“Hearing of the toys from their father, the children rushed quickly out of the burning house, pushing one another, and striving to be first [shoving one another aside in a
mad race], because they thought that they could get what they each wished to have.”

[The Buddha] tells them that because it is what they are fond of they will get it. Perceiving what they will get, they then practice the [required] deeds. That is what is meant by [the phrase] in a mad race leave. Following what [the Buddha] has said they run hard; they have to make every effort to obtain it first: They are “in a mad race to get ahead of the others.” If [the Buddha] tells them about it while offering nothing [as reward] and they do not comprehend it, then they will return to the “fire” [of passion]; how can they be expected to leave [it, saṃsāra]?
Tao-sheng Commentary on the Lotus Sutra, p210