You spoke of my true merits very well. {Truly it is as he has said}

The Thus Come One’s wisdom and meritorious virtues enabled him to preach the path of the three first and the One later, and Kāśyapa himself has spoken of it by taking up a parable. What he has said shows that he has attained to the Sage’s meaning. Hence, in sanctioning it, [the Buddha says], “Truly it is as he has said.”

In reality, however, I have more merits. They are innumerable, asaṃkhya.

What has been said (by Mahākāśyapa and others) is “true” and real because it relates to the region of the One. Now this passage deals with the boundlessness of the region of the One. The boundlessness of the region of the One, unexhausted for many kalpas, broadly verifies [the theme] that the transformative teaching of the three is [identical with] that of the One; how, then, can there be any mistake?

I expound all teachings with expedients by my wisdom in order to lead all living beings to the stage of knowing all things. I know what region a living being will be taken to by what teaching, and what a living being has deep in his mind. I am not hindered by anything in knowing all this. I know all things clearly, and show my knowledge of all things to all living beings.

What is explicated here is how [the Buddha] has reached the state of All-Knowledge (sarvajñā): first, by investigating thoroughly the profound intent of the dharmas; and second, by knowing where living beings’ thoughts tend to go. Because he knew that medicines help regulate diseases, he took them, which led him to bring depravities and calamities to an end without fail, finally attaining to the All-Knowledge.
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p242

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Mahā-Kāśyapa and other great disciples: “Excellent, excellent! {well-done}

As four great voice hearers had achieved enlightenment by the first parable, subsequently they spoke of their faith and understanding, in order to express their enlightenment. Understanding had to be verified, [and it turned out that] they had comprehended in depth the Sage’s idea of first the three and later the One. Because they comprehended the purport of what the Sage was driving at, in this chapter the Buddha confirms the propriety of what they have said in order to perfect the meaning [of the doctrine]. Hence, he praised [them] saying, “well-done!” commending their rare achievement. [The Buddha] secretly guided them, undetected, making them equal with Kāśyapa [in understanding].

The title “Medicinal Herbs” conveys, the fact that in the past they had received and maintained the Sage’s teaching, and as the Sage’s teaching soaked their spirit, the disease of depravities (kleśa) was cured. Thus [the transmitter of the sūtra] used the [the words] medicinal herbs in titling the chapter.

At that time you caused us to think over all things and to clear away the dirt of fruitless discussions about them.

This is connected with the second [part of the] parable, intended for preaching the doctrine of the three vehicles. [The words] one day’s wages disparage the self-satisfied mind of the Lesser Vehicle. The merits they had accumulated when they were blind are equal to no more than those the bodhisattvas would accumulate in one day. They are so little and are short of [reaching] the ultimate.

The great rich man is you.

The next three [statements] are connected with the above three sections of the parable. This [sentence] conjoins with the first section of the parable, concerning the meaning of father and son.

We once had many troubles in the world of birth and death because of the three kinds of sufferings.’

The Buddha spoke of the three states of sensation (vedanā) as being the causes of the three kinds of suffering. When suffering becomes intensified, it is referred to as “suffering as [ordinary] suffering (duhkha-duhkha)”; when [suffering] comes as the result of change, it is spoken of as “suffering produced by change (vipariṇama-duhkha)”; and when it is neither an unpleasant nor pleasant [sensation] and changes every moment as its life passes beyond [the present life], it is referred to as “suffering as conditioned states (saṃskāra-duhkha). By reason of the three kinds of suffering” is “by reason of the three kinds of sensation.” Why? The sensation of suffering is bitter and cutting. Going against one’s sentiment gives rise to anger (dveṣa). Following the way one is used to gives rise to desire (rāga). [In a state] neither unpleasant nor pleasant, and in an utterly disturbed state, arises stupidity (moha). Because of these three states of sensation, there arise the three evil faculties. As the three evil faculties are affected, the passion instigators become active. As the passion instigators spread out and thrive, karma is being committed by body and mouth. When karma and the passion instigators join forces, future retributions are induced. Hence, it is said: “by reason of the three kinds of suffering, [in the midst of birth and death] we suffer various annoyances.” Because birth and death are the outcome of “annoyances,” it means that habits formed have not been overcome; hence, “erring and ignorant, we cling in desire to the lesser dharmas.” [The rest of the paragraph] from this point on conjoins with their wandering from the transformative teaching.

Now the rich man became ill. He knew that he would die soon. He said to the poor son, ‘I have a great deal of gold, silver, and other treasures. My storehouses are filled with them. You know the amounts of them. You know what to take, and what to give. This is what I have in mind. Know this! You are not different from me in all this. Be careful lest the treasures be lost!’

They already knew that [the Buddha] had preached various sūtras of the Greater Vehicle, such as when, [for instance], he ordered Subhūti to preach the Prajña(-pāramitā Sūtras) so that all might be taught that it was their own property.

“Thereupon the poor son obeyed his order. He took custody of the storehouses of gold, silver, and other treasures, but did not wish to take anything worth even a meal from them. He still stayed in his old lodging. He could not yet give up the thought that he was base and mean [lowly and inferior].

Although he received what he was entrusted with, he did not yet realize that it was his own property. He felt, therefore, [lowly and inferior].

“After a while the father noticed that his son had become more at ease and peaceful, that he wanted to improve himself, and that he felt ashamed of the thought that he was base and mean. The time of the death of the father drew near. The father told his son to call in his relatives, the king, ministers, kṣatriyas, and householders.

This is the third paragraph. His mind became open, and the incipient, subtle triggering-mechanism for embracing the Greater [Vehicle] was manifested. Following this [the father] gathered his kinsmen, announcing to them that he was his son: this refers to the preaching of the Dharma Blossom Sūtra.

When they all assembled, he said to them, ‘Gentlemen, know this! This is my son, my real son. He ran away from me when I lived in a certain city,

This refers to the place where formerly two trillion [future] Buddhas received transformative teaching. The merits of the transformative teaching had not yet matured, and he forsook “me” and ran off to hide himself in the three spheres.

and wandered with hardships for more than fifty years

He drifted through the five forms of existence, ready to taste “loneliness” and “hardship.”

“World-Honored One! At that time the poor son was very glad to hear these words of his father. He had the greatest joy that he had ever had. He thought, ‘I never dreamed of having this store of treasures myself. It has come to me unexpectedly.’

The preceding three paragraphs explain how the unsurpassed treasures reached him of themselves. Here this meaning is clearly shown.

The poor son was glad to be treated kindly, but still thought that he was a humble employee. Therefore, the rich man had him clear dirt for twenty years.

Seeing the truth and meditating on it have taken him ten [years] each: so it is said, “twenty years.”

After that the father and son trusted each other. Now the son felt no hesitation in entering the house of his father [Came and went at his ease]

[The Buddha] had him hear about the Greater Vehicle, and so he came and went to this li at his ease without harboring any doubt.

but still lodged in his old place.

He heard the teaching of the Greater Vehicle preached and was led to know that it was what he had already had, and yet he did not comprehend it: he was “lodged in the same place as before.”

Some days later he saw his son in the distance from the window. The son was weak, thin, worn-out, and defiled with dirt and dust.

Spiritual penetration is deposited in the six feelings; thus, “through a window he [they] saw.” The body is not the outcome of meritorious virtues: it is “weak and emaciated.” The bonds and the instigators of depravities (kleśa or anuśaya) [caused them to] receive it [i.e., the body]: it is “unclean with dirt and dust.”

The father took off his necklace, his garment of thin and soft cloth, and other ornaments. He put on tattered and dirty clothing, smeared himself with dust,

[The Buddha] hid the Dharma-body [in himself] in a mysterious way: he “removed (his) ornaments.” This shows that a bodhisattva becoming a Buddha is not merely interested in external pomp: he “puts on a dirty, tar-stained garment.” Also he was reborn from the bonds and passion instigators: he was “smearing dust over his body.

carried a dirt-utensil in his right hand. He looked fearful.

He had not practiced [the path] free from depravities (anāsrava); this is what took a dung shovel means. It is convenient and easy; hence, “the right hand.” It looked as if he had warded off depravities: he was “frightful in appearance.”

He [came to the workers and] said, ‘Work hard! Do not be lazy!’

When [the Buddha] turned the Dharma wheel (cakra) at the Deer Park, he preached to that effect.

With this expedient the father came to his son.

The li of the Buddha was cut off from men, [so that] [the Buddha], by condescending to demonstrate, “contrived” to establish contact [with men].

He said to him, ‘Man! Stay here and work! Do not go anywhere else! I will pay you more.

By entering into the path free from depravities, he was destined not to return to birth and death: he “worked here always, and did not go anywhere else.” The pleasure he achieved surpassed that of the seven expedient positions [of the Lesser Vehicle] hence, “increase your wages.”

Do not hesitate to take trays, rice, flour, salt and vinegar as much as you need! You can have an old servant if you want to.

Nowhere are the meritorious virtues free from depravities lacking or few: they are [like] “salt, vinegar, or that sort of thing.” The spiritual penetration of the two vehicles originally is limited and weak: they are “other servants, aged and decrepit.”

When you work, you do not deceive [the other workers]. You are not lazy.

He felt at home in the Dharma of the Lesser Vehicle, which is meant in the statement, “I have never seen you guilty of these evils, as are the other workmen.” The other workmen refer to the seven expedient positions [of the Lesser Vehicle]. It follows that the seven expedient positions are with “these evils.”

The rich man gave him a name and called him son.

Those who have obtained [the path] free from depravities have been “called” as if they were the Buddha’s sons, but have not yet been spoken of as his real sons.

Thereupon the rich man thought of an expedient to persuade his son to come to him. He [wished to] dispatch messengers in secret. He said to two men looking worn-out, powerless and virtueless,

Two men symbolizes the Dharma of the two vehicles. [The Buddha] made up his mind to bestow [it upon] them: thus he “dispatched.” But he hid the real, thus the word secretly. li did not illuminate itself completely: its “appearance was miserable.” Also their inner understanding was not manifest: they had “no dignity of bearing.” Such men were not “the [Dharma-]king’s messengers.”

‘Go and gently tell the poor man that he will be employed here for a double day’s pay.

To follow his sentiment, but not his original [plan], is what is implied by say gently. He was made to work and practice and was provided with pleasure: they were in a “work place.” What he was given surpasses [what he could enjoy] in the world: he was “given double wages.”

If he agrees with you, bring him here and have him work. If he asks you what work he should do, tell him that he should clear dirt and that you two also will work with him.’

Dharma consists of men’s practice: it is [what they] “shall work with.”

The poor son [came back with them,] drew his pay in advance, and cleared dirt with them.

He received what the messengers promised: he “first took his pay.” He did not have any doubts: he “swept the dung with them.”

“The messenger pulled him by force.

The Greater Vehicle “grasped” him, making his feelings meritorious; li could not be discarded; it [used] “force” [to hold him].

The poor son thought, ‘I am caught though I am not guilty. I shall be killed.’ More and more frightened, the poor son fainted and fell to the ground.

He felt extremely unhappy. He had faults but was innocent, and he came to grasp the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]. His mind was very much disturbed; he was “helpless with agony, and fell to earth.”

Seeing all this in the distance, the father said to the messenger, ‘I do not want him any more. Do not bring him forcibly! Pour cold water on his face and bring him to himself! Do not talk with him any more!’

[Now, the Buddha provisionally] suspended and did not entertain the idea of [presenting] the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]. These are words [with] provisionary [value] (or metaphorical words) that he said merely to the messenger.

[The messenger poured water on the son. The son was brought to himself.] The messenger said to him, ‘Now you are released. You can go anywhere you like.’

If [the Buddha] praises the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle], the son would be “helpless with agony, falling [to earth].” So he simply suspended the transformative teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]. The son was then “brought to.” [The phrase] sprinkling him [with cool] water expresses this. The statement that “the messenger said to the son, ‘I am now letting you go”‘ also is a provisionary (or metaphorical) statement.

The rich man, who was sitting on the lion-like seat, recognized him at first sight as his son. He was delighted. He thought, ‘Now I have found the person to whom I can transfer my treasures and storehouses. I have been thinking of my son all this time, but I have had no way to find him. Now he has come by himself all of a sudden.

Past conditions became reactivated in a subtle way: it is like [the father] “seeing his son.” Although he (the son) again felt like turning away, he was bound to realize afterwards the Greater [Vehicle]. For this reason, [the father was] “greatly pleased.” The profoundly subtle triggering-mechanism arrived in a subtle way, although he did not realize this; thus, “quite suddenly, he came of his own accord.”

“He immediately dispatched a man standing beside him to quickly bring back the poor son.

The sixteen feet tall was not “that by which the Buddha was” he was, as it were, “an attendant.” The “attendant” wanted to set forth the teaching of the Greater [Vehicle]: he thus “dispatched” a messenger. “Going” to the Greater [Vehicle] was the first thing to do: it was [something) “to follow.”

The messenger ran up to the poor son and caught him.

The wondrous Dharma of the Greater Vehicle is li, which grasps them firmly. li does not allow any lapse; it is something that requires “running.”

The poor son was frightened. He cried, ‘You Devil! I have done nothing wrong. Why do you catch me?’

[The Buddha’s] appearance was not what the son originally had anticipated: he was “alarmed.” It greatly offended his feelings, and he “cried out resentfully,” [because] it was like “committing no offense” and yet ending up seized.