12/25/25 Update: The section on EĀ 26.9 has been corrected to reflect that it tells the story of the parinirvāṇa of both Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana. A sample passage from T1440 is now translated to English. A section presenting a passage the Mahāvibhāṣā that calls the three vehicles “inferior,” “middling,” and “superior” was also added.
12/26/25 Update: A section is added to address the relationship between EĀ 26.9 and EĀ 29.6.
Introduction
In 2013, the scholar monk Anālayo published a paper entitled “Mahāyāna in the Ekottarika Āgama” and subsequently included a lightly edited version of it as an appendix to his book Ekottarika Āgama Studies a couple years later in 2016.
While it’s true that the Ekottarika Āgama (EĀ) does appear to contain one or more Mahāyāna-inspired intrusions,[1] they are far fewer than Anālayo suggests.
His paper suffers from three different problems that I can see. The most glaring problem is a pattern of taking passages out of context and then making assumptions about their meaning. In a couple cases, Anālayo makes assertions about passages that are obviously misleading when we read the paragraph in which they occur. A second problem with his overall argument is that no effort is made to place EĀ in a context other than that of early Theravāda sources or late Mahāyāna texts. EĀ, like many Buddhist texts translated to Chinese, sit in an historical space between these two options. A third problem is that Anālayo evinced no awareness that EĀ contains frequent typos, lacunae, and inconsistent translation of repetitive passages. This reality nullifies the centerpiece of his paper—that a single occurrence of 小乘 (hīnayāna) is evidence of Mahāyāna redaction.
I will attempt to rectify these problems with the present essay. Due to limitations of time and space (not to mention the reader’s patience), I have limited myself here to passages that involve the three vehicles (C. 三乘, S. triyāna).
This is because, rather than being signs of Mahāyāna influence, these passages indicate that EĀ may have been affiliated with a branch of the Sarvāstivāda tradition.[2] EĀ’s use of the concept of three vehicles matches that found in a Sarvāstivāda Vinaya and Abhidharma commentary, while passages in Mahāyāna texts that treat the three vehicles bear little resemblance to them. Meanwhile, there is little evidence of other non-Mahāyāna traditions making use of this concept. This leaves us with strong evidence that the source of the three vehicles concept was the Sarvāstivāda traditions of Kāśmīra and Central Asia.[3]
The situation, however, is complicated by the poor preservation of the Middle Chinese translation of EĀ. It’s quite possible that some material has been inserted into it during the chaos of fifth century China, as was also the case with the Samyukta Āgama. In other words, this study may not solve the problem of EĀ’s provenance, but it certainly is an important peice of the puzzle.
The Three Vehicles in the Ekottarika Āgama
Below, I will provide a translation of each passage that mentions the three vehicles and summarize its context. I have grouped them together loosely when the passages are similar to each other to make the different usages easier to discern. Generally speaking, there are three main uses for this term in EĀ:
- As the summation of the noble saṅgha, which adds those on the path of pratyeka-buddhas and buddhas to those who have attained one of the four fruits of the ascetic.
- As the summation of Buddhist practice, which includes forms of practice during the interregnums between buddhas.
- As the summation of the teaching of all buddhas.
These usages are not compatible with Mahāyāna sources, which usually criticize the idea that all three vehicles are real or equal paths. Mahāyāna sources typically deprecate the vehicles of disciples and pratyeka-buddhas in favor of the “great vehicle” of buddhas. There are even Mahāyāna sources[4] that claim that the Buddha’s disciples will themselves become buddhas in the distant future, presumably practicing as bodhisattvas rather than entering nirvāṇa. Nor do we find Mahāyāna sources that equate bodhisattva practice with the four fruits of the ascetic. On the contrary, later Mahāyāna doctrine held that bodhisattvas must avoid those fruits, otherwise they would enter nirvāṇa prematurely. These ideas are not found in EĀ, as we shall see below.
EĀ 12.6 Senior Years
Let’s begin with a passage that is cited in Anālayo’s paper as problematic. This passage is found in EĀ 12.6. The problem is that there is a list of the four fruits of the ascetic that doesn’t include the arhat. Anālayo writes about this in Ekottarika Āgama Studies (p.450-51):
One such instances reports how Mahākassapa, on being told by the Buddha to give up his undertaking of the ascetic practices, refuses to comply. The Ekottarika-āgama actually has two versions of this tale, found among the Ones and among the Sevens, which show some narrative differences.
The discourse on Mahākassapa’s refusal found among the Ones concludes with the Buddha praising the undertaking of the ascetic practices as leading to stream-entry, once-return, non-return, and the awakening of the three yānas. This praise gives the impression that what originally may have only been a listing of the four stages of awakening has been changed, with the reference to the arahant being replaced by a reference to the three yānas (quite appropriately, if considered from the viewpoint of later tradition).
I’ve italicized his parenthetical comment because it was added when he edited his original paper into an appendix. If Anālayo had taken the time to reread the passage in context, he may have edited his comments differently. In a footnote Anālayo quotes only a fragment of the passage from EĀ 12.6[5], leaving readers without any way to evaluate his opinion. Reading the entire passage makes it clear why becoming an arhat is missing from the list. The fragment that he quotes is bolded in the table below:
| EĀ 12.6 | English |
|---|---|
| 世尊告曰： 「善哉，善哉！迦葉，多所饒益度人無量、廣，及一切天人得度。 所以然者？ 若，迦葉，此頭陀行在世者，我法亦當久在於世。 設法在世，益増天道，三惡道便減。 亦成須陀洹、斯陀含、阿那含，三乘之道皆存於世。 | The Bhagavān told him, “Good, good! Kāśyapa, the many benefits of a liberated person are measureless and broad, and they can liberate all the gods and people. Why is that? Kāśyapa, if these ascetic practices exist in the world, then my Dharma will also exist in the world for a long time. If the Dharma exists in the world, it will bless others with the road to heaven, and the three bad destinies will dwindle. People will become stream-enterers, once-returners, and non-returners, and the path of the three vehicles will survive in the world. |
The arhat is not listed in this passage because the Buddha is listing the fruits that lead to rebirth in heaven. Nor would I read 道 as awakening here. As we shall see when we review the other passages, the “path of the three vehicles” functions as a sum total of the Buddhist path that includes practices done while there is no buddha in the world. One of those vehicles is the vehicle of disciples which results in becoming an arhat. But if we still suspect Anālayo may be correct that arhats have been deleted for sectarian reasons, we can investigate the other passages that mention the four fruits of the ascetic alongside the three vehicles. It turns out this occurs elsewhere with the arhat listed among the other three fruits as one would expect.
EĀ 32.1 The Five Powers
The four fruits are again listed in this passage along with the path of the three vehicles. In this case, arhat stands for both the fourth fruit as well as the vehicle of disciples, meaning that the first of the three vehicles is omitted. In fact, arhat is repeated twice here because it is also listed as an epithet of a buddha (where it was routinely translated as “realized one” 至真). The passage reads:
| EĀ 32.1 | English |
|---|---|
| 「言善聚者，即五根是也。所以然者？此最大聚，眾聚中妙。若不行此法者，則不成須陀洹、斯陀含、阿那含、阿羅漢、辟支佛，及如來、至真、等正覺也。若得此五根者，便有四果、三乘之道。 言善聚者，此五根為上。是故，諸比丘，當求方便，行此五根。如是，諸比丘，當作是學。」 | “The expression ‘skillful category’ is the five faculties.[6] Why is that? It is the greatest of categories, marvels are in that myriad category. If someone doesn’t practice this Dharma, then they will not become stream-enterers, once-returners, non-returners, arhats, pratyeka-buddhas, or buddhas, arhats, and completely awakened ones. If someone attains these five faculties, then there will be these four fruits and path of the three vehicles. This expression ‘category of skillfulness’ is the five faculties, which are supreme. Therefore, monks, you must seek the methods to practice these five faculties. Thus, monks, you should train yourselves.” |
We might say that the vehicle of disciples has been elided, but here arhat stands for both the fourth fruit and the realization of the disciple path at the same time. We should also notice that traditional, early teachings like the five powers are considered important for all three vehicles to exist and bear fruit.
EĀ 48.5 Siṃha Invites Śāriputra
Another passage expands the four fruits of the ascetic into the eight types of noble people:
| EĀ 48.5 | English |
|---|---|
| 爾時，師子長者白世尊言：「適聞如來而歎說施眾之福，不歎別請人之福。自今已後，常當供養聖眾。」 | Then, the prominent man Siṃha said to the Bhagavān: “I happened to hear the Tathāgata praising the merit of giving to the saṅgha, but he did not praise the merit of inviting particular people [to a meal]. From now on, I will always give support to the noble saṅgha.” |
| 佛告之曰：「我不作爾說：『當供養聖眾，不供養餘人。』今施畜生猶獲其福，何況餘人？但我所說者福有多少。所以然者？如來聖眾可敬、可貴，是世間無上福田。 今此眾中有四向、四得及聲聞乘、辟支佛乘、佛乘。其有善男子、善女人欲得三乘之道者，當從眾中求之。所以然者？三乘之道皆出于眾。 長者，我觀此因緣義，故而說此語耳。亦不教人應施聖眾，不應施餘人。」 | The Buddha told him, “I did not say, ‘You must support the noble saṅgha and not support anyone else.’ Now, giving to animals gains such merit, how would it be for giving to other people? I simply stated that the merit was more or less. Why is that? The Tathāgata and noble saṅgha who are respectable and honorable are an unsurpassed field of merit in this world. Now, there are four [types of people] who are headed [for realization] and four [types of people] who have obtained [realization] in this assembly as well as the vehicle of disciples, vehicle of pratyeka-buddhas, and vehicle of buddhas. Those good men and good women who have the desire to obtain the path of the three vehicles must seek them from the saṅgha. Why is that? The path of three vehicles issues from the saṅgha. Prominent man, the only reason I make this statement is because I have investigated the causes and conditions of this. Nor do I teach people that they should give to the noble saṅgha or that they shouldn’t give to anyone else.” |
Here, the four fruits are expressed as the eight types of people: four who are working toward one of the four fruits and four who have obtained one of them. Again, there is no redaction here attempting to erase arhats from the passage. The three vehicles are added to expand the scope of the noble saṅgha, something which also occurs in the next passage.
EĀ 3.3 The Recollection of the Saṅgha
This sūtra describes the recollection of the saṅgha as a visualization exercise. It is one of a set of ten such sūtras that describe each of the ten recollections as meditative practices. As such, it is particular to EĀ. There are no EBT parallels that I am aware of. The description reads:
| EĀ 3.3 | English |
|---|---|
| 「若有比丘正身、正意，結跏趺坐，繋念在前。 無有他想，專精念眾。 | “Suppose a monk sits cross-legged with correct posture and thought and fixes his attention on what’s in front of him. With no other idea, he focuses on recollecting the saṅgha. |
| 「如來聖眾善業成就。 質直，順義，無有邪業。 上下和穆，法法成就。 如來聖眾戒成就，三昧成就，智慧成就。 解脫成就，度知見成就。 | “The Tathāgata’s noble assembly achieves good deeds. They are honest, follow doctrine, and don’t do any wrong deeds. Seniors and juniors are in harmony, and they accomplish the teachings. The Tathāgata’s noble assembly is accomplished in precepts, accomplished in samādhi, and accomplished in wisdom. They’re accomplished in liberation and accomplished in knowing and seeing liberation. |
| 「聖眾者所謂四雙八輩。 是謂如來聖眾應當恭敬、承事、禮順。 所以然者？ 是世福田故。 於此眾中，皆同一器，亦以自度，復度他人，至三乘道。 如此之業名曰聖眾。 | “‘Noble assembly’ means the four pairs and eight ranks [of people]. They are called the Tathāgata’s noble assembly who ought to be respected, served, and paid homage. For what reason? Because they are the world’s field of merit. Those among these assemblies are one and the same vessel, and they liberate other people by liberating themselves with the path of the three vehicles. Those who do this work are called the ‘noble assembly.’ |
| 「是謂，諸比丘，若念僧者便有名譽，成大果報、諸善普至，得甘露味，至無為處。 便成神通，除諸亂想，逮沙門果，自致涅槃。 | “This, monks, is how someone who cultivates the recollection of the saṅgha will become well known, achieve a great reward and all good and complete attainments, attain the sweet-tasting dew, and arrive at the unconditioned state. They’ll achieve spiritual knowledge, dispel their confused ideas, win the fruits of the ascetic, and bring about nirvāṇa themselves. |
Here, the three vehicles are mentioned as a way of referring to every way to liberation, including the paths available to people when there is no buddha to teach them: namely, bodhisattvas and pratyeka-buddhas. These alternative paths have been subsumed into the definition of the noble saṅgha. As we shall see, this is the basic meaning of the three vehicles in EĀ. We see again that the tradition that maintained EĀ considered the four fruits as encompassing not only the vehicle of disciples but also the other two vehicles. It would certainly explain why these two things (the four fruits and three vehicles) are often mentioned together.
At this point, a reader may be wondering, “But what connection does this have with the Sarvāstivādins?” Now would be a good time to answer this question.
Parallel Passages Found in Sarvāstivāda Sources
It turns out that a very similar passage as in the above passages occurs in the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya that was translated to Chinese by Puṇyatāra and Kumārajīva. It occurs in a section of the Miscellaneous Recitation detailing the history of Devadatta.
The Vinaya passage in which the four fruits and three vehicles are listed side-by-side reads:
| The Ten Recitation Vinaya | English |
|---|---|
| 爾時，眾人聞佛摧伏惡象希有事故，無量眾集。佛見無量眾集已，告阿難言：「汝為我敷座辦水。」 | Then, many people heard that the Buddha had defeated the evil elephant with an extraordinary act, and they gathered into a measureless crowd. Having seen that measureless crowd gather, the Buddha told Ānanda, “Go arrange a seat for me and get water ready.” |
| 阿難受教，即於是處敷座辦水，合掌白佛言：「世尊，已敷座辦水。佛自知時。」 | Ānanda accepted this instruction and arranged a seat and got the water ready there. With his palms together, he said to the Buddha, “Bhagavān, I have prepared a seat and the water is ready. The Buddha knows when [to sit down].” |
| 佛即洗足，就所敷座坐已，便入禪定。於此處沒，出於東方虛空中，現四威儀行、立、坐、臥。入火光三昧現種種色光：青黃、赤白、紅縹、紫碧。身下出火，身上出水。復從身上出火，身下出水。南、西、北方亦復如是。現如是種種神通力已，還坐本處時坐。 | The Buddha then washed his feet and entered into meditation once he had sat down on that prepared seat. He then disappeared from that place and appeared in the eastern sky where he made a show of assuming the four postures of walking, standing, sitting, and laying down. He then entered the samādhi of fiery light and created a display of variously colored lights: green, yellow, red, white, pink, azure, purple, and blue-green. Fire came out from below his body, and water came out of the top. Then fire came out of the top of his body, and water came out from below. He did the same in the southern, western, and northern skies. Once he had displayed such various spiritual powers, the Buddha returned to his original seat and sat down. |
| 眾人先懷厭惡怖畏心者，見佛神變及調伏醉象，即於佛所深生信敬。佛知眾生深信柔軟，隨其所應為說道法。是眾中有人得暖法者、頂法者、順道忍法者、三毒薄者、離欲者、世間第一法者。 有得須陀洹果、斯陀含果、阿那含果者。有種聲聞乘因緣者、有種辟支佛乘因緣者、有種佛乘因緣者。 如是，利益無量眾生。 | Those in that crowd of people who had previously harbored weary, evil, or fearful thoughts and saw the Buddha’s miracles and the taming of the intoxicated elephant then deeply believed and respected the Buddha. Knowing that that crowd had become believing and flexible, the Buddha then taught the path and Dharma to them as was appropriate. There were people in the crowd who attained the state of warmth, the state of the summit, the state of following the path and accepting it, the weakening of the three poisons, becoming free of desires, and the world’s highest state. Some attained the fruit of stream-entry, fruit of once-returning, and fruit of non-returning. Some had planted the causes and conditions of the disciple vehicle, some the pratyeka-buddha vehicle, and some the buddha vehicle. In this way, measureless sentient beings were benefited by it. |
| 佛於是日無所食噉，捉阿難臂，便從虛空還耆闍崛山中。(T1435.23.262c19-263a8) | The Buddha had not eaten anything that day, and so he took Ānanda by the arm, and they returned to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa [by flying] through the sky. |
We can deduce a couple things from this passage in the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya. First, we again see a passage in which the fruit of the arhat was contextually omitted. In this case, it was because none of the witnesses to the Buddha’s display achieved liberation. Rather, they all made some amount of spiritual progress toward liberation, depending on which of the three vehicles they were conditioned to practice.[7]
The second thing to observe is that this kind of weird and wonderful storytelling is typical of what I call Middle Buddhism[8], not just Mahāyāna Buddhism. Mahāyāna writers carried on a well-established tradition of creative mythical narrative. When we read the Mahāsaṃghika, Dharmaguptaka, or Mulasarvāstivāda Vinayas, we find them studded with similar stories. It was a Buddhist thing during that era.[9]
There are other passages involving the three vehicles in Sarvāstivāda texts, which makes it seem plausible that the concept of the three vehicles originated with the Sarvāstivāda tradition. The three vehicles appear in quite a few passages of the Mahāvibhāṣā, which was a commentary on their central Abhidharma text, the Origin of Knowledge (Jñānaprasthāna). For starters, cf. T1545.27.33b20, 135b25, 159b28, 160b14, 162b24, 233a01, 315c11, 316b26, 426b10, 428b19, 485c01, 498c16, 520a11, 525c16, 531a04, 533c24, 534b11, 602a23, 703b13, 731b23, 735b04, 777a02, and 801a23. I don’t have the time or space to cover these passages, but this should establish that it was accepted as a doctrinal concept among Sarvāstivādins without any implication of Mahāyāna influence.
One interesting thing to note is the three vehicles do not appear anywhere in the voluminous Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya nor do they appear in any Dharmaguptaka text that I can find,[10] suggesting that the concept may have been specific to the Sarvāstivādins of Kāśmīra and Central Asia. If so, it would have been an idea that Mahāyānists included in their rhetoric in order to criticize traditional Sarvāstivādins.
EĀ 24.6 The Three Fasting Days
There are three separate passages involving the three vehicles in this sūtra, the first of which is mentioned by Anālayo in his appendix (p.451):
The three yānas occur also in a discourse that describes various aspects of keeping the observance day, when the faithful lay disciple temporarily adopts the type of conduct observed always by arahants, such as celibacy, etc. One of these various forms of conduct concerns not using eight types of special seats that are not used by arahants. Three of these seats are the “Buddha seat”, the “Paccekabuddha seat”, and the “arahant seat”. The parallel versions have no comparable reference, giving the impression that the seats of those who follow the three yānas would be an addition to the Ekottarika-āgama discourse. This apparent addition seems to have been done without proper examination of the context, with the result that the discourse describes arahant seats that arahants do not use.
In his footnotes, Anālayo provides only a snippet of Chinese text for this passage as well. He does at least make some effort to explain the context but only as much as need to cast it as nonsensical.
This sūtra has been expanded in comparison to its extant parallels, but this expansion is essentially a combination of a sūtra like AN 3.37 and another like AN 8.41. The first tells the story about the four god kings checking on the behavior of people on earth during the fasting days, and the second describes the eight precepts that laypeople are to observe on those days. These precepts are meant to emulate the behavior of arhats, which agress with AN 8.41. One of the precepts is to not use high beds.
One of the problems with EĀ is that there seems to have been confusion between the Chinese words for bed (床) and seat (座), which causes this passage in EĀ 24.6 and a similar one in EĀ 43.2 to vacillate between the two. It did not help that there was such a thing as a “high seat” in Buddhist parlance, which I’m sure contributed to the confusion. It’s in the realm of possibility that beds and seats were in fact lumped together in this passage. The passage in EĀ 24.6 does seem to be the only extant list “high seats or beds” in this observance.
In any case, this is the full passage in question:
| EĀ 24.6 | English |
|---|---|
| 「云何為八關齋法？持心如真人，盡形壽不殺，無有害心，於眾生有慈心之念。『我今字某，持齋至明日清旦：不殺、無有害心，有慈心於一切眾生。 | "What are the eight fasting observances? They keep their hearts like arhats, not killing any form of life, having no harmful thoughts, and having kind thoughts towards sentient beings. ‘Now, I, so-and-so, will keep this fasting observance until the next sunrise tomorrow: I will not kill, have no harmful thoughts, and have kind thoughts towards all sentient beings.’ |
| 「『如阿羅漢，無有邪念，盡形壽不盜，好喜布施。我今字某盡形壽不盜。自今至明日持心。 | “‘Arhats don’t have wrong thoughts, and for their whole life, they don’t steal and are delighted with generosity. Now, I, so-and-so, won’t steal for my whole life. From now until the next sunrise, I’ll keep this thought. |
| 「『如是真人，我今盡形壽，不淫泆，無有邪念，恒修梵行，身體香潔，今日持不淫之戒，亦不念己妻，復不念他女人想，至明日清旦，無所觸犯。 | “‘Like the arhats, I won’t engage in sex, won’t have wrong thoughts, will always cultivate the religious life, and keep myself smelling pleasantly for my whole life. Today, I’ll keep the precept of celibacy and won’t think of my wife, nor will I think of other women until the next sunrise, without any violating contact. |
| 「『如阿羅漢盡形壽不妄語，恒知至誠，不欺他人。自今至明日不妄語。我自今以後不復妄語。 | “Arhats don’t speak falsely, always know utmost honesty, and don’t deceive people during their whole life. From today until the next sunrise, I won’t speak falsely. I myself won’t again speak falsely for now on. |
| 「『如阿羅漢，不飲酒，心意不亂，持佛禁戒，無所觸犯，我今亦當如是。自今日至明旦，不復飲酒，持佛禁戒，無所觸犯。 | “Arhats who don’t drink alcohol, have unconfused minds, and keep the Buddha’s rules and precepts without any transgressions, I will now be likewise. From today until the next sunrise, I won’t again drink alcohol and keep the Buddha’s precepts without any violations. |
| 「『如阿羅漢，盡形壽不壞齋法，恒以時食，少食知足，不著於味。我今亦如是，盡形壽不壞齋法，恒以時食，少食知足，不著於味，從今日至明旦。 | “Arhats don’t break the fasting observance of always eating at the proper time, being satisfied with a small meal, and not being attached to flavors during their whole life. Now, I will likewise not break the fasting observance of always eating at the proper time, being satisfied with a small meal, and not being attached to flavors from today until tomorrow morning. |
| 「『如阿羅漢，恒不在高廣之床上坐。所謂高廣之床，金、銀、象牙之床，或角床、 佛座、辟支佛座、阿羅漢座、諸尊師座。是時，阿羅漢不在此八種座，我亦上坐不犯此坐。 | “Arhats never sit on high and wide beds, which means high and wide beds, beds made of gold, silver, ivory, or horn, buddha seats, pratyeka-buddha seats, arhat seats, or seats for venerable teachers. During this time, arhats don’t sit on these eight types of seats, and I won’t violate the observance by sitting on them, either. |
| 「『如阿羅漢，不著香華、脂粉之飾。我今亦當如是，盡形壽不著香華、脂粉之好。 | “Arhats aren’t attached to adorning themselves with fragrant flowers or cosmetics. I now will likewise not be attached to the beauty of fragrant flowers and cosmetics for my whole life. |
| 「『我今字某，離此八事，奉持八關齋法，不墮三惡趣。持是功德，不入地獄、餓鬼、畜生八難之中。恒得善知識，莫與惡知識從事。恒得好父母家生。莫生邊地無佛法處。莫生長壽天上，莫與人作奴婢，莫作梵天，莫作釋身，亦莫作轉輪聖王。恒生佛前。自見佛，自聞法，使諸根不亂。 若我誓願向三乘行，速成道果。』 | “Now, I so-and-so will part with these eight things, respectfully keep the eight fasting observances, and not fall into the three bad destinations. I’ll keep this virtue and not enter into hell, hungry ghosts, animals, or the eight difficulties. I’ll always find good friends and not associate with bad friends as a result of doing this. I’ll always attain birth to good parents and families. I won’t be born in remote regions that lack the teaching of buddhas. I won’t be born among long-lived gods above, I won’t be a slave among humans, I won’t become Brahmā or Śakra, nor will I become a wheel-turning noble king. I’ll always be born in the presence of a Buddha; I will see a Buddha myself, hear the teaching myself, and use it so my faculties aren’t confused. If I vow to practice the three vehicles, I’ll quickly achieve the fruits of the path.’ |
At first glance, it does seem unnecessary to include an arhat seat as one of the eight seats that an arhat doesn’t sit on. However, we should also note that the expression 是時 that comes before the statement about arhats not sitting on these seats. I take it to mean that they don’t sit on them during the fasting observances. After all, we see plenty of examples of arhats sitting on the “high seat” to give teachings in the sūtras, which is what the last type of seat would be. I think Analayo’s reading that arhats never sit on these seats may not be accurate.
That said, we don’t really know what these seats of the three vehicles really represent to the author of the passage. At the very least, it might mean a high seat that someone gives for an arhat to use. In general, the last four high seats are seats dedicated to spiritually eminent persons, and an arhat is one such type of person.
The reference at the very end of this passage is also illuminating. It makes it clearer for us that the three vehicles were not considered to be three separate, mutually exclusive paths. Rather practicing all three of them leads to the fruits of the path, which I assume means the four fruits of the ascetic. The three vehicles are a way of summing up the entire Buddhist path in EĀ, which includes these three equal ways to practice it. This reading is confirmed by the conclusion of the sūtra:
| EĀ 24.6 | English |
|---|---|
| 「比丘當知，若善男子、善女人，持八關齋者，欲生四姓家者，亦復得生。又善男子、善女人，持八關齋人，欲求作一方天子，二方、三方、四方天子，亦獲其願。欲求作轉輪聖王者，亦獲其願。所以然者？以其持戒之人所願者得。若善男子、善女人，欲求作聲聞、緣覺、佛乘者，悉成其願。吾今成佛，由其持戒，五戒、十善。無願不獲。 | “Monks, you should know, if good men and good women keep the eight fasting observances and want to be born to the four clans, they’ll also obtain that birth. Further, good men and good women who keep the eight fasting observances and want to become a lesser god of one direction, two directions, three directions, or a lesser god of four directions, they’ll also win that aspiration. If they want to become a noble wheel-turning king, they’ll also be granted their wish. Why is that? Those who keep the precepts obtain their aspirations. If good men and good women want to seek the disciple, pratyeka-buddha, or buddha vehicles, they will achieve their aspiration. Now, I became a buddha as a result of keeping the precepts, meaning the five precepts and the ten virtues. There’s no aspiration that they won’t obtain. |
EĀ 26.9 The Parinirvāṇa of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana
[In the initial release of this essay, I overlooked the remainder of this sūtra that continues to the next fascicle of EA. It does include the parinirvāṇa of Maudgalyāyana after the story of Śāriputra’s parinirvāṇa.]
This sūtra tells the story of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana’s parinirvāṇa. As such, it belongs to a group of sūtras found in EĀ that are normally found in the Skandhaka section of the Vinaya or in collections of historical stories like the Mahāvastu. In the tradition to which EĀ belonged, these stories were apparently moved from the Vinaya to this Āgama collection.
In this story, the Buddha knew that Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana would not live beyond the rains retreat. The Buddha bids Śāriputra to teach the monks at the start of the retreat, himself retiring with the excuse that he was suffering from back pain. Śāriputra then invites the monks to ask any questions they might have about a number of topics with four items, such as the four meditations, four measureless thoughts, four efforts, and so forth.
The story then switches to Maudgalyāyana, who decides to go into the city to solicit alms. As he approaches the city, a group of armed brahmins recognize him. They decide to ambush and beat him to death.[11] While they succeed in beating him, he does not quite die. His entire body being seriously injured, Maudgalyāyana manages to return to Śāriputra to tell him he has decided to parinirvāṇa.
At this point, the story takes pains to rationalize how an arhat with great spiritual powers could get himself into such a situation and why he wouldn’t use his powers to live for an eon. Śāriputra peppers Maudgalyāyana with questions such as: Why didn’t you use your powers to escape? Other arhats go on living for an eon or less, why not you? And so forth. All the while, he is questioning an elderly arhat who has just been beaten nearly to death.
In the end, Śāriputra is not able to change Maudgalyāyana’s mind, and so he decides he would rather parinirvāṇa too if Maudgalyāyana is going to parinirvāṇa. Śāriputra then pays the Buddha a visit to seek his approval of this plan. The Buddha then engages in a similar interrogation of Śāriputra as Śāriputra did with Maudgalyāyana. Śāriputra points out that a Tathāgata has a short life span during eras when humans have short life spans, so an arhat like himself can surely have a short life span, too. The Buddha demurs, bringing up four subjects that are inconceivable subjects for sentient beings other than buddhas. And this is where the three vehicles enter the story:
| EĀ 26.9 | English |
|---|---|
| 世尊告曰：「如舍利弗言，以眾生命短，故如來壽亦短，然復此事亦不可論。所以然者？ | The Bhagavān told him, "As Śāriputra says, the Tathāgata’s life span is short because the lives of sentient beings are short. But this is something that cannot be debated. Why is that? |
| 過去久遠阿僧祇劫，有佛名善念誓願如來、至真、等正覺，出現於世。當於爾時，人壽八萬歲，無有中夭者。彼善念誓願如來當成佛時，即其日便化作無量佛，立無量眾生在三乘行，有在不退轉地住者。復立無量眾生在四姓家；復立無量眾生在四天王宮、艶天、兜術天、化自在天、他化自在天、梵迦夷天、欲天、色天、無色天。亦於其日，於無餘涅槃界而般涅槃。 | “Long ago in distant and countless eons, there was a buddha named Remembers Vows Well, who was Tathāgata, Arhat, and Completely Awakened One that appeared in the world. At the time, people lived for 80,000 years, and no one died prematurely. The day that Tathāgata Remembers Vows Well became a buddha, he conjured up measureless buddhas, which established measureless sentient beings in the practice of the three vehicles, and some of them remained there irreversibly. Again, he established measureless sentient beings in the four clans, established measureless sentient beings in the palace of the four god kings, [the Trayastriṃśa Heaven,] Yama’s Heaven, the Tuṣita Heaven, the Nirmitavaśavartin Heaven, Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, the Brahmakāyika Heaven, the heavens of desire, heavens of form, and heavens of formlessness. Also on that day, [some of them] parinirvāṇa-ed in the realm of nirvāṇa without remainder.” |
| 而今舍利弗言：『以眾生壽短，故如來壽命亦短。』云何，舍利弗，而作是說：『如來當住一劫，至一劫，我亦當住一劫，至一劫』？然復眾生，不能知如來壽命長短。舍利弗當知，如來有四不可思議事，非小乘所能知。云何為四？世不可思議，眾生不可思議，龍不可思議，佛土境界不可思議。是謂，舍利弗！有四不可思議。」 | “Yet Śāriputra now says, ‘The Tathāgata’s life span is short because the lives of sentient beings are short.’ How is it that Śāriputra that it’s said, ‘The Tathāgata should remain for an eon or up to an eon, then I will remain for an eon or up to an eon as well’? But sentient beings cannot know how long or short the life span of a Tathāgata is. Śāriputra, you should know that the Tathāgata has four inconceivable subjects that are not known by the small vehicle. What are the four? The inconceivability of the world, the inconceivability of sentient beings, the inconceivability of nāgas, and the inconceivability of the Buddha’s domain. These, Śāriputra, are said to be the four inconceivable subjects.” |
One last thing to note is that this story about Śāriputra deciding to parinirvāṇa because of the attack suffered by Maudgalyāyana agrees with the Mūlasarvāstivāda account of their deaths, which differs from other accounts that are extant. This gives us another bit of evidence of a Sarvāstivāda connection to this sūtra.
The Small Vehicle of Disciples
This passage contains the centerpiece of Anālayo’s paper: The occurrence of the term “small vehicle” (hīnayāna). Anālayo writes (p.460-462):
The passage that employ the term Hīnayāna reads as follows:
Sāriputta, you should know that there are four unthinkable things of the Tathāgata that the Hīnayānists are unable to understand. What are the four? The world element is unthinkable, living beings are unthinkable, nāgas are unthinkable, and the domain of the field of a Buddha is unthinkable. Sāriputta, these are reckoned to be the four unthinkables.
That the domain of a Buddha and his knowledge are beyond being comprehended by others is a recurrent theme in Buddhist texts. According to the Sampasādanīya-sutta and its Dīrgha-āgama and Saṃyukta-āgama parallels, Sāriputta had to admit that the virtue, wisdom, and liberation of past, present, and future Buddhas were beyond his ken. As the Cūlahatthipadopama-sutta and its Madhyama-āgama parallel clarify, to know the Buddha’s wisdom one would have to be his equal.
The same thing continues in Mahāyāna works such as, for example, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra, according to which the Buddha informed Sāriputta that the knowledge of a Buddha is profound, difficult to understand, and difficult to comprehend. This statement is followed by the clarification that such knowledge is beyond the ken of arahants as well as of bodhisattvas … Again, according to the Sukhavativyuha only a Buddha can understand the qualities of a Buddha, unlike devas, nāgas, asuras, yakṣas, disciples, or even Pratyekabuddhas.
Rawlinson (1977: 8f) distinguishes between the idea in these passages that all beings are unable to know the qualities or domain of a Buddha and what he identifies as a later development, where the possibility of such knowledge is attributed to bodhisattvas …
The Ekottarika-āgama passage quoted above reflects a development in this direction, since the specification that Hīnayānists are unable to understand qualities related to the Tathāgata implies that those who are not Hīnayānists stand a chance of understanding them.
Throughout his discussion of this passage, Anālayo ignores its context, which makes his translation of hīnayāna as “Hīnayānist” seem plausible. But that is not what the word means in the conversation between Śāriputra and the Buddha, otherwise the Buddha would be calling Śāriputra a “Hīnayānist.” In insisting on this modern reading that juxtaposes hinayāna (e.g., Theravāda Buddhists) vs. mahāyāna (e.g., Madhyamika or Zen Buddhists), Anālayo projects his own preconceptions onto an imagined Chinese redactor. In order to understand this passage, we must set aside our ideas and investigate the passage and its author(s) in their own time.
During the time that the Ekottarika Āgama was translated, the term hīnayāna referred to disciples of the Buddha (the “hearers,” C. 聲聞, S. śrāvaka). In typical usage, the two words (hīnayāna and śrāvaka) were interchangeable, and this is noticeable when we compare equivalent passages. What this means is that the use of the word hīnayāna instead of śrāvaka in this one passage is likely spurious in a text like EĀ that is full of errors and omissions. The translators and editors were no doubt very familiar with these words and used them interchangeably. One of the translators, scribes, editors, or copyists happened to write down 小乘 instead of 聲聞. Given that 小乘 occurs nowhere else in EĀ while 聲聞 and 阿羅漢 are the usual terms for that vehicle, it stands to reason that 聲聞 or 阿羅漢 was the intended reading.
The point being made in EĀ 26.9 is the one Anālayo begins with in his discussion: That there are things that only a buddha can understand. Śāriputra is a disciple, so the Buddha tells him that disciples can’t understand the four inconceivables. The Buddha mentions the four inconceivables because Śāriputra was claiming to know how long the Buddha will live, and the life span of buddhas is part of the inconceivability of the Buddha’s domain in EĀ 29.6. There’s nothing more to the passage than this.
The Interchangeability of Hīnayāna and Śrāvaka in Chinese Buddhist Texts
We have a way to see the interchangeability of 小乘 and 聲聞 in Buddhist Chinese by comparing a passage about the three vehicles that was reproduced imperfectly in two different Chinese texts.
The first text is the Great Sūtra on the Buddha’s Repayment of Kindness (T156 大方便佛報恩經). This text seems likely to have been composed in China. The Buddha is confronted by a brahmin accusing him of being a terrible person for abandoning his parents. The Buddha refutes the charge in various ways, drawing on a number of avadāna and jātaka stories. The sūtra also happens to include a long passage discussing the three vehicles that occurs nearly verbatim in another text: The Commentary on the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya (T1440 薩婆多毘尼毘婆沙). This commentary is likely a combination of translation and lecture notes composed in China based on the teachings of an anonymous Indian Vinaya expert.
This passage, while obviously the same material found in T1440, was not copied exactly word for word into T156. It seems more likely to have been first composed in T1440 for this reason, but this is a moot point. What’s important to us here is that the terminology for the three vehicles varies in arbitrary but equivalent ways, demonstrating that these terms were synonyms to Chinese Buddhist writers at the time.
Below is a side by side comparison of occurrences of three equivalent words used in the T156 version of the passage. These three synonyms are 小乘 (“small vehicle”), 下乘 (“lower vehicle”), and 聲聞 (“voice hearer”). 小乘 occurs six times in the T1440 version of the passage, but only once in T156. I’ve bolded the relevant terms below:
| T1440 | T156 |
|---|---|
| 答曰：「不爾。佛知、說俱盡；聲聞、辟支佛知說，於法有所不盡。復次，佛解一切法，盡能作名；二乘不能。復次，佛得無邊法，能無邊說；二乘不能。復次，有共不共，聲聞、辟支佛所得共；佛所得不共。小乘所得，三乘同知；中乘所得，二乘共知；唯佛所得，二乘不知，獨佛自知。 | 答曰：「不爾。佛知說俱盡；二乘知說於法有所不盡。復次，佛解一切法，盡能作名；二乘不能。復次，佛得無邊法，能無邊說；二乘不能。復次，有共不共，二乘所得共，佛所得不共。聲聞所得，三乘同知；中乘所得，二乘共知；唯佛所得，二乘不知，獨佛自知。 |
| … | … |
| 答曰：「不爾。二乘有退，佛不退故。退有三種：果退、不果退、所用退。果退者，小乘三果退，下果不退。中乘二種：若百劫習行成辟支佛不退，若本是小乘三果作辟支佛則果有退。佛果不退。不果退者，若向三乘人未得而退。若比丘修三業懈墮不進，凡所修習退而不懃，名不果退也。所用退者，凡有所得法不現前用，如佛十力小乘十智，用一餘則不用。如誦十萬言經，若不誦時盡名所用退也。小乘不果退，中乘亦有不果退，佛無不果退，於一切行中無不勤故。二乘有所用退也，佛則不定。又云：佛十力中用一不用九，故名退也。又云：無不用退。如誦二十萬言經，凡人力劣故，或一日二日誦訖；佛能即時誦訖。十力亦爾，用能即用，無障礙故，無不用退。又云：佛無不用退，如著泥洹僧時不直爾著，如凡人法。皆為利眾生故，凡所用法，有益則用、無益則不用，非不能用，故無不用退也。雖各有所解，而云不可定也。佛意不可思議。」 | 答曰：「不爾。二乘有退，佛不退故。退有三種：果退、不果退、所用退。果退者，聲聞三果退，下果不退。中乘二種，若百劫習行成辟支佛，果不退。若本是下乘三果作辟支佛，則果有退。佛果不退。不果退者，若向三乘人，未得而退，若修比丘三業，懈墮不進。凡有所修習，退而不勤，名不果退也。所用退者，凡所得法不現前用，如佛十力，小乘十智，用一餘則不用。如誦十萬言經，若不誦時，盡名所用退也。下乘不果退，中乘亦有不果退；佛無不果退，於一切行中無不勤故。二乘有所用退也，佛則不定。又云：『於十力中用一不用九，故名退也。』有云：『無不用退。如誦二十萬言經，凡夫力劣故，或一日二日誦訖；佛能即時誦訖。十力亦爾，用能即用。無障礙故，無不用退。』又云：『佛無不用退。如著泥洹僧時，不直爾著，如凡夫人法，皆為利益眾生故。凡所用法，有益則用，無益不用，非不能用，故無用退。』雖各有所解，而云不可定也。佛意不可思議。」 |
| 問曰：「小乘何故三果退、下果不退？」 | 問曰：「聲聞何故三果退，下果不退？」 |
The passage in T156 uses the term 聲聞 instead of 小乘 in three instances, and the word 下乘 is used in two cases. In one case, the copier reproduced 小乘. This type of inconsistency is not uncommon in early Chinese Buddhist texts, probably because it was considered desirable to reduce the monotony for the reader by varying one’s vocabulary.
Another term to notice here is 中乘 (“medium vehicle”, madhyama-yāna?), which refers to pratyeka-buddhas separately from disciples. These two vehicles are juxtaposed in this passage against the Buddha. Just as it is in EĀ, bodhisattvas are never mentioned in relation to the three vehicles, only disciples, pratyeka-buddhas, and buddhas. Bodhisattva practice is obviously implied when the buddha vehicle is a path of practice, but there is no mention of a bodhisattva vehicle in these texts. Nor is the buddha vehicle called the “great vehicle” even though the other two vehicles are called “small” and “medium.” I therefore take this passage from a commentary on the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya to come from the same literary tradition as EĀ. Neither of them are Mahāyāna texts, but they contain ideas that found there way into Mahāyāna discourse.
To give example of the content of the above passage, I will translate the initial gradation of the three vehicles using the term “small” and “medium” vehicle:
| T1440 | English |
|---|---|
| 答曰：「不爾。佛知、說俱盡；聲聞、辟支佛知說，於法有所不盡。復次，佛解一切法，盡能作名；二乘不能。復次，佛得無邊法，能無邊說；二乘不能。復次，有共不共，聲聞、辟支佛所得共；佛所得不共。小乘所得，三乘同知；中乘所得，二乘共知；唯佛所得，二乘不知，獨佛自知。 | Answer: Not so. What the Buddha knew and what he taught were both complete, while the Dharmas known and taught by disciples and pratyeka-buddhas are not complete. Furthermore, the Buddha understood all things (dharmas), being entirely capable of naming them. The two vehicles are not. Furthermore, the Buddha attained limitless teachings and could teach them limitlessly, while the two vehicles cannot. Furthermore, in terms of common and uncommon, what’s attained by disciples and pratyeka-buddhas is common, while the attainments of the Buddha were uncommon. [I.e.,] The attainments of the lesser vehicle are known equally by [all] three vehicles. The attainments of the middling vehicle are shared knowledge to [the first] two vehicles. Only the attainments of the Buddha are not known to the [other] two vehicles. That the Buddha alone knows for himself. |
Gradations of the Three Vehicles Found in the Mahāvibhāṣā
If we are inclined to doubt the veracity of the passage found in the Commentary on the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, given that’s its authorship is unknown, we can turn to a similar passage found in Xuanzang’s translation of the Mahāvibhāṣā. As I’ve already documented, this Abhidharma commentary composed by the Sarvāstivādins of Kāśmīra accepts the three vehicles and discusses them periodically. Their tradition holds that this voluminous commentary was the product of council of five hundred arhats and represented the orthodox doctrines for this school of Buddhism at the time.
There a few passages in this commentary when the relative merits of the three vehicles is mentioned in the context of other subjects. In these passages, opinions are cited that grade the disciples as inferior, the pratyeka-buddhas are middling, and the bodhisattvas or buddhas as superior. Xuanzang translates hīna as 劣 or 下劣, terms which add a more derogatory connotation than 小 does, as 劣 can also mean “bad, vile, degraded.” This is not the reading Xuanzang intends, but it is a more negative word overall in the same way hīna can be a negative word. Thus, while the epithet 劣乘 hīnayāna does not occur in the Mahāvibhāṣā,[12] we can see that it would be a short leap to coin the word by replacing “voice-hearer” (聲聞) with “inferior” (下劣).
These terms were used as a commonsense way of analyzing the relative merits of the three vehicles, while the sectarian rhetoric of Mahāyānists “weaponized” these words to refer specifically to traditional Buddhists vs. themselves. The clearest example of the three vehicles being called “inferior” (劣), “middling” (中), and “superior” (勝) in the Mahāvibhāṣā is in a passage answering a question about the relative difference between the good roots attained when the knowledge of ending the contaminants is attained and when one directly observes the knowledge of the limited world:[13]
| T1545 | English |
|---|---|
| 謂現觀邊世俗智聲聞者劣。獨覺者中。菩薩者勝故。又以盡智時所得善根對盡智時所得善根而辨差別。謂盡智時所得善根聲聞者劣。獨覺者中。如來者勝故。(T1545.27.185b28-c3) | Given that a disciple is inferior, a pratyeka-buddha is middling, and a bodhisattva is superior in terms of their direct vision of the knowledge of the limited world, they also have these distinctions in regard to the good roots attained when they have the knowledge of ending [the contaminants]. That is, the good roots of a disciple are inferior, those of a pratyeka-buddha are middling, and those of a tathāgata are superior. |
| 有餘師說。此中亦以盡智時所得善根對現觀邊世俗智而辨差別。謂菩薩現觀邊世俗智是劣。盡智時所得善根是勝。聲聞獨覺亦爾。 | There are other teachers who say, "There are also distinctions between the good roots attained with the knowledge of ending and the direct vision of the limited world. That is, a bodhisattva is inferior in terms of knowledge of the limited world but superior in terms of the good roots attained with the knowledge of ending. A disciple or pratyeka-buddha is likewise. |
| 復次菩薩現觀邊世俗智。勝於獨覺盡智時所得善根。獨覺現觀邊世俗智。勝於聲聞盡智時所得善根故。(T1545.27.185b28-c9) | “Furthermore, the bodhisattva’s direct vision of the limited world is superior to the good roots attained by the pratyeka-buddha with the knowledge of ending. The pratyeka-buddha’s direct vision of the limited world is superior to the good roots attained by the disciple with the knowledge of ending.” |
These gradations of the three vehicles based on their attainments of knowledge and good roots are akin to the gradation that we see in T1440 passage that’s expressed in terms of their knowledge, teachings, and attainments. The author or teacher who composed the passage in T1440 must have been aware of this line of thinking recorded in the Mahāvibhāṣā.
The Relationship Between EĀ 26.9 and EĀ 29.6
Added 12/26/25 to address the argument that EĀ 29.6 is evidence of a Mahāyāna-inspired redaction.
One last piece of context about the passage in EĀ 26.9 should be looked at closer: EĀ 29.6. This sūtra is related in that it presents the definition of the four inconceivables. Reading it provides us with the reason it’s brought up by the Buddha in EĀ 26.9: The topic of how long buddhas live before entering parinirvāṇa is part of the definition of the inconceivability of the Buddha’s domain.
Anālayo goes further, however. He argues that the phrase “that are not known by the small vehicle” (非小乘所能知) has been added by a Mahāyāna redactor by showing that the initial statement of the list in EĀ 29.6 differs from the way the list is presented in EĀ 26.9. The entire introduction of the list reads in this way:
| EĀ 29.6 | English |
|---|---|
| 爾時，世尊告諸比丘：「有四事終不可思惟。云何為四？眾生不可思議；世界不可思議；龍國不可思議；佛國境界不可思議。所以然者，不由此處得至滅盡涅槃。 | It was then that the Bhagavān addressed the monks, "There are four subjects that should never be contemplated. What are the four? The inconceivability of sentient beings, the inconceivability of the world, the inconceivability of nāga’s domain, and the inconceivability of the Buddha’s domain. And why is that? The attainment of complete cessation and nirvana does not derive from these subjects. |
When we compare this list to the one in its Theravāda parallel AN 4.77, we find that it somewhat different. The four things that shouldn’t be thought about in that version of the list are the domain of Buddhas (buddhavisaya), the domain of meditation (jhānavisaya), the results of deeds (kammavipāka), and speculation about the world (lokacintā). Two of these items match the version in EĀ 29.6, and two do not. What’s more, the reason they shouldn’t be thought about is different: A person will go mad thinking about them (yāni cintento ummādassa vighātassa bhāgī assa).
But let’s move on and take a look at the definition of the Buddha’s domain in EĀ 29.6 since it provides the context for mentioning the four inconceivables in EĀ 26.9, something that Anālayo only alludes to in his appendix:
| EĀ 29.6 | English |
|---|---|
| 云何佛國境界不可思議？如來身者，為是父母所造耶？此亦不可思議。所以然者？如來身者，清淨無穢受諸天氣。為是人所造耶？此亦不可思議。所以然者？以過人行。如來身者，為是大身[耶]？此亦不可思議。所以然者？如來身者，不可造作，非諸天所及。 如來壽為短耶？此亦不可思議。所以然者？如來有四神足。如來為長壽耶？此亦不可思議。所以然者？然復如來故興世間周旋，與善權方便相應。 如來身者，不可摸則，不可言長、言短。音聲亦不可法則，如來梵音，如來智慧、辯才不可思議，非世間人民之所能及。如是佛境界不可思議。 | What is the inconceivability of the Buddha? Was the Tathāgata’s body made by his father and mother? This too is inconceivable. And why is that? The Tathāgata’s body is pure, unsoiled, and accepts heavenly airs. How could it be made by humans? This too is inconceivable. And why is that? His conduct goes beyond that of humans. Does the Tathāgata’s have a large body? This too is inconceivable. And why is that? The Tathāgata’s body cannot be created and isn’t comparable to the gods. Was the Tathāgata life span short? This too is inconceivable. And why is that? The Tathāgata possessed the four miraculous abilities. Was the Tathāgata’s life span long? This too is inconceivable. And why is that? Even so, the Tathāgata went about his worldly affairs as before and gave skillful teachings and methods as appropriate. The Tathāgata’s body is ungraspable in principle. It cannot be said to be long or short [in life span]. His voice cannot be the Dharma in principle, for the Tathāgata’s voice, wisdom, and eloquence are inconceivable. He is not comparable to worldly people. In this way, the Buddha’s domain is inconceivable. |
As an aside, Yinshun mentions this passage as evidence of the docetic beliefs ascribed to the Mahāsāṃghika tradition in Vasumitra’s Samayabhedôparacana Cakra (T2031 異部宗輪論), which held that the Buddha was not subject to any contamination (cf. Y37.39.24a4). Whether or not there is a direct connection between EĀ 29.6 and Mahāsāṃghika doceticism, this highlights the difficulty that we have in assigning an ultimate provenance to the Ekottarika Āgama. The doceticism and nominalism of Mahāsāṃghika teachings are easily confused with Mahāyāna doctrines, and this is the reason some scholars believe the Mahāsāṃghika tradition was the origin of later Mahāyāna literature. It’s certainly a complicated picture of interaction between various Northern Buddhist traditions.
Getting back to EĀ 26.9, I have to wonder why the entire list of the four inconceivables needed to be listed out when the Buddha chides Śāriputra for saying he knows the Buddha’s life span will be short. Why doesn’t he simply say that his life span is inconceivable and leave it at that? That would be the more natural way the conversation would transpire to me. But this highlights a general pattern that we see with the early Buddhist texts that have come down us from later eras. They often are burdened with lists recited in full or interpretive synonyms.
This I think was the result of a process over time of “improvements” made to Buddhist texts. The traditional Buddhist attitude toward scriptures were not as literalist as we tend to be today. They added new concepts (like the subject of this essay), “leveled” texts to contain more consistent teachings, and they attempted to resolve ambiguous points by inserting synonyms or brief explanations. They also made literary improvements in the form of adding verse to prose and writing more sophisticated narratives. All of this was generally considered legitimate as long as the Buddha’s teachings were preserved. They were more interested in correct meaning than in exact wording.
Seen in this light, the entire episode involving the four inconceivables when Śāriputra asked the Buddha for permission to parinirvāṇa could be a later addition that replaced a more succinct statement. Who exactly it might have been who added it is difficult to say. It may have already been added before EĀ was translated, or it may have been added by the translators as an attempt to help their audience understand the passage.
One thing to note, however, is that EĀ 29.6 appears to have a doctrinal connection to the Mahāsāṃghika tradition, while the story of EĀ 26.9 is very similar to a Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya story. This apparent intermingling of influences has confounded scholars grappling with the provenance of the Ekottarika Agama.[14] I point it out here because if these two sūtras were actually sourced from different canons,[15] one wonders how we ended up with a list from EĀ 29.6 copied in EĀ 26.9. Anālayo doesn’t seem aware of any of these issues, being focused entirely on a single occurrence of hīnayāna.
Irreversibility in EĀ
Before I continue, I want to address another well-known term that’s associated with the three vehicles in EĀ 26.9: Irreversibility (不退轉地, S. avaivartya-bhūmi). Here, it’s used to refer to being irreversible in all three vehicles, while Mahāyānists almost invariably use it to refer only to a bodhisattva who is certain to become a buddha or attain a buddha’s awakening.
The term 不退轉 occurs a total of 23 times in EĀ, and in no case does it refer specifically to an irreversible bodhisattva. Half of the occurrences occur in a parallel to AN 7.22 (EĀ 40.2) in which the Buddha tells the brahmin Varṣākāra seven ways the Vṛji can successfully defend themselves against an attack by Ajātaśatru. Afterward, he goes on to tell the monks about seven ways to ensure that the Dharma will be “irreversible” in the future.
Of the remaining 11 occurrences, two seem to simply describe joyous monks as being determined or decisive in their faith, but perhaps it implies that they had achieved stream-entry (EĀ 43.2). Seven occurrences of 不退轉 refer specifically to the irreversibility of stream entry (EĀ 27.10, EĀ 28.6, EĀ 28.7, EĀ 32.1, EĀ 32.5, EĀ 39.3, EĀ 41.1). Another occurrence is found in the passage above, which refers to being irreversible in the three vehicles. This leaves us one last case that is less clear: Anāthapiṇḍada is said to be irreversible after being told by the Buddha about the greater and lesser merits of giving (EĀ 42.8). Given the usage of this term in the rest of EĀ, it seems reasonable to read it as referring again to stream-entry.
Thus, when we investigate the overall usage of the concept of irreversibility in EĀ, we find little that is like what we would find in a Mahāyāna text. It seems to instead serve the same purpose as P. niyata (“certain, determined, destined”) in the description of stream-entry in Theravāda sources.
EĀ 28.5 The Great Expositions
This sūtra is roughly parallel to AN 4.180, but the way it explains the four great expositions (四大廣演, P. cattāra mahāpadesa) is somewhat different. They are here equated with the sūtras, vinaya, abhidharma, and precepts (契經、律、阿毘曇、戒), while AN 4.180 instead gives four scenarios of monks who claim to have learned a teaching from the Buddha or the saṅgha. This becomes a list of four because each of these cases could be correct or incorrect.
EĀ 28.5 does present four scenarios, however, of monks who come from the east, south, west, and north claiming to recite the four expositions and being broadly learned. These claims are then assessed as to whether what they teach was taught by the Tathāgata or not.
The three vehicles appear in the conclusion of the fourth scenario, which reads:
| EĀ 28.5 | English |
|---|---|
| 所以然者？如來恭敬法故，其有供養法者，則恭敬我已。其觀法者，則觀我已。有法則有我已，有法則有比丘僧。有法則有四部之眾。有法則有四姓在世。 | "And why is that? There are people who support the Dharma because the Tathāgata respects the Dharma, and so they have respected me. Those who contemplate the Dharma then have contemplated me. There was Dharma when there was me, and so there is a community of monks when there is Dharma. There is a fourfold assembly when there is Dharma. The four clans are in the world when there is Dharma. |
| 所以然者？由法在世，則賢劫中有大威王出世。從是已來便有四姓在世。若法在世，便有四姓在世：剎利、婆羅門、工師、居士種。 | "Why is that? It’s because the Dharma is in the world that there are great majestic kings who appear during this fortunate eon. From then to the present, the four clans have been in the world. If the Dharma is in the world, then there are these four clans in the world: the warriors, brahmins, craftsmen, and householders. |
| 若法在世者，便有轉輪聖王位不絕。若法在世者，便有四天王種、兜術天、艶天、化自在天、他化自在天便在於世。若法在世者，便有欲界天、色界天、無色界天在於世間。 若法在世者，便有須陀洹果、斯陀含果、阿那含果、阿羅漢果、辟支佛果、佛乘便現於世。 | "If the Dharma is present in the world, then the position of the noble wheel-turning kings won’t end. If the Dharma is in the world, then the tribe of the four god kings, [Trayastriṃśa gods,] Yama gods, Tuṣita gods, Nirmitavaśavartin gods, and Paranirmitavaśavartin gods are in the world. If the Dharma is in the world, then the desire realm gods, form realm gods, and formless realm gods will be in the world. If the Dharma is in the world, then the fruit of stream entry, fruit of once returning, fruit of non-returning, fruit of the arhat, fruit of pratyeka-buddha, and the buddha vehicle will be present in the world. |
This passage was overlooked by Anālayo, likely because he had searched EĀ only for 三乘, 小乘, and 大乘. None of those terms occur here, only the individual members of the three vehicles. It’s similar to the passage in EĀ 26.9, which listed out a series of good karmic destinations that result from the path of the three vehicles. This passage lists good rebirths that result from the Dharma being in the world, which culminates with the four fruits of the ascetic and the fruits of the three vehicles. The exception is the buddha vehicle. This may be a typo, or perhaps it refers to the Buddha himself being in the world. In any case, these two passages taken together suggest that the Dharma and the path of the three vehicles are synonyms.
EĀ 43.2 The Eight Fasting Day Observances
This sūtra is parallel to AN 8.42. While the eight observances are equivalent to those found in AN, the second section describing the benefits that come to a layperson who observes them is completely different.
This second section of the sūtra is not relevant to our study of the three vehicles in EĀ, but it is quite fascinating as a story that closely resembles later avadāna stories about bodhisattvas. It depicts both an elderly monk and a laywoman receiving the prediction of future buddhahood from a Buddha as a result of making a vow and giving a gift of support while observing the fasting precepts. No bodhisattva practice nor any resolve on bodhicitta or vow for buddhahood is involved. When the buddhas in the story are described, their congregations of disciples are like those found in the Seven Buddhas of the Past Sūtra. Maitreya is said to have three assemblies of monks all of whom will become arhats, and these details are similar for the other two buddhas who appear in the story. The message of the story is the amazing merit and benefits gained by observing the eight fasting day precepts combined with the aspiration for a rebirth that’s conducive to practicing the Dharma.
The passage in which the Buddha teaches this aspiration for Upāli is also where the three vehicles are mentioned:
| EĀ 43.2 | English |
|---|---|
| 世尊告曰：「彼發願時：『我今以此八關齋法，莫墮地獄，餓鬼、畜生。亦莫墮八難之處，莫處邊境，莫墮凶弊之處，莫與惡知識從事。父母專正，無習邪見，生中國中。聞其善法，分別思惟，法法成就。』 | The Bhagavān told him: "They are set on this aspiration: ‘Now, I won’t fall to hell, hungry ghosts, or animals because of these eight fasting observances. Nor will I fall to a place where the eight difficulties are found, not into an outlying country, not to a place where disasters happen, and I won’t have relationships with bad friends. My parents will be entirely correct, I won’t develop wrong views, and I’ll be born in a central country. I will hear the good Dharma, discern and think on it, and accomplish one thing after another.’ |
| 持此齋法功德，攝取一切眾生之善，以此功德，惠施彼人，使成無上正真之道。 持此誓願之福，施成三乘，使不中退。復持此八關齋法，用學佛道、辟支佛道、阿羅漢道。 諸世界學正法者亦習此業。 | "The virtue of keeping these observances will gather up the good of all sentient beings. With this virtue, I will focus on being generous with other people to bring about the unsurpassed and correct awakening. I will dedicate the merit of keeping this aspiration to accomplish the three vehicles and prevent myself from being interrupted and retreating. Also, keeping these eight fasting observances will be used to train on the buddha path, the pratyeka-buddha path, and the arhat path. In worlds where people train in the proper Dharma, they will also develop these deeds. |
| 正使將來彌勒佛出現世時，如來、至真、等正覺值遇彼會，使得時度。彌勒出現世時，聲聞三會。初會之時九十六億比丘之眾，第二之會九十四億比丘之眾，第三會九十二億比丘之眾。皆是阿羅漢，諸漏已盡，亦值彼王及國土教授師。作如是之教，無令缺漏。」 | "Even when Maitreya the buddha to come will appear in the world, that Tathāgata, Arhat, and Completely Awakened One will meet those congregations and cause them to be liberated. When Maitreya appears in the world, he will have three congregations of disciples. The first congregation will be an assembly of ninety-six million monks. The second congregation will be an assembly of ninety-four million monks. The third congregation will be an assembly of ninety-two million monks. They will all be arhats who have ended their contaminants who will also meet that king and serve as teachers for the country. They will perform such teachings without allowing any omissions to happen. |
It’s interesting that this passage would seem to mean that the layperson making the aspiration wants to achieve all three vehicles, or perhaps it means they could choose any one of them. Either way, there is no preference indicated that we would expect from a Mahāyāna-inspired passage. We should also notice how the fasting day observances are considered useful for training in any one of the three vehicles.
EĀ 45.5 The Benefits of Kindness
This sūtra does not appear to have an extant parallel. The Buddha teaches the monks that the practice and cultivation of kindness has a variety of benefits.
He tells a story about a hostile yakṣa who usurped Śakra’s throne. When the other gods become angry and hateful towards the usurper, his appearance becomes extraordinarily handsome like one of the gods. The thirty-three gods go to Śakra to inform him that a hostile yakṣa is sitting on his throne. Instead of becoming angry, Śakra simply takes the yakṣa aside to inform him that the throne belongs to himself, Śakra the Lord of Gods. The yakṣa’s appearance then becomes ugly, and he disappears.
After this story, the Buddha then recounts how his past cultivation of kindness led him to be reborn in the form realm during the times when the world was destroyed, and that he had also been reborn as Śakra thirty-seven times and as noble wheel-turning kings countless times.
He extends his own experience with the general principle that people who cultivate kindness are not reborn in the three unpleasant destinations and avoid the eight difficulties. They are reborn in proper countries with handsome forms and intact faculties, and they personally meet buddhas and serve them. Not being happy with the home life, they go forth to train on the path as monks and cultivate the unsurpassed religious practice.
After all of this is said, Ānanda then asks the Buddha what good men who aren’t happy with the home life should do when there is no buddha in the world. This is the point when the three vehicles enter the conversation. The Buddha’s initial answer is that such good men should shave their heads and go into seclusion to cultivate themselves until they end the contaminants.
Ānanda presses the issue further by asking:
| EĀ 45.5 | English |
|---|---|
| 「云何，世尊！彼人自修梵行、三乘之行，彼人何所趣向？」 | “How is it, Bhagavān? Where does that man go to cultivate the religious practice and the practice of the three vehicles himself?” |
| 佛告阿難：「如汝所言， 吾恒說三乘之行，過去、將來三世諸佛，盡當說三乘之法。 | The Buddha told Ānanda, "As you have said, I always teach the practice of the three vehicles, and the buddhas of the past, future, and present all will teach the practice of the three vehicles. |
| 阿難當知，或有是時，眾生之類顏貌壽命，轉轉減少。形器瘦弱，無復威神。多諸瞋怒、嫉妬、恚癡、姦偽、幻惑，所行不真。或復有利根捷疾。展轉諍競，共相鬪訟。或以手拳、瓦石、刀杖，共相傷害。是時，眾生之類執草便成刀劍，斷斯命根。 | "Ānanda, you should know, there are times when the kinds, appearances, and life spans of sentient beings gradually diminish. Their forms become weak, and they have no more dignified spirit. Many are hateful, jealous, angry, deluded, licentious, fake, bewitched, and aren’t genuine in what they do. Sometimes, they have sharp faculties that are quick. They turn from one conflict to another and fight with each other. Sometimes, they injure each other with their fists, bricks, stones, and weapons. Then, that sort of sentient being takes grass and make swords from it to end their life faculty. |
| 其中眾生，行慈心者無有瞋怒。見此變怪，皆懷恐懼，悉共馳走，離此惡處。在山野之中，自然剃除鬚髮，著三法衣，修無上梵行。剋己自修，盡有漏心而得解脫，便入無漏境。各各自相謂言：『我等已勝怨家。』阿難當知，彼名為最勝。」 | "Those who practice kindness among these sentient beings have no hatred. Witnessing these strange changes, they feel terror and flee together to escape the places of evil. They go into the mountains and wilderness, where they naturally shave their heads and beard, put on the three Dharma robes, and cultivate the unsurpassed religious practice. Having cultivated themselves, they end their contaminated thoughts, are liberated, and then enter the uncontaminated domain. They each say to the others, ‘We have bested the enemy!’ Ānanda, you should know that they are called the greatest. |
| 是時，阿難復白佛言：「彼人為在何部？聲聞部，辟支[佛]部，為佛部耶？」 | Ānanda again questioned the Buddha, “What class were those people? Were they in the class of disciples, class of prayeka-buddhas, or class of buddhas?” |
| 佛告阿難：「彼人當名正在辟支[佛]部。所以然者？此人皆由造諸功德，行眾善本。修清淨四諦，分別諸法。夫行善法者，即慈心是也。所以然者？履仁行慈，此德廣大。吾昔著此慈仁之鎧，降伏魔官屬，坐樹王下，成無上道。以此方便，知慈最第一，慈者最勝之法也。阿難當知，故名為最勝。行慈心者，其德如是，不可稱計。當求方便，修行慈心。如是，阿難，當作是學。」 | The Buddha told Ānanda, “Those people should be called the proper class of pratyeka-buddhas. Why is that? These people practiced myriad good roots derived from virtues that they had made. They cultivated the four truths purely and discerned their principles. These people who practice the good Dharma were kind as a result. Why is that? The virtue of a one who behaves with kindness is vast. I once put on the armor of kindness and defeated the retinue of Māra while sitting under the king of trees, and I achieved the unsurpassed awakening. With this method, I know that kindness is the very best, and kindness is the greatest of qualities. Ānanda, you should know, it’s thus called the greatest. The virtue of someone who practices kindness is impossible to estimate. You must pursue the methods to cultivate kindness. Thus, Ānanda, you should train yourself.” |
In this conversation between Ānanda and the Buddha, the issue of how Buddhists should practice during the interregnum between buddhas appearing in the world is broached, yet there is still no mention of bodhisattva practice here. Instead, the Buddha tells Ānanda a story very much like the story of the Age of Swords in DN 26 and DĀ 30. The end of the story has been changed such that the people who escape the violence practice the Dharma and become pratyeka-buddhas. This gives us some direct evidence that the purpose of the three vehicles is to expand the definition of the Buddhist path to include practices during the times between buddhas. Bodhisattva practice is never discussed in these three vehicle related passages, nor is there any advocacy for the practice of the buddha vehicle above the other two. When the practices are described, they don’t sound any different in substance from the traditional practices of disciples. There is no Mahāyāna influence here.
EĀ 48.3 The Future Buddha Maitreya
This is another avadāna sūtra that doesn’t appear to have an extant parallel. Ānanda asks the Buddha to describe the future Buddha Maitreya, and the Buddha obliges with a lengthy description of the time and place as well as Maitreya. While there is a vague parallel to this story in the Sanskrit Divyāvadāna collection called the Maitreya Avadāna, this story more closely resembles the stories about wheel-turning kings, the Mahāvadāna Sūtra, and the Wheel Turning Kings and Uttarakuru chapters of DĀ 30. In fact, Uttarakuru is referenced a few times, as though the composer of this sūtra was aware of the legends contained in texts like DĀ 30.
The Buddha begins by describing Jambudvīpa in the future eon when Maitreya arises, which is very wonderful. The story then moves to describing the wheel-turning king who will reign during that time, Maitreya’s descent from the Tuṣita Heaven, and his achievement of awakening. As in the latter half of the Mahāvadāna Sūtra, the Buddha then narrates how Maitreya teaches his congregations, and they become arhats (though one group of laywomen only become stream-enterers).
Once all of these groups of disciples had been taught, we come to the passage that mentions the three vehicles:
| EĀ 48.3 | English |
|---|---|
| 爾時，阿難！其不越次取證者，盡是奉法之人，患厭一切世間不可樂想。 爾時，彌勒當說三乘之教，如我今日弟子之中。 大迦葉者行十二頭陀，過去諸佛所善修梵行。此人常佐彌勒，勸化人民。」 | “Then, Ānanda, when those people have obtained their realization in their order, all of them who had accepted the Dharma grew troubled and couldn’t find enjoyment in anything of the world. At that point, Maitreya will explain the teaching of the three vehicles just as I do among my disciples today. Those like Mahākāśyapa will practice the twelve ascetic rules and the religious practice that was well cultivated by past buddhas. These people will always attend to Maitreya and encourage the population.” |
As in the other passages, “the teaching of the three vehicles” seems to function as a summation of the teaching of buddhas and bears no more significance than that.
The story continues with the tale of Mahākāśyapa having retreated to a cave and meditated there in a kind of suspended animation until the time of Maitreya. This is a well known legend in northern Buddhism, which seems to symbolize the connection between the past and future, as people look back on the luminaries of the past for inspiration. This is symbolized with an exemplary disciple of Gautama being literally present for Maitreya to show to his disciples. Maitreya’s first congregation of ninety-six million arhats is completed as a result of Maitreya holding Mahākāśyapa up in his hand for everyone to see.[16] The story continues to describe two more congregations of arhats taught by Maitreya, whom the Buddha says were once his own disciples during our era before Maitreya.
Despite this being a story about Maitreya, the teachings and disciples of Maitreya in this story are not influenced by Mahāyāna in any way, but Mahāyānists did create their own mythology of Maitreya that converted him into one of the great heavenly bodhisattvas. It is this Mahāyāna version of Maitreya who intrudes in the introduction of EĀ. This sutra stands in contrast to that interpolation and serves as internal evidence that the introductory verses were redacted or at least composed at a later time than the rest of EĀ.
The most obvious Mahāyāna intrusion are the introductory verses that contain overtly sectarian themes. Others seem likely to have been Mahāyāna-inspired, but not so much in a sectarian way. They seem more likely to be the product of a fusion of Mahāyāna ideas into a tradition like the Sarvāstivādins. They may represent a gradual transition to later forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism that outright rejected the śravaka path. ↩︎
There was apparently a third type of Sarvāstivāda Buddhism aside from the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition of Mathurā and the Sarvāstivāda tradition of Kāśmīra. Little is known about the type of Sarvāstivādins whom the Kāśmīra tradition called the “westerners” or “foreigners” with whom they had doctrinal conflicts (Cf. Palumbo, p.25, An Early Chinese Commentary on the Ekottarika-āgama). They may have been Central Asian Sarvāstivādins located in Gandhāra who spread east along the Silk Road. If so, this might explain Kumārajīva, who combined traditional Sarvāstivāda with Mahāyāna teachings. He was an eminent teacher in Kucha (present-day Xinjiang, China) before he was captured and taken to Chang’an, where he embarked on his famous translation project. ↩︎
This also has the effect of complicating the identification of bodhisattva practice related passages in EĀ with Mahāyāna Buddhism since such passages may simply be descriptions of the buddha vehicle as an equal path alongside the vehicle of disciples and pratyeka-buddhas. Generally, Mahāyānists deprecate or ignore the other two vehicles, while Sarvāstivādins considered all three to be equally valid paths. ↩︎
E.g., the Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra and other One Vehicle texts. ↩︎
成須陀洹、斯陀含、阿那含三乘之道. ↩︎
I.e., faith, energy, mindfulness, samādhi, and wisdom ↩︎
For those unfamiliar with Sarvāstivāda theories of liberation, the states of warmth, the summit, acceptance, and the world’s highest state are all stages of practice in their Abhidharma tradition. ↩︎
By “Middle Buddhism,” I mean the forms of Buddhism that arise with the development of sophisticated Abhidharma philosophy and Avadāna literature. I consider the end of this period to be the (slow) collapse of monastic Buddhism in India and Central Asia. At that point, Late Buddhism begins in the regions of Southeast Asia, Tibet, and East Asia. ↩︎
Those who are familiar with the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in 25,000 Lines may detect here the potential inspiration for part of its introduction in this tale. The motif of the Buddha issuing colored rays of light that cause sentient beings to make sudden spiritual progress are commonplace in Mahāyāna texts. ↩︎
It’s possible that T190 佛本行集經 was of Dharmaguptaka origin. It contains a single passing mention of the three vehicles at T190.3.811a11. ↩︎
A very similar story about the death of Moggallāna is found in the Theravāda commentaries, but many of the details differ from this story. Suffice it to say, Maudgalyāyana apparently died a violent death at the hands of religious partisans if we assume the basic facts are correct. Cf. Moggallāna’s Pali Dictionary of Proper Names entry for a summary of the story as it was preserved by the Theravāda tradition. ↩︎
That said, Saṃghabhadra does use the term hīnayāna once in Xuanzang’s translation of his 阿毘達磨藏顯宗論 (Abhidharma-piṭaka-prakaraṇa-śāsana-śāstra) at T1563.29.816c10. This shows that Saṃghabhadra was aware of this term referring to the vehicle of disciples as the least of the three vehicles. All other occurrences of 劣乘 by Xuanzang and later translators are found in Mahāyāna sources. ↩︎
These are technical concepts peculiar to Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma theory. Apparently, the “knowledge of the limited world” was attained by going beyond the form realm during meditation. The knowledge of ending the contaminants is gained upon liberation. ↩︎
cf. e.g., Kuan’s “Legends and Transcendence: Sectarian Affiliations of the Ekottarika Āgama in Chinese Translation” ↩︎
If so, the most likely scenario would be that EĀ 26.9 was inserted into a collection of Mahāsāṃghika sūtras, given that it is the text that doesn’t appear to belong in EĀ. ↩︎
People in the time of Maitreya are much larger than people today, but this is not explained in EĀ 48.3 ↩︎
