俱舍論疏 1.40

1.40

論「拔眾生出生死泥」者，牒頌文也。言眾生者，即有情異名。梵名薩埵，此名有情。梵名社伽（上聲），此名眾生，即與有情體一名異。有人云：若名眾生即兼非情，所以但言有情。誤也，故《大乘同性經》「楞伽主白佛言：『世尊！眾生何義？』佛告楞伽主：『眾生者，眾物和合。地、水、火、風、空、識，由如蘆束更轉相依，故言眾生。』」准此經文，說其有情名眾生者，為破別有一物為有情體。又准此文，有情、眾生名異體同。眾生六界共成，有情亦爾，不可別指一法為有情體。唯識論師。指一實物阿賴耶識為有情體，即非六界合成，不顯有情是假非實。

The treatise says: "[He] pulls sentient beings out of the mire of saṃsāra"—this quotes the verse. The word "sentient being" (zhongsheng) is an alternate name for sattva. In Sanskrit it is *sattva*, translated here as *youqing* ("having sentience"). In Sanskrit it is *jagat* (upper tone), translated here as *zhongsheng* ("sentient beings"); thus it is one in essence with *youqing*, differing only in name. Someone says: "If one says *zhongsheng*, it includes non-sentient things (asattva); therefore one should only say *youqing*." This is mistaken. Hence the *Dacheng tongxing jing* says: "The Lord of Laṅkā addressed the Buddha, saying: 'World-Honoured One! What is the meaning of sentient beings (*zhongsheng*)?' The Buddha told the Lord of Laṅkā: 'Sentient beings means the coming together of many things. Earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness, just like a bundle of reeds, rely upon one another in alternation; therefore they are called sentient beings.'" Relying on this sūtra text, calling sentient beings *zhongsheng* is done to refute the idea that there is a separate entity that constitutes the essence of a sentient being. Furthermore, according to this text, *youqing* and *zhongsheng* differ in name but are identical in essence. Sentient beings are jointly formed by the six constituents (dhātu), and the same is true of *youqing*; one cannot separately point to a single factor as the essence of a sentient being. The Vijñānavāda masters point to a single real entity, the ālaya-vijñāna, as the essence of a sentient being; this is not composed of the six constituents, and fails to show that a sentient being is nominal and not real.