大乘法苑義林章 1.64

1.64

第三釋名字中，一乘者，帶數釋。大乘者，如下釋。無上乘者，乘即無上，持業釋。二乘中，下乘、上乘，依主、持業二釋皆得，以機以法竝上下故。又名大乘及聲聞乘。聲聞之乘，依主釋也。又《法華經》云「終不以小乘法濟度於眾生。」此翻譯家說為小乘，梵本名聲聞，或亦依彼可得說小。即攝餘二相形為名，亦通二釋。如大乘名，兼佛菩薩。亦大亦乘，竝持業釋。或乘大性，亦有財釋或依主釋。如次當知，三乘名中，有說為佛乘，有說為菩薩乘，自運運他能往所到，名菩薩乘。運他非自，已到所到，體用弘廣，故名佛乘。欲令二乘趣極果故，以此為名。二皆依主。若名大乘，即兼因果。《法花經》中多約佛果以名大乘，化二極果趣佛位故。《勝鬘經》等皆名大乘。初二皆依主，聲聞、獨覺之乘故。大乘，通持業及依士。亦乘亦大，乘於大性是大之乘，無性說故。或不得有財，以大非運故。或以大為所乘，亦有財釋。然前解勝，大非能運故。《勝鬘經》中說四乘者，初名人天乘。人天之乘，亦依士釋。《大般若》中，第四種種姓乘者，種種姓之乘，亦依士釋。二經餘三乘，名同前也。大乘若名無上乘者，乘即無上，持業釋也。

Third, in explaining the names: 'One Vehicle' (ekayāna) is a compound containing a numeral (dvigu-samāsa). 'Great Vehicle' (mahāyāna) is explained below. 'Unsurpassable Vehicle' (anuttarayāna) means the vehicle itself is unsurpassable, a karmadhāraya compound. Among the two vehicles, 'inferior vehicle' and 'superior vehicle' may both be explained as either tatpuruṣa or karmadhāraya compounds, because both the faculties and the dharmas are inferior and superior. They are also called the 'Great Vehicle' and the 'Hearer Vehicle'. The vehicle of the Hearers is a tatpuruṣa compound. Furthermore, the Lotus Sūtra says: 'I will never use an inferior vehicle dharma to save sentient beings.' Here, the translators rendered it as 'inferior vehicle' (hīnayāna); the Sanskrit text reads 'Hearer' (śrāvaka), or one may also call it 'inferior' based on that. That is, it subsumes the other two by way of contrast to form its name, and this also admits of both compound explanations. Just as the name 'Great Vehicle' encompasses both the Buddha and bodhisattvas: it is both great and a vehicle, both being karmadhāraya explanations. Or, it rides upon the great nature, which is also a bahuvrīhi or tatpuruṣa compound. One should know them in sequence. Among the names of the three vehicles, some speak of the 'Buddha Vehicle' and some speak of the 'Bodhisattva Vehicle'. Conveying oneself and conveying others, that which can go and that which is arrived at, is called the 'Bodhisattva Vehicle'. Conveying others and not [needing to convey] oneself, having already arrived at where was to be arrived at, its essence and functioning being vast and expansive, it is therefore called the 'Buddha Vehicle'. It is named this because of the wish to make those of the two vehicles proceed toward the ultimate fruit. Both are tatpuruṣa. If it is named the 'Great Vehicle', then it encompasses both cause and fruit. In the Lotus Sūtra, it mostly names the Great Vehicle in reference to the Buddha-fruit, in order to guide the two ultimate fruits to proceed toward the Buddha station. The Śrīmālādevī Sūtra and so forth all call it the Great Vehicle. The first two are both tatpuruṣa, because they are the vehicles of the Hearers and the Solitary Buddhas. The Great Vehicle admits of both karmadhāraya and tatpuruṣa. It is both a vehicle and great, or it rides upon the great nature, or it is the vehicle of greatness, as explained by Asanga. Or, it may not be a bahuvrīhi, because greatness is not the conveyor. Or, taking greatness as that which is ridden, it may also be a bahuvrīhi explanation. However, the former interpretation is superior, because greatness is not that which can convey. In the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra, four vehicles are taught, the first of which is called the Human and Heavenly Vehicle. The vehicle of humans and devas is also a tatpuruṣa explanation. In the Mahāprajñāpāramitā, the fourth is the 'Vehicle of Various Gotras', which is the vehicle of various gotras, also a tatpuruṣa explanation. The remaining three vehicles in both sūtras have names identical to the previous ones. If the Great Vehicle is called the 'Unsurpassable Vehicle', the vehicle itself is unsurpassable, which is a karmadhāraya explanation.