華嚴一乘教義分齊章 1.35

1.35

First, the One Vehicle, the Three Vehicles, and the Hīnayāna are called the three vehicles; this is to reveal the root and branches of the teachings. Setting out the One Vehicle above and setting out those who cling to the teaching below, there are therefore three. Because in the sūtra the two vehicles that cling to the teaching are both among the children who are led out, one knows that apart from the Three Vehicles there is separately the Hīnayāna; because the three carts lead out the children, one knows that apart from the Hīnayāna there are separately the Three Vehicles. When the three kinds of persons all come out and have reached the open ground, they are separately given the great white bullock cart; hence one knows that apart from the Three Vehicles there is separately the One Vehicle. Question: "How is it known that the two vehicles that cling to the teaching are among those who are led out?" Answer: "Because, when considered from the perspective of the final teaching of the Mahāyāna and beyond, those who cling to the teaching are all said not to have definitively escaped the three realms. Why? Because the afflictions of attachment to a person have not been severed forever, but only suppressed. Therefore the Maitreyaparipṛcchā-śāstra says: 'All śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas cannot cultivate the four immeasurables as they truly are, and cannot definitively sever the afflictions; they can only suppress all afflictions.' Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'The nirvāṇa you have attained is not true extinction.' Furthermore, the sūtra says: 'If one does not believe this teaching and yet attains the fruition of an arhat, this is impossible.' Furthermore, the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra says: 'Therefore to attain the fruitions of arhat and so forth, one must study the perfection of wisdom.' Therefore one should know that the true meaning of an arhat is within the Mahāyāna; therefore the Mahāyāna necessarily possesses all three. Hence the Sucintidharā-samādhi-sūtra says: 'Within this Mahāyāna there are also three vehicles, which constitute the three piṭakas: the śrāvaka-piṭaka, the pratyekabuddha-piṭaka, and the bodhisattva-piṭaka. Only in the Mahāyāna can there be the three piṭakas; in the other two vehicles these do not exist.' The Mahāyānāvatāra-śāstra also says the same. Therefore one should know that the three carts outside the gate do not apply to those who cling to the teaching, because the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra is not Hīnayāna. That the treatises such as the Yogācārabhūmi's Śrāvakabhūmi-viniścaya and the Abhidharmasamuccayavyākhyā explain the teachings, practices, stages, and fruitions of the śrāvakas and so forth, as well as the bounds of their severing of delusion, differently from the Mahāvibhāṣā, the Abhidharmakośa, and so forth, is precisely this matter. Therefore one should know that the divisions of the One Vehicle, the Three Vehicles, and the Hīnayāna are distinct. Due to this meaning, the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: 'The perfection of wisdom has two kinds: first, shared; second, unshared. "Shared" means this Mahāyāna sūtra and other vaipulya sūtras, because they were expounded gathered together with the śrāvaka assemblies. "Unshared" is like the Acintyabuddhaviṣaya-nirdeśa-sūtra, because it was not expounded together with śrāvakas.' The explanation says: The Acintyabuddhaviṣaya-nirdeśa-sūtra is indicated by that treatise itself to be the Avataṃsaka-sūtra. Because it only expounds the distinct teaching of the One Vehicle, it is called unshared; by analogy this principle can be understood. Just as the four Āgamas are called unshared because they only expound the teaching of the two vehicles that cling to the teaching; and just as the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā and other sūtras gather the assemblies of the Three Vehicles together, expound the teachings of the Three Vehicles comprehensively, and they fully obtain the benefits of the Three Vehicles, it is therefore called shared. Here, the lesser that connects to the great is not that which clings to the teaching; the great that connects to the lesser is not the One Vehicle. Relying on these three meanings, the Liang Mahāyānasaṃgraha says: 'Well-established [teachings] are of three kinds: first, Hīnayāna; second, Three Vehicles; third, One Vehicle. The third is the highest, and is therefore called well-established.' This is precisely that matter. If one says that when the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā and so forth were expounded, [beings] had different understandings of a single sound and attained the lesser fruition, and hence there were three vehicles, why then when the Avataṃsaka was expounded did they not have different understandings and attain the lesser fruition? Furthermore, when the Ekottara-āgama and so forth were expounded, why did they not have different understandings and attain the great fruition? Therefore one should know that the three traditions are each distinct; the principle is beyond doubt."