梵名希那衍Hinayānā，對於大乘之稱。求佛果為大乘，求阿羅漢果辟支佛果為小乘。佛果者謂開一切種智，為盡未來際眾生化益之悟。阿羅漢果與辟支佛果，雖有淺深之別，然皆為灰身滅智歸於空寂涅槃之悟。乘者，運載之義，指使人乘之至其悟岸之教，以四諦為至阿羅漢果之教體，以十二因緣為至辟支佛果之教體。如此小乘有二道，故亦謂之二乘。又此二乘為佛成道後十二年間經律論三藏之所詮，故天台稱之為三藏教。佛滅後印度之小乘分總別二十之流派，來我國後，遂立宗名俱舍，成實，及律三者，即小乘也。是皆為佛隨他意之說法，姑以調熟下劣根性者也。法華經方便品曰：「佛自住大乘，如其所得法定慧力莊嚴，以此度眾生，自證無上道大乘平等法，若以小乘乃至化一人我則墮慳貪。」法華經遊意下曰：「今以二義往收則事無不盡，一者赴小機說名曰小乘，二者赴大機說稱曰大乘。」
Hīnayāna 希那衍. The small, or inferior wain, or vehicle; the form of Buddhism which developed after Śākyamuni's death to about the beginning of the Christian era, when Mahāyāna doctrines were introduced. It is the orthodox school and more in direct line with the Buddhist succession than Mahāyānism which developed on lines fundamentally different. The Buddha was a spiritual doctor, less interested in philosophy than in the remedy for human misery and perpetual transmigration. He "turned aside from idle metaphysical speculations; if he held views on such topics, he deemed them valueless for the purposes of salvation, which was his goal" (Keith). Metaphysical speculations arose after his death, and naturally developed into a variety of Hīnayāna schools before and after the separation of a distinct school of Mahāyāna. Hīnayāna remains the form in Ceylon, Burma, and Siam, hence is known as Southern Buddhism in contrast with Northern Buddhism or Mahāyāna, the form chiefly prevalent from Nepal to Japan. Another rough division is that of Pali and Sanskrit, Pali being the general literary language of the surviving form of Hīnayāna, Sanskrit of Mahāyāna. The term Hīnayāna is of Mahāyānist origination to emphasize the universalism and altruism of Mahāyāna over the narrower personal salvation of its rival. According to Mahāyāna teaching its own aim is universal Buddhahood, which means the utmost development of wisdom and the perfect transformation of all the living in the future state; it declares that Hīnayāna, aiming at arhatship and pratyekabuddhahood, seeks the destruction of body and mind and extinction in nirvāṇa. For arhatship the 四諦Four Noble Truths are the foundation teaching, for pratyekabuddhahood the 十二因緣 twelve-nidānas, and these two are therefore sometimes styled the two vehicles 二乘. Tiantai sometimes calls them the (Hīnayāna) Tripiṭaka school. Three of the eighteen Hīnayāna schools were transported to China: 俱舍 (Abhidharma) Kośa; 成實 Satya-siddhi; and the school of Harivarman, the律 Vinaya school. These are described by Mahāyānists as the Buddha's adaptable way of meeting the questions and capacity of his hearers, though his own mind is spoken of as always being in the absolute Mahāyāna all-embracing realm. Such is the Mahāyāna view of Hīnayāna, and if the Vaipulya sūtras and special scriptures of their school, which are repudiated by Hīnayāna, are apocryphal, of which there seems no doubt, then Mahāyāna in condemning Hīnayāna must find other support for its claim to orthodoxy. The sūtras on which it chiefly relies, as regards the Buddha, have no authenticity; while those of Hīnayāna cannot be accepted as his veritable teaching in the absence of fundamental research. Hīnayāna is said to have first been divided into minority and majority sections immediately after the death of Śākyamuni, when the sthāvira, or older disciples, remained in what is spoken of as "the cave", some place at Rājagṛha, to settle the future of the order, and the general body of disciples remained outside; these two are the first 上坐部 and 大眾部 q. v. The first doctrinal division is reported to have taken place under the leadership of the monk 大天 Mahādeva (q.v.) a hundred years after the Buddha's nirvāṇa and during the reign of Aśoka; his reign, however, has been placed later than this by historians. Mahādeva's sect became the Mahāsāṅghikā, the other the Sthāvira. In time the two are said to have divided into eighteen, which with the two originals are the so-called "twenty sects" of Hīnayāna. Another division of four sects, referred to by Yijing, is that of the 大眾部 (Arya) Mahāsaṅghanikāya, 上座部 Āryasthavirāḥ, 根本說一切有部 Mūlasarvāstivādaḥ, and 正量部 Saṃmatīyāḥ. There is still another division of five sects, 五部律. For the eighteen Hīnayāna sects see 小乘十八部.
一小乘 梵語 hīna-yāna。又作聲聞乘。二乘之一，乃大乘、菩薩乘之對稱。意譯為狹小之車乘，指運載狹劣之根機以達小果之教法；即於所修之教、理、行、果，與能修之根機均為小劣之法門。小乘之名，原係大乘佛教徒對原始佛教與部派佛教之貶稱，其後學術界沿用之，並無褒貶意。其教義主要以自求解脫為目標，故為自調自度（即滅除煩惱，證果開悟）之聲聞、緣覺之道，而異於大乘自利利他二者兼顧之菩薩道。大乘諸經論中比較大小二乘之別者頗多。 (1)據大智度論卷四、卷十八等所載，聲聞乘狹小，佛乘廣大；聲聞乘自利自為，佛乘利益一切；聲聞乘多說眾生空，佛乘則兼說眾生空與法空；煖、頂、忍、法等四善根位為小乘之初門，菩薩法忍為大乘之初門；聲聞說法中無大慈悲心，大乘法中則在在強調大慈悲心；聲聞法中皆為自身，大乘法中廣為眾生；聲聞法中無欲廣知諸法之心，僅有欲求疾離老病死之心，大乘法中欲了知一切法；聲聞法之功德有所限量，大乘法中欲盡諸功德，無有遺餘。(2)據入大乘論卷上載，聲聞之學，僅斷結障，觀無常行，從他聞法；菩薩則志在斷盡一切微細諸習，乃至觀一切法空，不從他聞，得自然智、無師智。聲聞之解脫，稱為愛盡解脫，而非一切解脫，乃為鈍根少智眾生而權假設說者；大乘之解脫，斷煩惱習，一切都盡，乃為利根菩薩而廣分別說者。(3)大乘莊嚴經論卷一成宗品則舉出聲聞乘與大乘有五種差異：①發心異，②教授異，③方便異，④住持異，⑤時節異。 上記皆為大乘經論所說小乘聲聞乘之狹劣。蓋小乘係指四阿含等諸經，四分律、五分律等諸律，發智論、婆沙論等諸論所宣說之法門，故大智度論稱之為「三藏教」。其中雖衍生出上座、大眾二十部等之別，主要仍在宣說「我空法有」，觀四諦之理，證阿羅漢果，以期歸於無餘涅槃。 在我國，教判之說極為盛行，諸家亦多判此教為佛教之初門。以下列舉歷來諸家所判小乘之說法：(1)姚秦鳩摩羅什於大乘大義章卷下舉出大小二乘之說，謂小乘僅說眾生空。(2)劉宋慧觀及岌法師等之主張，謂阿含乃佛陀成道後十二年中所說，主要宣說「見有得道」之法，故將之攝入漸教五教中之第一「有相教」。(3)梁代寶亮之大般涅槃經集解卷三十五載，小乘三藏又稱別相說法輪，而以之配屬涅槃五味中之乳味。(4)法雲之法華義記卷二載，佛陀成道後十二年中所說之阿含經為「有相教」。(5)後魏菩提流支等判立「半、滿」二教之說，以小乘所說不究竟之故，而稱之為「半字教」。(6)陳代真諦提出「轉、照、持」三輪之說，其中以佛陀成道後七年中轉四諦之法輪，故稱「轉法輪」。(7)後魏慧光立四宗之教判，以毘曇之六因四緣判為第一「因緣宗」，以成實之三假判為第二「假名宗」。(8)隋代慧遠根據慧光之說，並進而以阿毘曇主張「諸法各有體性」而判之為小乘中之淺教，以成實主張「諸法虛假無性」而判之為小乘中之深教。此外，又於其大乘義章卷一，廣就部教三藏、法性實際、四緣、六因、八識有無、三聚淨戒、四陀羅尼、四無量、禪定、十地、三十七道品、六通、十力等之教義而論述大小乘之別。(9)智顗立「五時八教」之說，於五時之中，以小乘為第二「鹿苑時」；於化法四教中，以小乘為「三藏教」。(10)吉藏於三論玄義總分佛之教法為大小二乘，其中小乘復分毘曇有門、成實空門兩種。吉藏又於中觀論疏卷一等，提出「三種法輪」之說，而以小乘為「枝末法輪」中之一者。(11)唐代波頗三藏創立五教之判，以阿含等經為「四諦教」。(12)道宣於四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔卷中揭出「三教」之說，以小乘旨在闡明「性空無我」之理，故判之為「性空教」。(13)新羅元曉創立「四教」之說，以小乘四諦、緣起等經判之為「三乘別教」。(14)窺基判立「三教八宗」，於三教之中，以阿含等為「有教」；於八宗之中，前六宗賅攝小乘諸部，即犢子部等配於第一「我法俱有宗」，薩婆多部等配於第二「有法無我宗」，大眾部等配於第三「法無去來宗」，說假部等配於第四「現通假實宗」，說出世部等配於第五「俗妄真實宗」，一說部等配於第六「諸法但名宗」。此外，復判立「四宗」之說，以雜心論等主張五聚之法皆有法性，故稱之為「立性宗」；以成實論破除體性之說，故稱之為「破性宗」。(15)法藏判立「五教十宗」之說，於五教之中，謂小乘之四諦十二因緣僅說「人空」，不說「法空」，故僅能證得小果，遂判之為「小乘教」；於十宗之中，將小乘諸部攝屬前六宗，其說與窺基之說類同。(16)法藏之門人慧苑亦判立四教，謂小乘於真如、隨緣二分義之中，僅說「生空所顯」之理，故判之為「真一分半教」。此外，日本方面，空海於十住心論中，以聲聞唯觀「五蘊無我」，故判之為第四「唯蘊無我心」，以緣覺乃拔除煩惱業因及無明之種子，故判之為第五「拔業因種心」。 凡上種種，雖以小乘乃為聲聞而設權門方便之教，而視之為佛教之初門，然隨近世佛教研究法之改變，則稱所謂之「小乘教」為「原始佛教」或「根本佛教」，其中多含釋尊直接口授之教說，其後之大乘佛教則為其教義之敷衍。今日東亞諸國中，以錫蘭、緬甸、泰國等專傳小乘佛教；尼泊爾、西藏、蒙古、我國及日本等則主要遵奉大乘佛教，而兼學小乘。〔分別功德論卷一、中邊分別論卷下無上乘品、佛性論卷一、大般涅槃經集解卷八、法華經玄贊卷一本、華嚴五教章卷一、華嚴經探玄記卷一、大乘起信論義記卷上、大乘法苑義林章卷一本〕（參閱「大乘」1076、「小乘二十部」1234）p1231
小乘總目錄 小乘者，對大乘而言。乘者，運載之義，以喻能乘人而到其果地之教法也。有一乘乃至五乘之別。言小乘者，小根小機所乘之義，滅小苦與小利益之教。自利主義之聲聞緣覺阿羅漢，得小涅槃之法也。
小乘總目錄 小者。簡非大也。謂。如來觀根逗機。方便施設也 ○文殊問經。文殊白佛言。世尊入涅槃後。未來弟子。云何諸部分別。佛言未來我弟子。有二十部。能令諸法住。並得四果。三藏平等無下中。上譬如海水。味無有異。如人有二十子。真實如來所說。根本二部。從大乘出。從般若波羅蜜出。聲聞。緣覺。諸佛皆從般若波羅蜜多出故。
hīnayāna，這裡的「小」為「卑劣」(hīna)的意思，「乘」(yāna)是「前往；道路」或「載人車輛；交通工具」的意思，參看「大乘」。這是西元前後新興的「部分大乘者」對傳統「聲聞者」(sāvaka，另譯為「弟子」)不當的鄙視貶抑用語(罵人的話)，顯然是後來增入《增壹阿含經》者，相當的南傳經文無此句。
聲聞緣覺的法門，以修身自利為宗旨，其最高果位為阿羅漢果及辟支佛果。聲聞乘修四諦法，自凡夫至阿羅漢，論時間，速者三生，遲者六十劫，其修行的方便有七，得果有四。見聲聞乘條。緣覺乘修十二因緣，自凡夫至辟支佛，論時間，速者四生，遲者一百劫，其修行重在悟證，悟所到處，便是證所到處，故無明顯的位階可言。