般若波羅蜜多心經贊 1.21

1.21

問：「此般若是菩薩法，何故世尊告舍利子，而非菩薩？」答：「如《智度論》說，舍利弗其人得十千三昧，於一切佛弟子中智慧第一故，世尊說一切眾生智唯除佛世尊，欲比舍利弗智慧及多聞，於十六分中猶尚不及一。又舍利弗年始八歲，凡所立論辭，理超絕時，諸論師歎未曾有，愚智、大小一切皆伏。自餘因緣廣如彼論，是故此中告舍利子，又欲引小迴趣大乘。」

Question: "This prajñā is the teaching of bodhisattvas; why did the Bhagavat address Śāriputra rather than a bodhisattva?" Answer: "As the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra* says, Śāriputra attained ten thousand samādhis, and among all disciples of the Buddha, he was foremost in wisdom; therefore the Bhagavat said that of the wisdom of all sentient beings, excluding only the Buddha, the Bhagavat, if one wished to compare it with the wisdom and vast learning of Śāriputra, it would not equal even one-sixteenth part. Moreover, when Śāriputra was only eight years old, whenever he established a thesis, his expressions and principles were transcendent, and the debate masters of the time praised it as unprecedented, with fools and the wise, small and great alike submitting to him. The remaining causes and conditions are explained at length in that treatise; hence here he addressed Śāriputra, also desiring to guide those of the small [vehicle] to turn towards the Mahāyāna."