俱舍論疏 18.77

18.77

The Śāstra states: "Some say: with the exception only of a bodhisattva close to Buddhahood [...] only a Buddha can know." This is the reply. There are three replies, which can be understood from the text. The Nyāyānusāra states: "What is the measure of each of the one hundred merits? Some say: based on a body formed by accumulating merits throughout three incalculable kalpas, the initiation of such innumerable and exceptional virtues has a measure that only a Buddha can know." This is identical to the latter explanation in this Śāstra. "Some say: if, through the predominant power of karma, one is able to become Śakra, ruling as king over the two desire heavens with sovereign sway, that is the measure of one merit." The rest is the same as this Śāstra. Fascicle 177 of the Vibhāṣā states: "Evaluation: All such explanations are expedients born of pure intention to praise the measure of the bodhisattva's merits, but none have attained the actual reality. In the true sense, the measure of each single merit generated by a bodhisattva is limitless and boundless; because the bodhisattva has accumulated and perfected all the pāramitās over three incalculable kalpas, the volitions and aspirations he brings forth are extremely vast, so that only a Buddha can know them, and they are beyond the estimation of all others."