大方便佛報恩經 6.116

6.116

答曰：「不等。凡得戒者，於眾生類、非眾生類上得戒。而一佛出世，度無數阿僧祇眾生入無餘泥洹，而後佛出世，於此眾生盡不得戒。如是諸佛，先後得戒，各各不等。如迦葉佛度無數阿僧祇眾生入無餘泥洹，而迦葉佛於此眾生盡皆得戒；釋迦文佛於此眾生盡不得戒。一切諸佛有三事等：一、積行等；二、法身等；三、度眾生等。一切諸佛盡三阿僧祇劫修菩薩行，盡具足五分法身、十力、四無所畏、十八不共法；盡度無數阿僧祇眾生入於泥洹。」

Answer: “They are not equal. Those who obtain the precepts obtain them with respect to classes of sentient beings and classes of non-sentient things. When one Buddha appears in the world, he delivers countless asaṃkhyeyas of sentient beings into nirvāṇa without remainder, and when a later Buddha appears in the world, he entirely fails to obtain the precepts with respect to these sentient beings. In this way, the earlier and later Buddhas who obtain the precepts are each not equal. For example, Kāśyapa Buddha delivered countless asaṃkhyeyas of sentient beings into nirvāṇa without remainder, and Kāśyapa Buddha obtained the precepts with respect to all these sentient beings; Śākyamuni Buddha entirely failed to obtain the precepts with respect to these sentient beings. All Buddhas are equal in three matters: first, equality in accumulated practice; second, equality in the dharmakāya; third, equality in delivering sentient beings. All Buddhas completely cultivate the bodhisattva practices for three asaṃkhyeya kalpas; they are all fully endowed with the fivefold dharmakāya, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen unshared dharmas; and they all deliver countless asaṃkhyeyas of sentient beings into nirvāṇa.”