妙法蓮華經玄贊 6.247

6.247

解妨者，依《毘婆沙》說：聲聞有三品，上根唯一，謂舍利弗，獨六十劫曾練根故；中根亦一，謂大目連；所餘聲聞皆屬下性。何故今時四人領悟並為中品？答：鶖子先悟，未爽彼宗。四人中根，何乖此理？望聲聞以比況，中品獨是目連，發向大性以歸心，兼四人而何爽？且如悟空善現、辨說滿慈、持律婆離、頭陀迦葉，各有一勝，何必齊能？故四皆中，未乖真趣。

Resolving difficulties: according to the *Vibhāṣā*, śrāvakas have three grades: of superior faculties there is only one, namely Śāriputra, because he alone had trained his faculties for sixty kalpas; of middling faculties there is also one, namely Mahāmaudgalyāyana; all the remaining śrāvakas belong to the inferior nature. Why is it that now the four men's comprehension all constitutes the middling grade? Answer: Śāriputra awakened first, which does not contradict that school. How does the four men being of middling faculties contradict this principle? Looking at them in comparison with śrāvakas, only Maudgalyāyana is middling; but in resolving toward the Mahāyāna nature to take refuge, what contradiction is there in encompassing the four men? Moreover, just as Subhūti was foremost in understanding emptiness, Pūrṇa in eloquence, Upāli in upholding the vinaya, and Kāśyapa in dhūta practices, each had one preeminence—why must their capabilities be entirely equal? Therefore, that all four are middling does not contradict the true purport.