安樂集 2.55

2.55

答曰：「此義不類。何者？如《智度論》云：『譬如二人，俱見父、母眷屬沒在深淵。一人直往，盡力救之，力所不及，相與俱沒；一人遙走，趣一舟船，乘來濟接，竝得出難。』菩薩亦爾，若未發心時，生死流轉與眾生無別；但已發菩提心時，先願往生淨土，取大悲船，乘無礙辯才，入生死海，濟運眾生。二、《大論》復云：『菩薩生淨土，具大神通，辯才無礙，教化眾生時，尚不能令眾生生善、滅惡，增道進位，稱菩薩意。若即在穢土拔濟者，闕無此益，如似逼鷄入水，豈能不濕也？』三、《大經讚》云：『安樂佛國諸菩薩，夫可宣說隨智慧，於己萬物亡我所，淨若蓮華不受塵。往來進止若汎舟，利安為務捨適莫，彼己猶空斷二想，然智慧炬照長夜。三明六通皆已足，菩薩萬行觀心眼，如是功德無邊量，是故至心願生彼。』」

I reply: This reasoning is not analogous. Why so? As the Da zhidu lun states: 'It is like two men who both see their father, mother, and relatives drowning in a deep abyss. One man goes directly in and does his utmost to rescue them, but his strength is insufficient, and they drown together. The other man runs off into the distance, finds a boat, and rows over to rescue them, so that all escape the peril.' The bodhisattva is likewise: when he has not yet aroused the aspiration [for awakening], his wandering in saṃsāra is no different from that of sentient beings. But once he has aroused bodhicitta, he first vows to attain rebirth in the Pure Land, takes up the ship of great compassion, mounts unimpeded eloquence, enters the ocean of saṃsāra, and ferries sentient beings across. Second, the Da zhidu lun also states: 'Even when bodhisattvas born in the Pure Land possess great supernormal powers and unimpeded eloquence to instruct sentient beings, they still cannot make sentient beings produce good, eliminate evil, and advance in the path and stages entirely in accordance with the bodhisattva’s intention. If one were to deliver them directly in the defiled land, lacking these benefits, it would be like forcing a chicken into the water—how could it not become wet?' Third, the Hymn on the Larger Sūtra states:
'The bodhisattvas of the land of the Buddha of Peace and Bliss
Preach following wisdom in all that may be declared.
Regarding themselves and the ten thousand things, they have extinguished grasping at self,
Pure as lotus blossoms, undefiled by dust.
Their coming and going, advancing and resting, are like a floating boat;
Taking benefit and peace as their task, they abandon partiality and aversion.
Other and self are alike empty, severing the two conceptualizations;
Kindling the torch of wisdom, they illumine the long night.
The three clarities and six supernormal knowledges are all fully possessed;
The ten thousand bodhisattva practices are contemplated by the mind’s eye.
Such merits as these are boundless and measureless;
Therefore, with the utmost mind, one should vow to be born there.'