The Bodhisattva Path: Based on the Ugraparipṛcchā, a Mahāyāna Sūtra

Section: The Three Vehicles — Separate Paths to Separate Goals This section explains that the Ugra assumes the existence of multiple Buddhist paths. The bodhisattva path is central to the sūtra, but the śrāvaka path is also treated as a legitimate form of practice. Nattier emphasizes that the expression “great vehicle” does not necessarily imply a separate Mahāyāna institution or organization. Rather, it indicates that the bodhisattva path was regarded as especially exalted. The śrāvaka path leads to Arhatship, while the bodhisattva path leads to Buddhahood. These are separate and unequal goals. Arhatship is genuine liberation, but Buddhahood is presented as a greater achievement because it includes not only awakening but also the acquisition of a unique Buddha-body marked by the thirty-two signs of a Great Man. The section also notes that the pratyekabuddha path receives little active discussion in the Ugra. Section: The Impossibility of Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime This section argues that, according to the Ugra, Buddhahood cannot be attained in the present lifetime. A bodhisattva may begin the path here and now, but Buddhahood requires the accumulation of immense merit and knowledge over countless lifetimes. Nattier explains that a Buddha is, by definition, one who discovers the path to enlightenment without a teacher and then teaches it to others. Therefore, one cannot become a Buddha in a world where Buddhism is already known. The bodhisattva must eventually be born in a future world without Buddhism and rediscover the Dharma independently. This section is important because it corrects the mistaken view that early bodhisattvas deliberately “postponed” enlightenment. In the Ugra, the long duration of the path is not a voluntary delay, but a structural requirement of becoming a Buddha. Section: Motivations for the Bodhisattva Path This section investigates why anyone would choose the bodhisattva path when Arhatship might be attained more quickly. Modern interpretations often emphasize compassion as the main motivation. Nattier complicates this view by showing that the Ugra portrays the advanced bodhisattva less as a public benefactor and more as a disciplined renunciant seeking solitary practice. The text does contain concern for others, but Nattier notes that maitrī or loving-kindness appears to be more central than karuṇā in the early formulation of this path. The bodhisattva is also motivated by the greatness of Buddhahood itself: the aspiration to attain the highest possible spiritual achievement. Nattier compares this mentality to elite aspirational models, where only a few exceptionally determined practitioners undertake the most difficult path. Section: Bodhisattva Vows This section discusses the role of vows in the bodhisattva career. The Ugra mentions vows mainly in connection with the lay bodhisattva and the beginning stages of the path. Nattier observes that the text does not yet equate bodhicitta in a fully developed doctrinal way with the initial resolution to attain Buddhahood. Instead, bodhicitta appears as a “spirit of enlightenment” or mental orientation within which other practices are performed. The section highlights a set of four vows: The unrescued I will rescue. The unliberated I will liberate. The uncomforted I will comfort. Those who have not attained parinirvāṇa I will cause to attain parinirvāṇa. Nattier traces these vows to earlier Buddhist descriptions of the Buddha’s teaching activity. This suggests that the bodhisattva path did not arise as a radical rejection of earlier Buddhism, but as a deliberate effort to imitate the Buddha’s own career across many lifetimes. Section: Stages of the Path This section explains that the Ugra does not contain the later elaborate systems of bodhisattva stages, such as the ten bhūmis or fifty-two stages found in later Buddhist traditions. Instead, its model is relatively simple. The text assumes two broad categories: bodhisattvas who are still subject to retrogression and those who are no longer subject to falling back. Nattier also notes that when the word bhūmi appears in the Ugra, it does not refer to a later technical system of spiritual stages. Rather, it distinguishes the level of the home-dwelling bodhisattva from that of the renunciant bodhisattva. This reinforces the sūtra’s hierarchical distinction between lay and renunciant modes of bodhisattva practice. Section: The Six Pāramitās This section discusses the six perfections as part of the bodhisattva path. The Ugra contains complete lists of the six pāramitās and brief discussions of their practice in both lay and renunciant contexts. Therefore, the six perfections are not presented as exclusive to renunciants. However, the text gives special attention to dāna, or giving, especially in the section on the home-dwelling bodhisattva. Nattier emphasizes that in the Ugra, the pāramitās are already an accepted part of the bodhisattva path, but they are not yet associated with a fixed sequence of stages as they would be in later scholastic systems. Section: Tactical Skill The uploaded extract continues into a discussion of upāya-kauśalya, translated by Nattier as “tactical skill.” This concept later becomes one of the central features of Mahāyāna Buddhism and is eventually included as a seventh pāramitā in expanded lists of ten perfections. In the Ugra, tactical skill refers to the bodhisattva’s capacity to act appropriately according to context, especially in guiding others. The section suggests that while the concept is present, it has not yet taken the fully developed doctrinal role that it would acquire in later Mahāyāna literature.