俱舍論記 18.78

18.78

Regarding "Some say: Except only ... only a Buddha can know": A bodhisattva close to buddhahood is one who has cultivated meritorious karma for a hundred eons, which is why they must be excluded. The three explanations here can be understood from the text, and for now the latter master's position is taken as correct. Thus the *Mahāvibhāṣā*, fascicle 177, states: "The arbiter says: All that has been stated here are merely skillful praises of the measure of a bodhisattva's merit based on pure intention, yet none have arrived at the actuality. The real meaning is: the measure of each and every merit generated by a bodhisattva is limitless and boundless. Because a bodhisattva has accumulated and perfected the pāramitās over three incalculable eons, the volitions and aspirations induced are extraordinarily vast; only a Buddha can know it, and it cannot be fathomed by others."