At that time the house-owner
Was standing outside the gate [door].
He heard a man say to him:
“Some time ago
Your children entered this house to play.
They are young and ignorant.
They are engrossed in playing.”
Hearing this,
The rich man was frightened.
He rushed into the burning house.

The next three verses are the chant of the third paragraph, concerning the saving of beings by the Buddha out of [his] great compassion. The Thus Come One has transcended the three spheres: he is “standing outside the door.”

[They] were born out of the transformative teaching they had received previously; they are “sons.” The li of the transformative teaching is outside the three spheres; later they themselves chose to deviate from the transformative teaching to immerse themselves again in the five desires: they were “in play.” Because of them (desires), they were reincarnated, they entered this house.” “The householder” having come, the previous conditions also have been reactivated. The subtle triggering mechanism has temporarily become “human speech”; (“someone say”) in order to actively stimulate the Sage. The Sage, able to respond [to the beings] and thoroughly propagate [the transformative teaching], is obliged to listen to them.

Shortly after he went out [The man had gone a short distance from the house]
To a place in the neighborhood,
Fires broke out suddenly
In the house.

The purpose of the statement that “[the man] had gone a short distance” is to show, by pointing out that it was after he was gone that the fire broke out, that the outbreak [of calamity or suffering] comes from the multitudinous beings themselves and is not of the Buddha’s making. The fact that the Sage’s state of being, stimulated (kan) [in the previous encounter,] shortly disappeared is implied in the statement that “[the man] had gone a short distance.” The effect of the transformative teaching in the past was that the superficial and a nascent beings chose themselves to go astray from the transformative teaching. By going astray from li, they were led into mistake and sufferings; that is what suddenly a fire broke out means.

I will tell you a parable.
A rich man had a manor house.
It was old, rotten,
Broken and ruined.

The subtle triggering-mechanism [of beings] in the previous transformative teaching has actively stimulated the Sage, who then condescends to respond to them. [The process of] condescending to respond is represented in this [phrase], which means thus that “the decayed house belonged to” the Buddha.

Thereupon the Buddha, wishing to repeat what he had said, sang in gāthās:

From this onward is a chant consisting of a double set of the preceding seven similes. The first thirty-seven gāthās chant the first paragraph of the parable, regarding calamities in the house. Omitted and not chanted in the gāthās is the second [paragraph], regarding “the doorway,” [symbolizing] the Buddha’s enlightenment to the various sufferings because its meaning is easy to perceive.

The Buddha said to Śāriputra: “So it is, so it is. It is just as you say. Śāriputra! The same can be said of me.

[The rest of the chapter up to the gāthās] following this sentence likewise can be divided into seven segments and it is conjoined by the preceding parable. The first four paragraphs deal directly with the internal meaning, so that they are conjoined by the preceding parable. The latter three paragraphs first speak of the parable externally, later to be conjoined by the internal sense. Why? The latter three first discuss the three carriages; next, the giving of a great carriage; and finally, the fact that it is not false. [The Buddha] set up this discourse for the purpose of putting forth the One Vehicle, of course. This intent regarding the One Vehicle is manifested in the latter three [paragraphs]. That is the reason why I have said that [the latter three] first speak of [the external], then conjoin it with [the internal sense]. The first four paragraphs are designed to complete the latter three and, therefore, are directly connected with the preceding parable.

World-Honored One! Even if he had not given them the smallest cart, he should not have been accused of falsehood because he thought at first, ‘I will cause them to get out with an expedient.’

And how much the more would it be true when [the elder] did not think of giving one big carriage in the beginning! The fact that now he has not given it is not contradictory to his earlier promise; how can it be false! How much the more would it be true when he gives them a great carriage! Thus what they have gained is great.

Śāriputra said: “No, World-Honored One! He saved his children from the fire and caused them to survive. [Even if he had not given them anything,] he should not have been accused of falsehood because the children should be considered to have already been given the toys [they had wished to have] when they survived. He saved them from the burning house with the expedient.

The reason why it is not false is explained here. [Even] if [the Buddha] from the beginning really wanted to give them the three vehicles, but did not give them, he would still not [be guilty of] falsehood. “For what reason is that so?” [The Buddha] “has enabled them to preserve wholly” the wisdom-“life.” Such munificence [shown by the Buddha] is very great, sufficient to make up for and neutralize what would otherwise be false. So, how can there be any falsehood?

Śāriputra! What do you think of this? Do you think that the rich man was guilty of falsehood when he gave his children the large carts of treasures?

This is the seventh segment. He promised earlier to give them three carriages; now he gives them one [big carriage]. What has turned out is contradictory to the earlier promise, making it look like a false [promise]. Thus, conversely, [the Buddha] asks Body-son [Śāriputra] indicating that it is not false.

The cart was yoked with white bullocks. The color of the skin of the white bullocks was bright; their build, beautiful and stout; and their pace, regular. They could run as swift as [fleet like] the wind. The cart was guarded by many attendants. [This great rich man gave one of these carts to each of his children] [What is the reason?] because his wealth was so immeasurable that his various storehouses were full [of treasures].

The dustless purity of the Buddha’s six supernatural powers (abhijñā) is what a white ox symbolizes. [The Buddha] is utterly pure inside and outside: that is the implication of skin is pure white. li is wondrous and all encompassing: it is what his bodily form is lovely implies. There is nothing that it cannot break: [it has] “great muscular strength.” Moving forward toward the middle path is what its tread is even means. There is nothing that it cannot destroy or reach: it is “fleet like the wind.” Applying and propagating the teaching of the Greater [Vehicle] and entrance into [the cycle of] the five ways of existence (gatis) is the intended meaning of the yoke. The phrase that [this ox] has many attendants illustrates that those who attend to [the Buddha] who teaches practitioners are gathered [as many in number] as the trees in the woods. [The paragraph including] “What is the reason?” explains the reason why he intends to give [the doctrine] equally to them.

The cart was tall [high], wide and deep, adorned with many treasures [multitude of jewels], surrounded by railings [posts], and having bells hanging on the four sides. [Parasols and] a canopy adorned with rare treasures was fixed on the top of it. Garlands of flowers, tied with jeweled ropes, were hanging from the canopy. In the cart were quilts spread one on another, and a red [vermillion] pillow.

The statement that the carriages are adorned with a “multitude of jewels” is designed to demonstrate the wondrous li of the Greater Vehicle, which encompasses every kind of goodness that exists. With regard to “high and wide,” li surpasses empirical calculation: it is “high”; [it] fills up and covers the illimitable[wu-chi]: it is “wide.” Concerning “a multitude of jewels,” eighty-four thousand pāramitās in total are signified by a multitude of jewels. A multitude of jewels [surrounded by] posts and handrails analogize dhārāṇis. Little bells suspended on four sides symbolize four kinds of [unhindered] eloquent speech. Parasols and canopies symbolize compassion (karunā). Miscellaneous jewels refer to the jewels of the seven riches. Jeweled cords are comparable to the great vows (mahāpraṇidhāna); they connect [being] with all the goodness and wondrous fruits. Flowered tassels refer to the flowers of the seven enlightenment [factors]. Heaps of carpets decorated with strips of cloth refer to various kinds of meditation. Vermillion-colored cushions symbolize various meritorious virtues, and cushions [symbolize] mutual support.