瑜伽師地論略纂 11.171

11.171

論解由四緣，悲名大悲，若悲在四無量，名悲，不名大悲，尚與聲聞共，初地以去菩薩亦有；苦悲名大悲，唯在佛地及第十地。　問曰：何故初地至九地不名大悲？義曰：由四緣方名大悲，九地以前，菩薩雖有緣甚深行苦及猛利作意二因緣，無長時習及極清淨因緣故。長時習，由三緣故；極清淨，要第十地等故。故九地已還，菩薩不名大悲。

The treatise explains that through four conditions compassion is called great compassion: if compassion is within the four immeasurables, it is called compassion, not great compassion, and is still shared with the śrāvakas, though bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi onward also possess it; when compassion for suffering is called great compassion, it exists solely on the Buddha bhūmi and the tenth bhūmi. Question: Why is it not called great compassion from the first bhūmi to the ninth bhūmi? The explanation says: Only through four conditions is it called great compassion. Prior to the ninth bhūmi, although bodhisattvas have the two causes and conditions of taking the profound suffering of conditioned existence as an object and intense mental engagement, they lack the causes and conditions of prolonged practice and utmost purity. Prolonged practice is through three conditions; utmost purity requires the tenth bhūmi, etc. Therefore, down through the ninth bhūmi, bodhisattvas are not called [possessors of] great compassion.