法華玄論 5.81

5.81

Answer: Generally speaking, there are four kinds of pratyekabuddhas. The first are pratyekabuddhas of the original vehicle: this refers to those who originally aroused the mind of a pratyekabuddha and later attained the fruit of a pratyekabuddha. However, these persons have traversed many kalpas, and the *Upadeśa* and other treatises briefly mention two: one of the slowest is a hundred kalpas—one of a hundred kalpas is a great pratyekabuddha, which the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya terms the rhinoceros-horn metaphor of a hundred kalpas; the second of the swiftest is four lifetimes, while between them the amount is indeterminate. These two kinds of persons attain the fruit of a pratyekabuddha and definitely do not encounter a buddha. Therefore the Avataṃsaka states: 'When the bodhisattva descends from the Tuṣita Heaven, he emits light that illuminates them; if they perceive it, they abandon their lifespans and enter [nirvāṇa] without remainder; if they do not perceive it, they are moved to a world without a buddha in another direction.' The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra's metaphor of the comet has the same meaning. The Mūlamadhyamakakārikā says: 'If no buddha appears in the world, and the Buddhadharma has already perished, the wisdom of the various pratyekabuddhas arises from seclusion.' If this is so, how could there be pratyekabuddhas in the assembly of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra?