Shariputra, if there are living beings who are inwardly wise in nature, and who attend the Buddha, the World-Honored One, hear the Dharma (true teaching), believe and accept it, and put forth diligent effort, desiring to escape quickly from the threefold world and seeking to attain nirvana, they shall be called [those who ride] the vehicle of the voice hearer. They are like those sons who left the burning house in the hope of acquiring goat-carts.

If there are living beings who attend the Buddha, the World-Honored One, hear the Dharma, believe and accept it, and put forth diligent effort, seeking wisdom that comes of itself, taking solitary delight in goodness and tranquility, and profoundly understanding the causes and conditions of all phenomena, they shall be called those who ride the vehicle of the pratyekabuddha (lone Buddha). They are like the sons who left the burning house in the hope of acquiring deer-carts.

If there are living beings who attend the Buddha, the World-Honored One, hear the Dharma, believe and accept it, and put forth diligent effort, seeking comprehensive wisdom, the insight of the Tathagata, powers and freedom from fear, who pity and comfort countless living beings, bring benefit to heavenly and human beings, and save them all, they shall be called those who ride the Great Vehicle. Because the bodhisattvas seek this vehicle, they are called mahasattvas (great saint). They are like the sons who left the burning house in the hope of acquiring ox-carts.

Shariputra, that rich man, seeing that his sons had all gotten out of the burning house safely and were no longer threatened, recalled that his wealth was immeasurable and presented each of his sons with a large carriage. And the Tathagata does likewise. He is the father of all living beings. When he sees that countless thousands of millions of living beings, through the gateway of the Buddha's teaching, can escape the pains of the threefold world, the fearful and perilous road, and gain the delights of nirvana, the Tathagata at that time has this thought: I possess measureless, boundless wisdom, power, fearlessness, the storehouse of the Dharma of the Buddhas. These living beings are all my sons. I will give the Great Vehicle to all of them equally so that there will not be those who gain extinction by themselves, but that all may do so through the extinction of the Tathagata.

To all the living beings who have escaped from the threefold world he then gives the delightful gifts of the meditation, emancipation, and so forth, of the Buddhas. All these are uniform in characteristics, uniform in type, praised by the sages, capable of producing pure, wonderful, supreme delight.

Shariputra, that rich man first used three types of carriages to entice his sons, but later he gave them just the large carriage adorned with jewels, the safest, most comfortable kind of all. Despite this, that rich man was not guilty of falsehood. The Tathagata does the same, and he is without falsehood. First he preaches the three vehicles to attract and guide living beings, but later he employs just the Great Vehicle to save them. Why? The Tathagata possesses measureless wisdom, power, freedom from fear, the storehouse of the Dharma. He is capable of giving to all living beings the Dharma of the Great Vehicle. But not all of them are capable of receiving it.

Shariputra, for this reason you should understand that the Buddhas employ the power of expedient means. And because they do so, they make distinctions in the one Buddha vehicle and preach it as three."

The Buddha, wishing to state his meaning once more, spoke in verse form, saying: Suppose there was a rich man who had a large house. This house was very old, and decayed and dilapidated as well. The halls, though lofty, were in dangerous condition beams and rafters were slating and askew, foundations and steps were crumbling. Walls were cracked and gaping and the plaster had fallen off of them. The roof thatch was in disrepair or missing, the tips of the eaves had dropped off. The fences surrounding it were crooked or collapsed and heaped rubbish was piled all around. Some five hundred persons lived in the house. Kites, owls, hawks, eagles, crows, magpies, doves, pigeons, lizards, snakes, vipers, scorpions, centipedes and millipedes, newts and ground beetles, weasels, raccoon dogs, mice, rats, hordes of evil creatures scurried this way and that. Places that stank of excrement overflowed in streams of filth where dung beetles and other creatures gathered. Foxes, wolves and jackals gnawed and trampled in the filth or tore apart dead bodies, scattering bones and flesh about.

Because of this, packs of dogs came racing to the spot to snatch and tear, driven by hunger and fear, searching everywhere for food, fighting, struggling and seizing, baring their teeth, snarling and howling. That house was fearful, frightening, so altered was its aspect. In every part of it there were goblins and trolls, yakshas (nature spirits) and evil spirits who feed on human flesh or on poisonous creatures. The various evil birds and beasts bore offspring, hatched and nursed them, each hiding and protecting its young, but the yakshas outdid one another in their haste to seize and eat them. And when they had eaten their fill, their evil hearts became fiercer than ever; the sound of their wrangling and contention was terrifying indeed. Kumbhanda demons crouched on clumps of earth or leaped one or two feet off the ground, idling, wandering here and there, amusing themselves according to their whims.

Again there were demons with large tall bodies, naked in form, black and emaciated constantly living there, who would cry out in loud ugly voices, shouting and demanding food. There were other demons whose throats were like needles, or still other demons with heads like the head of an ox, some feeding on human flesh, others devouring dogs. Their hair like tangled weeds, cruel, baleful, ferocious, driven by hunger and thirst, they dashed about shrieking and howling. The yakshas and starving spirits and the various evil birds and beasts hungrily pressed forward in all directions, peering out at the windows. Such were the perils of this house, threats and terrors beyond measure. This house, old and rotting, belonged to a certain man and that man had gone nearby and he had not been out for long when a fire suddenly broke out in the house. In one moment from all four sides the flames rose up in a mass. Ridgepoles, beams, rafters, pillars exploded with a roar, quivering, splitting, broke in two and came rumbling down as walls and partitions collapsed.

The various demons and spirits lifted their voices in a great wail, the hawks, eagles and other birds, the kumbhanda demons, were filled with panic and terror, not knowing how to escape. The evil beasts and poisonous creatures hid in their holes and dens, and the pishacha demons, who were also living there, because they had done so little that was good, were oppressed by the flames and attacked one another.

Foul smoke swirled and billowed up, filling the house on every side. The centipedes and millipedes, the poisonous snakes and their kind, scorched by the flames, came scurrying out of their lairs, whereupon the kumbhanda demons pounced on them and ate them. In addition, the starving spirits, the fire raging about their heads, hungry, thirsty, tormented by the heat, raced this way and that in terror and confusion. Such was the state of that house, truly frightening and fearful; malicious injury, the havoc of fire – many ills, not just one, afflicted it.

At this time the owner of the house was standing outside the gate when he heard someone say, "A while ago your various sons, in order to play their games, went inside the house. They are very young and lack understanding and will be wrapped up in their amusements." When the rich man heard this, he rushed in alarm into the burning house, determined to rescue his sons and keep them from being burned by the flames. He urged his sons to heed him, explaining the many dangers and perils, the evil spirits and poisonous creatures, the flames spreading all around, the multitude of sufferings that would follow one another without end, the poisonous snakes, lizards and vipers, as well as the many yakshas and kumbhanda demons, the jackals, foxes and dogs, hawks, eagles, kites, owls, ground beetles and similar creatures driven and tormented by hunger and thirst, truly things to be feared.

His sons could not stay in such a perilous place, much less when it was all on fire! But the sons had no understanding and although they heard their father's warnings, they continued engrossed in their amusements, never ceasing their games. At that time the rich man thought to himself: My sons may behave in this manner, adding to my grief and anguish. In this house at present there is not a single joy, and yet my sons, wrapped up in their games, refuse to heed my instructions and will be destroyed by the fire!

Then it occurred to him to devise some expedient means, and he said to his sons, "I have many kinds of rare and marvelous toys, wonderful jeweled carriages, goat-carts, deer-carts, carts drawn by big oxen. They are outside the gate right now you must come out and see them! I have fashioned these carts explicitly for you. You may enjoy whichever you choose, play with them as you like! When the sons heard this description of the carts, at once they vied with one another in dashing out of the house, till they reached the open ground, away from all peril and danger. When the rich man saw that his sons had escaped from the burning house and were standing in the crossroads, he seated himself on a lion seat, congratulating himself in these words: "Now I am content and happy. These sons of mine have been very difficult to raise. Ignorant, youthful, without understanding, they entered that perilous house with its many poisonous creatures and its goblins to be feared. The roaring flames of the great fire rose up on all four sides, yet those sons of mine still clung to their games. But now I have saved them, caused them to escape from danger.

That is the reason, good people, I am content and happy." At that time the sons, seeing their father comfortably seated, all went to where he was and said to him: "Please give us the three kinds of jeweled carriages you promised us earlier. You said if we came out of the house you'd give us three kinds of carts and we could choose whichever we wished. Now is the time to give them to us!" The rich man was very wealthy and had many storehouses. With gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashells, agate, and other such precious things he fashioned large carriages beautifully adorned and decorated, with railings running around them and bells hanging from all sides.

Ropes of gold twisted and twined, nets of pearls stretched over the top, and fringes of golden flowers hung down everywhere. Multicolored decorations wound around and encircled the carriages, soft silks and gauzes served for cushions, with fine felts of most wonderful make valued at thousands or millions, gleaming white and pure, to spread over them. There numerous grooms and attendants to accompany and guard them. These wonderful carriages the man presented to each of his sons alike. The sons at that time danced for joy, mounting the jeweled carriages, driving off in all directions, delighting and amusing themselves freely and without hindrance.

I say this to you, Shariputra – I am like this rich man. I, most venerable of the sages, am the father of this world and all living beings are my children. But they are deeply attached to worldly pleasures and lacking in minds of wisdom. There is no safety in the threefold world; it is like a burning house, replete with a multitude of sufferings, truly to be feared, constantly beset with the grief and pains of birth, old age, sickness and death, which are like fires raging fiercely and without cease. The Tathagata has already left the burning house of the threefold world and dwells in tranquil quietude in the safety of forest and plain. But now this threefold world is all my domain, and the living beings in it are all my children. Now this place is beset by many pains and trials.

I am the only person who can rescue and protect others, but though I teach and instruct them, they do not believe or accept my teachings, because, tainted by desires, they are deeply immersed in greed and attachment. So, I employ an expedient means, describing to them the three vehicles, causing all living beings to understand the pains of the threefold world, and then I set forth and expound a way whereby they can escape from the world. If these children of mine will only determine in their minds to do so, they can acquire all the three understandings and the six transcendental powers, can become pratyekabuddhas (lone Buddhas) or bodhisattvas who never regress.

I say to you, Shariputra, for the sake of living beings I employ these similes and parables to preach the single Buddha vehicle. If you and the others are capable of believing and accepting my words, then all of you are certain to attain the Buddha way. This vehicle is subtle, wonderful, foremost in purity; throughout all worlds it stands unsurpassed. The Buddha delights in and approves it, and all living beings should praise it, offer it alms and obeisance. There are immeasurable thousands of millions of powers, emancipations, meditations, wisdoms, and other attributes of the Buddha.

But if the children can obtain this vehicle, it will allow them day and night for unnumbered kalpas (a period of 432 million mortal years) to find constant enjoyment, to join the bodhisattvas and the multitude of voice-hearers in mounting this jeweled vehicle and proceeding directly to the place of practice. For these reasons, though one should seek diligently in the ten directions, he will find no other vehicles except when the Buddha preaches them as an expedient means.