分別功德論 1.22

1.22

Ānanda immediately ascended the seat. The seat was a lion seat. The reason the sūtra uses the metaphor of a lion seat is that the lion is the king among beasts, always residing on high ground and never dwelling in low places; hence it is compared to a high seat. Furthermore, it is taken from its fearlessness: Ānanda had immeasurable vast learning, walking alone without fear among the śrāvakas; hence it is called the seat of fearlessness. (Ānanda's ascending the high seat was like this.) Maitreya praised it as excellent, a delightful exposition! (The reason Maitreya came down was that he feared Ānanda would merge the bodhisattva teachings into the three baskets, so that the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna would not be distinguished), like brass and gold strung on the same cord. For this reason he earnestly exhorted and requested him to divide them into sections. In the past, the great heavenly cakravartin possessed the four brahma-vihāras, transmitting them successively down to eighty-four thousand kings who all possessed brahma-vihāras. Only the great heavenly king alone was a Great Being; all the rest had small aspirations. Stated in this way, the Great Vehicle is difficult to explain, and many tend toward the śrāvaka path. Maitreya also knew that Ānanda would divide the three baskets, yet still feared that later students would exclusively practice the teachings of emptiness, severing fetters and attaining realization; therefore he proclaimed the Great Vehicle and divided it into a separate pitaka. Hence he spoke of the various practices of the six perfections, the essential principles for a Great Being.