大乘法苑義林章 1.59

1.59

第一明增減者，或說一乘，《法花經》云「十方佛土中，唯有一乘法。」《勝鬘經》云「摩訶衍者，出生一切聲聞緣覺、世間出世間善法。」乃至又云「聲聞、緣覺乘皆入大乘，大乘者即是佛乘。」是故三乘即是一乘。又言「若如來隨彼所欲而方便說，即是大乘無有二乘，二乘者入於一乘，一乘者即第一義乘」等。《辨中邊論》第三卷〈無上乘品〉廣說一乘差別有三：一正行無上、二所緣無上、三修證無上，如彼廣說。《顯揚》第二十，以六因故佛說一乘，不過《攝論》所說十因。《攝論》第十，以十因義佛說一乘，如下當解。或說二乘。世親《攝論》初云「上乘下乘有差別故」。《涅槃》又云「為聲聞乘而說半字，為菩薩乘而說滿字。」又云「一者大乘、二聲聞乘。」《唯識》、《攝論》成立大乘真佛語中皆有此文，亦名大乘、小乘。或說三乘。《涅槃經》云「譬如病人有其三種：一若遇良醫及與不遇，決定可差；二者若遇即差，不遇不差；三者遇與不遇，決定不差。」即以大乘為初，二乘為次，無性為第三。又有三乘：一菩薩乘、二獨覺乘、三聲聞乘。故契經言「為求菩薩者，說應六波羅蜜法。乃至為求聲聞者，說應四諦法。」此三乘文處處非一。或說四乘。《勝鬘經》言「攝受正法善男子．善女人，荷四重任，謂離善知識無聞非法眾生，以人天善根而成熟之；求聲聞者授聲聞乘；求緣覺者授緣覺乘；求大乘者授以大乘。」《大般若經》第十六會，善勇猛請言：「唯願世尊哀愍我等，為具宣說如來鏡智。若有情類於聲聞乘性決定者，聞此法已速能證得自無漏地。於獨覺乘性決定者，聞此法已速依自乘而得出離。於無上乘性決定者，聞此法已速證無上正等菩提。若有情類雖未證入正性離生，而於三乘性不定者，聞此法已皆發無上正等覺心。唯願世尊為答所問。」或說五乘。前三如前，第四人乘，第五天乘。《善戒經》等云「無種姓人無種姓故，唯以人天善根而成就之。」又《稱讚大乘功德經》十卷《楞伽》第八卷說五乘。三乘如前，第四即是種種姓乘，第五方是人天之乘。

First, explaining the numbers [of vehicles]: Sometimes one vehicle is taught. The Lotus Sūtra says: "In the Buddha lands of the ten directions, there is only the Dharma of the One Vehicle." The Śrīmālādevī-sūtra says: "The Mahāyāna gives birth to all worldly and world-transcending wholesome dharmas of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas." It further states: "The śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles both enter into the Great Vehicle; the Great Vehicle is itself the Buddha vehicle." Therefore the three vehicles are just the One Vehicle. It also says: "If the Tathāgata speaks expediently in accordance with what they desire, that is precisely the Great Vehicle and there are no two vehicles; the two vehicles enter into the One Vehicle, and the One Vehicle is itself the vehicle of the highest truth (paramārtha)," and so forth. In the Madhyāntavibhāga-śāstra, fascicle three, the "Chapter on the Unsurpassed Vehicle" extensively teaches that the distinctions of the One Vehicle are three: first, unsurpassability of correct practice; second, unsurpassability of the cognitive object; third, unsurpassability of cultivation and realization, as extensively taught there. In the Xianyang shengjiao lun, fascicle twenty, the Buddha spoke of the One Vehicle on account of six causes, which do not exceed the ten causes taught in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha. In the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, fascicle ten, the Buddha spoke of the One Vehicle through the meaning of ten causes, which will be explained below. Sometimes two vehicles are taught. At the beginning of Vasubandhu's commentary on the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, it says: "Because of the distinction between the higher vehicle and the lower vehicle." The Nirvāṇa Sūtra also says: "For the sake of the śrāvaka vehicle, he taught half-letters (halves of words); for the sake of the bodhisattva vehicle, he taught full letters." It also says: "The first is the Mahāyāna, and the second is the śrāvaka vehicle." In the passages establishing that the Mahāyāna is truly the word of the Buddha in the Vijñaptimātratā and the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, this text appears in both; they are also called the Great Vehicle and the Small Vehicle. Sometimes three vehicles are taught. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "For example, there are three kinds of sick people: first, whether meeting an excellent physician or not meeting one, they are definitely curable; second, if meeting one, they are cured, and if not meeting one, they are not cured; third, whether meeting one or not meeting one, they are definitely incurable." It takes the Mahāyāna as the first, the two vehicles as the second, and the absence of gotra as the third. There are also three vehicles: first, the bodhisattva vehicle; second, the pratyekabuddha vehicle; third, the śrāvaka vehicle. Thus the sūtras say: "For those seeking the bodhisattva [path], he spoke the Dharma corresponding to the six pāramitās... up to: for those seeking the śrāvaka [path], he spoke the Dharma corresponding to the four truths." Such passages on the three vehicles are found in many places, not just one. Sometimes four vehicles are taught. The Śrīmālādevī-sūtra says: "Good sons and good daughters who uphold the true Dharma take up four heavy responsibilities: for those sentient beings who are separated from spiritual friends, have heard nothing, and lack the Dharma, they mature them with human and divine wholesome roots; to those seeking the śrāvaka [path], they grant the śrāvaka vehicle; to those seeking the pratyekabuddha [path], they grant the pratyekabuddha vehicle; to those seeking the Great Vehicle, they grant the Great Vehicle." In the sixteenth assembly of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra, Kuśalapratiṣṭhita requested, saying: "We only pray that the World-Honoured One, having compassion on us, will fully proclaim the mirror-like wisdom of the Tathāgata. If sentient beings are determined in their nature for the śrāvaka vehicle, having heard this Dharma they can quickly realize their own anāsrava stage. If they are determined in their nature for the pratyekabuddha vehicle, having heard this Dharma they can quickly emerge [from saṃsāra] relying on their own vehicle. If they are determined in their nature for the unsurpassed vehicle, having heard this Dharma they can quickly realize unsurpassed, complete, perfect bodhi. If sentient beings, though not yet having entered the realization of the absolute (samyaktvaniyāma), are indefinite in their nature among the three vehicles, having heard this Dharma they will all generate the mind of unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. We only pray that the World-Honoured One will answer our question." Sometimes five vehicles are taught: the former three are as before, the fourth is the human vehicle, and the fifth is the heavenly vehicle. The Śīla-pāramitā Sūtra and others state: "Because people without gotra lack a gotra, one only accomplishes them through human and divine wholesome roots." Furthermore, the Praise of the Merits of the Mahāyāna Sūtra and the eighth fascicle of the ten-fascicle Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra speak of five vehicles: the three vehicles are as before, the fourth is the vehicle of various gotras, and only the fifth is the vehicle of humans and devas.