勝鬘寶窟 2.32

2.32

Third, the section on explaining the name. This chapter is titled "The Chapter on Expounding the Entry into the Ekayāna." An exchange of words is called discussion (lùn); direct speech is called expounding (shuō). Here, there is no one discussing the meaning; Queen Śrīmālā expounds it directly in speech, and so it is called "expounding." Bringing together the provisional to enter the real is called "entry." One may also say that expounding the four vehicles as the upāya of the Mahāyāna is called "entry." There is only one principle, teaching only one person, practicing only one cause, and bringing about only one fruit; therefore it is called the "ekayāna." Furthermore, as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkopadeśa states: "For what reason is it called the ekayāna? It means identity." As for "identity": the dharmakāya of the Tathāgata, the dharmakāya of the śrāvaka, and the dharmakāya of the pratyekabuddha—because practitioners of the three vehicles share the same dharmakāya, the three vehicles are identically named the ekayāna; this is why it is called "one." That which is called a "vehicle" (yāna) means conveying. Conveying has three aspects: first, conveying persons from cause to fruit, as the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra says: "This vehicle departs from the triple world and reaches abiding in sarvajñā"; second, conveying persons by virtue so that they are unhindered and free, as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra says: "Having obtained such a vehicle, it causes all the sons to disport and be joyful"; third, conveying others through oneself, as the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra says: "Boarding the ship of nirvāṇa, entering the ocean of birth and death, conveying across sentient beings"; and also as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra says: "The Buddha himself abides in the Great Vehicle; in accordance with the Dharma he has attained, adorned with the power of meditation and wisdom, he uses this to deliver sentient beings."