Ten Points That Prove the Great Vehicle Is the Buddha's Word
This page carries Ru-Yi's translation of Part One of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha (攝大乘論), Asaṅga's own outline for the whole treatise. He names ten points, he says, that appear nowhere in the Śrāvaka teaching but everywhere in the Great Vehicle — and taken together they prove that the Great Vehicle is truly the Buddha's own word. Each of the ten becomes the subject of one of the treatise's remaining ten parts, so this short opening part doubles as the treatise's own table of contents.
Translation Method
The Chinese source is Xuánzàng's seventh-century translation of Asaṅga's Mahāyānasaṃgraha (攝大乘論本, T1594), preserved in the Taishō canon. Our reading follows the commentary of Vasubandhu, Asaṅga's own younger brother, translated by the same Xuánzàng (攝大乘論釋, T1597) — chosen because commentary and root text share one translator and one vocabulary. Where a second, independent commentator's reading adds something worth hearing, we bring in Asvabhāva's own commentary on the same root text (攝大乘論釋, T1598), also translated by Xuánzàng, marked as a second voice.
Classical text is set in the left-hand column below, our English in the right. Reading notes drawn from the commentaries follow each passage. See also this site's note on translation method.
1. Ten Excellent Points, Excellently Taught
The treatise opens by naming its own source: a bodhisattva, already skilled in the Great Vehicle, once spoke before the Buddha in the Abhidharma-mahāyāna-sūtra — a scripture that survives today only in quotations like this one. What that bodhisattva said was that the buddhas teach ten things, relying on the Great Vehicle, that no other vehicle teaches.
阿毘達磨大乘經中，薄伽梵前，已能善入大乘菩薩，為顯大乘體大故說。謂依大乘，諸佛世尊有十相殊勝殊勝語：
In the Abhidharma-mahāyāna-sūtra, before the Bhagavat, a bodhisattva already skilled in entering the Great Vehicle spoke thus, in order to show that the Great Vehicle's own essence is vast: relying on the Great Vehicle, the buddhas, the world-honored ones, have ten excellent points, excellently taught.
一者、所知依殊勝殊勝語；二者、所知相殊勝殊勝語；三者、入所知相殊勝殊勝語；四者、彼入因果殊勝殊勝語；五者、彼因果修差別殊勝殊勝語；六者、即於如是修差別中增上戒殊勝殊勝語；七者、即於此中增上心殊勝殊勝語；八者、即於此中增上慧殊勝殊勝語；九者、彼果斷殊勝殊勝語；十者、彼果智殊勝殊勝語。由此所說諸佛世尊契經諸句，顯於大乘真是佛語。
First, the excellent point of the basis of the knowable, excellently taught. Second, the excellent point of the character of the knowable, excellently taught. Third, the excellent point of entering the character of the knowable, excellently taught. Fourth, the excellent point of the cause and effect of that entry, excellently taught. Fifth, the excellent point of the distinctions in cultivating that cause and effect, excellently taught. Sixth, within that very cultivation and its distinctions, the excellent point of the higher training in morality, excellently taught. Seventh, within this, the excellent point of the higher training in concentration, excellently taught. Eighth, within this, the excellent point of the higher training in wisdom, excellently taught. Ninth, the excellent point of the fruit of relinquishment, excellently taught. Tenth, the excellent point of the fruit of wisdom, excellently taught. By these words, spoken in the sūtra passages of the buddhas, the world-honored ones, it is shown that the Great Vehicle is truly the Buddha's word.
The Chinese doubles the word 殊勝 ("excellent" or "surpassing") in each of the ten items, and Vasubandhu reads the doubling as doing real work, not just emphasis: each of the ten topics is itself excellent — surpassing anything taught in the Śrāvaka vehicle — and because the topic itself excels, the Buddha's word about it excels as well. One excellence produces the other. This opening part is essentially Asaṅga's own table of contents: each of the ten points named here becomes the subject of one later part of the treatise, in exactly this order — which is also why, later in this same part, the treatise pauses to explain why the ten had to come in this particular sequence.
Asvabhāva lingers on the title Bhagavat (薄伽梵) itself, reading it as "the one who has defeated" — specifically, the four māras: the māra of the afflictions, the māra of the five aggregates, the māra of the heavenly tempter, and the māra of death. Emptiness-absorption defeats the affliction-māra, he says; the power of diligence and wisdom defeats the aggregate-māra; loving-kindness-absorption defeats the heavenly māra; and mastery of the bases of psychic power defeats the death-māra. He also notes that the sūtra being quoted was taught by the Buddha for bodhisattvas specifically, "with the Buddha's own witness and permission" — which is why it can be called a teaching of the World-Honored One even where a bodhisattva is the one actually speaking.
2. What Each of the Ten Points Actually Names
Having listed the ten points by name only, the treatise now says what each one technically refers to — in effect, defining the entire vocabulary of Yogācāra philosophy in a single dense paragraph.
復次，云何能顯？由此所說十處，於聲聞乘曾不見說，唯大乘中處處見說，謂阿賴耶識，說名所知依體。三種自性：一、依他起自性，二、遍計所執自性，三、圓成實自性，說名所知相體。唯識性，說名入所知相體。六波羅蜜多，說名彼入因果體。菩薩十地，說名彼因果修差別體。菩薩律儀，說名此中增上戒體。首楞伽摩，虛空藏等諸三摩地，說名此中增上心體。無分別智，說名此中增上慧體。無住涅槃，說名彼果斷體。三種佛身：一、自性身，二、受用身，三、變化身，說名彼果智體。由此所說十處，顯於大乘異聲聞乘；又顯最勝，世尊但為菩薩宣說。是故應知但依大乘，諸佛世尊有十相殊勝殊勝語。
Furthermore, how is this shown? These ten topics, spoken of here, have never been seen taught in the Śrāvaka Vehicle, and are seen taught everywhere only in the Great Vehicle. The ālayavijñāna is named the substance of the basis of the knowable. The three natures — first, the dependent nature; second, the discriminated, attached-to nature; third, the perfectly accomplished nature — are named the substance of the character of the knowable. The nature of Consciousness-Only is named the substance of entering the character of the knowable. The six perfections are named the substance of the cause and effect of that entry. The bodhisattva's ten grounds are named the substance of the distinctions in cultivating that cause and effect. The bodhisattva's moral discipline is named the substance of the higher training in morality within this. The absorptions such as the Heroic Stride and the Space-Treasury are named the substance of the higher training in concentration within this. Non-discriminating wisdom is named the substance of the higher training in wisdom within this. Non-abiding nirvāṇa is named the substance of the fruit of relinquishment. The three bodies — first, the intrinsic-nature body; second, the enjoyment body; third, the transformation body — are named the substance of the fruit of wisdom. These ten topics, spoken of here, show that the Great Vehicle differs from the Śrāvaka Vehicle, and further show its supremacy: the World-Honored One taught it only for bodhisattvas. Therefore it should be known that, relying on the Great Vehicle alone, the buddhas, the world-honored ones, have these ten excellent points, excellently taught.
This one paragraph is worth reading slowly, since it is the seed of the entire treatise. Vasubandhu glosses each pairing in turn: the "basis of the knowable" is the ālayavijñāna itself, because it is the cause on which every defiled and pure dharma depends. The "character of the knowable" is the three natures, since the knowable's own nature just is those three. "Entering" that character is realizing the nature of Consciousness-Only directly. The "cause and effect of that entry" are the six perfections practiced before and after realization — worldly perfections as cause, at the stage of preparatory effort; transcendent perfections as effect, once realization has occurred. The "distinctions in cultivating that cause and effect" are simply that same cause-and-effect pair carried forward, ground by ground, through the ten bodhisattva grounds. Within that cultivation, the "higher trainings" in morality, concentration, and wisdom are the bodhisattva precepts, the absorptions such as the Heroic Stride, and non-discriminating wisdom, in turn. The "fruit of relinquishment" is non-abiding nirvāṇa — the abandoning of both the afflictive and cognitive obstructions. And the "fruit of wisdom" is the three bodies of buddhahood, which Vasubandhu compares to eye-faculty, eye-consciousness, and the seeing of form: without the intrinsic-nature body there could be no dharma-body at all; without the dharma-body there could be no enjoyment-body; and without the enjoyment-body, bodhisattvas already on the grounds would have no shared enjoyment of the Dharma, and beginners on the path would have no transformation-body through which to first set out at all. Each depends on what came before it, the way sight depends on a working eye.
3. Why These Ten Prove It Is the Buddha's Word
復次，云何由此十相殊勝殊勝如來語故，顯於大乘真是佛語，遮聲聞乘是大乘性？由此十處於聲聞乘曾不見說，唯大乘中處處見說。
Furthermore, how do these ten excellent points, excellently spoken as the Tathāgata's own word, show that the Great Vehicle is truly the Buddha's word, and refute the claim that the Great Vehicle's own nature belongs to the Śrāvaka Vehicle? Because these ten topics have never been seen taught in the Śrāvaka Vehicle, and are seen taught everywhere only in the Great Vehicle.
謂此十處，是最能引大菩提性；是善成立；隨順無違；為能證得一切智智。
These ten topics are what most draw forth the nature of great bodhi; they are well established; they accord throughout without contradiction; and they enable the realization of the wisdom that knows all things in every mode.
Vasubandhu treats each of the four qualifying phrases as answering a separate objection. "Well established" means the ten topics hold up under reasoning and inference, the way a traveller trusts a guide's account of the road because it can be checked against the terrain. "Accord without contradiction" means they neither conflict with each other nor, followed carefully, ever lead the practitioner astray — like a road without robbers along it. And because saṃsāra and nirvāṇa themselves do not ultimately contradict each other on this system, nothing here forces a choice between them. Only teaching that does all of this — draws out bodhi, holds up to scrutiny, stays internally consistent, and actually delivers full omniscience — deserves to be called Buddha-word; the Śrāvaka teaching, on Vasubandhu's reading, simply never raises these ten topics at all, which is itself the evidence.
4. Two Verses, Restating the Whole Argument
此中二頌：
「所知依及所知相， 彼入因果，彼修異，
三學，彼果斷及智， 最上乘攝是殊勝。
此說此餘見不見， 由此最勝菩提因，
故許大乘真佛語， 由說十處故殊勝。」
Here are two verses:
"The basis of the knowable, and the character of the knowable,
that entry's cause and effect, the distinctions in its cultivation,
the three trainings, the fruit of relinquishment, and the fruit of wisdom —
gathered in the highest vehicle, these are what excel.
What is taught here is not seen taught in that other vehicle;
by this, the supreme cause of bodhi is shown;
therefore the Great Vehicle is accepted as truly the Buddha's word,
for it excels through the teaching of these ten topics."
The two verses simply compress everything said so far into a form fit for memorization: the first verse lists the ten topics by name, in order; the second restates the argument that because the Śrāvaka teaching never raises them while the Great Vehicle raises them everywhere, and because they alone lead to full bodhi, the Great Vehicle must be accepted as the Buddha's genuine word.
5. Why the Ten Points Come in This Order
Having named and defended the ten points, the treatise closes Part One by explaining why they had to be taught in exactly this sequence — which is also, in effect, a preview of how a bodhisattva actually walks the path these ten points describe.
復次，云何如是次第說此十處？謂諸菩薩於諸法因要先善已，方於緣起應得善巧。次後於緣所生諸法，應善其相，善能遠離增益損減二邊過故。次後如是善修菩薩應正通達，善所取相，令從諸障心得解脫。
Furthermore, why are these ten topics taught in this particular order? Because bodhisattvas must first become skilled regarding the causes of all dharmas, and only then can they become skillful regarding dependent origination. After that, they should become skilled regarding the character of the dharmas that arise from conditions, so as to be well able to leave behind the two extremes of superimposition and denial. After that, bodhisattvas who have cultivated well in this way should rightly penetrate and become skilled regarding the grasped character, so that the mind may be liberated from every obstruction.
次後通達所知相已，先加行位六波羅蜜多，由證得故應更成滿，增上意樂得清淨故。次後清淨意樂所攝六波羅蜜多，於十地中分分差別，應勤修習；謂要經三無數大劫。次後於三菩薩所學，應令圓滿。既圓滿已，彼果涅槃及與無上正等菩提，應現等證。故說十處如是次第。又此說中一切大乘皆得究竟。
After that, having penetrated the character of the knowable, they should, through realization, bring the six perfections already practiced at the stage of preparatory effort to full completion, so that their superior resolve becomes pure. After that, the six perfections included within that purified superior resolve should be diligently cultivated, distinction by distinction, through the ten grounds — a process requiring three incalculable great eons. After that, the bodhisattva's three trainings should be brought to fulfillment. Once fulfilled, the fruit — nirvāṇa, and unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening — should be directly and equally realized. This is why the ten topics are taught in this order. And within this account, the whole of the Great Vehicle reaches its consummation.
Vasubandhu reads this sequence as strict cause-and-effect, each stage genuinely requiring the one before it: without first knowing that the ālayavijñāna is the true cause of everything (rather than no cause, or some external creator), a practitioner cannot become skilled in dependent origination at all. Without that skill, the three natures cannot be rightly distinguished — over-adding what is not there to the dependent and perfectly accomplished natures, or subtracting what genuinely is there. Only once the three natures are settled can the six perfections, first practiced provisionally, be carried through to their transcendent completion across the ten grounds; only once the ten grounds are complete can the three higher trainings be fulfilled; and only then can the twin fruits — the relinquishing of the two obstructions, and the three bodies of buddhahood — be directly realized. Nothing in the sequence, on this reading, could come earlier or later than it does.
Part One Complete
This closes Part One of Ru-Yi's translation: Asaṅga's own case that the Great Vehicle is genuinely the Buddha's word, built on ten points found nowhere in the Śrāvaka teaching, and his own explanation of why those ten points must unfold in exactly this order. Part Two takes up the first and longest of them — the basis of the knowable — and opens the treatise's full account of the ālayavijñāna.
Continue to Part 2 — The Basis of the Knowable →