四分律行事鈔資持記 1.754

1.754

下品中。《毘跋律》，藏錄不出。言求道者，所期果也。救眾生者，所修行也。然雖救生，行有深淺。一不害彼命，二以法開導，三令得究竟度；前不得後，後必兼前。約義推之。初但護命，不令得脫，即二乘心。前云求道，正據小果。中品所修，以法開解，自他兩利；度非究竟，即小菩薩。雖期佛果，行處中間；望前雖勝，比後猶劣。上品引導，令至涅槃，同歸佛道，即大菩薩行。準〈沙彌篇〉，三位配之，恰然符合。學者至此，宜須明辨三心所期行果分齊；舊記解釋，但述名言；執卷討尋，殊無緇素；故當剖析，不可籠通。

Under "The Lower Grade": the *Piba Vinaya* is not listed in the canon catalogues. "Seeking the path" refers to the fruit aspired to. "Rescuing sentient beings" refers to the practice cultivated. However, although they rescue living beings, their practice has depths and shallows. First is not harming their lives, second is guiding them with the Dharma, and third is causing them to attain ultimate deliverance; the former does not attain the latter, but the latter necessarily encompasses the former. Deducing this according to its meaning: the first merely protects life and does not bring about liberation—this is the mind of the two vehicles. The earlier mention of "seeking the path" precisely relies on the lesser fruit. What is cultivated in the middle grade uses the Dharma to open and explain, benefiting both self and others; but the deliverance is not ultimate—this is the lesser bodhisattva. Although aspiring to the Buddha fruit, the practice stands in the middle; looking to the former it is superior, but compared to the latter it is still inferior. The superior grade guides them to reach nirvāṇa, returning together to the Buddha path—this is the practice of the great bodhisattva. Correlating these with the three ranks in accordance with the "Novice Chapter," they match precisely. Scholars arriving at this point must clearly distinguish the boundaries of practice and fruit aspired to by the three minds; the explanations in old records merely set forth names and terms, and looking through their scrolls, there is no discernment of black from white at all; therefore one must analyze and dissect them, and not blur them together.