法華經義記 4.53

4.53

The questioner further says: "If it is said that the meaning of liberation is equal and the three carts are equal, there should not be three kinds of superiority and inferiority among goat, deer, and ox carts." The interpreter says: "Because they equally attain the knowledge of exhaustion through severing the primary propensities of the three realms, and equally attain the knowledge of non-arising through illuminating the demise of the effects in the three realms, the two knowledges of the three kinds of non-learners are of one kind, and they also sever both the binding of seeds and the binding of fruits of the three realms; therefore, the meaning of liberation is equal. The reason there are these three kinds of superiority and inferiority among goat, deer, and ox carts is that śrāvakas only sever the distinct, branch-like aspects of the primary propensities, and their capacity to bear loads is the most inferior, being illustrated by the goat cart; pratyekabuddhas encroach upon and sever minor propensities, and their knowledge and vision are slightly broader, being illustrated by the deer cart; bodhisattvas sever the propensities completely and cleanly, and their knowledge and vision are fully luminous and their application supreme, being illustrated by the ox cart. Bearing heavy loads to reach distant places speaks broadly of the distinction between superiority and inferiority in knowledge and vision; therefore, there are the three [degrees of] superiority and inferiority."