無量壽經優婆提舍願生偈註 1.47

1.47

Question: According to the forty-eight vows of Bodhisattva Dharmākara in the Sūtra of Immeasurable Life preached at Rājagṛha, it says: "If, when I attain Buddhahood, the śrāvakas in my land can be counted and their number known, may I not attain correct awakening." This is the first proof that there are śrāvakas. Furthermore, in the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā, the Praise of Amitābha composed by Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna says: "Arising and escaping the prison of the three realms, / with eyes like lotus petals, / his assembly of śrāvakas is immeasurable; / therefore I bow my head in worship." This is the second proof that there are śrāvakas. Furthermore, the Mahāyāna Treatise states: "Buddha-lands are diverse and varied: some Buddha-lands have Saṃghas purely of śrāvakas; some Buddha-lands have Saṃghas purely of bodhisattvas; and in some Buddha-lands bodhisattvas and śrāvakas gather to form the Saṃgha, as in Amitābha's Land of Peace and Bliss." This is the third proof that there are śrāvakas. In various sūtras where the Land of Peace and Bliss is mentioned, it is mostly said that there are śrāvakas, not that there are no śrāvakas. The śrāvaka is one of the two vehicles, yet the treatise says there is not even the name of the two vehicles. How can this be reconciled?
Answer: Deducing by principle, in the Pure Land of Peace and Bliss there should not be the two vehicles. Why is this said? Where there is an illness, there is a medicine: this is the normal order of principles. The Lotus Sūtra says that because Śākyamuni Tathāgata appeared in a world of the five turbidities, he divided the one into three. Since the Pure Land is not one of the five turbidities, that there are no three vehicles is clear. The Lotus Sūtra states: In what are those śrāvakas liberated? Merely leaving delusion is called liberation, but these people have not truly attained all liberation, because they have not attained the unexcelled path. Examining this principle, since arhats have not attained all liberation, they must have further birth. These people are no longer born in the three realms, and outside the three realms, apart from the Pure Land there is no other place of rebirth; thus they can only be born in the Pure Land. As for saying there are śrāvakas, these are śrāvakas from other directions who come to be born there; retaining their original names, they are referred to as śrāvakas. For example, when Śakra, Lord of the Devas, was born among humans, his clan name was Kauśika; later, although he became ruler of the devas, the Buddha, wishing to let people know his origin, still addressed him as Kauśika when speaking with Śakra. It is of this kind. Furthermore, this treatise only says that "the seeds of the two vehicles are not born," meaning that in the Land of Peace and Bliss seeds of the two vehicles are not born; what prevents [practitioners of] the two vehicles from coming to be born there? For instance, orange saplings do not grow north of the Huai River, yet oranges are seen in the fruit markets of the Yellow and Luo river valleys; it is also said that parrots do not cross west of Long, yet there are parrots on the perches of Zhao and Wei. Of these two things, it is only said that their seeds do not cross over. That there are śrāvakas there is also like this. If interpreted in this way, the sūtras and the treatise are reconciled.