Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c34.s2.3

v2.c34.s2.3

The only doctrine that can be described as Mahāyānic is that Bodhisattvas take birth out of their own free will in any form of existence for imparting Buddhist dharmas to the sentient beings of that particular form of existence¹ an idea well illustrated in the Jātakas, and developed in the later Mahāyāna works like the Śikṣāsamuccaya and the Bodhicaryāvatāra. This topic has been taken up for discussion in the Kathāvatthu (XXIII. 3): Bodhisatto issariyakāmakārikahetu vinipātaṃ gacchati ti—but the arguments put forward completely ignore the standpoint of the Mahāsaṅghikas and attempt to show the untenability of the opponent's proposition by treating the Bodhisattva as nothing but an average human adept toiling along the path towards the attainment of bodhi.