Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c9.s7.7

c9.s7.7

We have seen that as far as the development of bodhicitta and the practice of the pāramitās, and maitrī and karuṇā, are concerned, no distinction is made between a gṛhī bodhisattva and a pravrajita bodhisattva except in regard to a few directions that are necessary for gṛhī bodhisattvas for performing the duties of a bodhisattva compatible with family life. Though the Mahāyānists approved of the family life of a bodhisattva, they do not, in fact, believe that it is possible for a gṛhī bodhisattva to attain bodhi by continuing to be a householder. The life of Gautama Buddha, always the ideal of the Mahāyānists in regard to the career of a bodhisattva, shows that at the end, a bodhisattva must retire from the household life in order to attain bodhi. In the description of bhūmis, the Daśabhūmikasūtra also points out that a bodhisattva in the fifth or sixth bhūmi seeks ordination and retires from the world. Evidently, they recognise that the bodhisattvas should, at a certain time, lead the life of a monk and abide by the rules of Vinaya.