俱舍論疏 26.178

26.178

On the Śāstra's 'According to whichever stage it relies on... conventional knowledge of the seven stages': this recounts the scope and limitation of the stages of cultivation. According to this, upper stages also cultivate lower contaminated [phenomena]. The Vibhāṣā, fascicle 36, states: 'Question: Can there be two noble ones born into the same stage, where with respect to conventional knowledge on the verge of abhisamaya, one possesses it and one does not possess it? Answer: Yes. That is, one enters the realization of certainty based on the first dhyāna, and one enters the realization of certainty based on the second dhyāna. When they die, both are born into the second dhyāna: the one who relied on the first dhyāna does not possess this knowledge, because he relinquished it by transcending the stage; the one who relied on the second dhyāna possesses this knowledge, because being born in his own stage, he does not relinquish it. Can there be two arhats in the same stage, where with respect to conventional knowledge on the verge of abhisamaya, one possesses it and one does not possess it? Answer: Yes. That is, previously, one entered the path of seeing based on the first dhyāna, and one entered the path of seeing based on the second dhyāna. When they die, both are born into the second dhyāna, and while abiding in the intermediate existence they attain the fruit of arhatship: the one who relied on the first dhyāna does not possess it, because he relinquished it by transcending the stage; the one who relied on the second dhyāna possesses this knowledge, because being born in his own stage, he does not relinquish it.' (The above is the text of the treatise.)