淨名玄論 7.23

7.23

There are three pairs: first, the śrāvaka piṭaka, and second, the bodhisattva piṭaka, which are designated according to persons. Second, the Mahāyāna piṭaka and the Hīnayāna piṭaka, which are named according to the teaching (dharma). Third, the half-letter and full-letter [teachings], which are designated with reference to their meaning. These three [pairs] nevertheless share the same meaning. One cannot say that the half and the full [letters] pertain only to the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] whereas the former two run through from beginning to end, for the Great Sūtra says: "I preached these half-letters for the sake of the śrāvakas"—which is still the śrāvaka piṭaka.

Question: Preaching what Dharma gate is called the śrāvaka piṭaka?
Answer: Preaching the teachings of the two vehicles is in all cases called the śrāvaka piṭaka.

Question: Since it preaches the teachings of the two vehicles, it ought to be called the two-vehicle piṭaka; why is it called the śrāvaka piṭaka?
Answer: Because in establishing the intention behind the two piṭakas, one merely takes the Great and the Small as opposites, taking the meaning of the Small as the śrāvaka piṭaka and the meaning of the Great as the bodhisattva piṭaka. Pratyekabuddhas are also Hīnayāna, hence it is called the śrāvaka piṭaka. Moreover, speaking from the predominant case, śrāvakas receive the śrāvaka teaching at both stages of cause and result, whereas pratyekabuddhas as persons in the causal stage rely on the teaching, but as persons in the fruitional stage awaken to the Path spontaneously; therefore it is solely called the śrāvaka piṭaka, and not the pratyekabuddha piṭaka. Thus the Bodhisattvabhūmi (*Dichi) says: "Preaching the dharmas of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is called the śrāvaka piṭaka."

Question: The śrāvaka piṭaka does not only preach the dharmas of the two vehicles, but also preaches the bodhisattva dharma; why does it belong to the śrāvaka piṭaka?
Answer: When the Hīnayāna dharma speaks of the bodhisattva, it belongs to the śrāvaka piṭaka. If the bodhisattva dharma is spoken of by means of the Mahāyāna, it then belongs to the bodhisattva piṭaka. In the Hīnayāna dharma, explaining how a bodhisattva attains sagehood from ordinary worldling status, the teaching is not yet perfect and the principle is not complete; hence it is called the śrāvaka piṭaka. In the Mahāyāna dharma, explaining that the bodhisattva's teaching is perfect and the principle complete, it is called the bodhisattva piṭaka. Moreover, in the Hīnayāna dharma, it mostly explains the dharma of the two vehicles and only slightly preaches the bodhisattva dharma. As the Dazhidulun says: "Within the Tripiṭaka, various dharmas are broadly preached for the śrāvakas, but the bodhisattva practice is not preached; one only hears the Benmo jing of the Madhyama Āgama bestowing a prophecy upon Maitreya, yet it also does not preach the bodhisattva practice." Hence we know that the bodhisattva dharma explained there is minimal. Subordinating the minority to the majority, it is called the śrāvaka piṭaka, not the bodhisattva piṭaka.

Question: For people of the Small Vehicle, one should only preach the dharma of the two vehicles; why must one preach the bodhisattva dharma?
Answer: The Buddha opened the teaching of the three vehicles for the sake of the two vehicles. As the Lotus Sūtra says: "Because the two cannot be converted by the One Vehicle, [the Buddha] analytically preaches three in the One Buddha Vehicle"; hence within the Small Vehicle it explains that there are three vehicles.

Question: Since the dharma of the three vehicles is preached for people of the two vehicles, why is the bodhisattva practice not preached?
Answer: People of the two vehicles do not desire to practice the bodhisattva path, so there is no need to preach the practice. Merely knowing that in principle there are three ultimate destinations, [the Buddha] just briefly explains the Buddha Vehicle.

Question: Since the bodhisattva cause is not preached, why bestow a prophecy on Maitreya explaining his attainment of the Buddha fruit?
Answer: A śrāvaka must rely on a master to awaken to the Path, so it must be explained that there are Buddhas of the three periods of time; hence the prophecy was bestowed upon Maitreya.

Question: How many types of persons are there among śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas?
Answer: From beginning to end, there are six kinds of persons in all. First, original-vehicle śrāvakas: at first they generate the śrāvaka aspiration, and in the end they realize the śrāvaka fruit. Second, non-original-vehicle śrāvakas, divided into two types: those who were originally pratyekabuddhas, generated the pratyekabuddha aspiration, and practiced the pratyekabuddha practice, but midway encountered a Buddha, attained the Path through his teaching, and were renamed śrāvakas—Kāśyapa is an example of this. Third, those who were originally bodhisattvas, but regressed and adopted the śrāvaka [path]—the likes of Śāriputra are such. Pratyekabuddhas also have three [types]: First, original-vehicle pratyekabuddhas: as a cause they receive teaching, while in the fruit they are spontaneous. Second, non-original-vehicle pratyekabuddhas, of whom there are two types: one who was originally a śrāvaka, but encounters an era without a Buddha and therefore becomes a pratyekabuddha; the other who was originally a bodhisattva, encounters an era without a Buddha, regresses to adopt the Small Vehicle, and is also called a pratyekabuddha. Thus the Dazhidulun says: "A bodhisattva realizes the four truths and becomes a pratyekabuddha."

Explaining the bodhisattva piṭaka, there are also three kinds of persons: First, straight-proceeding bodhisattvas, who generate the bodhicitta and practice the bodhisattva conduct. Second, those who turn from the Small and enter the Great, of whom there are two kinds: those who were originally śrāvakas, who changed from the Small to become Great and are therefore called bodhisattvas; and those who were originally pratyekabuddhas, the principle of which is likewise. However, for these two kinds of persons, there are again two sorts: those who were originally of the two vehicles, who changed from the Small to seek the Great, as explained before; and those who were originally bodhisattvas, who regressed from the Great to become Small, and now return to abandoning the Small to seek the Great, like Śāriputra and others. Among the śrāvakas there are also such persons, who were originally of the Small Vehicle, abandoned the Small to seek the Great, and afterwards regressed again from the Great to adopt the Small.

Question: Is there someone who was originally of the Small Vehicle, abandoned the Small to seek the Great, regressed again from the Great to adopt the Small, and afterwards returned to abandoning the Small to seek the Great? Is there such a person?
Answer: Śāriputra is precisely such a person. Although it is said that he was originally of the Small Vehicle and had already attained warmth and summit, he subsequently abandoned the Small to seek the Great, practiced the bodhisattva path for sixty kalpas, and then, encountering the beggar who asked for his eye, returned to abandoning the Great to adopt the Small; now, hearing the Lotus Sūtra, he returns to abandoning the Small to seek the Great. In the śrāvaka dharma there should also be such cases.

Question: Why is a Buddha piṭaka not established?
Answer: There are two meanings in general. First, establishing the bodhisattva piṭaka contrasts the Great and the Small; within the bodhisattva piṭaka there is the Buddha-dharma, which is itself the Buddha piṭaka. Second, to show that bodhisattvas receive teachings, the bodhisattva piṭaka is universally established. Within the śrāvaka piṭaka there are also pratyekabuddhas; to show that śrāvakas receive teachings, it is universally named the śrāvaka piṭaka.

Question: If so, while the bodhisattva makes advancement and could thus establish a vehicle, the Buddha has already ceased seeking; why establish a Buddha Vehicle?
Answer: The name is established based on the reception of teaching, hence it universally relies on the two kinds of persons. It is also to distinguish the superiority and inferiority of the three grades that the three vehicles are established.

Question: Throughout the śrāvaka piṭaka, is there depth and shallowness? Is it likewise for the bodhisattva [piṭaka]?
Answer: Speaking in terms of principle, there should be depth and shallowness. As the Pañcaviṃśati (*Dapin) says: "For newly-resolved bodhisattvas, it explains arising and ceasing as like an illusion, and non-arising and non-ceasing as not like an illusion. For long-practicing persons, it explains all things as like an illusion." Thus we know there is depth and shallowness. The śrāvaka piṭaka is also like this: merely preaching the emptiness of persons is shallow, while fully preaching the two emptinesses is profound.

Question: If so, both piṭakas have depth and shallowness, and both possess definitive and non-definitive meanings. Why was the Small Vehicle in the past considered non-definitive, while the Great Vehicle was considered definitive?
Answer: The Great and the Small are contrasted: the Small is taken as non-definitive, and the Great Vehicle as definitive.

Question: Preaching for beginners that arising and ceasing are like an illusion is non-definitive. Then within a single sūtra, the explanation of the bodhisattva dharma contains the non-definitive; how can one say it is entirely definitive?
Answer: Fully distinguishing the definitive and the non-definitive within a single sūtra is precisely what makes it a definitive sūtra.

Question: The Great Sūtra says: "Those who have acquisition are called the two vehicles; those without acquisition are called bodhisattvas." If so, a Mahāyāna with acquisition should also belong to the śrāvaka piṭaka.
Answer: That is also acceptable. Such acquisition, whether Great or Small, is all called the Mahāyāna piṭaka. "Having acquisition" and "without acquisition" refer to gain and loss in receiving the teaching. In now establishing the two piṭakas, it correctly describes the Buddha's preaching the teaching of non-acquisition for the Great Vehicle, and preaching the teaching of acquisition for the Small Vehicle.

Question: The explanation of the meaning in the two piṭakas, the Great and the Small, is already exhaustive; why establish a miscellaneous piṭaka (saṃyukta-piṭaka) in addition?
Answer: Sūtras and treatises differ. Some take the Small Vehicle as the Tripiṭaka and the Mahāyāna as the miscellaneous piṭaka. The Small Vehicle clarifies the difference of three practices as three sections, hence it is called the Tripiṭaka; the Mahāyāna does not separately open the three practices into three sections, so it is called the miscellaneous piṭaka. As the preface to the Saṃyukta Āgama says: "The Mahāyāna Vaipulya is the miscellaneous piṭaka." Or, some explain five piṭakas: the Tripiṭaka, the miscellaneous piṭaka, and the bodhisattva piṭaka. The Dazhidulun says: "Outside the Mahāyāna and the Tripiṭaka, if there are further sūtras, they are the miscellaneous piṭaka." If so, separately clarifying the three practices is the Tripiṭaka, while promiscuously clarifying the three practices is the miscellaneous piṭaka. The miscellaneous piṭaka is still within the meaning of the Small Vehicle. Someone says: There is also a Mahāyāna miscellaneous piṭaka, because the Mahāyāna also has the three practices as a Tripiṭaka, as stated at the beginning of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha. Thus we know that promiscuously clarifying the three practices is the Mahāyāna miscellaneous piṭaka. As fully explained in the compilation of the Dharma-piṭaka in the Dazhidulun.