華嚴經探玄記 1.25

1.25

Fifth, discerning categories: within the śrāvaka pitaka, according with the various sūtras and treatises, three kinds are subdivided: First, the śrāvaka pitaka of dispute. This refers to the sūtras of the four Āgamas, the vinaya of the five divisions, and the abhidharma of the twenty schools; as they contradict and dispute with one another, their expositions being not uniform, yet they do not hinder [attaining] the noble fruition, it is therefore collectively named the pitaka of dispute. Second, the śrāvaka pitaka according with reality. This refers to [texts] such as the Śrāvakabhūmi and the Śrāvaka-viniścaya in the Yogācārabhūmi, which expound the practices, stages, fruitions, and so forth of the śrāvakas, all according with reality and corresponding with principle, differing from the Mahāvibhāṣā and the various heterodox treatises; because what is expounded by [Maitreya,] the one bound to one more birth, cannot be disputed by the various heterodox treatises, it is therefore collectively named the śrāvaka pitaka according with reality. Question: Since what is expounded here differs from the various Hīnayāna schools, could there be two kinds of śrāvakas? Answer: This is opened into two on the basis that in the teaching, the exposition of śrāvaka phenomena is exhaustive while that of the principle is not; it does not mean that the śrāvakas themselves have differences. Third, the conventionally established śrāvaka pitaka. For instance, in the Mahāyāna sūtras, in order to guide śrāvakas to turn their minds, the doctrinal teachings established are expounded in accordance with the names and enumerations of the śrāvakas, such as the uncreated four noble truths and the factors of awakening. As expounded in the various Mahāyāna sūtras, they cannot be cited at length. Since these are not what bodhisattvas study, it is therefore called the conventionally established śrāvaka pitaka. Question: Although the names here are identical to the Hīnayāna, the meaning is actually Mahāyāna; how can it be collectively called a śrāvaka pitaka? Answer: It is precisely for this reason that it is named conventionally established. Question: What the śrāvakas whose faculties have matured and who have turned their minds study is subsumed under the bodhisattva pitaka; of what use is this conventionally established pitaka to them? Answer: But there are two kinds of śrāvakas who turn their minds: first, the superior; second, the inferior. The superior directly enter the Mahāyāna without relying on this pitaka; the inferior still fear the Mahāyāna, and therefore, by upāya, [the teaching] accords with their names and enumerations to make it easy for them to faithfully accept it; hence this gate is established.