均作〔云云〕：第一枚在「不復記〔云云〕」〔0090c15–0090c16〕，沒有本地異讀；第二枚在「夫山川谿谷〔云云〕」〔0091a14〕，甲本缺。兩枚都保留夾註層，不抹平成正文。
本單元沒有經藏外字標記；暐、曄、欝、靉、靆、莂、茶均是正文直接字元，照原字保存。鏡文對位域也沒有外字或隨文夾註。
（三）目錄與頁錨
本帙一級目錄有兩種題式：〈序品〉不冠釋字，其餘二十七品作「釋某品」；本單元原典因而保留「釋藥草喻品」〔0090b23〕。本單元是品內次級切分，不另占一品。
讀者原典以段首行內錨標示大正藏位置，不把工作標記混入正文。考據中的每一條引文另以引句首字前最近的大正藏行標定位；若引文跨行，才標示起訖。段首錨只說讀者段落從何處落筆，不能代替引句首字的精確行錨。
Beginning with the heading of fascicle seven, first part, this unit first explains the title “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs” three times, then determines that this chapter is the third passage of confirmation within the teaching through parable and explains in sequence the twofold “excellent” and what the disciples’ understanding does not reach. The root scripture attached by Zhiyi centers on the “Parable of the Medicinal Herbs” chapter, looks back to the understanding in “Faith and Understanding,” points forward to the predictions in “Bestowal of Predictions,” and cites the Avataṃsaka and Large Prajñāpāramitā as similes. Agreements and differences between the root treatise’s citations and present texts are recorded side by side in their original wording.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
The strict domain is T34n1718〔0090b20–0091a26〕 and contains 996 Han characters. It begins with the fascicle title 「妙法蓮華經文句卷第七上」 tr. “Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra, fascicle seven, first part”〔0090b20〕 and ends with 「又權行大士宜應如此也」 tr. “moreover, a great being practicing provisionally should indeed be like this”〔0091a25–0091a26〕. The words later on the same line, 「廣述成又二：長行、偈頌」 tr. “the extensive confirmation is further divided in two: prose and verse,” already open the next unit and are not included in the present domain.
This unit stands at the beginning of the explanation of the “Parable of the Medicinal Herbs” chapter in the Trace Gate and is also the chapter’s complete 「略述成」 tr. “brief confirmation.” Following the root treatise’s own enumerations and transitions, it divides into six sections:
| Sequence | Line Domain | Root-Treatise Content |
|---|---|---|
| I | 0090b24–0090c16 | Three explanations of the title “Medicinal Herbs,” respectively correlated with the world, individual, therapeutic, and ultimate-truth siddhāntas; interpretations in terms of the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind are abbreviated and not recorded |
| II | 0090c16–0090c23 | Marks the chapter as the third confirmation in the teaching through parable; records an old explanation, then the teacher’s explanation, and finally establishes pervasive understanding |
| III | 0090c23–0091a02 | Divides the chapter in two and the brief confirmation again in two; uses the two “excellents” to confirm understanding of the real in two places and the provisional in two places |
| IV | 0091a02–0091a14 | Beginning with 「如來復有」 tr. “the Tathāgata further possesses,” explains in sequence what receding, advancing, horizontal, vertical, and both horizontal and vertical do not reach |
| V | 0091a14–0091a22 | Through the equality and vastness of one earth, one cloud, and one rain, explains what neither horizontal nor vertical reaches |
| VI | 0091a22–0091a26 | Explains that what is not reached does not abruptly strip away existing understanding but is qualified through viewing the initial mind from the later mind, the initial a possessing the final ḍha, and the great being practicing provisionally |
The numbers explicitly enumerated by the root treatise cannot be interchanged. Interpretation through causes and conditions of the chapter title has three explanations. The entire chapter first divides into brief and extensive confirmations; the brief confirmation then divides into the twofold “excellent” and what their understanding does not reach; and the twofold confirmation uses one “excellent” for the real and one for the provisional. What their understanding does not reach is first grouped as four pairs—receding and advancing, horizontal and vertical, both horizontal and vertical, and neither horizontal nor vertical—but the following text actually explains six aspects: receding, advancing, horizontal, vertical, both horizontal and vertical, and neither horizontal nor vertical.
The corresponding domain in the Fahua Wenjuji begins with 「《法華論》以七譬立七對治」 tr. “the Treatise on the Lotus Sutra establishes seven counteragents through seven parables”〔T34n1719 0287c06〕 and ends with 「即中故非差非不差，橫豎例知」 tr. “because they are precisely the middle, they are neither different nor not different; the horizontal and vertical may be known by analogy”〔0289b02〕. The words later on the same line, 「廣述成中二段」 tr. “within the extensive confirmation are two passages,” already turn to the next unit. The mirror text continuously corresponds to all six sections of the root treatise and does not cross into the extensive confirmation.
II. Formation and Transmission
Shenjiong’s preface to this work calls the text 「迺是灌頂法師私記，合二十卷」 tr. “Master Guanding’s private record, in twenty fascicles altogether”〔T34n1718 0001a23–0001a24〕 and further records that Master Lang of Dongyang arranged and redacted it in the Tang Tianbao wuxu year. After the fascicle title, the present unit bears only the attribution 「天台智者大師說」 tr. “spoken by the Great Master Zhiyi of Tiantai”〔0090b22〕. The doctrinal exposition is therefore attributed to Zhiyi, while the textual record belongs to Guanding and later redaction. Shenjiong says of the redacted text that it 「方始條倫」 tr. “only then began to be arranged in order” and was 「非苟求同異輒有增減」 tr. “not carelessly increased or diminished in a search for agreements and differences”〔beginning at 0001a25〕. This records only the lineage’s own statement; no other pre-redaction original preface is available for word-by-word comparison.
The strict domain preserves eight apparatus anchors and two inline notes, showing that the present wording has examinable transmitted differences. These materials are not equivalent to a complete stemma. The body follows the Taishō text, records witness A alongside it, and does not select a superior reading on the basis of present meaning.
III. Sutra Passages Explained and Works Cited
1. Twelve Passages of the Root “Parable of the Medicinal Herbs” Chapter
The root scripture explained phrase by phrase by the root treatise is preserved in this repository’s sealed Lotus Sutra source:
| Item | Disk Value |
|---|---|
| Chapter Title | 「藥草喻品第五」 tr. “The Parable of the Medicinal Herbs, chapter five”〔T09n0262 0019a18〕 |
| Body Domain | 0019a19–0020b24 |
| Sealed Source | canon/tiantai/fahua/treatise/05_yaocaoyu/05_yaocaoyu_source.md, body lines four through eighty-two |
| Coverage Rule | The following twelve passages cover the complete chapter body in byte order; the end of one passage and opening sentence of the next may share a line anchor |
The text divides into twelve passages according to scriptural line order:
| Sequence | Root-Scripture Domain | Scriptural Subject | Principal Alignment in This Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 0019a19–0019a27 | Twofold “excellent,” real qualities, speech’s inability to exhaust them, and the Tathāgata’s teaching of the Dharma | 0090c24–0091a04, 0091a22–0091a25 |
| II | 0019a27–0019b06 | One earth, one cloud, one rain, and differences among plants | 0090b24–0090b29, 0091a14–0091a18 |
| III | 0019b06–0019b23 | The Tathāgata as a great cloud, teaching according to living beings’ faculties and natures so that each grows | 0091a04–0091a21 |
| IV | 0019b23–0019c06 | One mark and one flavor; only the Buddha knows living beings’ kinds, natures, and grounds of abiding | 0091a09–0091a22 |
| V | 0019c06–0019c09 | Kāśyapa is rare, able to know teaching according to what is fitting; transition into renewed proclamation in verse | 0090b27–0090b29 |
| VI | 0019c10–0019c15 | The Dharma king teaches through various conditions according to living beings’ desires and powers | Background to the chapter title and confirmation |
| VII | 0019c15–0019c29 | Clouds and rain, mountains and rivers, and plants receive the same rain and each flourishes | 0090b24–0090c02, 0091a14–0091a18 |
| VIII | 0019c29–0020a12 | The Buddha as a great cloud, constantly making the single flavor of ambrosia a condition for the Great Vehicle | 0091a04–0091a21 |
| IX | 0020a13–0020a20 | Without attachment or aversion toward one or another, He constantly teaches equally for all and rains the Dharma rain equally | 0091a17–0091a22 |
| X | 0020a21–0020b04 | Three medicinal herbs—lesser, medium, and superior—and two trees—small and great | 0091a06–0091a12 |
| XI | 0020b04–0020b17 | He proclaims one Dharma; living beings cultivate according to their powers, and the medicinal herbs and trees each grow | 0090c01–0090c12, 0091a15–0091a21 |
| XII | 0020b18–0020b24 | Rain of one flavor, skillful revelation of the Buddha Way, and all śrāvaka practice as the bodhisattva path | 0090b27–0090c12 |
The first root-scripture passage reads, 「善哉，善哉！迦葉善說如來真實功德。」 tr. “Excellent, excellent! Kāśyapa has well expressed the Tathāgata’s real qualities”〔T09n0262 0019a19〕, and further says, 「汝等若於無量億劫說不能盡。」 tr. “Even if you were to speak for immeasurable koṭis of kalpas, you could not exhaust them”〔0019a21〕. The second and third passages begin the simile with 「山川谿谷土地所生卉木叢林及諸藥草」 tr. “the plants, trees, groves, forests, and medicinal herbs produced on the earth amid mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys”〔0019a28〕, and further say, 「隨其所堪而為說法」 tr. “He teaches the Dharma according to what they can bear”〔0019b17〕 and 「如其種性，具足蒙潤，各得生長」 tr. “according to their kinds and natures, all are fully moistened and each obtains growth”〔0019b22〕. The tenth passage lists in order lesser, medium, and superior medicinal herbs and small and great trees〔0020a22–0020b02〕. The root treatise’s receding and advancing look precisely to these classes in the scripture.
2. Agreements and Differences in the Root Treatise’s Explicit Citations of the Root Scripture
| Citation in T34n1718 | Root-Treatise Line Anchor | Present T09n0262 | Present-Text Line Anchor | Side-by-Side Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 「我等今日真是聲聞」 tr. “today we are true śrāvakas” | 0090c04 | 「我等今者，真是聲聞」 tr. “we now are true śrāvakas” | 0018c20 | Different wording for today and now |
| 「以佛道聲令一切聞」 tr. “through the voice of the Buddha Way, cause all to hear” | 0090c05 | 「以佛道聲，令一切聞」 tr. “through the voice of the Buddha Way, cause all to hear” | 0018c20–0018c21 | Same graphs; the present text has a comma |
| 「我等今日真是佛子，無上寶聚不求自得」 tr. “today we are true buddha-sons; the unsurpassed mass of jewels has come of itself without being sought” | 0090c09–0090c10 | In the prose, 「我等昔來真是佛子」 tr. “throughout the past we truly have been buddha-sons”; in the verse, 「無上寶聚，不求自得」 tr. “the unsurpassed mass of jewels has come of itself without being sought” | 0017c04; 0017c13 | The present text places them in two locations and differs between today and throughout the past |
| 「佛子所應得者皆已得之」 tr. “everything buddha-sons should receive has been received” | 0090c10 | 「如佛子所應得者皆已得之」 tr. “all that buddha-sons should receive has been received” | 0017c09 | The present text additionally begins with 「如」 tr. “the graph meaning ‘as’” |
| 「善說如來真實功德」 tr. “well express the Tathāgata’s real qualities” | 0090c18, 0090c26 | 「迦葉善說如來真實功德」 tr. “Kāśyapa has well expressed the Tathāgata’s real qualities” | 0019a20 | The root treatise omits the subject when using the words as a sectional anchor |
| 「誠如所言」 tr. “truly, it is as you have said” | 0091a01 | 「誠如所言」 tr. “truly, it is as you have said” | 0019a20 | Same graphs |
| 「如來復有」 tr. “the Tathāgata further possesses” | 0091a02 | 「如來復有無量無邊阿僧祇功德」 tr. “the Tathāgata further possesses immeasurable, boundless, incalculable qualities” | 0019a21 | The root treatise takes only the opening words as a sectional anchor |
| 「山川谿谷」 tr. “mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys” | 0091a14 | 「山川谿谷土地所生卉木叢林及諸藥草」 tr. “the plants, trees, groves, forests, and medicinal herbs produced on the earth amid mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys” | 0019a28 | The root treatise follows with an inline note indicating abbreviation |
3. The Pervasive Understanding in the “Faith and Understanding” Chapter
The root treatise says, 「今言都述其周遍領解，始天性結緣、中間追誘、終於付財」 tr. “The present explanation is that He collectively confirms their pervasive understanding, beginning with forming the connection through the natural relation, continuing with pursuit and inducement in the middle, and ending with entrustment of the possessions”〔T34n1718 0090c21–0090c23〕. The “Faith and Understanding” chapter to which it looks back includes not only the final thirteen verses and the parable of teaching the worker but the following ten large passages:
| Sequence | T09n0262 Domain | Sealed-Source Line | Opening / Closing Sentence | Relation to This Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 0016b08–0016b24 | Four | Opens with 「爾時慧命須菩提」 tr. “At that time the venerable Subhūti”; closes with 「無量珍寶、不求自得」 tr. “immeasurable precious things came of themselves without being sought” | The four disciples begin their understanding, first stating that they did not seek but have now attained of itself |
| II | 0016b25–0016c11 | Five | Opens with 「我等今者樂說譬喻」 tr. “now we delight in speaking a parable”; closes with 「無復憂慮」 tr. “no longer anxious” | Father and son become separated; the father searches for the son |
| III | 0016c11–0016c22 | Six | Opens with 「爾時窮子傭賃」 tr. “At that time the poor son hired himself out”; closes with 「疾走而去」 tr. “he hurried away” | Father and son see one another; the poor son flees in fear |
| IV | 0016c22–0017a07 | Seven | Opens with 「時富長者於師子座」 tr. “At that time the wealthy elder was on the lion throne”; closes with 「往至貧里以求衣食」 tr. “he went to a poor neighborhood seeking clothing and food” | Urgent pursuit and release; the poor son still goes to the poor neighborhood |
| V | 0017a07–0017a12 | Eight | Opens with 「爾時長者將欲誘引」 tr. “At that time the elder wished to induce him”; closes with 「具陳上事」 tr. “fully stated the preceding matter” | Secretly sending two men and using skillful means to hire him |
| VI | 0017a12–0017a29 | Nine | Opens with 「爾時窮子先取其價」 tr. “At that time the poor son first took his wages”; closes with 「然其所止猶在本處」 tr. “yet the place where he stayed was still the original one” | Teaching him to work, giving him the name son, and their minds coming to trust one another |
| VII | 0017a29–0017b15 | Ten | Opens with 「爾時長者有疾」 tr. “At that time the elder fell ill”; closes with 「先所出內是子所知」 tr. “what formerly went out and came in is known to the son” | Knowing the family enterprise, determining father and son, and entrusting the possessions |
| VIII | 0017b15–0017b17 | Eleven | Opens with 「是時窮子聞父此言」 tr. “At that time the poor son heard these words of his father”; closes with 「今此寶藏自然而至」 tr. “now this treasure has come of itself” | Joy upon receiving the entrustment; the treasure comes of itself |
| IX | 0017b18–0017c10 | Twelve | Opens with 「大富長者則是如來」 tr. “the great wealthy elder is the Tathāgata”; closes with 「爾時摩訶迦葉欲重宣此義」 tr. “At that time Mahākāśyapa wished to proclaim this meaning again” | Application of the parable, including truly being buddha-sons and having received everything |
| X | 0017c12–0019a11 | Thirteen through one hundred twenty-nine | Opens with 「我等今日」 tr. “today we”; closes with 「隨宜說三」 tr. “teaches three according to what is appropriate” | The complete verse, whose final thirteen lines praise the Buddha’s profound kindness |
The prose of the parable of teaching the worker contains 「語諸作人：『汝等勤作，勿得懈息。』」 tr. “He said to the workers: ‘You must work diligently and not become lax’”〔T09n0262 0017a17〕. The verse further reads 「方便附近，語令勤作」 tr. “drawing near through skillful means, he spoke to make him work diligently”〔0018a22〕 and 「如是苦言：『汝當勤作。』」 tr. “thus he spoke sternly: ‘You must work diligently’”〔0018a25〕. The final thirteen verses begin with 「世尊大恩，以希有事」 tr. “through rare deeds, the World-Honored One’s great kindness”〔0018c23〕 and end 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”〔0019a11〕. Zhiyi does not delete these two passages; he only says that they cannot pervasively encompass the disciples’ understanding from beginning through middle to end.
The phrase 「始天性結緣」 tr. “forming the connection through the natural relation at the beginning” has a corresponding distant cause in the root scripture: the sixteen bodhisattvas each transform living beings, and those beings 「世世所生與菩薩俱，從其聞法，悉皆信解」 tr. “in every life are born together with the bodhisattvas, hear the Dharma from them, and all believe and understand”〔T09n0262 0025b20〕. It further says, 「以此因緣，得值四百萬億諸佛世尊，于今不盡。」 tr. “Through these causes and conditions, they encountered four hundred myriads of koṭis of buddhas, World-Honored Ones, and this has not ended even now”〔0025b22〕. Specifically identifying this passage with the time of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence belongs to the mirror explanation in the Wenjuji.
Earlier, this work also divided the poor-son parable into five sections:
| Original Sentence in This Work | Line Anchor | Relation to This Unit’s Condensed Wording |
|---|---|---|
| 「一、從「捨父逃逝」下，名父子相失譬」 tr. “First, beginning with ‘he abandoned his father and fled,’ is called the parable of father and son becoming separated” | T34n1718 0080b02 | Background of the natural relation between father and son |
| 「二、從「窮子傭賃」下，名父子相見譬」 tr. “Second, beginning with ‘the poor son hired himself out,’ is called the parable of father and son seeing one another” | 0080b03–0080b04 | Their meeting |
| 「三、從「即遣傍人急追將還」下，名追誘譬」 tr. “Third, beginning with ‘he immediately sent an attendant in urgent pursuit to bring him back,’ is called the parable of pursuit and inducement” | 0080b05–0080b06 | Pursuit and inducement in the middle |
| 「四、從「過是已後心相體信」下，委知家業譬」 tr. “Fourth, beginning with ‘after this, their minds came to trust one another,’ is the parable of commissioning him to know the family enterprise” | 0080b07–0080b09 | Mutual trust and knowledge of the family enterprise |
| 「五、從「復經少時父知子意」下，名付家業譬」 tr. “Fifth, beginning with ‘after a short time, the father knew the son’s mind,’ is called the parable of entrusting the family enterprise” | 0080b09–0080b10 | Ending with entrustment of the possessions |
4. Forward Reference to the Bestowal of Predictions
The root treatise summarizes the following “Bestowal of Predictions,” chapter six, with 「面於佛前得受記莂」 tr. “receiving a differentiated prediction in the Buddha’s presence”〔T34n1718 0090c11〕. The predictions of the four great disciples divide into five passages in scriptural order:
| Sequence | T09n0262 Domain | Large Scriptural Passage | Opening Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 0020b26–0020c27 | Mahākāśyapa’s prediction in prose and verse | 「爾時世尊說是偈已，告諸大眾」 tr. “At that time, after speaking this verse, the World-Honored One addressed the great assembly” |
| II | 0020c28–0021a15 | Maudgalyāyana, Subhūti, and Mahākātyāyana jointly request predictions | 「爾時大目犍連、須菩提、摩訶迦栴延等」 tr. “At that time Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Subhūti, Mahākātyāyana, and the others” |
| III | 0021a16–0021b16 | Subhūti’s prediction in prose and verse | 「爾時世尊知諸大弟子心之所念」 tr. “At that time the World-Honored One knew the thoughts in the minds of the great disciples” |
| IV | 0021b17–0021c14 | Mahākātyāyana’s prediction in prose and verse | 「爾時世尊復告諸比丘眾」 tr. “At that time the World-Honored One again addressed the assembly of monks” |
| V | 0021c15–0022a17 | Mahāmaudgalyāyana’s prediction in prose and verse | 「爾時世尊復告大眾」 tr. “At that time the World-Honored One again addressed the great assembly” |
This is a forward reference in the root treatise’s wording; the kalpa, land, and lifespan of each disciple are not individually unfolded in this unit.
5. Deliberation of What Is Appropriate, Inducement, Mutual Trust, Receiving the Teaching, and Entrustment of the Possessions
The root treatise’s original sentence is: 「又《華嚴》之擬宜領實也，三藏之誘引領權也，方等之體信，《般若》之領教，俱領權實也，《法華》之付財，專論實也。」 tr. “Further, the deliberation of what is appropriate in the Avataṃsaka understands the real; inducement in the Tripiṭaka Teaching understands the provisional; mutual trust in the Vaipulya and receiving the teaching in the Prajñā both understand provisional and real; entrustment of the possessions in the Lotus treats the real exclusively”〔T34n1718 0090c27–0090c29〕. These five items are Zhiyi’s correlations of the four disciples’ understanding across a lifetime of teaching, not one sentence jointly present in five scriptures. Earlier points of support in this work are as follows:
| Correlation | Original Sentence in This Work | Line Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Avataṃsaka: deliberation of what is appropriate | Begins with 「即遣傍人，傍人所說乃譬《華嚴》圓頓」 tr. “he immediately sent an attendant; what the attendant said represents the perfect and sudden Avataṃsaka,” and ends with 「以此擬二乘人」 tr. “using this to test practitioners of the two vehicles” | T34n1718 0086b12–0086b15 |
| Tripiṭaka Teaching: inducement | 「密遣二人說除糞法，此譬息大之後鹿苑說三」 tr. “secretly sending two men to speak of clearing dung represents the teaching of three at the Deer Park after ceasing the Great” | 0086b15–0086b18 |
| Vaipulya: mutual trust | 「心相體信入出無難，譬三藏之後說方等」 tr. “their minds came to trust one another and they entered and left without difficulty; this represents teaching the Vaipulya after the Tripiṭaka Teaching” | 0086b19–0086b20 |
| Prajñā: receiving the teaching | 「委以家業，使其領教為大菩薩說摩訶般若」 tr. “commissioning him with the family enterprise causes them to receive the teaching and explain the Mahāprajñāpāramitā for great bodhisattvas” | 0086b29–0086c01 |
| Lotus: entrustment of the possessions | 「會三歸一付財與記說《法華》之教」 tr. “gathering the three into the one, entrusting the possessions, bestowing predictions, and teaching the Lotus” | 0086c06–0086c07 |
6. The Avataṃsaka Verse and 「如龍興」 tr. “Like a Dragon Raising”
The root treatise reads, 「如龍興慶雲普雨於一切身心不降雨除熱得清涼」 tr. “Like a dragon raising an auspicious cloud, it rains universally upon all; body and mind do not send down rain, yet heat is removed and coolness attained”〔T34n1718 0091a18–0091a20〕. The closest continuous four phrases in present T09n0278 are:
「如龍興慶雲，普雨於一切，身心不降雨，除熱得清涼。」 tr. “Like a dragon raising an auspicious cloud, it rains universally upon all; body and mind do not send down rain, yet heat is removed and coolness attained”〔T09n0278 0788a10–0788a11〕.
The same scripture also has 「普雨甘露法，隨器皆充滿，如龍興慶雲，等雨於一切。」 tr. “It universally rains the ambrosial Dharma, filling each according to its vessel; like a dragon raising an auspicious cloud, it rains equally upon all”〔0398b04–0398b05〕. The former occurrence continuously corresponds to the four phrases on universal rain, body and mind, and removing heat in the root treatise; the latter reads “rains equally.” Both are presented without adjudicating which version Zhiyi used.
7. Initial A, Final Ḍha, and the Large Prajñāpāramitā
Earlier in this work, the Large Prajñāpāramitā is cited as follows: 「初阿字門，具四十一字功德，後茶亦具諸字功德，中間亦爾，字等、語等、功德亦等。」 tr. “The gateway of the initial syllable a possesses the qualities of the other forty-one syllables; the final ḍha also possesses the qualities of all the syllables; those between are likewise, the syllables equal, the words equal, and the qualities equal”〔T34n1718 0022b03–0022b04〕. Present T08n0223 provides the following comparisons:
| Present-Text Original Sentence | Line Anchor | Relation to This Unit |
|---|---|---|
| 「字等語等諸字入門。何等為字等語等諸字入門？阿字門，一切法初不生故。」 tr. “The gateway of entry through all syllables, in which syllables and words are equal. What is this gateway? The gateway of the syllable a, because all dharmas are unborn from the beginning” | T08n0223 0256a07–0256a08 | The syllabary begins with a |
| 「荼字門，入諸法邊竟處故不終不生，過荼無字可說。」 tr. “The gateway of the syllable ḍha: because it enters the ultimate boundary of all dharmas, it neither ends nor arises; beyond ḍha no syllable can be spoken” | 0256b10–0256b11 | The syllabary concludes with ḍha |
| 「一字皆入四十二字，四十二字亦入一字。」 tr. “Each syllable enters all forty-two syllables, and all forty-two syllables also enter each syllable” | 0396b24–0396b25 | Mutual inclusion of one syllable and the forty-two |
The root treatise and this work’s earlier passage read 茶 tr. “the graph cha,” while the present syllabary reads 荼 tr. “the graph tu.” Both graph forms are recorded and the body is not altered.
8. Comparison with Present Texts of Scriptures and Treatises Cited in the Mirror
The Wenjuji first says, 「《法華論》以七譬立七對治」 tr. “the Treatise on the Lotus Sutra establishes seven counteragents through seven parables”〔T34n1719 0287c06〕. The general sentence in present T26n1519 reads, 「自此以下，次為七種具足煩惱染性眾生說七種喻，對治七種增上慢心，此義應知。」 tr. “From here onward, seven parables are next taught for seven kinds of living beings possessing defiled natures of affliction, to counteract seven kinds of conceited mind; this meaning should be known”〔0008a25–0008a26〕. The seven items follow in this order:
| Sequence | Present T26n1519 | Line Anchor | Mirror Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Begins with 「顛倒求諸功德增上慢心」 tr. “the conceited mind that inversely seeks various qualities” and ends with 「為說火宅譬喻應知」 tr. “one should know that the parable of the burning house is taught for them” | 0008b05–0008b08 | Seeking the recompense of humans and gods; counteracted through the burning house |
| II | Begins with 「聲聞一向決定增上慢心」 tr. “the conceited mind of śrāvakas’ exclusive determination” and ends with 「為說窮子譬喻應知」 tr. “one should know that the parable of the poor son is taught for them” | 0008b09–0008b11 | Treating the Śrāvaka Vehicle as equal to the Tathāgata Vehicle; counteracted through the poor son |
| III | Begins with 「大乘一向決定增上慢心」 tr. “the conceited mind of exclusive determination in the Great Vehicle” and ends with 「為說雲雨譬喻應知」 tr. “one should know that the parable of cloud and rain is taught for them” | 0008b12–0008b14 | Believing there are no two vehicles; counteracted through cloud and rain |
| IV | Begins with 「實無謂有增上慢心」 tr. “the conceited mind that holds something to exist when in fact it does not” and ends with 「為說化城譬喻應知」 tr. “one should know that the parable of the conjured city is taught for them” | 0008b15–0008b17 | Conceiving nirvāṇa where there is in fact no nirvāṇa; counteracted through the conjured city |
| V | Begins with 「散亂增上慢心」 tr. “the conceited mind of distraction” and ends with 「為說繫寶珠譬喻應知」 tr. “one should know that the parable of the jewel sewn in the robe is taught for them” | 0008b18–0008b21 | Not seeking the Great Vehicle but grasping a false liberation; counteracted through the sewn jewel |
| VI | Begins with 「實有功德增上慢心」 tr. “the conceited mind regarding qualities that are real” and ends with 「輪王解自髻中明珠與之譬喻」 tr. “the parable of the wheel-turning king taking the bright jewel from his topknot and giving it” | 0008b22–0008b24 | Grasping what is not the Great Vehicle; counteracted through the jewel in the topknot |
| VII | Begins with 「實無功德增上慢心」 tr. “the conceited mind regarding qualities that are in fact absent” and ends with 「為說醫師譬喻應知」 tr. “one should know that the parable of the physician is taught for them” | 0008b25–0008b28 | Not grasping the foremost vehicle; counteracted through the physician |
The mirror text also cites Jizang as saying, 「草木有二，一不知同，二不知異。」 tr. “Plants have two kinds of not knowing: first, not knowing sameness; second, not knowing difference”〔T34n1719 0287c20–0287c21〕. Present T34n1721 reads, 「一切草木凡有二義：一、不知同；二、不知異。不知同者，不知一地所生、一雨所潤也。不知異者，不知草木自有差別也。」 tr. “All plants have two meanings: first, they do not know sameness; second, they do not know difference. Not knowing sameness means not knowing that they are produced by one earth and moistened by one rain. Not knowing difference means not knowing that plants themselves have distinctions”〔0558b23–0558b25〕, and further says, 「而迦葉一人能知理同、能知教異，乃名奇特。」 tr. “Kāśyapa alone can know the sameness of principle and difference of teachings and is therefore called extraordinary”〔0558b27–0558b28〕. T34n1720 separately reads, 「有二種不知，一不知同、二不知異。」 tr. “There are two kinds of not knowing: first, not knowing sameness; second, not knowing difference”〔0368b06–0368b07〕. Both works preserve the pairing of same and different, each in its own wording.
The mirror text cites the Erya: 「林有草木曰蔬。」 tr. “A grove containing plants and trees is called shu”〔T34n1719 0288a25〕. No independent copy of the Erya body is available in the local Taishō corpus for comparison, so only the transmitted wording is recorded; lack of a second witness is not used to alter it.
The mirror text’s pointers to the Fahua Xuanyi and Mohe Zhiguan are as follows:
| Mirror-Text Pointer | Line Anchor | Locatable Present-Text Entry | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 「觀心具如《玄》文利益妙後」 tr. “Contemplating the mind is fully as in the Xuanyi after the subtlety of benefit” | T34n1719 0288b21 | In T33n1716, 「十、功德利益妙」 tr. “Tenth, the subtlety of qualities and benefit”〔0697c04〕; beginning with 「利益妙者，謂果益」 tr. “The subtlety of benefit means benefit as fruit”〔0697c27〕 | The pointer’s range is broader |
| 「又約藥為觀者，如《止觀》第十」 tr. “Further, interpreting medicine as contemplation is as in the tenth fascicle of the Zhiguan” | T34n1719 0288b21–0288b22 | The semantic field of illnesses and medicines for the delusions of view and thought, dust-like delusions, and ignorance in fascicle ten of T46n1911 | A fascicle-level pointer only |
The four elements’ wind and cold, five organs, restoring youth and preserving complexion, king of medicines, and transformation of the body into an immortal〔0090c06–0090c09〕 are not attributed to a named work in this passage. The phrases translated as open-branched and radiant, markedly excellent yet called subtle, and cloud layers spreading densely likewise name no external classic. They are recorded only as the root treatise’s simile language and literal wording.
IV. Essential Explanations from the Wenjuji [the Mirror]
Zhanran’s mirror text explains the passage in twelve stages from the three explanations of the chapter title through the final qualification:
| Sequence | Mirror-Text Domain | Essential Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| I | 0287c06–0287c18 | First cites the Treatise on the Lotus Sutra’s seven parables and seven counteragents, then distinguishes the treatise’s use of rain as its title from the scripture’s use of medicinal herbs |
| II | 0287c18–0287c28 | Establishes the different emphases of medicinal herbs and one rain and records Jizang’s explanation of not knowing sameness and not knowing difference |
| III | 0287c28–0288a20 | Subdivides the first explanation of the chapter title into simile, application, proof, and conclusion under the world siddhānta |
| IV | 0288a21–0288b04 | Explains abundance, nurturing, long duration, open branching, radiance, sprouts and stems, and effective power, concluding with the siddhānta for the individual |
| V | 0288b05–0288b18 | Explains the three grades of worldly medicine, four elements, five organs, king of medicines, marked excellence, and being called subtle, dividing these between the therapeutic and ultimate-truth siddhāntas |
| VI | 0288b18–0288b23 | Supplies the three interpretations omitted by the root treatise—in terms of the teaching, origin and trace, and contemplating the mind—and points to the Xuanyi and Zhiguan |
| VII | 0288b23–0288c05 | Judges the old explanation’s scope insufficient, identifies the person meant by 「師云」 tr. “‘the teacher says,’” and explains that teaching the worker is only a small portion of provisional Dharma |
| VIII | 0288c05–0288c15 | Explains the natural relation at the beginning, from the subtle, and the two places, stating that provisional and real are confirmed pervasively |
| IX | 0288c15–0288c24 | Explains in three ways the purpose of what their understanding does not reach, using speech’s inability to exhaust it to reveal that understanding has limits |
| X | 0288c24–0289a05 | Explains retreat, advance, horizontal, vertical, seven kinds of skillful means, the three times, and the ten directions and ten realms |
| XI | 0289a05–0289a21 | Explains what is neither horizontal nor vertical and difference and non-difference, and records three explanations of the earth and cloud similes |
| XII | 0289a21–0289b02 | Explains that this does not strip everything away at once, viewing the initial mind from the later mind, initial a and final ḍha, provisional practice, and difference and non-difference |
Concerning the first explanation, the mirror text says, 「佛意雖通述，其得解別在迦葉」 tr. “Although the Buddha’s intent in confirming is universal, the particular attainment of understanding lies with Kāśyapa”〔0288a11–0288a12〕, and further, 「悟必通該、領述從別」 tr. “awakening necessarily encompasses universally, while understanding and confirmation follow the particular”〔0288a18〕. Concerning the second explanation, it says, 「既開顯已自利兼物」 tr. “once opening and revealing have occurred, one benefits oneself and others”〔0288b03〕. Concerning the third, it says, 「從遍治邊即對治義，從成仙邊即第一義」 tr. “from the aspect of universal cure is the therapeutic meaning; from the aspect of becoming an immortal is the meaning of ultimate truth”〔0288b17–0288b18〕. All are Zhanran’s elaborations of Zhiyi’s three explanations.
The root treatise only says that the remaining three interpretations can be known by analogy. The mirror text supplies: 「草木即是三教，地雨即是圓教，即為約教」 tr. “plants are the three teachings, while earth and rain are the Perfect Teaching; this is interpretation in terms of the teaching”〔0288b19–0288b20〕; 「若本迹者，本住智地曾施雲雨，迹為草木引彼增長」 tr. “in terms of origin and trace, in the Origin He abided on the ground of wisdom and formerly bestowed cloud and rain; in the Trace He became plants and guided their growth”〔0288b20–0288b21〕; and the pointer concerning contemplating the mind〔0288b21–0288b22〕.
Concerning confirmation, the mirror text judges, 「「師云」者，正指南嶽」 tr. “‘The teacher says’ refers precisely to Nanyue”〔0288b26〕. It also directs 「始天性」 tr. “the natural relation at the beginning” to the time of the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence〔0288c05–0288c06〕 and identifies the two places as the “Skillful Means” teaching and the burning house〔0288c09–0288c10〕. Concerning what their understanding does not reach, the mirror text says, 「說不能盡之言，寄之以明不盡」 tr. “the words that speech cannot exhaust are used to clarify non-exhaustion”〔0288c21〕, and further explains horizontal and vertical through the causes and fruits of the ten realms, sequence among multiple persons, and the various flavors and eight teachings〔0288c24–0289a04〕. All these identifications and correlations are explicitly established by Zhanran.
The mirror text does not give separate word-by-word explanations of the fascicle title, attribution, chapter title, differentiated prediction, intricate literary expression, sealing and determination, the punctuation of “does not send down rain,” or the surface grammar of 「宜應如此」 tr. “should indeed be like this.” Absence of a separate explanation does not mean absence of meaning.
V. Explanations of Various Masters
Within the strict domain, the root treatise itself records one set of an old explanation and a teacher’s explanation and then separately establishes the present account:
| Speaker Marker | Root-Treatise Original Sentence | Line Anchor | Subsequent Treatment in the Root Treatise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old explanation | 「舊云：述其十三偈歎佛恩深，又述其教作人譬文言曲巧。」 tr. “An old explanation says: He confirms the thirteen verses praising the profundity of the Buddha’s kindness and also confirms the intricate and skillful wording in the parable of teaching the worker” | T34n1718 0090c16–0090c18 | Places the emphasis of confirmation on the final thirteen verses and the parable of teaching the worker |
| Teacher’s explanation | 「師云：不應偏爾，經稱善說如來真實功德，備述其領權領實，明文在此；十三偈止是二乘齊教荷恩，教作人譬是佛權功德耳。」 tr. “The teacher says: one should not select only these. The scripture praises them for well expressing the Tathāgata’s real qualities, fully confirming their understanding of the provisional and the real; the explicit wording is here. The thirteen verses are only the two vehicles bearing kindness according to their teaching, while the parable of teaching the worker is merely the Buddha’s provisional qualities” | 0090c18–0090c21 | Holds that only two places should not be selected and that understanding of both provisional and real must be included |
| Present explanation | 「今言都述其周遍領解，始天性結緣、中間追誘、終於付財，自微自著無量無邊諸恩德也。」 tr. “The present explanation is that He collectively confirms their pervasive understanding, beginning with forming the connection through the natural relation, continuing with pursuit and inducement in the middle, and ending with entrustment of the possessions; from the subtle to the manifest, the kindness is immeasurable and boundless” | 0090c21–0090c23 | Positively establishes pervasive understanding |
T1718 writes only 「師云」 tr. “‘the teacher says’” and does not name the person in this passage. The Wenjuji says, 「「師云」者，正指南嶽」 tr. “‘The teacher says’ refers precisely to Nanyue”〔T34n1719 0288b26〕; this identification belongs only to the mirror text.
The mirror text records three further explanations: Jizang’s 「草木有二，一不知同，二不知異」 tr. “Plants have two [kinds of not knowing]: first, not knowing sameness; second, not knowing difference”〔0287c20–0287c21〕; 「初有人以地譬賴耶常住，其理不成」 tr. “Initially someone used the earth to represent the permanence of the ālayavijñāna; its principle cannot be established”〔0289a10〕; and 「生公以雲喻法，注家以雲喻應」 tr. “Master Daosheng used the cloud to represent Dharma, while the annotator used the cloud to represent response”〔0289a15–0289a16〕. The latter two are recorded by Zhanran rather than by Zhiyi in this passage, and the mirror text explicitly gives their treatment.
Within the strict domain, the root treatise contains zero other variant-explanation markers such as 「有人云」 tr. “‘someone says,’” 「或言」 tr. “‘some say,’” 「解者不同」 tr. “‘explainers differ,’” 「一云」 tr. “‘one explanation says,’” or 「有師云」 tr. “‘a teacher says.’” This zero occurrence is limited to the wording of the present passage.
VI. Terminology
| Term | Doctrinal Position in the Root Treatise | Mirror Explanation and Limit |
|---|---|---|
| What can produce and moisten; what is produced and moistened | The earth can produce, cloud and rain can moisten, and plants are what is produced and moistened; medicinal herbs are named because their function is conspicuous | The earth as relating to the present, plants as including the past, and the Buddha’s confirmation as universal are all mirror explanations |
| Contaminated and uncontaminated | Contaminated wholesome acts can remove evil, while the uncontaminated is supreme; the four great disciples stand within the uncontaminated assembly | The mirror’s combined interpretation through past and present does not alter the root treatise’s wording |
| Final body and nirvāṇa with remainder | The situation of uncontaminated practitioners who formerly had no further wish to seek the unsurpassed Buddha Way | Two myriads of koṭis, accumulated habituation, and location at the first abode occur only in the mirror text |
| Riding the Buddha Vehicle oneself and also carrying others | After hearing the scripture, they ride the Buddha Vehicle themselves and also carry others | 「既開顯已自利兼物」 tr. “once opening and revealing have occurred, one benefits oneself and others” is the mirror’s summary |
| Four elements, five organs, and king of medicines | Three levels of the worldly-medicine simile, later applied to breaking ignorance, opening the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, and receiving predictions | The four abidings, fivefold body, three delusions, and permanent king of medicines are all mirror explanations |
| Four siddhāntas | The three explanations are successively correlated with the world, individual, therapeutic, and ultimate-truth siddhāntas | The mirror text subdivides the three explanations without changing their order |
| Third confirmation | The position of this chapter within the teaching through parable | The ten kindnesses and identification of the person meant by 「師云」 tr. “‘the teacher says’” are supplied by the mirror |
| Twofold confirmation through “excellent” | One “excellent” confirms understanding of the real in two places, and the other understanding of the provisional in two places | Identifying the two places as the “Skillful Means” teaching and the burning house occurs only in the mirror |
| What their understanding does not reach | Six aspects: receding, advancing, horizontal, vertical, both horizontal and vertical, and neither horizontal nor vertical | Detailed correlations such as causes and fruits of the ten realms and sequence among multiple persons occur only in the mirror |
| According to the teaching attained | Limits the scope of what the two vehicles understood at that time without erasing the Buddha’s kindness or the understanding already gained | The mirror says it is, for the present, a confirmation of the Dharma they themselves entered |
| One earth, one cloud, and one rain of one flavor | No selection, no separation of withered and flourishing, universal moisture and growth, concluding with the Tathāgata’s equal and undifferentiated nature | The five aggregates, five vehicles, seven kinds of goodness, and other correlations occur only in the mirror |
| Initial a and final ḍha | Initial awakening already possesses the qualities of the final ḍha; this work’s earlier passage explains it through the mutual inclusion of forty-two syllables | The mirror further correlates Kāśyapa’s realization and the absence of difference in pervasive understanding |
| Great being practicing provisionally | The root treatise concludes with 「宜應如此」 tr. “should indeed be like this” | The judgments in terms of origin and trace and that only contemplation of mind is absent occur only in the mirror |
The seven later classificatory terms “five periods and eight teachings,” modes of conversion, methods of teaching, 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 in this passage’s literal wording. The mirror text separately contains 「諸味八教」 tr. “the various flavors and eight teachings”〔T34n1719 0289a03〕.
VII. Similes · Cross-Reading · Carrying Forward
The three explanations of the chapter title turn the same medicinal-herb image layer by layer. The first distinguishes what can produce and moisten from what is produced and moistened through earth, cloud and rain, plants, and medicinal herbs, then uses medicinal herbs’ powerful function to illustrate the four great disciples’ attainment of understanding. The second uses long-nurtured medicinal herbs becoming inwardly and outwardly full as soon as they receive cloud and rain to illustrate those formerly abiding in the final body who now hear the scripture and benefit themselves and others. The third moves from worldly medicine curing illness, nourishing the body, and preserving complexion to the king of medicines, illustrating how hearing the scripture breaks delusion, opens the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, and brings prediction. Each explanation has its own simile, application, and conclusion and should not be compressed into one correlation table.
The twofold “excellent” connects the Buddha’s opening praise in the “Parable of the Medicinal Herbs” back to the understanding of the four disciples in “Faith and Understanding.” The old explanation selects only the final thirteen verses and the parable of teaching the worker. The root treatise instead looks from the separation of father and son through pursuit and inducement and mutual trust to entrustment of the possessions, making the phrase 「善說如來真實功德」 tr. “well express the Tathāgata’s real qualities” bear both provisional and real. Read together with this repository’s sealed “Faith and Understanding” and “Parable of the Medicinal Herbs” sources, each reference can be checked in scriptural order.
Receding, advancing, horizontal, and vertical first disclose the humans and gods, bodhisattvas, other eight Dharma realms, remaining five kinds of skillful means, and benefit throughout the three times that the disciples’ account did not state. One earth, one cloud, and one rain then return all these differences to equal, universal moisture. This does not cancel the preceding differences; it says that the same earth, cloud, and rain do not distinguish the withered from the flourishing, while plants still grow according to their own kinds and natures. Read alongside the root scripture’s 「雖一地所生，一雨所潤，而諸草木，各有差別」 tr. “although produced by one earth and moistened by one rain, the various plants and trees each have differences”〔T09n0262 0019b05–0019b06〕, equality and difference coexist within the same simile.
The Fahua Xuanyi may be read comparatively to see how the root treatise brings the doctrinal classification of the complete scripture into phrase-by-phrase exegesis. From the Mohe Zhiguan, only stable points of contact leading from understanding into practice are taken. The Fahua Xuanzan explains the same scripture and may serve as another old-commentarial witness. As this passage carries forward into the next unit’s extensive confirmation, the root treatise has already established the brief/extensive division and the question of what the disciples’ understanding does not reach; the following prose and verse must unfold upon this structural spine.
VIII. Placement of the Editions
1. Eight Apparatus Anchors in the Strict Domain
| Line Anchor | Witness Taishō | Witness A | Apparatus Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0090b20 | 妙法蓮華經 | 法華 | Paired apparatus; the same anchor also has a prose editorial note |
| 0090b20 | 上 | Witness A lacks the graph | Empty reading |
| 0090b22 | 天台智者大師說 | Witness A lacks the seven graphs | Unilateral editorial note represented by the first and last graphs and a count of seven |
| 0090b27 | 除 | 治 | Different graph |
| 0090c01 | 芽 | 可 | Different graph |
| 0090c07 | 臟 | 藏 | Different graph |
| 0090c14 | 一義 | 義一 | Transposed reading |
| 0091a14 | 〔云云〕 | Witness A lacks the inline note | Empty reading of the inline note itself |
Apart from the seven-graph attribution, seven anchors pair body text and variant readings; the attribution has only a unilateral editorial note. The strict domain contains no starred cross-reference variant. Witness A has empty readings at three anchors: the graph “first part” in the fascicle title, the seven-graph attribution, and the second inline note. The remaining five anchors contain different graphs or phrases. All readings are recorded side by side and do not overwrite the body.
The corresponding mirror domain has two further internal variant pairs: the present text reads 「育」 tr. “‘nurturing,’” while the original Taishō reading is 「有」 tr. “‘having’”〔T34n1719 0288a21〕; the present text reads 「下」 tr. “‘below,’” while the original Taishō reading is 「不」 tr. “‘not’”〔0288b13〕. Both belong to T1719 and are not mixed into the eight anchors of T1718.
2. Inline Notes and Gaiji
The strict domain of the root treatise contains two inline notes, both reading 〔云云〕 tr. “and so forth.” The first occurs in 「不復記〔云云〕」 tr. “not recorded further, and so forth”〔0090c15–0090c16〕 and has no local variant. The second occurs in 「夫山川谿谷〔云云〕」 tr. “as for mountains, rivers, streams, and valleys, and so forth”〔0091a14〕 and is absent in witness A. Both are retained at the inline-note layer and are not flattened into body text.
This unit contains no canonical-corpus gaiji tag. The graphs translated or transliterated as radiant, flourishing, luxuriant, clouded, differentiated prediction, and final ḍha are all direct body-text characters and are preserved in their original forms. The corresponding mirror domain likewise contains no gaiji or inline note.
3. Table of Contents and Page Anchors
The first-level table of contents in this work has two title forms: the “Introduction” chapter is not prefixed by the graph meaning “explain,” while each of the remaining twenty-seven chapters is written as 「釋某品」 tr. “Explanation of the [specified] Chapter.” The source for this unit therefore preserves 「釋藥草喻品」 tr. “Explanation of the Parable of the Medicinal Herbs”〔0090b23〕. This unit is a secondary division within the chapter and does not occupy a separate chapter.
The reader source marks Taishō positions with inline anchors at paragraph openings and does not mix workflow markers into the body. Every quotation in the apparatus is separately located by the nearest preceding Taishō line marker before its first graph; a range is given only when the quotation crosses lines. A paragraph-opening anchor states only where the reader paragraph begins and cannot replace the exact line anchor of a quotation’s first graph.