大方便佛報恩經 6.22

6.22

答曰：「三果已曾得，故退；下果未曾得，故不退。如人飢得美食，久則不忘，此義亦爾。又云：『下果，忍作無礙道，智作解脫道；三果，智作無礙道，智作解脫道，故退。』又云：『見諦道無退；思惟道有退。淨不淨想，斷結故。思惟道有逼迫，見諦無逼迫。見諦無逼迫，見諦結見理，思惟微生，故逼迫不退也。』又云：『見諦智力強，如大梁鎮物；思惟智弱，故退也。』又云：『見諦欲界忍智二心能斷九品；上界忍智二心斷七十二品結，盡無色界，故不退也。』以是義故獨名世尊。復次，佛習氣斷，二乘習氣不盡。如牛呞比丘，常作牛呞，以世世牛中來故；如一比丘雖得漏盡，而常以鏡自照，以世世從婬女中來故；如一比丘跳枰擲閣，以世世從獼猴中來；不得名世尊。」

Answer: "The three fruits were attained previously, hence there is retrogression; the lowest fruit was never previously attained, hence there is no retrogression. Just as when a hungry person obtains delicious food and long afterward does not forget it, this principle is also like that. Again it is said: 'In the lowest fruit, patience serves as the unhindered path and knowledge serves as the path of liberation; in the three fruits, knowledge serves as the unhindered path and knowledge serves as the path of liberation, hence there is retrogression.' Again it is said: 'In the path of seeing the truth there is no retrogression; in the path of cultivation there is retrogression, because notions of pure and impure sever the fetters. In the path of cultivation there is oppression, while in seeing the truth there is no oppression. When seeing the truth there is no oppression, the fetters of seeing the truth discern the principle; in cultivation [defilements] subtly arise, so through oppression one does not retrogress.' Again it is said: 'The power of knowledge in seeing the truth is strong, like a great beam weighing things down; the knowledge of cultivation is weak, hence there is retrogression.' Again it is said: 'In seeing the truth, the two minds of patience and knowledge of the desire realm can sever nine grades; the two minds of patience and knowledge of the higher realms sever seventy-two grades of fetters, exhausting the formless realm, and therefore there is no retrogression.' For these reasons he alone is named the World-Honoured One. Furthermore, the Buddha has severed latent impressions, whereas the two vehicles have not exhausted latent impressions. For example, the bhikṣu Gavāṃpati always engaged in chewing the cud like an ox, because life after life he had come from among cattle; like another bhikṣu who, though he had attained the destruction of outflows, constantly looked at himself in a mirror, because life after life he had come from among courtesans; like another bhikṣu who leaped over fences and hurled himself from towers, because life after life he had come from among monkeys. Therefore they cannot be named the World-Honoured One."