འཕགས་པ་ཕ་རལ་ཏ་ཕྱན་པ་ལྔ་བསྟན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 1.5

1.5

and engagements.’ Similarly, Venerable One, those who follow the vehicle of the hearers practice generosity and promise to become servants of the Thus-Gone One. The bodhisattva great beings, however, do not practice generosity like that. That is the difference between the bodhisattvas’ practice of generosity and the hearers’ practice of generosity. Venerable Śāradvatīputra, imagine if a woman in the royal harem were to carry off one hundred thousand pieces of gold and bring them to a merchant, or an officer, saying, ‘I am offering you these one hundred thousand pieces of gold. I will also be your servant, rising early in the morning and going to bed late at night. I will do whatever makes you happy.’ Venerable One, similarly, the followers of the Hearers’ Vehicle practice generosity and declare themselves to be hearers of the Thus-Gone One.”

Venerable Śāradvatīputra said to Venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, “Venerable One, it is amazing how very similar acts of generosity can lead one person to the level of a hearer and another one to the state of omniscience. Venerable One, you have explained it well. Venerable Pūrṇa, you should understand that the bodhisattvas are rich in skillful means.”

Venerable Śāradvatīputra continued addressing Venerable Maitrāyaṇīputra, saying, “Moreover, Venerable Pūrṇa, if bodhisattvas wish to practice generosity and wish to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood, they should begin their practice of generosity with the wish, ‘May the merit and virtue that is created hereby cause all bodhisattvas who have newly entered this vehicle in all the limitless and endless worlds to reach the state of nonregression!