尔时佛告大众:乃往古世,过无量无边不可思议阿僧祇劫,有佛名云雷音宿王华智多陀阿伽度阿罗诃三藐三佛陀,其国名光明庄严,劫名喜见。彼佛法中,有王名妙庄严,其王夫人名曰净德,有二子:一名净藏,二名净眼。是二子有大神力,福德智慧,久修菩萨所行之道。其父信受婆罗门法,不信三宝。尔时净藏、净眼二子,至其母所而白母言:愿母往诣云雷音宿王华智佛所……是二子愍念其父,故现神变。
逐句解释
妙庄严王——以婆罗门法为信,不信三宝
故事发生在遥远古昔的光明庄严国,国王名叫妙庄严,笃信婆罗门教,不信佛法。他的妻子净德夫人虔信佛法,两个儿子净藏与净眼也是久修菩萨道的修行者,拥有广大神通。这一章从「父不信法」这个困境出发,展开了佛教最触动人心的家庭故事之一:如何引导迷途中的亲人走向真理?
In a distant past age, King Wonderful Adornment rules a land called Adorned with Light. He is devoted to brahmanical practice and does not believe in the Three Jewels. His wife Pure Virtue and their two sons Pure Treasury and Pure Eye are devoted Buddhist practitioners with great supernatural powers.
The setup of this story is deliberately domestic and recognisable. A family divided by religious difference: a father locked in one tradition, a mother and children drawn toward another. The sons' names — Pure Treasury and Pure Eye — suggest the qualities they will need: the capacity to receive (treasury) and the clarity to see (eye). The father's name, Wonderful Adornment, is not ironic; he is a good king, a loving father, a decent man. He is simply in the wrong place, following a path that, however sincere, will not lead him to liberation. The question the chapter poses is universal: when you can see clearly and those you love cannot, what do you do?
净藏、净眼现神通——空中化火、水,令父惊叹
两个儿子为了引导父亲,向母亲商议后,决定以神通感化。他们在父王面前在空中行走、化现水火、示现各种神变,令妙庄严王大为惊奇,生起难得稀有之心。然后儿子们告诉父亲:这些神通,来自《法华经》的修持,来自云雷音宿王华智佛的教法。父亲若愿皈依,亦可获得同样的解脱。
The two sons display supernatural powers before their father — walking in the air, manifesting fire and water, performing various transformations — to awaken his wonder and open him to their message: these abilities come from the Lotus Sutra and the Buddha's teaching.
The use of supernatural display as a pedagogical tool is characteristic of the Lotus Sutra. Compassion adapts its methods to the being it is trying to reach. Wonderful Adornment is a king, a man of the world, someone whose mind is moved by evidence of power and capability. So his sons give him exactly that: a demonstration that what they have found is real, effective, and transformative. This is not deception; it is skillful means in its most personal form. The sons know their father. They know what will open the door in his mind. And so they use that knowledge — not to manipulate, but to serve. The display of powers is the greatest act of love in the story: two sons willing to do whatever it takes to bring their father home.
妙庄严王皈依——舍国出家,随佛修行
妙庄严王被儿子们的神通与解说所感动,当下信受,决定前往礼拜云雷音宿王华智佛。在佛的法会上,他听闻《法华经》,心开意解,欢喜踊跃。随后他将国家交付,与夫人、儿子一同出家,在佛的座下修行,最终获得「一切净功德庄严三昧」。出离是这个故事的高潮——不是逃避,而是真正的到来。
Moved by his sons' demonstration and explanation, Wonderful Adornment goes to the Buddha, hears the Lotus Sutra, and is transformed. He renounces his kingdom, leaves home with his wife and sons, takes monastic vows, and practices under the Buddha — eventually attaining the samadhi of Pure Merit Adornment.
The king's renunciation is the resolution of the chapter's central tension — and it is complete. He does not become a lay supporter while continuing to rule. He gives up the kingdom. This is the Lotus Sutra's understanding of what genuine transformation looks like: not a partial adjustment to one's existing life, but a reorientation so thorough that the previous life's framework no longer fits. The fact that he goes together with his whole family — wife, both sons — makes this one of the most complete family conversion stories in Buddhist literature. No one is left behind. The father who could not see now walks with those who helped him open his eyes.
今世的身份揭示——净藏净眼即药王药上菩萨
故事讲完后,佛陀揭示:那两位引导父亲归依佛法的儿子,正是今日的药王菩萨(净藏)与药上菩萨(净眼)。而妙庄严王,则是今日在场的华德菩萨。这个「今昔对照」是《法华经》结构的标志之一:历史不是线性的,因缘在不同的时空中以不同的形式重演。我们看到的护法菩萨,曾经也是需要被引导的凡夫。
The Buddha reveals: the two sons who led their father to the Dharma were none other than Medicine King Bodhisattva (Pure Treasury) and Medicine Superior Bodhisattva (Pure Eye). And Wonderful Adornment himself is now the bodhisattva Flower Virtue, present in this very assembly.
The identification of the story's characters with present figures in the assembly is the Lotus Sutra's signature move: collapsing the distance between ancient past and present moment, showing that the beings in the room carry within them the full arc of their development across countless lifetimes. Medicine King was once a son who loved his father enough to perform miracles to wake him up. Wonderful Adornment was once a king who needed his children's compassion to find his way. These are not abstract historical facts; they are the living context of the beings sitting in the assembly. The Dharma has always been at work in them. It always will be.
总结 · Summary
第二十七章讲述了一个感人的家庭故事:妙庄严王信奉外道,而他的两个儿子净藏与净眼,为了引导父亲归依佛法,以神通感化,最终令全家一同皈依、出家修行。章末揭示:这两位儿子就是药王菩萨与药上菩萨,而父亲妙庄严王就是今日在场的华德菩萨。这章告诉我们:真正的慈悲,是不放弃任何一个还没找到路的人,哪怕是自己的父亲。
Chapter 27 is the Lotus Sutra's most intimate family story. King Wonderful Adornment follows the brahmanical path while his wife and two sons practice the Dharma. The sons — revealed at chapter's end to be Medicine King and Medicine Superior Bodhisattvas — use supernatural displays to open their father's mind, then lead the entire family to the Buddha. The king hears the Lotus Sutra, renounces his kingdom, and takes monastic vows together with his whole family. The chapter's teaching is personal and universal: compassion doesn't abandon those who haven't yet found their way. Sometimes the most important act of practice is helping the person closest to you come home.