Ten Ways a Bodhisattva Surpasses an Arhat
Why does this treatise never speak of taking refuge in the śrāvaka Saṅgha as a jewel in its own right? Ten specific respects in which a bodhisattva surpasses a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, illustrated by the crescent moon revered above the full moon, and a systematic account of why the Three Jewels are taught in the first place — for six different kinds of people, each according to what they can actually receive.
The Crescent Moon, Revered Above the Full Moon
問曰：以何義故不明歸依聲聞僧寶？答曰：菩薩僧寶功德無量，是故應供。以應供故，合應禮拜讚歎供養。聲聞之人無如是義，以是義故，不明歸依聲聞僧寶。此明何義？偈言：
境界諸功德， 證智及涅槃，
諸地淨無垢， 滿足大慈悲。
生於如來家， 具足自在通，
果勝最無上， 是勝歸依義。
此偈明何義？略說菩薩十種勝義過諸聲聞辟支佛故。何等為十？一者觀勝、二者功德勝、三者證智勝、四者涅槃勝、五者地勝、六者清淨勝、七者平等心勝、八者生勝、九者神力勝、十者果勝。觀勝者，謂觀真如境界，是名觀勝，偈言：境界故。功德勝者，菩薩修行無厭足，不同二乘少欲等，是名功德勝。偈言：功德故。證智勝者，證二種無我，是名證智勝。偈言：證智故。涅槃勝者，教化眾生故，是名涅槃勝。偈言：涅槃故。地勝者，所謂十地等，是名地勝。偈言：諸地故。清淨勝者，菩薩遠離智障，是名清淨勝。偈言：淨無垢故。平等心勝者，菩薩大悲遍覆，是名平等心勝。偈言：滿足大慈悲故。生勝者，諸菩薩生無生故，是名生勝。偈言：生於如來家故。神力勝者，謂三昧自在神通等力勝，是名神力勝。偈言：具足三昧自在通故。果勝者，究竟無上菩提故，是名果勝。偈言：果勝最無上故。
此明何義？有黠慧人知諸菩薩功德無量，修習菩提無量無邊廣大功德，有大智慧慈悲圓滿，為照知彼無量眾生性行稠林，猶如初月，唯除諸佛如來滿月。菩薩摩訶薩知諸聲聞乃至證得阿羅漢道少智慧人無大悲心，為照自身，猶如星宿。既如是知，欲取如來大滿月身，修菩提道，而當棄捨初月。菩薩起心禮拜供養其餘星宿聲聞辟支佛者，無有是處。
Question: For what reason does this not clarify taking refuge in the śrāvaka Saṅgha as a jewel? Answer: The bodhisattva Saṅgha's own virtue is immeasurable, and for this reason it is worthy of offerings. Because it is worthy of offerings, it is fitting to bow to it, praise it, and make offerings to it. The śrāvaka does not have this same significance, and for this reason, taking refuge in the śrāvaka Saṅgha as a jewel is not clarified here. What does this clarify? A verse says:
The domain, and every virtue; realized wisdom, and nirvāṇa;
the grounds, purity free of stain; the fullness of great compassion;
being born into the Tathāgata's own family; being complete with sovereign spiritual powers;
a fruit that is supreme, unsurpassed — this is the meaning of a superior refuge.
What meaning does this verse make clear? Briefly stated, a bodhisattva surpasses every śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha in ten superior respects. What are the ten? First, superior in observation; second, superior in virtue; third, superior in realized wisdom; fourth, superior in nirvāṇa; fifth, superior in ground; sixth, superior in purity; seventh, superior in mind of equality; eighth, superior in birth; ninth, superior in spiritual power; tenth, superior in fruit. Superior in observation: this refers to observing the domain of suchness. Superior in virtue: a bodhisattva's own practice knows no satiety, unlike the two lesser vehicles' own contentment with little. Superior in realized wisdom: realizing the two kinds of selflessness. Superior in nirvāṇa: because of teaching and transforming beings. Superior in ground: this refers to the ten grounds and the rest. Superior in purity: a bodhisattva is far removed from the obstruction to knowledge. Superior in mind of equality: a bodhisattva's great compassion covers all without exception. Superior in birth: every bodhisattva is born of the unborn. Superior in spiritual power: this refers to the power of sovereign mastery in samādhi and the superknowledges. Superior in fruit: because it is the ultimate, unsurpassed bodhi.
What does this clarify? One of discerning wisdom knows that the bodhisattvas' own virtue is immeasurable — cultivating bodhi with immeasurable, boundless, vast virtue, complete with great wisdom and compassion, illuminating and knowing the thick forest of every immeasurable being's own nature and conduct, like the crescent moon, excelled only by the full moon of every buddha, every tathāgata. Such a one knows that śrāvakas, even down to those who have realized the arhat path, being of lesser wisdom and without great compassion, illuminate only themselves, like a single star. Knowing this, wishing to attain the Tathāgata's own great, full-moon body, and cultivating the path to bodhi, one would then have to abandon even the crescent moon — there is no possibility that a bodhisattva, understanding this, would set his mind on bowing to and making offerings to some further star, a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, instead.
The crescent-moon simile makes an argument by elimination rather than by direct comparison: a bodhisattva who has already resolved to abandon even the crescent moon — his own present, still-incomplete attainment — in favor of the Tathāgata's full moon has, by that very resolve, already ruled out settling for a single star, a śrāvaka's more limited attainment, along the way. This site's Kāśyapaparivarta and Sumatidārikā-paripṛcchā both use a structurally similar image — a newly-arisen bodhisattva outranking even a fully liberated arhat — and this treatise supplies the systematic ten-item accounting behind that same claim: not one advantage but ten, spanning what is observed, how much virtue accumulates, what is realized, how nirvāṇa itself is understood, formal spiritual rank, purity, compassion, manner of birth, spiritual power, and final fruit. "Superior in birth" (生勝) is glossed elsewhere in this treatise as being "born into the Tathāgata's own family" — the identical family-inheritance language this site's Kāśyapaparivarta develops at length through its own parable of the prince born of a servant woman.
Precepts Kept for Oneself, and Precepts Kept for Others
此復何義？明為利益一切眾生初始發起菩提之心。諸菩薩等已能降伏不為利益他眾生身、為自利益修持無漏清淨禁戒，乃至證得阿羅漢果聲聞之人，何況其餘得十自在等無量無邊功德菩薩摩訶薩，而同聲聞辟支佛等少功德人，無有是處。以是義故，經中偈言：
「若為自身故， 修行於禁戒，
遠離大慈心， 捨破戒眾生，
以為自身故， 護持禁戒財，
如是持戒者， 佛說非清淨。
若為他人故， 修行於禁戒，
能利益眾生， 如地水火風，
以為他眾生， 起第一悲心，
是名淨持戒， 餘似非清淨。」
What does this further clarify? It clarifies that a mind of bodhi is first aroused for the benefit of every being. Bodhisattvas have already subdued the mind that keeps uncontaminated, pure precepts only for one's own benefit rather than for the benefit of other beings — such as śrāvakas, even down to those who have realized the fruit of arhatship — how much less, then, would a bodhisattva-mahāsattva possessing the ten sovereign masteries and immeasurable, boundless virtue besides be equated with a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, a person of lesser virtue — there is no possibility of this at all. For this reason, a sūtra says, in verse:
"If, for one's own sake, one practices and keeps the precepts,
far removed from a mind of great loving-kindness,
casting aside beings who have broken the precepts —
keeping and guarding the precepts as one's own private wealth, for one's own sake,
such precept-keeping, the Buddha says, is not pure.
But if, for the sake of others, one practices and keeps the precepts,
able to benefit beings the way earth, water, fire, and wind do,
arousing, for the sake of other beings, the foremost mind of compassion —
this is called pure precept-keeping; anything else only resembles it, and is not pure."
This quoted verse gives the ten-item ranking a concrete edge it might otherwise lack: the difference between a bodhisattva and a śrāvaka is not staged here as a difference in how strictly the precepts are kept, but in who they are kept for. Precepts guarded "as one's own private wealth" (護持禁戒財) — the phrase itself likening moral discipline to a possession one hoards — are named directly as impure, regardless of how completely they are observed; only precepts kept with a mind extended outward, benefiting beings "the way earth, water, fire, and wind do," count as genuinely pure. This exact image — the four elements as a model for impartial benefit reaching every being without distinction — is the same one this site's Kāśyapaparivarta opens its own great chain of similes with, applied there to a bodhisattva's conduct directly rather than to the specific question of precepts.
Three Jewels, for Six Kinds of People
問曰：依何等義、為何等人，諸佛如來說此三寶？答曰：偈言：
依能調所證， 弟子為三乘，
信三供養等， 是故說三寶。
此偈明何義？略說依三種義、為六種人故說三寶。何等為三？一者調御師、二者調御師法、三者調御師弟子。偈言：依能調所證弟子故。六種人者，何等為六？一者大乘、二者中乘、三者小乘、四者信佛、五者信法、六者信僧。偈言：為三乘信三供養等故。初釋第一義，第一第四人，歸依兩足中最勝第一尊佛，示現調御師大丈夫義故，偈言：依能調故。為取佛菩提諸菩薩人故，偈言：為大乘故。為信供養諸佛如來福田人故，偈言：信佛供養故。以是義故說立佛寶，偈言：是故說佛寶故。已釋第一義第一第四人。次釋第二義，第二第五人，歸依離煩惱中最勝第一法，示現調御師所證功德法故，偈言：依所證故。為自然知不依他知深因緣法辟支佛人故，偈言：為中乘故。為信供養第一妙法福田人故，偈言：信法供養故。以是義故說立法寶，偈言：是故說法寶故。已釋第二義第二第五人。次釋第三義，第三第六人，歸依諸眾中最勝第一諸菩薩僧，示現調御師弟子於諸佛如來所說法中如實修行不相違義故，偈言：依弟子故。為從他聞聲聞人故，偈言：為小乘故。為信供養第一聖眾福田人故，偈言：信僧供養故。以是義故說立僧寶，偈言：是故說僧寶故。是名略說依三種義，為六種人故，諸佛如來說此三寶。
Question: On what basis, and for what people, do the buddhas, the tathāgatas, teach these Three Jewels? Answer: A verse says:
In dependence on the tamer, what is realized, and the disciple; for the three vehicles;
for those with faith in the three, who make offerings, and so on —
for this reason the Three Jewels are taught.
What meaning does this verse make clear? Briefly stated, in dependence on three meanings, and for six kinds of people, the Three Jewels are taught. What are the three? First, the tamer; second, the tamer's own realized dharma; third, the tamer's disciple. What are the six kinds of people? First, followers of the Great Vehicle; second, followers of the Middle Vehicle; third, followers of the Lesser Vehicle; fourth, those with faith in the Buddha; fifth, those with faith in the Dharma; sixth, those with faith in the Saṅgha.
To explain the first meaning first: the first and fourth kinds of people take refuge in the Buddha, the foremost and supreme among those with two feet, revealing the meaning of the great tamer, the great hero. This is for the sake of bodhisattvas who seek the Buddha's own bodhi, and for the sake of people who have faith in and make offerings to the field of merit that is every buddha, every tathāgata. For this reason, the Jewel of Buddha is established. This concludes the explanation of the first meaning, for the first and fourth kinds of people.
Next, to explain the second meaning: the second and fifth kinds of people take refuge in the Dharma, foremost and supreme among what is free of affliction, revealing the virtuous dharma realized by the tamer. This is for the sake of pratyekabuddhas, who know the profound dharma of causes and conditions spontaneously, not in dependence on another, and for the sake of people who have faith in and make offerings to the field of merit that is the foremost, wondrous Dharma. For this reason, the Jewel of Dharma is established. This concludes the explanation of the second meaning, for the second and fifth kinds of people.
Next, to explain the third meaning: the third and sixth kinds of people take refuge in the bodhisattva Saṅgha, foremost and supreme among every assembly, revealing that the tamer's disciples practice truly, without contradiction, within the Dharma the buddhas and tathāgatas have taught. This is for the sake of śrāvakas, who hear the teaching from another, and for the sake of people who have faith in and make offerings to the field of merit that is the foremost, noble assembly. For this reason, the Jewel of Saṅgha is established. This briefly explains how, in dependence on three meanings, and for six kinds of people, the buddhas and tathāgatas teach these Three Jewels.
The 3×6 grid built here — tamer/realized-dharma/disciple crossed with great/middle/lesser vehicle and faith-in-Buddha/Dharma/Saṅgha — is a piece of pure classificatory architecture, mapping every possible listener onto exactly one cell of the grid depending on what they are actually capable of receiving: a bodhisattva receives the Buddha himself as teacher, a pratyekabuddha receives the self-realized dependent-origination the Dharma names, and a śrāvaka receives instruction through a teacher rather than direct realization. The grid does not rank these three receptions as equally valid alternate paths — the language throughout Parts 4 and 5 has made unmistakably clear that the bodhisattva's own reception is treated as categorically superior — but it does explain, in a single systematic move, why the Buddha would ever have taught three vehicles at all rather than only the one this treatise itself is devoted to defending.
Part 5 Continues
The Jewel of Saṅgha concludes in Part 6, with the treatise's argument for why refuge in Dharma and Saṅgha is not, in the end, ultimate — quoting the Śrīmālā Sūtra's own account of why even an arhat still has fear.
Continue to Part 6 — Why the Arhat Still Has Fear →