A M AN U AL OF

B U DD H I S T PH ILO S O PHY

WI LLI AM MONT G OME RY

M C G OVE RN PH D , .

L e c t ur e r i n J ap a n e s e a nd C h in e se at t h e S c ho o l f Or i e n t a l S tu di e s
o ,

Un iv e rs i ty of Lon d on ; P r ie s t of t he N i s hi H o n g a nj i Ky o t o J ap a n
, ,
.

Au th o r of I n tro duc t i o n to M a h d y dn a Budd h is m , Mo de rn Japa n ,

Co llo q u i a l J ap ane s e , e tc .

V OL . I

C OS M OL OG Y

L OND ON
R E G AN P AUL , TRE NCH , TR UB NE R CO , . L TD .

NE W YOR K : E . P . D UTTON CO .

1 923
P ri nte d in G re a t B ri t a i n b y S te ph e n Au s t i n ( fl S o ns , L td H e r tfo rd .
 C ON TE N TS

In t ro du c t io n
1 . T HE S TUD YO F B U D D H IST P H I L O S O P H Y
TH E D I V I S I ON S O F B UD D H IS T C O S MOLO G Y
TH E T H R EE CO S MOL O G I C AL S CH OOL S
S O U R CE S O F R E F E R EN C E
P AR T I C U L A R AU T H O R ITI E S S E LE C T E D F O R T H E
PR E S E N T W OR K

I
CO S MI C S Y N T HE SIS
CO S MI C G E O G RAP H Y
TH E D I V ISI ON S OF T HE T H R EE B E AT U S
T HE W O R LD O F S E N TI E N T B E I N G S

Pa rt II : C o s m ic An a ly s is

Pa rt III : C o s m ic Dy n a m ic s
1 . TH E N A T U R E AN D S C O P E O F CA U S A L IT Y
2 . TH E L AW O F C AU S A LI T Y APP L I E D T O T H E
I N DIV I DUA L
A DD IT I O N A L R E MA R KS O N KA R MA
TH E O F CA U S A LIT Y APP L I ED T O T H E
L AW
E LE MEN TS O F E X IS T E N C E
 I NTR OD UCTI ON
1 . S T UDY O F B UD D H IS T P HIL O S O P HY
THE
LL forms of Buddhism however divergent claim t o have
, ,

but three Obj ects Of worship viz the Buddha the , .

,

Dharma and the S a ngha The first is the founder o f the faith
, .
,

the second the teaching which he gave and the third the order ,

which he founded R egarding each Of the B atnas o r j ewels

.
,

as they are called an enormous amount Of speculation h as

,

g rown up w ith
, many different Opinio ns concerning the proper
method o f interpreta tion .

Q uestions concer ni ng the S a ngha are largely dealt with

in the various versions o f the Vinaya P it aka o r books o f ,

Canon law and their later commentaries

,
These are con .

cerned with the proper organization Of the monasteries the ,

rite s which should accompany the reception o f men and women

into the o rder and the food clothing and furniture which
, , ,

shoul d be us ed by them afterwards All these questions l ie .

entirely out side the scope o f philosophy and hence outside ,

the scope o f o ur present undertaking .

S pecul ations concerning the Buddh a or rather the , , ,

Buddhas together with less el evated beings such as P ratyeka

,

Buddh as and Arhats have played an even greater part in

,

Buddhist history for fierce cont roversies have been waged

,

concerning the natur e and powers Of each type o f Being ,

and the means by which such ra nk mi ght be achieved But .

as all such problems are more cl osely associated with

religion than wi th phil osophy they are equally foreign to o ur
,

present work .

The dharma or law taught by the Buddha to his disciples

and thence trans mitted to later generations wh o gradually
modified and reinterpreted the Older doctrine s was the basis ,

upon which Buddhist philosophy properly s o called was , ,

later erected P rimitive Buddhism was much more a simple

.
2 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

religio us and ethical code than a metaphysical attempt to

s olve the probl ems Of the uni verse but as time el apsed and ,

later commentators delighting in subtl ety strove t o further

, ,

truth and e nh ance their own reputations by applying the

Old formul ae to a rational expl anation Of the whole universe ,

the Old Dharma was suppl emented by a new Ab hidh arma .

Ab h idh arma is usually call ed metaphysic but the first ,

Ab hidh arm a works were but dogmatic treatises giving a ,

wo uld b e systematic classification Of the Older doctrinal

-

cate gories gradually fitting in others as thes e came t o be

,

formul ated .

AS yet there was littl e formal logic or even rational argument

from universally accept e d data The basis o f truth was .

considered to be the body Of doctrines laid down by an

omniscient teacher and the most that a commentator co ul d
,

do was to give a new and better arrangement to the o ld

dharma pary aya s and to bring o ut the ideas which w ere
-
,

considered to be inherent in the Older statements .

Consequently the Old o r Cano ni cal Ab hidh arm a is more t o

be ranked with what we shoul d call theology ( save that
Buddhis m theologized without a thesis ) than wi th phil osophy .

Controversy between the various Buddhist sects necessitated

the introduction Of more abstract reasoning but appeal coul d ,

still be made to the s fit ra s o r at least to those sutras which

, , ,

were held to be sacr e d by all the schools S O that the most ,

important devel opments Of Buddhist philosophy were made

when the Buddhist S pecul ators came into viol ent conflict
with fully developed alien philosophies This took place .
,

as far as India is concerned between the first and the fifth

,

centuries A D and in China between the fifth and ninth

. .
,

centuries A D . .

Beginning with B uddhagh o sa the P ali school Of Buddhism ,

in Ceylon and later in Burma made many important doct rinal

additions to the Buddhist lore but for the most part t he ,

P ali school remained s ufficiently sheltered to make it pre

d omi nantly theol ogical rather than phil osophical in tone .
 I NT R OD UC TION 3

Those who wo ul d study Buddhist philosophy must turn

their atte ntion to the Ab hidharm a works including I n that ,

term not o nl y the original Canonical books Of such school s

as the S arv as t iv adins and S t h av irav adi ns but also and more ,

especially the later commentaries with particul ar reference to ,

those works in which the Buddh ist mo nks s e t o ut t o defend

their doctrines from outside attack F or the P ali theories .

we have Of course t o turn t o the works Of B uddh agh o s a and

, ,

Anuruddh a and their foll o wers F or the Hinayana tradition1

.

Of India proper we mus t l o ok t o the S arv as t iv adin school

, ,

including therein the Mahav ib hasa and the works Of ,

Va s ub andhu and S angh ab hadra F or the Mah ayani sts of .

India we have the great representatives Of the two principal

Mah ayana schools the Madh yami ka and the Yo g acarin ,

systems including Nag arjun a Ar ya D eva and Candrag o m in fo r

, , ,

the former and Asanga Vas ub andhu Dig nag a Dharm apal a
, , , , ,

and Dharmakirt t i for the latter The mainsprings Of t h e .

Chinese Buddhist ph il osophy are t o be found in the writings

Of the patriarchs of the T ien T ai and Hua Ye n schools ‘ ‘
.

Here h o wever we meet with great i ni tial di fficul ty The

, , .

P ali texts have indeed come down t o us and the P ali Text ,

S ociety has rendered and is rendering very valuable service , ,

in making them accessible to the Western public by means

Of new editions in the original to ngue and by means o f ,

E nglish tra ns lation But the labour Of those who would .

study the more phil osophic works Of S anskrit Buddhism is

rendered difficul t by the fact that most o f the important
philos o phic texts are no l o nger extant in their original form ,

for with the destruction o f Buddhism in India much Of the ,

literature o f Buddhism likewise perished and though a number ,

Of S fit ra s chiefl y Mah ayana and Av adanas or pious tales

, ,

have remained the m o re serious works have disappeared

, .

From among the numerous Ab h idh arm a works Of the

1
finiti n f H inayana n d Mah ayana an d fo
F o r t he de o o a r t he chi f p in t
e o s

of di ff r nc b t w n t h t w br anch
e e e e f B uddhi m s
ee e o es O s ee t he in tr du cti n
o o

t m y I nt du t i n t M hd y d n B uddhi m
o ro c o o a a s .
4 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

onl y a singl e comm enta ry o n t h e Ab hidharm a

Sarv as t iv adin s , ‘

Ko sa remains Though we have in the Madhyamika V rt t i

.

a fair exposition o f the Madhyamika school most Of the ,

phil osophic te xts o f the Yo g ac arins have been l ost and what ,

remain are like the S atra Al amkara devotional handbooks ,

fo r the aspirant after Buddhahood rather than textbooks ,

Of metaphysics .

F ort unately a certain number o f texts were translated into

Tibetan and as years go by these will probab l y be revealed
, ,

to us But al as the Tibetan texts are by no means compl ete

.
, ,
.

The Tibetan people prior t o the introduction Of Buddhism , ,

were possess e d Of practicall y no cul ture o f their o wn They .

were ignorant even Of the art o f wr iting s o it is little wonder ,

that when they adopted Buddhism there was a greater

demand fo r S fit ras Av adana s Jat akas and Dh aranis ,
1
, ,

than for abstruse works dealing with the minuti ae Of ont ology
and phenomenology R ather must we be tha nkful for what .

has been preserve d .

O n many points where the S anskrit remnant s are sil ent ,

however and where even the Tibetan Canon can give no help
, ,

we find a ful l explanation in the Chinese t ranslations Of the

Buddh ist works which are generally though somewhat ,

incorrectly known as the Chinese Buddhist Tripit aka Here .

are t o be found all the important works Of the S arv as t iv adins ,

Madhyamikas and Y o g ac arins in addition t o the original

, ,

works o f the philosophers of the T ien T ai and Hua yen ‘ ‘

-

schools to whom reference has already been made

,
.

Consequently he wh o wo ul d make a study Of Buddhist

,

phil osophy either Of its final systematic form o r of the stages

,

Of its devel opment must apply himself to learned treatises

,

o n the ul timate nature Of the noumenon and phenomena in

a language Of monosylla bles most Of whose characters may ,

be a noun o r a verb o r a preposition according to the

, , ,

context o r the whim Of the author o r translat o r .

1
F or th ese an d o th r br anch
e es of B uddhi t lit r atur
s e e se e intr o du cti o n
t o B urn o uf
’
s Bo uddhis me I nd i e n .
 I NT R OD UC TION 5

O wing the linguistic di ffi cul ties which beset the path

to ,

it is no sma ll wonder that in spite o f the enorm ous strides

which O riental scholarship has made in the last few years ,

much Of Buddh ist philosophy remains un known We may .

,

indeed claim to know a good deal Of the religious side of

,

Buddhism particul arly o f the P ali school for most Of it s five

, ,

Nikay a s have found their way into o n e o r other o f the

E uropean languages S ome five o r S ix well kn own Mah ayana
.
-

s fit ras have also been translated whi le o f the Vinaya we have

,

at least the more than adequate rendering Of the P ali versi o n

by Oldenburg and R hys D avids Our knowledge Of Buddhist
.

philosophy however o r even o f Buddhist theology is co nfined

, ,

to three or four translatio ns from the P al i Ab hidharm a lore ,

precious as a foretaste o f what is t o come but insufficient t o ,

satisfy those who se e k for a more substantial phil osophical

diet Al most nothing has as yet been done t o render the
.

Northern phil osophical works accessible t o the We s tern

reader and it may be safel y said that even the P ali works
,

cannot be full y understood until their tenets are compared

with those Of the other streams o f Buddhist t radi tion .

The present work is a not altogether successful atte mpt to

further in an infinitesimal degree o ur knowledge o f the
, ,

history of Buddh ist philosophy At the best we ca n but

.

nibble at the vast storehouse Of material before us and then ,

scurry away into print before the immensity Of the subj ect ‘

shall have dawn e d upon us t o such an extent that we are

awed into S ilence .

But if we are to nibble at all l et us at least atte mpt t o do

,

s o systematically and in such a way as will assist further

,

expl oratio n in the future gnawing indeed but a tiny hole in

,

a giant structure but a hole which may serve for re entry

,
-

both for ourselves and fo r others Cons equently ins tead of

.
,

trying t o cover the whole field o f Buddh ist philosophy within

the limits which perforce must be ours let us single o ut some
, , ,

o n e l ine Of inquiry and attempt t o ins titute a s omewhat

,

detailed survey thereof .

6 MANUAL OF B UD D HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

A sui ta ble subj ect is not difficul t to find Buddhism has .

all along re cognized a distinction between relative and

tra ns cendental philosophy between theories concerning the
,

ana lys is Of phenomena and theories concerni ng the ultimate

nature o f thi ngs The first covers much o f the ground which
.

in E urope has become the S pecial field Of the particul ar

sciences such as astronomy physics chemistry biology
, , , , ,

and psychology while the latter is more in accord with the

,

O ccidental delimitations Of philosophy o r metaphysics ,

proper It is here that we find the kernel Of Buddhist

.

philosophy its wo uld be solutions of problems touching upon

,

the reality o r non reality Of external phenomena its

-
,

evaluation o f the uni verse from the standpoint o f optimism

and pessimi s m and all the other eternal insoluble riddles
,

which make phil osophy so interesting .

O f these t wo di visions Of the subj ect matter o f Buddhist

philosophy o ur impuls e natur ally is to choose the latter for
, , ,

o ur S pecia l co ns ideration and this for several reasons In

, .

the first pl ac e there is greater chance for treasure trove for ,

the Buddh ists in common with other O rientals had a better

chance to vie wi th O ccidental meta physicians than wi th
O ccidental scientists The measured and weighty dialectic
.

o f the Bud dh ist sage o n the ul timate nature Of things is

sometimes almost as impressive as the polysyllabic proofs o f

his Weste rn co usin but Buddh ist astronomy and geol ogy is
,

n o t even quaint enough to prevent it s falsity j arring upon us .

It is faintly possible that o ne o ut Of the many contra di ctory

solutions Of noumenal probl ems Offered by the Buddhists
may be right if for no other reason than that some phil osopher
among them seems t o have given every possible answer to
the problem but even the wiliest Of O rientals would find it
,

di fficul t t o allegoriz e away the improbabilities Of Buddhist

In the second place we sho ul d prefer to deal with the

transcendental side o f Buddhist philosophy because it is ,

here that Buddhis m was most original and escap e d furthest

 I NT R OD UC TION 7

from the bonds Of tradition Buddhist o r Tirt haka , The .

reason for this is to be f o und in the fact that the earlier works
gave minute details concerni ng relative philosophy and very ,

little ab o ut noumenal matters Consequently when the .

,

great thinkers Of Buddhism such as Vas ub andhu D ig nag a

, , ,

and Dharm apala arose they dared not alter the Older myths
, ,

concerning the size or comp o sition Of the s un o r moon but ,

were able to formulate highly interesting V iews c o ncerni ng

the ul timate nature Of any and every form o f matter and mi nd .

F o r these and many other reas o ns then we sho ul d prefer , ,

to deal with the transcendental side Of Buddhist phil osophy .

P ractical necessity however keeps us to the o ther and less

, ,

interesting aspect o f the subj ect in this i ni tial survey if fo r

, ,

no other reason than that Buddhist transcendental philosophy

is compl etely uni ntelligible without a kn owl edge o f the
relative philosophy upon which it is based Modern Western .

philosophy is far more comprehensible without a knowledge

Of Western science than is Buddh ist metaphysics without a
knowl edge Of Buddhist pseudo science A Buddhist can o nl y -
.

discuss the reality o f the universe in terms o f dh armas ,

aram anus it ik citta i kt dharmas dh at u

p c a, a s a s v p y
ra u, a - s , ,

ayatanas and skandh as—and u nl ess we are acquainted with

, ,

the implications Of these terms none Of which have exact ,

Western equivalents we Shall have studied Buddh ist

,

phil osophy in vain The atheism polytheism pantheism

.
, , ,

and monotheism Of the various aspects Of Buddhism can o nl y

be properly understood when o ne kno ws Of the devas o f the
Kama dh atu and o f the Brahmas o f the R fipa dh atu
, .

Consequently in o rder that we may lay the foundations

,

for a later more serious study Of Buddhist philosophy it is

, ,

necessary that we fl ounder among mythical continents and

impossible seas We must seek to solve the problem hotly
.

disputed between the S arv as t iv adins and the Mah as angh ikas ,

as to whether the lictors o f Hell are reall y sentient beings ,

o r are specially created automata We must wander through .

long dull and badly arranged lists Of states Of consciousness

, , ,
8 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T PHILO S O PHY
‘

and when all this has been accomplished we may claim indeed ,

n o t t o have become acquainted with Buddhist philos ophy but ,

t o have become capab l e o f di scussing its problems .

2 . THE D IV I S IO N S OF B UDD H I S T C O SM OLO G Y

This relative philosophy o f Buddhism we have chosen t o
call Buddhist cosmol ogy not that the term is particul arly
,

appropriate but because a better is lacking Thus defined

, .
,

the subj ect has three main divisions ( 1 ) Cosmi c synthesis

2
( ) C osmic analysis 3
( ) C os mi c dyna mi cs .

( )
1 The first covers the myths concerning cosmography the ,

nature S i z e and shape o f the phenomenal uni verse taken as

, ,

an existing entity and un analysed This covers the field o f .

what in the West woul d be call ed astronomy and geology ,

save that the Buddhist astronomer wo ul d aspire to D ante s ’

mile and explain not o nly the stars but also the heavens
, ,

and the various inhabitants thereof .

This is the point o n which Buddh ism is least original Most .

Of its myth s were not only borrowed from contemporary

Indian thought but were even part Of that primitive
,

c osmography which Warren in his book on the subj ect

,

( P a rad is e F o un d) sought to explore N evertheless o nce .

,

incorporated in the Buddhist system it had an important ,

part to play in the moulding Of later specul ation as when the ,

comm entators drew up their l ist Of states Of consciousness

upon the threefol d division Of the uni verse into Kama ,

R fipa and Arii pa dh at us

, .

D uring the course o f o ur present work it will be seen that ,

it is upon this mythology that all systems of Buddhism are

most agreed which shows that the main structure Of Buddhist
,

cosmography was an integral part Of Buddhism at a date

prior to its division into variant school s This gives us a very .

early date The embellishments Of the late r commenta tors

m
.

( those o f Ceylon a
y be seen in S pence Hardy s M a nua l o
f
’

B uddhis m) never succeeded in al t ering the essential structure .

Here however we have t o disting ui sh between (a ) cosmo

, ,
 I NT R OD UC TI O N 9

graphy proper o r the map o f the present mate rial world ,

with its central mountain rocky rings oceans and continents

, , ,

which are in accord with the myths outside of India ; ( b)

and the devel op ment Of the Heaven and Hell idea into the
various di visions o f the three dh at us This is almost purely
.

Indian in its origin and as regards the order Of the upper

,

layers of the heavens represents the order Of development o f

,

thought in India The fact for example that the D evas are
.
, ,

placed above the Asuras go es back to the time when the

P ersians and the Indians were uni ted The thirty three gods
.
-

who inhabit the summit of Mount Meru are a remnant o f the

theological development Of the Vedas The heavens o f .

Mahab rahm a represent the later Brahma na and Upani sad

struggl e after some higher ideal than the Vedic deities The .

four Arfipa dhat us are Bud dh ist attempts t o Sho w the

inferiority o f contemporary ideas concerni ng the highest
bliss as compared with their o wn Nirvana .

D etails concerning the inhabitants o f these abodes are

largely the w ork Of the ever ready Buddhist commentators
-

working upon the material already provi ded . The great age
o f most o f Buddhist cosmology is further shown by the fact

that all versio ns Of the D irgha Agama contains an account o f

the cycle o f creation and destruction As far as we know this
.
,

doctrine of the never endi ng cycl e Of creation and destruction

-

was o nl y evolved by the Ar yan mi nd after the period Of the

Vedas and 18 therefore comparatively modern It I s certainly
, .

pre Buddh ist however though the Buddhist acceptance o f

-
, ,

the doctrine did much to further the central idea .

( )
2 C o s mic Ana lys is —I n addition however to accepting
, ,

contemporary myths regardi ng the geography o f the

phenomenal uni verse the Buddhists made a great forward
,

step in trying to Split up this variegate d whole into a number

o f fundamental units Of which all phenomena are but c o m
,

p o unds Or combinations This striving to reduce the complex

.

t o a small number o f simple and u ni form ultimates played

a very important part in Buddhist phil osophy Though some .
10 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

centuries were to elapse before the full and final lis t Of elements
could be given yet the tendency towards cosmic analysis
,

began with the fir st days Of Buddhism as may be seen from ,

such primi tive categories as the five skandhas twelve ,

ayatanas and eighteen dh at us

, Th e marked disagreement
.

between the various schools o n these factors o f existence ,

apart from these primitive categories however shows that , ,

cosmic analysis was developed later t han cosmic synthesis ,

and was the resul t Of much careful and reasoned thought .

NO l o nger are non Indian and pre Brahmanic elem

- -
ents found ,

and very little indeed seems to have been borrowed from riva l
syste ms Of thought except perhaps the atomi c theo ry S O that
, ,

the Buddh ist classification o f the elements o f existence is an

o nl y original even though valueless contribution t o human
thought O f even more importance from the philosophical
.

standpoint are the theories which the Buddhists advanced

concerni ng the nature o f their o wn o r any other list Of the
factors Of life .

The devel opment Of this ul timate factors Of life theory was

- - -

as important to Buddh ism as was the discovery o f the elements

by the modern scientists to the recent philosophers Of the
West save that the eighty Odd elements Of o ur own science
,

are all material while the Buddhist elements are mostly

,

mental since the Buddhists regarded the mind as no l es s

,

a compound than the body o r any inanimate Obj ect .

Unfortunately the Buddhists were t o o b us y with reli gio

,

ethical considerations in their enumeration Of these elements

for their lists to be Of much value for the modern psycholo g ist
o r philosopher but with some j ustice it may be claimed that
,

their analysis is qui te as acute as that Of any other school o f

O riental phil osophy .

( )
3 Co s mic D yna mic s —This refers to the causal forces
which bring into combination the factors Of existence The .

devel opment Of this theory was an answer t o the question as

to how the analysed uni verse became the synthesiz ed
uni verse as t o why a certain number o f el ements shoul d not
,
 I NT R OD UC TI ON 11

remain di sassociated but combine to form the human

pers o nality According t o some thinkers this combination
.
,

Of the elements t o form concrete phenomena might be due t o

c hance,
the spontaneous will Of the el ements themselves ,

fate or destiny o r the decree Of Go d To the Buddhists

,
.
,

however none of these explanations were acceptable and

, ,

they strove to Show that the formation and di sso lution Of

compounds was due to an endl ess cycle o f fixed causes .

In the earlier stages this cons ideration Of causes was l argely

made from the personal point Of V iew and had particul ar ,

reference to the doctrines o f Karma and reincarnation taken

o ver by primi tive Buddhism from earlier thought At this .

point the doctrine of causality was largely o f a myt hical o r

religious nature as may be seen from the numerous J atakas
,

and Av adana s stories showi ng how the performance o f a goo d

,

deed in a past life brings about a happy rebirth in this .

As sociated with this side Of causal theory is the Old rune

known as the Prat it ya S am ut pada .

But in addition t o this more popular conception Of causality

even the oldest S fit ra s Sh o w that consideration was given to
the phil osophical problem Of how o ne thing is caused o r
condi tioned by another and when the pers o nal aspect o f
,

causality came to be overshadowed by the cosmic o r universal

c o ordination o f causes
-
Buddhism made an important step
,

a long the path Of philosophic progress As might be .

e xpec t e d this was o n e Of the later developments Of Buddhist

,

thought and o ne which was entirel y posterior to the time of

,

the Buddha and the early Ch urch ; fo r whereas all branch es

Of Buddhism a g ree as t o the main points Of cosmography
( cosmic synthesis ) and there are certain categories such as
,

ska ndhas ayatanas and dh at us which are als o common to

, , ,

a ll forms Of Buddhism however much they may disagree

,

upon other points o f cosmic analysis yet the twenty ,

four prat yayas o r types Of causal relatio ns hip given in

the P ali works are different no t o nl y in name but also in ,

phil osophic S ignificance from the types of causes and conditions

12 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PH IL O S O PHY

enumerated by the North Indian schools Am ong all the l ate r .

philosophers however problems concerni ng the number Of

, ,

causal i nfl uences were o f s uch great importance that cosmic

dynamics deserves to rank o n an equal plane with the other
di v isions o f cosmol o gy .

3 . TH E T HR EE C O SMOLO G I C AL S CH OOL S
We have thus succeeded in l aying down the limit s and
internal divisions Of o ur present undertaki ng but it is also ,

necessary to ascertain what aspects o f Buddhism are t o b e

included and what are t o be excl uded from o ur present
survey for the word Buddhism covers every conceivabl e
,

type Of creed religious and philosophical Within the ample

,
.

bosom Of the Buddhist order are t o be found school s teaching

realism idealism ni hilism pantheism and pragmatism s o
, , , , ,

that before we can begin using the glib formul a Buddhism ‘

says or Buddhism teaches it is necessary to state

explicitly j ust what branch Of that vast congeries o f ass ociated
faiths we intend t o be impl i e d by the use Of the general titl e
,
.

F or certain branches Of Buddh ist research it wo ul d be

necessary to survey almost every sect and sub s ect before we -

could s ay that o ur investigation was complete But havi ng .

,

limite d ourselves to matters touchn upon cosmology we ,

are more fortunate for o nl y three school s Of Bud dh ism have

,

paid s ufli c ie nt attention to cosmol ogica l matters o r made ,

s ufli c ie nt l
y origina l contributions to the subj ect to warrant ,

o ur careful examination .

The three scho o ls in question are ( 1 ) The Ceylonese school ,

founded on the P al i tradition which claims to be the direct

,

descendant Of the earliest Buddhist school known as the

S t hav irav adins or Theravadins We are not yet in a position
.

to know how close was the fil iat io n between the tru e

S t hav irav adi ns and the Ceyl onese school but for the present ,

we have g iven the S inghal ese scholastics the benefit of the

doubt ( a rather serious doubt) and dub all those who follow
the P ali Canon genuine S t h av irav adins .
14 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

philosophic syst ems Of Mah ay ana in India o ne the early ,

Madhyamika school represente d by Nag arjuna and Arya

,

D eva and the other the Yo g ac arin school represented by

, ,

As anga and Va s ub a n dhu F o r the present purpose the

.

Madhyamika school may be completel y excl uded fo r it had ,

nothing whatever to add to cosmol ogical S pecul ation I t w as .

absorbed in disputes concer ni ng the nature Of absol ute truth

and the ul timate nature Of real ity From the absolut e .

standpoint the universe was compl etely non existent —why -

,

therefore Shoul d one bother to classify the fictitious F rom

, .

the rel ative standpoint the Madh yamika philosophers accepte d

the S arv as t iv adin categories without altering them in any
respect .

An examination o f the various Mah ayana S fit ra s and

S astras rendered into Chinese Shows that there were a number
Of important points Of V iew prevalent among Indian
Mah ayani sts which found presentation in neithe r o f the two
above mentioned school s but these ma y also be neglected
-
, ,

first because they were never developed in a systematic form

, ,

and secondly (and even more important ) b ecause such works ,

are more concerned with metaphysical o r ontol ogical matters

than with problems Of cosmol ogy .

3
( ) Chinese and Japanese schools o f Bud dh ism F or the .

most part Buddhist communi ties founded outside Of India

,

were content to derive their fundamental philosophic con

c e pt io ns from the original Indian schools o f thought though , ,

for this purpose it may be necessary to count Ceylon the

, ,

home Of the later S t hav irav adin movement as part Of India ,

.

Thus Burma and S iam have accepted their cosmology as

well as their ontology from the P ali Ab hidharm a works The .

Tibetan and Mongolian monks when not executing dev il

dances o r composing incantations and charms study the
, ,

philosophical systems o f Indi a adding thereto very little Of

,

their own Chinese and Japanese Bud dhis m however

.
, ,

have developed schools o f thought which are quite original

and important and any general history o f Buddhist philo s ophy
,
 I NT R OD UC TION 15

mus t or Should give c o nsiderable attention t o these

innovations more particul arly the development o f the
,

Indian Buddha Ks e t ra c ul t into philosophical monotheism ,

and o f the Madhyamika nih ilism into realistic pa ntheism ;

but these developments had little reference t o cosmology and ,

the new schools were content to accept the cosmic geography

evolved by either the S arv as t iv adi n o r Yo g ac arin schools 1
.

We have seen then that a study o f the three schools

, , ,

S t h av irav adin S arv as t iv adin and Yo g ac arin is sufficient

, , ,

to make us familiar with the whole field o f Buddhist

cosmology In order however that the histo ry o f the
.
, ,

development Of cosmologi c al ideas may be understood it is ,

necessary to s ay a word concerni ng the chronology and inter

rela tion Of these three schools .

( )
1 The S t h a v ira v adins
2
o r at least the school which , , ,

fl o urishes in Ceylo n B urma and S iam and which lays claim , , ,

t o that titl e occupies a curiousl y isol ated position among the

,

various Buddhist school s Its S fit ra and Vinaya P itakas .

are essentiall y the same as those o f the other Hinayana

schools as may be seen by comparing the P ali versions with
,

the various Hinayana S fit ra and Vinaya works containe d in

the Chinese Buddhist Canon but its chief claim to ,

philosophical di stinction is it s Ab hidh arm a P itaka which ,

seems to have been brought from Ceyl on Shortly after the

c o nversion to Buddhism Of that island by Mahi nda (Mahendra ) ,
'
the son or nephew Of As oka in the third century It is ,

doubtful if the whole o f the P ali P itaka was brought over at

this time or even that the work Of composition had been
,

compl eted at S O early a date In any case the transmi ssion .

,

was ora l and subj ect to interpolation But the seven .

Ab hidharm a works must have existed very much in the ir

1
Of t h c m l g ica l c t i n s f t h [IQ fl
. e os o o f Ti nt nd se o o e or
‘
e -
‘
ai a
$
55 fl 5
5: fo r H ua y e n -
.

2
n ra l hi t ry o f B uddhi m in C y l n i t w ll kno wn t mak
Th e g e e s o s e o s oo e o e

it n c ary t qu t a uth ri t i ; c mpar h w v r G i g r tran l a t i n

e e ss o o e o es o e , o e e , e e
’
s s o

o f M ha m a nd th
a va c t i n n C y l n ( l iii p 1 1 if ) in S i C harl s
s , a e se o o e o vo .
, . . r e

E l i t n w b k H i n du i m n d B u d d hi s m
o
’
s e oo s a .
16 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

present form at the beginni ng Of the Christian era abou t ,

whi ch time they were r e duced to writing At this perio d .

,

although the Canon was kept in P ali a number Of com ,

m e nt arie s were written in o r transl ated into S i ngh al ese , ,

but these have now been l ost Th ereafter the most impo rtant .

period Of P ali Buddhism during which this school was ,

a lmost though never quite transformed from a theology into

, ,

a ph ilosophy is represented by B uddhagh o s a about A D 400

, , . . .

He wrote a number Of new commentaries ( if hi sto ry can

b e tru sted ) destroyed the Ol der commentaries and came t o be
, ,

co ns idere d the o fficial interpreter Of th e P a li school After .

the time Of B uddhagh o s a though from a material point Of ,

V iew the Buddhist order experienced many vicissitudes its ,

philosophical development was very Slow and gradual As .

the Ceyl onese type Of Buddhism eventually dominated Burma

and S iam where it seems to have supplanted other forms
,

Of Buddhism the Buddhism o f B uddh agh o s a is now the

,

pre d ominant form o f Hinayana and therefore the system Of ,

th ought best kn own to the West .

O ne point however deserves attention and that is the

, , ,

complete absence Of all N orth Indian mention of the

Ab hidh arm a books Of the P ali Ca non The P ali school makes .

very sweeping claims for itself It cl aims that P ali was the . .

original l angua ge Of the Buddha that the seven Ab hidh arma ,

works are part Of his gospel and that they were recited at ,

the fir st council It is a l so stated that B uddha gho s a the

.
,

great commentator came from somewhere in North India , ,

and was a schol ar Of some repute before his arrival in Ceylon .

Both Of these statements impl y a close relationship between

the Ceylonese Buddhist school and that Of Indi a It is there .

fore important t o point o ut the following facts : The only

Hinayana Ab hidharm a P it aka which we can prove to be
known to the Buddhis t s Of North India was that Of the
S arv as t iv adins F or a long time it was thought that these
.
1

1
See K rn ’
M anua l of I ndia n Buddhis m p 5, n an d Vidy ab h fisan a s ’

—
e .
g . e s , . .
,

I nd i a n Lo g i c : M e dia eva l S c ho o l, pp . 63 4 .
 I NT R OD UC TION 17

works were but different versions Of the P ali Ab hidharm a

Canon o r that if different the S arv as t iv adi n works were
, ,

probably half commentaries o r rewriting s Of the works

preserved fo r us in Ceylon We now know however that there
.
, ,

is no c o nnexion between the two sets o f works that the ,

S arv as t iv adi n writings were composed by persons whom it

is scarcely possible t o c o nceive co ul d have seen the P al i
works o r even t o have heard Of their categories No r do we
,
.

find any scholar either i ns ide or outside the S arv as t iv adi n

scho o l who accepted quoted o r even attacked the P ali
, ,

Ab hidh arm a works They were completely ignored as far as

.

we have any record and though the S t hav irav adins were
,

cite d from time t o time there is no place where we can identify

,

their quote d statements in such a way as to prove the

possession of a definite Ab hidharm a Canon F urtherm o re .
,

th ere are several places where the S aut rant ikas a g ree with the
S t hav irav adins as opposed t o the S arv as t iv adi ns but in their ,

arg urhe nt s with the latter they merely s a We do not

y :

accept the Ab hidharm a P i taka but hold onl y to the S fit ras

,

b ut as in these passages the seven works Of the S arv as t iv adins

are expressly referred t o it is curious that the S aut rant ikas
,

do not mention any rival Ab hidharm a P i taka pa rticularly ,

as the existence o f such a rival woul d have been an argument

agains t accepting any Ab hidharma P i taka .

In the same way whenever the Madh yami ka phil osophers

refer t o the Hinayana Ab hidharm a works the S arv as t iv adins ,

a re the o nl y ones quoted In fact among the Madhyamikas

.
,

the term Ab hidharmika is used as a synonym for

S arv as t iv adin .

It is difli cult to argue from S ilence but in any case it can ,

be seen that the P ali Ab hidharm a can never have been con
s ide re d the fountain head Of wisdom among th e No rth Indian
-

Buddhists It was probably c o mposed in S outh India where

.
,

Buddhist philosophy devel op e d o n lines Of its own 1

.

On t h g g r a phica l di t r i b u t i n f t h H ina y ana

1
e eo s o o ct
e intr d ucti o n
se s se e o

t T k ku u tr ans l ati n f t h e t r av l f I t ing ( I ching i fi)

’
o a a s s o o e s o - s .

0
18 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T PHILO S O PHY

S econdl y , as regards B uddhagho s a He can h ardly have .

been a North Indian because we know that in North Indi a

,

the S arv as t iv adin infl uence was particul arly strong and yet ,

in his Atthu S a li ni he mentions various Opini ons concerning

the Ab hidh arm a P i taka but makes no reference to the ,

S arv as t iv adi n Ab hidh arm a P roblems concerning the l ineage .

o f the Ceylonese school h owever present a special fiel d Of

, ,

research s o that at present we may pause no longer over the

,

matter .

—
( 2 ) The S arvas tivadins E very year the researches Of .

scholars into the recesses o f Buddh ist history tend t o bring

o ut the importance o f t he pa rt playe d by the S arv as t iv adin s .

fi adit io n state s tha t they became a d efini te sect about three

hund red years after the death of the Buddha but the ,

Sa rv as t iv adins themsel ves claim that three o f their works

were compos e d at the time of the Buddha o ne about a hundred ,

years thereafte r and the remai ni ng three about three h undre d

,

years after his death O ne o f these last is the famous Jfiana

.

P ras t hana whic h was regarded as the most important in

, ,

fact the keystone o f them all the other s ix words being known ,

a s the s ix p ad a o r feet .

The headquarte rs o f thi s sect seem t o have been in Gandh ara

and KaSm ira which were then e ven more than now integral
, , ,

pa rts Of India O riginally the sacr e d language Of the

.

S arv as t iv adins mus t have been some form Of P rakrit and t he ,

ph onetic rendering Of certain terms in the earlier Chines e

translations wo ul d tend to Sho w that the seven Ab hidharm a
works themselves were composed in this style Late r .
,

howe ver S ans krit was adopted and the infl uence exerted
, ,

by this school di d much to make this language the cano ni cal

tongue o f Buddhism though Of course the Ceylonese re
, , ,

t aine d a language (P ali ) which though composite literary , ,

and artificial was nearer the original colloquial than

,

S ans kri t 1
.

1
I nci d nta lly P al i an d S m k t a a e m o re c o rr e ct f o rm
e a s r r s, b ut t h e c us t o mary
s pe l lin g h s o f c ur
a o be e n r tai n d
se e e .
 I NT R OD UC TION 19

NO doubt the conversi o n of Kaniska t o this scho o l in the ,

first century A D was an infl uential factor in making the

. .
,

S arv as t iv adi ns the pr e dominant school over the whole o f

India from whence it spread to Central Asia Java and China
, , , ,

etc It seems t o have been regarded in India as the Hi nayana

''

school par e xce lle nce and therefore regard e d as the Obj ect ,

o f refutation on the part Of those perso ns who were not

Buddhists o r who though Buddh ists yet bel onged t o o ne of

, , ,

the Mah ayana school s Many Of the founde rs Of the other .

Buddhists schools were in fact originally S arv as t iv adins and ,

bore traces Of S arv as t iv adin infl uence t o the end Of their

days however much they might differ o n points o f detail
,
.

The c ul minating point o f the S arv as t iv adin phil osophy

appears to have been between the first and fifth centuries A D . .

At the beginni ng Of this period a number o f commentaries

appeared bearing the name o f Vib hasa P robably about the .

beginni ng o f the second century A D all other such works were . .

cast in the shadow by o ne such Vib hasa known as the

Mahav ib hasa This is an e ncy cl o pee dic exposition Of Buddhi st
.

philosophy in the form of a commentary o n the Jfian a

PI a s t hana Tradition says that it was compil e d by a Council
.

Of five hundred Ar hats convoked by Kani ska The tim e and .

the Arhat it y of the comp il ers may be ca ll ed into question ,

but o ne must pay a word Of admi ration t o the stupendous

nature o f the work itself It covers every point o f phi losoph y .

as that wor d was understood in Ancient India .

The next and fina l stage in the devel opment o f

S arv as t iv adin phi l osophy is represented by Va s ub andh u
and his great opponent S ang h ab hadra whose dates are ,

uncertain though it is best t o assign them t o the l atter part

,

1
o f the fourth century A D Though less synth e tic they were . .

more critical and systematic and they may be said to ,

represent the high wate r mark o f S arv as t iv adin phil osoph y

-
.

1
Th e at a ig n d t o V ub n dh u by Tak ku u in
d e ss e as a a s his a rtic l e in
J R AS 19 05 h
.
, v r al tim b e n c all d into que s ti o n
, as s e e es e e . In t he pr e se n t
in tanc t h matt r i f littl imp r tanc
s e e e s o e o e .
20 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

After them the infl uence Of th e S arv as t iv adins and o f all

other branches o f Hinayana declined partly due perhaps , , ,

t o the conversion Of Vas ub andh u to the Mah ayana fol d In .

any case no new developments t o ok place and in due course ,

the S arv as t iv adin schoo l entirely disappeared from India

a l ong with a ll other forms o f Buddhism It survives inthose .

Far E aste rn countries where Buddhism still prevails but ,

chiefl y as an obj ect Of study In these countries all monks .

,

irrespective o f sectarian di fference commence their scholastic ,

career by undertaking a course o f S arv as t iv adin phil osophy ,

chiefl y by means of the Va s ub a ndhu s Ab hidharm a Ko sa ’

.

l—
( 3 ) The Yog acarin S ec t The Yo g ac arin school presents
a very i nteresting prob l em to the student Of the development

Of Buddhist phil osophy fo r not o nl y does it represent the

,

highest point Of Mah ayana phi l osophy but it is also an ,

a tte mpt t o synthesi z e the best e l ements Of both Mah ayana

and Hinayana ideas O ne mi ght be led to suppose that the

.

e arl ier phases o f Mah ayana wo ul d be the most like Hinayana ,

but that once having departed from tra di tion the tendency
towards differentiation wo ul d become more marked The .

facts however seem far otherwise for the Yo g ac arin school

, , , ,

which was comparatively late is something o f a compromise ,

.

Many points o n which this assertion is based l ie rather within

the realm o f transcendental than in that o f relative philosophy ,

but t he following point deserves attention The Yo g ac arins .

,

alone among the Mah ayanists revert to the cosmological ,

position Of all the Hinayana sects and hence as we have , ,

already seen it is the only Mah ayana school t o possess a

,

defini te cosmological system Hinayana was largel y con .

cerned with points bearing upon phenomenol ogy the ,

Madhyamikas and other representatives Of earl y Mah ayana

idealism were concerned with o ntol o gy al one The Yo g ac arins .
,

after expressing their Opi nions o n matters ont o logical ,

reverted to di scussion concerning phenomenology The most .

1
Th e be s t su mmary of t he tr a diti nal acc unt
o o of Yo g . hi t ry
s o is t o b e
f o und in t h e P a -ts un g , v ol . ii p 9 if
, . .
22 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

The syste m evo lved by Asa nga eventually wo n over

Vas ub a ndhu wh o at once turned his greater phi l osophica l
,

powe rs t o the d e vel opment o f the new school Of thought and ,

though he died no t ma ny years after his conversion it was ,

no t before he ha d l aid the foundations o f a ph il osophica l

move ment which represented the highest phase o f I ndian

th ought and which fo r c onsistency acuteness lo g ical
, , ,

reasoning and rational procedure c ompares favourably with

, ,

any phi losophical system not based upo n data provided

by expe rimenta l science .

Many names figure in the gal axy o f thinkers produced by

the Yo g ac arins between the death Of Va s ub andhu and the
,

downfall o f Buddhism in India but Of these D ig nag a , ,

Dharm apala an d Dharm akirt t i are the most important

,
.

Dig nag a revo l utio ni zed Buddh ist logic and in some way s ,

may be sai d t o be the rea l founder o f Buddhist phil osophy

as Opposed t o Buddhi st theol ogy since it was he who first ,

laid d own t h e principl e that every doctrine must be proved

eith e r by sens e experience o r reason with out reference to
-

tra di tion Dharm a pala carried o n t he work o f Dign ag a

.

'

with more e s p e cial referenc e to metaphysics and his com ,

mentar y o n Vas ub andhu s Vidy am at ra S iddhi became for ’

,

the Chi nese at le ast the sta ndard manual Of the Yo g ac arin
,

sect Dharm akirt t i slightl y later made many notable

'

.
, ,

additions and mo di fications to the Yo g ac arin philosophy .

Unfortunate ly the period o f his activity was too late for the
,

Chines e t o take much note o f him but the Tibetan Tanj ur ,

contains many o f his works .

4 . S O UR CE S OF R E F E R E N CE
W e h ave alr e ady mad e reference to many Of the important
writing s Of each o f the three sects in defini ng th eir chronological
relationship It woul d be well ho wever to append a more
.
, ,

complete lis t Of the works which s erve as authoritative

source s o f i nforma tion co nc e rni ng the cosmol ogica l (and other )
doctrin e s o f e ach schoo l .
 INT R OD UC TI ON 23

1 . The S thavira vadins —Here the scriptural authorities

consist the P ali versions Of the Vinaya S fit ra and
of , ,

Ab hi dharm a P i takas O f these the first may in the present .

,

instance be entirely neglected The S atra P i taka cons ists

, .
,

as is well known Of the foll o wing five Nikayas

,

( )
1 D i g ha N i ka ya a co l lection o f
, 3 4 long dia l ogues with
1
no particul ar order .

2
( ) M a jj hi m a N i lca y a o r co llec t ion Of 1 5 0 o f m
,
i d d l e l ength ,

likewise in no systematic order .

These two are probably older than the next two Nikayas ,

and embody the Older and less formally categoriz ed do ctrines .

3
( ) S a m yu tt a N ih d ya
2
a c ollection Of a large
,
number o f
sma ll sutras in which an attempt has been made t o
,

arrange them according t o subj ect much Of the ,

psychological material o f early Buddhism for exampl e , ,

being arranged under the group o n Ayatanas .

4
( ) A n g utt a ra N ik a y a like w i se a collection ,o f a grea t
number o f small sutras arrang ed according to ,

numerical categories a favourite method o f ,

classification .

Thes e represent the seco nd stage Of Buddh ist philosophy

in which there is no longer a long dialogue leading up to the
enunciation of a new truth but the discus sion o f the meani ng ,

Of certain terms arranged in categories The fifth o r Khuddaka .

Nikay a we can ignore in the present instance In none Of the .

P al i Nikay a s is there a systematic exposition o f any aspect

o f Buddhist cosmology but many technical terms a r e ,

employed here and there which serve as the basis for the
later developments As might be expected the terms relating
.
,

t o c osmi c synthesis are nearl y all present as are also many ,

terms relating t o cosmic analysis but al most none relating ,

to cosmic dynamics .

1
Trans l ate d in to E ng li h by Pr f r nd Mrs R D avi d D i log s o e sso a . . s, a

of t he Bu dd ha 3 v l qu t e d h e r e aft r
, o s , D B o e as .

2
Th fir t p rti n tr an l ate d by Mr R D avids Kind d S ying
e s o o s s . .
, re a s .

I ndi vi d u a l E nglis h t r ans la ti o n f par at s fit n d Fr nch s o n d G rm a n

se e ras a e a e

trans l ati o n part ial o c mp l te n d no m nti n

s, r o e , ee e o .
24 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

The next stage is represente d by the seven works o f the

P a li Ab hidharm a P i t aka These are .
( 1 ) Dhamma sangani
( )
2 V ib h a n g a ; ( )
3 D h a tu K ath a ; 4
( ) P ugg a l a p a fifi a t t i ;
-

( 5 ) Kat h av at t hu ; ( 6 ) Yamaka ; ( 7 ) P a tth ana Of these .

,

especial attention Should be paid t o

1
( ) K a t hd va tt hu ( P o in t s o
f C o n t rovers y is the tit l e Of the
E nglish translation by Mrs R hys D avids and Aung ) as
, .
,

containing an account o f the doctrines concerning which the

P a li school differ e d from the other members of the Hinayana
communi ty In certain cases these refer t o cosmol ogical
.

matters .

( )
2 The most systematic treatment Of co s m i c s yn t he s is

is t o be found in the Vib hang a (last chapter ) though the b ul k ,

o f the categories in this book as in the others refer t o co s mi c

, ,

analysis .

( )
3 F or us the most important treatment Of co s m i c a n a ly s is ,

however is to be found in the Dhamma S angani particul arly

, ,

as we have a translation by Mrs R hys D avi ds 1

. .

( ) ali theories concerning cosmi c dynamics are to be

4 P
found in that vast l iterary j ungle known as the P a tth ana .

Though this is regarded as the most important Of the seven

works no o n e in the West has yet fought his way through
,

the thicket In spite o f the enormous amount Of repetition

.

which it contains a transl ation Of this work will throw

,

a g reat dea l o f new light o n the evol ution Of Buddhist ideas .

P osterior t o the Ab hidh arma P it aka proper but still Indi an , ,

o r at least partially Indian are such se mi canonica l works

, , ,
-

as the Milinda P afih a Netti P e t ako pade s a etc O f these

, , , .

’
the first is well kn own owing to P rofessor R hys D avids
translation known as The Ques tio ns of King M itinda
,
.

The next phase o f P al i Buddh ism which is in some ways ,

the most important Since it represents the final and complete

,

system o f cosmology is t o be foun d in the works Of

,

B uddhagho sa O ut of the vast number o f works written b y

.
,

1
A B uddhi st M a nua l of P s ycho lo g ica l E t hics .
 I NT R O D UC TION 25

or at least ascribed to, him we need mention only

, th e
following
( )
l Vi s uddhi M agg a the path ,
purity an original work of , ,

which is in fact a very able encyclop aedia Of Buddhist

, ,

doctrine correspondi ng t o but i nferior t o the

, , ,

S arv as t iv adi n Ab hidharma Kosa by Va s ub andh u

'
.

The Vis uddhi Magg a is the standard authority for

Ne o S t hav irav adi n philosophy
-
.

S m n l V il i a commentary the D gha

'

2
( ) u a g a a a s ni ,
o n i
Nikaya with an introductory survey o f all S fit ra
,

literature .

( )
3 A tt ha S d li ni a commentary
, o n the D hamma S a ngani ,

with an introductory survey Of all Ab hidharm a

literature No w transl ated into E nglish by Ting and
.

Mrs R hys D avids ( The E xpos itor)

. .

4
( ) P a n c a pp
-
a ka ra n a A t t ha ha t ha a commentary on the last ,

five books Of the Ab hidh arm a P it aka .

O ut Of the large number Of works produced after the time

o f B uddh a h o s a o nl y o n e calls fo r special comment This is
g .

An uruddh a s Ab hidh am m a t t h a sa ngaha a small summary of

’
-
,

Buddhist doctrine which has become the handbo o k o f every

monkish student Of S o uthern Buddhism t o a large extent ,

replacing the Vis uddh i Mag g a owing t o its greater brevity

.
—
and conciseness The Aun g Mrs R hys Davids trans lation .
’

1
o f this work is invaluable not o nl y because o f its carefull y
considered rendering of those terms which are most common
in all Buddhist literature but also because Of the introductory,

essay by Aung who gives there a most val ua ble account Of

,

the later interpretations Of the general field o f S t hav irav adin

phil o sophy which a s we know was largely concerned with
, , ,

c o smolo gical matters .

2 The S arvas t ivadins —As in the case Of the P ali school

.
,

we may neglect the S arv as t iv adin Vinaya P i taka and notice ,

onl y the other two We now know quite defini tely that the
.

1
Co mpe nd ium o f P hilo s ophy , qu te d h r aft r
o e e e as C P . . or Co mp .
f P hi l
o .
26 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI L O S O PHY

S arv as t iv adin s possessed a S utra P i taka Of their o wn which ,

was generall y uni form with that Of the S t hav irav adins ,

though differing fr om it slightl y as regar ds details .

Unfortunately Of this we have but fragments and it wo ul d

, ,

seem that many Of the Chinese translations Of the four Nikay as

represent sects other than the S arv as t iv adin Nevertheless .
,

by tracing quotations made by Vas ub andhu S anghab ha dr a , ,

and other S arv as t iv adi n writers we s e e that with o n e probable

,

exception the present Chinese version was in close a g reement

with that Of the S arv as t iv adins It may therefore be Of .
, ,

inte rest to g ive their names ( restored into S ans krit )

-

( )
1 D i r
g ha A g a m a
1
( D igha which is generally c o n

s ide re d to represent the Dh arm a u t a school

g p .

( )
2 M a d hy a m a A g a m a
z
M
( jja h im a which is likely a
transl ation Of a version bel onging to some branch Of
the S arv as t iv adin school .

m m —
-

3
( ) S a
y u ht a A g a m a
3
( S a y ut t a There are three
translations o f this work o f which o nl y o ne is anything
,

l ike compl ete S o me give this as belonging to the

.

S arv as t iv adins others as b el ong ing to the KaSy a piya S

, .

In any case the arrangement is sadl y at faul t .

( ) E tt ara Ag ama ( Ang ut t a a

4 k o
4
r — This is undoubtedly
a rendering Of some Mahas ang hika version as in some ,

pa rts it is almost Mah ayana in tone .

Ther e are al so a large number o f separate translations

Of individual s utras within the four Agamas These are Of .

great va l ue for the purposes o f higher criticism It may be .

added here that the order Of the s iit ra s is very different from
that Of the P ali version that some S ii t ra s are t o be found
'

o nl y in the Chinese version and some o nl y in the P ali and

, ,

that some s ii t ras are placed in different Agamas o r Nikaya s ,

1
Nan jro s No 5 4 5 ( s e e n o te o n n e xt page ) Th e wo rd Nan ji o fo llo we d by
’
. .

a n u m b e r is t h e nu m b e r give n in Nanjio s Ca ta lo g u e of the Ch in es e Buddhis t

’

Trip ita ka .

2
N . 5 42 .

3 N . 5 46 , 5 4 7 , 5 44, t h e l a t al n e b in g c mpl t
s o e o e e . N . 543 .
 I NT R OD UC TION 27

but o n the whole there is remarkable s imilarity between the

No rthern and S outhern version .

O ne Of the very few additi o ns t o the Northern Canon is a

l ong S fit ra appended to the Dirgha Agama giving a very long ,

and detailed account Of the Buddhist cosmorama o r cosmic ,

syn thesis D octrinally it differs little from the items scattered

1
.

through the other S ii tra s Of the Chinese translation and is

'

therefore in agreement with the Pali canon but none o f the ,

s fit ra s in the S outhern version gi ve at a ny o n e place S O

systematic an account This tendency towards methodology .

is always more visible in the No rth than in the S outh .

The Ab hidh arm a P i taka o f the S arv as t iv adins contains

seven works which constitute a definite authoritative canon .

S ix Of these are p ada o r props o f the seventh o r Jfiana

P ra s t hana which thus has even a more predominant place
,

among the S arv as t iv adi n w o rks than has the P a tth ana in the
S t ha v irav adin Ab hidharm a P i taka Like the P a tth ana .
,

moreover it was probably the last work to be compiled AS

, .

regards the S arv as t iv adin Canon there is evidence to Sho w ,

that in the earlier days prior to the compil ati o n o f the Jfiana ,

P ra s t hana o n e Of the six p ada call ed the Dharma s ka ndha

, , ,

was considered the leading Ab hidharm a work a position —

which it di d not readily lose even after the appearance Of the
Jh ana Pras t hana The seven works Of the S arv as t iv adi n
.

Ab hidharm a P i t aka together with their tra di tional dates and

,

authors are ,

( 1 ) J iiana P ra s t hana .
2
300 A B ,
Kat yay ani pfit ra .

D h m s kandha d B lifetime
’
s
( 2 ) a r a -
pa a . . s ,

Maham audg al y ayan a .

1
Th e r e th are par ate tr an l ati o n
re e sef thi utr a N 54 9 5 5 0 5 5 1 s s o s s , .
, , ,

b ut I hav qu t d fr m 5 45 inc a ll f u r v r i o n agr

e o e o n ntial Thi
, s e o e s s ee o e s se s . s

sutr a n d t h r p r t i n
a o e f t h C hin
o v r i n f t h l ng ll c t i o n i
o s o e e se e s o o e o co e s

qu t d
o e D A w hi l D N
as . .
,tand fo t h P a li v r i n n d D E f t h e
e . . s s r e e s o , a . . or

E n g li h tr an l ati o n f t h e P a li
s s o .

2
N 1 2 73—5 qu t d Jn P
.
, o e as . r .

N 1 2 9 6 qu o t d
.
, Dh S k e as . .
28 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI L O S O PHY

( )
3 S n i i d B lifetime Sariput ra 1 ’
a
g t p y y p
a r d a -
a a s ,
. . .

4
( ) P j p p i d 2
B l ifetime Kat yay an a
‘
’
r a ii a t d a s ,
. . .

'

( 5 ) Vijndna kdya pada 1 00 A B D e v a Sa rm an

-
.
3
, .

( 6 ) P ra ha ra na pada 4
3 00 A B Va s um it ra .
, .

( 7 t t u kdy pada
a - s
300 A B Va s umi t ra .
, .

O wing to Takaku s u
’
brief summary Of these works in the s

J 1 9 05 it is u nn ecessa ry to g O further into deta il

,

concerni ng their contents .

From the philosophical point o f view however the seven , ,

canonical works are greatl y overshadowed by the

Mahav ib h asa 6
Here for the first time Hinayana Buddhists
.
, ,

discussed pr o bl ems in a rational way and though the ol der ,

categories survived an attempt was made t o give them a

,

rational foundation It wi ll undoubtedly prove the most .

frui tful sour ce for any future work which attempts to give
in deta il the history o f the development o f Indian
Hinayana Buddhist thought since the views o f every section ,

Of the S arv as t iv adin community are represented Am ong the .

number o f di fferent interpretations o f the earlier theories

as found in the Mah av ib h as a we find especial emphasis
laid upon the Opinions Of Vas umi t ra Gh o s a B o dhide v a and , , ,

Dharm at rat a E ach Of these four persons wrote a number Of

.

independent books many o f which have come down t o us

,

in a Chinese translation A number o f other works were .

composed during this period These however are o f .

, ,

less value .

1 N 1 2 7 6 qu o te d ( infr e que ntl y ) as S a n pa r

.
,
-
.

2 N 1 3 1 7 n o t qu o te d a s t h e tr an s l ati o n is qu e s ti o na ble
.
, ,
.

3 N 1 2 8 1 n o t qu o te d a s t h e b o o k is b a dl y arr ange d a n d o f l ittle val ue

.
, ,
.

N 1 2 9 2 1 2 7 7 qu o te d as P r pa Th e fir s t par t is in te re s ting an d
.
, ,
. .

va lu a ble .

5 N 1 2 8 2 q u o te d a s D h K in te re s tin g o nl y b e cau s e Of t h e S ingu l arit y

.
,
. .
,

o f it s e n u m e r a t i o n an d d e fi ni ti o n o f t h e Ca it as ika s .

6 N 1 2 6 4 1 2 6 3 Th e l a t te r is t h e o n ly c o mple te tran s l ati o n an d t h e

.
, . ,

o n l y n
o e cit e d h e r e Q u o te
. d h e r e afte r a s M V o r Mah a V i b h F o r m e th o ds . . . .

of citati n
o se e n xt pag
e e .
30 MAN UAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

As regards the six s fit ra s we know that the Yo g acarin

,

schoo l founded by As a nga was a new and in many ways

ori g ina l contribution to Bud dhist though t Consequently .
,

it was in exact accor d with none Of the preceding s utr as

even of the Mah ayana school Neverthel ess it was found .
,

necessary to give the new schoo l added prestige and authority

by the citati o n Of certain s at ras which were alrea dy known
and accepted O nl y a small number o f s fit ra s however
.
, ,

coul d be used for this purpose The four Agamas taught many
.

things contrary to the doctrines of the new school Th e sa me .

was true Of the Prajfia P aramita S fit ras and others Of a simil ar

type which expounde d the theories Of the Madhyami ka
philosophers The purely Buddho l ogical s fit ras such as the
.
,

S ukh av at i v yfi ha were equa lly inconsistent with the

,

ph il osophica l tendency o f the new system Consequently .

,

recourse coul d o nl y be had to those s fit ra s which taught the

doctrine of transcendenta l idealism a doctrine which seems ,

to have developed subsequent to Nag arjuna and in contrast ,

to the l atter s absolute nih il ism As fina lly constituted the

’
.

new Satra canon consist ed Of

A bh id h m S and Tat hdg ata dvirbhdva g u na
( )
1 il t -
r a ra -
a ,

a la m hdra S at ra ( titl es questionable ) These were .

never translated into Chinese and seem to have been ,

completely lost .

2
( ) A v a t a m s a ka S il t ra Of ,
which we have two comp l ete
Chinese trans latio ns 1
in addition to renderi ng s o f
,

separate parts .

Like a ll the other S fit ra s Of the Yo g ac arin Canon th is ,

cann ot be ear lier than Nag arjuna but it must be one o f the ,

O ldest Of the S ix as the Tirt hakas (heretics ) and Hinayani sts

,

claim that it was compil ed by Nag arjuna himself and even ,

the orthodox Mah ayana tradition has it that he found thi s

satra in the dragon s cave AS a whole ho wever it is probably
’
.
, ,

l ate r than Nag arjuna as in add ition to the doctrine Of

, ,

1
N 87 8
.
— .
 I NT R OD UC TI ON 31

Sanya or Nihilism ,
which we know was th e special doctrine
o f Nag arjuna it teaches in a rather vague way th e d o ctrine
,

—
that the uni verse is the product o the mind a later develop
f
ment Apart from Buddhologica l ideas however it is
.
, ,

principall y concerne d with expoun ding the stages (fift y two -

in all ) o f a Bo dhisattva o n hi s path to perfection o r

Buddhahood This S fit ra is the basis Of a special schoo l o f
.

Chinese Buddh ism vagu ely related to the Yo g ac arin school

1
,

but with many import ant differences The S iit ra itself .

nowhere specifically teaches the Yo g acarin doctrine but it ,

is probably posterior to the S addharm a P undarika which , ,

in its present form is itself posterior t o Nag arjuna , .

4 La nkd vatd ra
.
2
S titra Thi s is a high ly impor tant .
-

S iit ra from the philosophica l standpoint teaching in an ,

al most systematic way a defin itely idea lis tic system differing , ,

however o n various important points from the later ort ho d ox

,

Yo g ac arin system chiefl y because the S fit ra emphasiz es ,

the noumenal aspect Of things with a tendency towards

monism and trans cendentalism as oppose d to the more ,

pluralistic and phenomenalistic idealism of the d octrine o f

As arig a Its doctrines are in general accord with t h e
.

Mah ayana Sraddh o t pada Of which we have an excell ent ,

E nglish translation by S uzuki 3

.

4 —
5 Gha na Vy uha
. This s atra was not tra ns late d into.

Chinese until after the time Of Hs ii an Tsang and it is probable ,

that the version which has come down to us has received

several new interpolations and additions In the main .
,

however its doctrine is in general agreement with that Of the

,

preceding S ii t ra save that the later esote ricism is here given

'

greater emphasis .

6 S a ndhi N irmocana S utra —

. Of this we have several .

Chinese translations 5
of which again that o f Hs iian Tsang ,

1
Th e H u a -y e n s ch o ol m nti n
e o ed ab v o e . Th e T ie n t ai s ch o o l
‘
-
‘
h a s fo r
it s b as ic s utr a t h e S a ddh arma P un darika .

z
N 1 7 5 17 6 1 7 7
.
, , A wa ke n ing of F a ith i n M a hd y ana B uddhi s m
.
3
.

N 444
. . N 1 5 4 1 5 5 1 5 6 246 2 47 5
.
, , , , .
32 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

is probably the best The great number Of the translatio ns.

Shows ho w much the work was appreciated in China This s ii t ra .

di ffers from all the others by being a work which really teaches
the Yo g acarin phil osophy in its orthodox form F o r this .

reason it is cons idered by the Yo g ac arins as being the most

important o f the S ix S iI t raS This identity Of d o ctrine early
’

aroused the suspicions even Of the uncritical O rientals and ,

it has been frequentl y suggested th at it was compos e d by

As a nga himsel f This v iew is partiall y supported by the
.

fact that the s atra in question is embodie d as a whole in the

l atter s Yog dcdra bhami and even more because Of the fact that
’
-
,

the styl e is much more l ike that o f a S astra than an ordinary

Mah ayana S fit ra ( a fact we may add that makes it Of , ,

infini tely greater literary merit) .

The twelve S astras are

1 Yog dcdra bh il mi
.
1
This is the gigantic work in 100 fasc
-
.
-
.
,

which is supposed to have been d ictated by the Bodhisattva

Maitreya and transcribed by As a nga Buddhists who were
, .

not o f the Yo g ac arin school have not scrupl e d t o credit the

whole work t o Asa nga Just as the S andhi Nirm o c ana is t h e .

basic S ii t ra Of this school S O is the Yo g ac ara b hfimi the basic ,

-

sastra La ter works are largely commenta ries o r epitomes Of

.

this s astra In a general way it corresponds in scope t o the

.

S arv as t iv adin Mah av ib h asa save that it is written from a ,

single standpoint and its doctrines are given authoritatively ,

as opposed t o the assembled arguments o f the diverse thinkers

Of the Hmayana school which constitute the b ul k Of the
'

Mahav ib has a Consequently while no Yo g acarin work is

.
,

lacking in philosophic thought the Yo g acara b hfim i is more ,

-

theol ogical than philosophical in tone Translated into Chinese .

b y H s iian Tsang The original l ost . .

2—
2 S atra a la m
. kdra This is a literary epitome o f much Of
-
.

the practical side Of the Yo g ac ara b hfim i i e the stages on -

, . .

the path o f the aspirant and the actions thoughts and , , ,

studi es which Sho ul d accompany each stage together with the ,

1
N . 1 1 7 0, qu t o e d as Y B . . or Y o g B hu
. .
2
N . 1 19 0 .
 I NT R OD UCTI O N

different res ul tant meritorio us qualities as so ciated wi th t he

various degrees Of sanctity It has no connexi o n with the .

book of the same title by AS v agh o sa We are fortunate in

1
.

possessing French translations Of both Asang a s and ’

Aév ag h o s a s S fi t ra Al amkaras the former by the veteran

’
,

s cholar S ylvain Lev i and the latte r by E Huber whose death

, , .
,

was a great l o ss to Buddhist scholarship .

.
—
3 Arya vac d P raka ra na 2
o r the exposition o f truth an , ,

early and famous epitome o f the metaphysical S ide Of the

Yo g ac ara b h fimi -
There is almost no doctrinal divergence
.

from the original s astra and together with the Yo g ac ara ,

b hfim i i t self it is c o nsidered to represent the earlier phase

,

o f Asa ng a s thought
’
.

4 Abhidha rma S artg i tifi o r c ompendium Of phil osophy

. .

Th e verses whi ch serve as the te xt fo r each section are ascrib e d

t o As ari g a while the prose po rtion was by B o dhis imha
’

, ,

who must have been an early disciple Of the school Being .

thus a j oint wo rk a Slight devel opment o f doctrine is ,

noticea bl e as e g in the form Of the syll ogism Of great

, . . .

importance as Showing the intermedi ate stage in the

Yo g acarin philosophical development is the commentary o n
the Ab hidharm a S angit i known as the Ab hidharma S am yukt a ,

S ang it i by St hit am at i not t o be confused wi th the S t hiram at i

1 ‘

, ,

o f the Madh yamika scho o l whose works are also well known ,
.

5 M ahaydna S a mpa rig ra ha o r an inclusive treatise o n

.
,

Mah ayana Of which the verses are by Asanga and the

,

c omm enta ry by Va s ub an dh u O f this we have three Chinese .

translations Of which that by Hs ii an Tsang is again con

5
,

s ide re d the most authoritative Another translation h o wever .

, ,

that Of P aram art ha is no teworthy Since a S pecial Chinese

, ,

s ect was founded upon it s

This highly im portant treatise .

di ffers from the preceding as being a commentary o n the

Ab hidharm a S ii t ra mentioned above and has no imme di ate
'

1
N . 1 19 9 .
2 N . 1 177 .
v 3
N . 1 182 . PP
“
VD U
N . 1 1 78 , fr qu ntly qu t
e e o e d h r aft r
e e e as Ab S a m S a n
. . . 0
1 A- sa» .

5
N . 1 1 83 , 1 1 8 4, 124 7 .
5
Th e l o ng s in c e e xtin c t .
M lq 44,
D ru b td i
-

31
+ 04 but s
,

‘ Ov -
 34 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

connexion with the Yo g acara b hiimi It is therefore cas t -

.

o n quite di fferent lines .

6 Yog a vibhag a ascribed a l so t o Maitr eya

.
-
, O f this we .

have no Chinese translation It was probabl y a summar y .

o f the l arger Y o g ac ara b h ii m i -

.

1 —
7 D a s a bhil mika S as tra
’

.
-
This is a work by Vas ub andhu .

deali ng with the ten stages o f a Bodhisattva s career and ’

incidentally including a discussion o f much metaphysical ’

matter Translated by B o dhiru c i This work like the

. .
,

Mah ayana S am parig raha is o f interest because at one time , ,

2
there existed a special sect in Chi na which was base d thereon , .

8 M adhydnta Vibhdg a the di stinction of the mean the

.
, ,

verses ascribed to Maitreya and the prose to Asa nga This , .

presents the Yo g ac arin inte rpretation o f the Madhya mi ka

theory o f S unya There are two Chinese translations
.
3
.

—
$

9 A
. la mba na P at yaya S as t a
r r This I s a work dea ling wi th .

M the process and cause o f sens e impressions F o r the meaning

P
.

of the word Al am b ana Prat yaya ( which may be roughly

rendered O c casional Cause in the Carte sian sense ) s e e t he ,

discussion in that part o f the present work termed Cos mi c

D ynamics Th e original work is ascribed t o Dig nag a the
.
,

great Yo g ac arin l ogician O f this there are two Chines e .

4
translations There is al so a Chinese translation of a com
.

mentary by Dharm apala which is even more famous than the ,

5
original work itsel f .

1 0 P ramd na S amuccaya —This is a compendium o f

. .

Buddhist phil osophy with especial reference to logic ,

.

Composed by D ig nag a it was transl ated by P aram art ha but , ,

it seems t o have been lost .

1 1 Vidyamdt ra S iddhi or exposition o f idealism in twenty

.
,

verses by Vas ub andhu based on the Lankav at ara S atra ,

.

This is a simpler and more general work than the foll owing .

i fl
There are three Chi nese trans lations 6

p z
.

1
N . 1 19 4 .
2
m k wi
li e se lo ng ag o e xti ct n .
3 N . 1 2 4 4 , 1 2 45 , 1 2 4 8 .

N . 1 17 2—
3 .
5
N . 1 174 .
6
N . 1 2 3 8- 4 0 .

a
d —
w 1 l a w $
al
c‘ U u ufi
l
h
-
wi i M R s i /d d
i- c

T
M fl
 I NT R OD UCTION 35

L 12 and m o st impo rtant is the Vidydmdtra S iddhi in

. Last
thirty verses als o by Va s ub a ndh u This is a more systematic
1
,
.

exposition of the wh o l e Y o g ac arin philosophy in thirty

mnemonic verses Its vast infl uence in the Buddhist .

world is due t o the fact that it was made the text for numerous
commentaries comp o sed by that galaxy of intellects that
foll owed Vas ub andhu P erhaps the m o st no table commenta ry .

was that written by Dharm apala Hs iian Tsang transl ate d .

this into Chi nese and fused with it selections from the
commentaries of nine other great scholars principall y ,

S t hit a m at i and D ig nag a 2

In their work the theology o f the .

earlier treatises is c o mpletely transformed into philosophy ,

and into philosophy o f a very high order .

The importance o f this compendium was early recogni zed ,

and it became the standard manual for all student s of the

Yo g ac arin system It is still moreover c o nsidered necessary
.
, ,

for the priests o f all other schools t o have read through it .

However o ne may di sagree with it s doctrines it is difficul t ,

to overpraise it s clear concise and l o gical form of , ,

exposition differing s o much from the slovenline ss

,

characteristic Of a great deal o f Buddhi st thought .

Unfortunately the scope o f the present work enables us t o

,

present only its weakest point viz the cosmol ogy inh erited ,
.

from earlier tra di tion But it is o f interest to note that .

consistent with its principle Of accepting only those thi ngs

which coul d be proved by reason or experience the myths ,

s
which constitute cosmic synthesis found little o r no place in it .

N 12 15
1
. . N 1 1 9 7 fr e que ntly qu o te d he re afte r as V M S
2
.
, . . .

3
T hre e o the r fam o u s an d impo r tant wo rk s o f t h e Y o g ac arins whic h are ,

n o t inc l u d e d in t h e li s t o f t we l v e Sas tr a s a re

1 P a nca s ka nd ha ka Sas tra

.
-
N 1 1 7 6 by Vas ub an dh u qu o te d a s
-
, .
, ,

P an S k . .

2P a nca s ka ndha va ipu lya sas t a N 1 1 7 5 a c o mm e ntary o n t h e

.
- - - r , .
, ,

pre ce din g by S t hit a m at i qu o te d a s P a r S k Va i , . . .

3 Sa ta dha rma v idyd dv a a N 1 2 13 by Vas ub an dh u q u o te d a s

.
- - - r , .
, ,

S O h T h e s e th r e e are s h o r t wo r k s c o nta inin g li s ts o f te chni cal te r m s with

. .
,

t h e o r th o d o x in t e rp re ta t i o n s th e r e o f .
36 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

PAR TI C ULA R AUTH O R ITIE S S E LEC T E D F OR T H E PR E S E N T

WO RK
It has been thought wise t o give a m o re o r less complete
list of the principal authorities or sources for each o f the three
school s in question as it may serve others in conducting more
,

exte nd e d research into Buddhist phil osophy more particul arl y ,

as Nanjio s Catalogue o f the Chinese Tripi t aka gives no hint as

’

t o the order o f arrangem e nt o r the chronological philosophica l

,

devel opment Al m ost each o f the above mentioned works

.
-
,

however has slight and in some cases important points o f

, , ,

di fferentiation even from other authorities bel onging to the

,

same school Al though a study o f these variations is o f

.

impo rtance for the understandi ng o f hues o f doctrinal

evolution in a book o f the present size and scope it is
,

impossible t o give due emphasis t o every phase and in ,

consequence the principle adopted has been t o Choose the

fi n a l phase o f each school and mention, brie fl y the point s of
di fference from the prec e ding ideas .

The word final n e eds perhaps some expl anation As long

, , .

a s each schoo l continued its corporate existence a certain

amount o f change o r devel opment took pl ace but wi thin each ,

school a time was reached when the number and order of the
cate gories became fixed S ubsequent development was
.

largely in th e nature o f reinterpretation o f the mi nor terms

and hidden meanings contained in the fixed list of categories .

Thus fo r example the earl y works o f each school are by no

, ,

means in a g reement as t o the number of the Cait as ikas but ,

after a certain period each school form ul ated a definite and

fixed list ( fift y two for the S t hav irav adins forty s ix for the
-
,
-

S arv as t iv adins and fift y o n e fo r the Y o g ac arins ) Thereafter

,
-
.

this number was rigidly adhered to .

F o r o ur present purposes therefore o ne work from each o f

, ,

the three schools has been chosen which may be reg arded
as a representative authority and which at the same time may
,

be said to mark this final phase This has been us e d as t h e .

38 MAN UAL OF BUDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

2 .
iifi if 31 -—
E F a chieh an li t u
No t in Na njio
-
‘
.

o r the Tripi ta ka but consisting almost entirel y of

,

quotations from the Cano ni cal works .

The pagination (in notes ) foll ows the edition in the S chool
o f Orienta l S tudies .

O ccasionall y I have referred t o and quoted from

P a tsung kang yao chiang i
g fi 5
- - - - -
.

As S anskrit is the ling ua franca o f all Buddhist scholars ,

in most cases I have restored the Chi nese terms to their

original S anskrit form In certain cases this has been done
.

with the aid o f the Mahav yut pat t i quoted as M Vy This

, . .

is a m e diaeval and anonymous S ans krit Tibetan Chinese - -

techni cal dictio nary F or the history o f this work s e e the

.

introduction t o the Ky Ot o edition o f the book itself .

 P AR T I
1 . C O S MI C SYNTHE SI S
ME T H O D S OF C O M P UT A T I O N
N ume rica l E xpres s io ns .

The deta il ed exa mi nation Of Buddhist cosmography must

begin with a consideration o f the most frequently empl oyed
n umerical terms Unfortun atel y there is very little uni formity
.

in this matter and each school seems to have it s o wn num erica l

,

sequence With most o f these we need not be concerned but

.
,

it may be of advantage to cite two o f the most common and

im portant .

In the first o f these taken from t h e Mahav yut pat t i ( p

,
.

w e find the following comparatively simple scheme

1 0 tens 1 hundred ( S ata ) .

1 0 hundre d s 1 thousand ( S ahas ra ) .

1 0 thousands 1 ayuta .

1 0 ay ut as 1 l aksa .

1 0 la ksas 1 niy ut a .

1 0 niy ut a s 1 ko t i .

1 0 ko tis 1 arb uda .

1 0 n y arb udas 1 padma .

1 0 padmas 1 kharv a .

1 0 kh arv a s 1 ni kh arv a .

10 ni kh arv as 1 m ah apadm a .

1 0 m ahapadm as 1 Sa nku .

1 0 Sanku s 1 samudra .

10 s am udras 1 madhya .

1 0 m adh yas 1 a tt a .

1 0 a tt as 1 parardh a .

The enumeration found in the Ab hidharm a Ko s a ( 12—

56)
is a s follows

1 0 ones make ten .

1 0 te ns a hundred .

1 0 hundr eds a thousand .

40 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

10 thousands make a prab he da .

10 prab he das a l aksa .

1 0 laksa s an at ilaksa .

10 at il aksas a ko ti .

10 ko tis a madhya .

10 s an ayuta .

10 ayu t a s a m ahay ut a .

1 0 m ahayut as a
1 0 na y ut as a m ah anayut a .

1 0 m ahanayut a s a pras ut a .

1 0 pra s ut a s a m ahapras ut a .

1 0 m ah apra s ut a s a kam kara .

1 0 kamkara s a m ahakam kara .

1 0 m ahakamkara s a b im b ara .

1 0 b im b ara s a m ahab imb ara .

1 0 m ahab im b ara s an aks o b hya .

10 a ks o b h s a m ahakso b hya
y a .

1 0 m ahakso b hya s
10 v iv aha s m ahav iv aha
9
9 .

1 0 m a hav iv ahas 9
9 ut s a ng a .

10 ut s a ng a s 9
9 m aho t s ang a .

10 m aho t s ang a s 0
9 vahana .

10 vahanas 9
9 m ahav ahana .

1 0 m ah av ahanas a t itib ha .

1 0 t it ib ha s a m ahat it ib h a .

1 0 m ahat it ib ha s a hetu .

1 0 h e t us a m ahahe t u .

1 0 m ah ahe t us a karab ha .

1 0 kara b ha s a m ahakarab ha .

1 0 m ah akarab ha s an indra .

10 indras a mahendra .

10 mahendras a s am apt a .

10 s a m apt a s a m ahasam apt a .

1 0 m ahas am apt a s a gati .

10 a m ahag at i .

1 0 m ahag at is a nimb araja .

 C O S MI C SYNT HE SI S 41

10 ni m b ara a s j make a m ahanim b araja .

1 0 m ahani m b ara ja s a mudra .

10 mudras a m ahamudra .

1 0 m ah am udras a ba la .

10 balas a m ahab ala .

1 0 m ahab alas a samjfia .

mjfias a m ahasampi a
'
10 sa .

10 m ahas amjfias a v ib hfit a .

10 v ib hiit a s a m ahav ib hfit a .

1 0 m ahav ib hfit a s a b alaksa .

1 0 b ala ks as a m ahab alaks a .

1 0 m ahab alaks as an asam khya .

Incidentally as am kh a means count l ess and

y ,

accordi ngly we find that thi s title is not strictly true since its ,

exact signi ficance can thus be discovered .

Among the many other well known numerica l sequences -

are those found in the Lalita Vis t ara the S addh arm a ,

Pun darika and the Av at ams aka

,
1
but the fact that such ,

schemes were purely fanciful and were never used for practica l ,

purposes permits us to lea ve them unnoticed

, .

The Computa tio n f

o S ize a nd D is tance .

The ultimate or sma ll est uni t in t h e comput ation o f size

and distance was the param anu o r atom F o r the calcul ation .

o f S ize from this pa ra m anu to the a ngul i ( digit or Bud dhi st

inch ) we frequently find the foll owing curious old tabl e 2

7 param anus make 1 anu .

7 a nus 1 l o harajas or meta l dust with 49

pa ra m anu s .

7 lo haraja s 1 a b ra as
j or minute particle of water ,

with 3 43 param anus .

1
L alVis t ( L s
. . .
’
p 149 ,
. a g r with Ch ees . S a d P u n B urn o uf s
. .
’
tr an s.

appe n d a g r e e s with Ch
. . Avat f 48 o f 6 0 f d
. . . e . an d f
6 5 o f 80
. ed f . .
( bo t h
F o r Ce yl o n M E 6 K i 3 36
A K 12— 1 3 6—
. . .
, , .

2
. . 1b ; M V . . 1b f:S uth K i or o .
, 33 5 . M Vy. . 52 0 .
42 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O P HY

7 ab ra a s
j make 1 SaSarajas hare o r rab b it dus t
or ,

or minute portion o f rabbit s ’

dung with, p ara m an us .

7 Sa Sarajas 1 a v ira as o r S heep dust

j etc with , .
,

ara m anus
p .

7 a v ira
jas 1 g o raja s or co w or ox dus t etc , with, .

ra m anu s
pa .

7 g o rajas a V at ay an a cchi drara as

j the mote or

in a sunbeam ( entering by a hole

in the window) wi th ,

aram anus
p .

7 V at ay a n a cc hi
drarajas 1 liks a or ni t with
ara m anus
p .

1 y ii ka or l ouse with
ara m anus
p .

7 yaka 1 yava or barl ey g rain ,

p a ra m anu s .

7 yava angul i o r
1 digit , wi th
A digit is about 2 m .

Up to this point the units are l argel y o f theoretica l interest .

The l arger figures used in everyday life are enum erated in

, ,

the Ab hi dh arm a Ko s a as fo ll ows

1

3 a ngul i parva o r
-

fing e r j oints
-
1 a nguli o r digit .

2 4 an g uh 1 hasta fore arm o r cubit

,
-
,
.

4 hasta 1 dhanu o r h o w a fathom o r 6 feet ,

.

dha nus 1 kro Sa 5 00 fathoms o r

, feet .

8 krOSa S 1 yoj ana the Buddhist mil e ,

.

This though the orthodox computation was by no means

, ,

universal More particularl y the yoj ana like the Chinese li

.
, ,

had a very fl uctuating value S ometimes it is spoken o f as

.

equi val ent t o feet others give 41 o r 5 mil es the nearest

, ,

to the Ab hidharm a Ko s a figure ; other authorities g ive

1 —
1 2 2a .
 C O S MI C SYNTHE S I S 43

7 , 7 1, 7g, 9 , 1 21, 1 6 mil es The us e of the te rm by the Chin e s e

.

pilgrims was inconsistent and contradictory .

The S ma lle r P e riods f o Time .

D iscrepancies concerning the computati o n o f time also

occur but are l ess frequent The hsa na is a lways the small est
,
.

uni t . S ome s ay that it is the 9 0t h part o f the dur ation

o f a thought o r the 4 5 00t h pa rt o f a minute
,
whi le the , ,

Mahav ib has a states that such ks anas

comprise o ne day .

The Ab hidh arm a Ko sa gives us the follo wing list

1

1 20 ksa na s make a t at ksa na .

60 t a t ksa na s a lava .

3 0 lavas a m uh iirt a ( 48 E uro mi nutes ) . .

5 m uh firt a s a kala ( Bud hour ) . .

6 kalas a day ( of 2 4 E ur o hours ) . .

These kalas were grouped as follows : ( 1 ) Tris andhy a or

2

three day watches forenoon o r pfirv ahna noon o r Ma dhy ahna, , ,

and afternoon o r Aparah na ( 2 ) Three night watches fir st .

,

watch P rat ha m a yama midnight watch o r Madhyam a yama-

,
-
,

a n d the last watch o r P a Sc im a yama Incidentall y Hs iian -

.
,

Tsang adds that though this is the official Buddhist

3

calcul ation many Bud dhists in India ad o pted an eight period

,
-

ins tead o f a s ix period day four periods in the dayt ime and
-
,

fo ur in the night .

The M ont hs a nd S eas o ns .

4

Th irty Vasant a s or days and nights make o ne Masa o r

month this being subdivided into t wo paksa o r half months
,

( ) Sukla paksa the white period when the moon is waxing

a , ,

1 —
12 2 a . See al so L ka p o - ra jfiapt i, 5 5a , fo r — full acc unt o .

2
M Vy . . 5 22 ff .

2
Wat t e rs On Yu an Chu ang s e c ti o n o n I nd ian time
, , .

1
F o r a ll s u ch ca l c ul ati o n s M V y 5 22 fo r Ce yl o n M E 2 3 F o r t h e No r th
. .
, . . .

acc o unt o f s e as o ns s e e parti cul arly appe ndi x t o I ching s tr ave ls Ta kaku s u s -
’
,
’

tr ans l at io n .
44 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PH Y

and (b) Krsna paksa o r dark period when the moon is , ,

wa ni ng There are further twelve Varsa o r months in

.
, ,

a year ,

1 . Cait ra . 7 . ASv ina .

2 . Vaisakh a . 8 . Kart t ika .

3 . Jy aisth a . 9 . Marg aSirsa .

4 . Asadha . 10 . P ausa .

5 . S rava na . 11 . Magha .

6 . B hadrapada . 12 . Phalg un a .

We find that ther e were seve ral ways o f classifying t he

months into seasons Th ere was in fact a two fold a thr e e .
, ,
-
,

fold a four fold a fiv e fold and a s ix fold classification

,
-
,
-
,
-
.

1 The Two fo ld Cla s s ificat io n — This consists o f the Ay anas

.
-

o r marches s o called because during the o n e the s un graduall y

,

moved t o the north and during the other it gradually move d ,

t o the south This di vision will be g iven more detailed

.

consideration when dealing hereafter with Buddhist

astronomy E ach o f these seasons contained exactl y s ix
.

2 . The Three fo ld Clas s ificat ion T sang i nform s

-
.
—Hsuan
us th at the most c o mmon division o f the year was into three
seasons winte r spring and s ummer o r bett e r t h e cold the
, , , , , , ,

rainy and the hot seasons

, .

3 The F ou r fo ld Clas s ificat io n

.
— This was t h e classification
-

o f the months upon which most theoretica l emphasis was

laid It corresponds t o o ur o wn division o f the year into

.

sp ring summer autumn and winter each S eason containing

, , , ,

three months
—
.

4 The F ive fo ld Clas s ific atio n

. The Vinaya o r Canon La w
-
, ,

treats this cl assification as the most orthodox It consists .

o f ( 1 ) a win t e r season o f four months ( )

2 a spring of four ,

months ( 3 ) a rainy season o f o n e month ( 4) a last season o f

, ,

o nl y o ne ni gh t and day and ( 5 ) a summer season o f ,

five months
—
.

5
( ) T he S i x f o ld Clas s ific at io n This d ivision o f wh ich ,
46 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

peri o d o f human life is an Asa m khy a Very frequently .

,

however it is epitomized by the figure 80 o r

,
the usual
Buddhist manner in S peaking of large numbers .

1 —
S ma ll Ka lpa The whole o f the eigh t yugas taken together
.

forms a small o r antara kalpa This small kalpa then is .

, ,
’
equivalent t o the period which it takes for man s life to increase
and decrease t o the ma ximum the rate o f such increase being ,

computed at one year in every hundred It is not however .

, ,

necessary for such an increase and decrease to take pl ace

in an antara kal pa for as we shall s e e l ater there are
, , ,

certain epochs when fo r a whol e antara kal pa there is no

sentient existe nce at a ll It is merely a fixed peri od of time. .

M iddle Ka lpas — These small er kal pas are further grouped

together in sets o f twenty the whol e o f which period is call ed ,

a Middl e or As am khy a kalpa These mi d dl e kalpas are again .

, ,

o f four kinds whi ch succeed o ne another in the foll owing

,

order
1 Vivarta ka lpa o r the mi d dl e kalpa o f formation during
.
, ,

which the worl d c o mes into existence and its first ,

inhabitants are spontaneousl y a nd automaticall y born . .

2 Vivart a s iddha ka lpa or the mi ddl e kal pa of the con

.
-
,

tinned formation or the prime of the world ,

.

3 S amvarta ka lpa o r the mid dl e kalpa o f destruction

.
, ,

during which the world gradually degenerates and is ,

finally destroyed .

4 S a mvarta s iddha ka lpa o r the kalpa o f the continuance

.
-
,

o f destruction during which the world is non ,

existent and all is void .

A S amv art a siddha kalpa is followed by another Viv art a

- -

kalpa and s o on eternally It shoul d be noted that the

,
.

destruction of the world does not mean the destruction of the

universe since as we shall la ter have occasion to observe
, , ,

Buddh ism postul ates the existence of an infini te num ber o f

inhabited worlds .

1 F o r t he K al pas F T . . 30 —
2 a . F Ch 2 b. . an d 6a . A K 1 2 1 2 if
.
-
.
 C O S MI C SYNTHE SI S 47

Gre at —
Ka lpa The entire cycle
. the four middle kalpas of

is call ed a Mah akalpa o r great kalpa which is the largest ,

uni t o f calcul ati o n E ach such great kalpa is the cyclic period
.

o f a world dur ing which time the wh o le drama o f creation

,

and destruction is played The great kalpas c o ns ist o f four

.

middle kalpas and as each mi ddle kalpa consists of twenty

,

small kalpas a g reat kalpa contains eighty small kalpas

,
.

The following chart may serve as an aid in memorizing this

(a ) Great Kalpa . b
( ) Middl e Kalpa .
( )
0 S mall Kalpa .

Othe r Chrono log ica l Cyc le s .

In addi tion to this more or less mathematical computation

o f time Buddh ism makes frequent mention o f various other
,

cycl es mostly wi th a m o re re lig io ns significance

, Of .

cosmol ogical reference are the three Great Calamities 1

,

cycles of destruction of the world through fire water and , ,

wind the three S mall er Calamities cycl es of evil whi ch occur

2
,

whenever the durati o n o f human life reaches its l owest ebb .

Again kalpas are grouped into (a ) those in which Buddhas do

,

and (b ) do not appear Again inside of each kalpa there are

.
,

3
only certain epochs when Bud dhas P ratyeka Buddhas and , ,

1 A K 12 —
l 6 a ; N A 3 2—
. 2 0 ; D A 1 1061
. . . . .

2
A K 12 —14 b ; N A 3 2 1 86 -

—
. . . .

1
A R 12 —
. 8a ; N A 32 9a
. . . .
 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

Cakrav art ins may be b o rn . Finally in connexion with the ,

duration o f the doctrine o f each Buddha there is a cycle o f

1
the three fold l aw viz ( 1 ) the period o f the True La w the
-
, .
,

Buddha doctri ne in its purity l asting for five hundred years ,

a fte r the death o f the founder the period of the Image

( )
2
Law when men lose the spirit and cling to the letter o f the
,

law lasting fo r a thousand years ; ( 3 ) the period o f the

,

D ecay of the La w during which the doctrine becomes corrupt ,

a n d d e fil e d lasting accor di ng to some o n e thousand years

, , , ,

according to others ten thousand .

2 . C O S MI C GE O GRAP HY
World S ys t e ms .

The interaction o f the atoms and elements brings about

the formation o f the universe In common wi th other Indi an .

philosophies Buddhism taught that the uni verse cons ists

,

o f an i nfini te number o f worl ds all more or l ess o n the same ,

plan as o ur own wi th the same number o f moun tain ranges , ,

continents oceans e t c together with the other features o f

, ,
.
,

Buddhist cosmography incl udi ng the hell s in the interior o f , ,

a n d the heavens above each world , .

The number o f these worlds is reall y incal cula ble Their .

number runs into infinit ude and they are scattered through all ,

the s ix dir ections o f space 2

These worl ds are group e d in .

various kinds o f chilio c o s m s A small chilio c o s m consists o f .

a thousand c akrav alas o r worlds and is encompassed by a , .

gigantic wall A middl e c hil io c o s m consists o f a thousand small

.

c hil io c o s m s with a similar wall A large c hilio c o s m cons ists o f

, .

a thousan d mid dl e c hili o c o s m s and is likewise furnished with ,

a n encompassing wall A small c hilio c o s m contains a .

m id dl e c hilio c o s m contains and a large c hilio c o s m

worlds 3
The Ab hidharm a Ko s a i nforms us .

1
F Ch . . 3 0—
4a .

2
ME 2 [M B S pe nc e H ar d y s M a nua l of
’
B i
u ddh s m $
—
. . . . .

3 ME 8 ; AK 1 1 15a ; N A 3 1 2 0a ; F A 3 2—
7a ; D A 92a ;
—
-
. . . . . . . . .

AVP
. . . 1 5a .
 C O S MI C GEO GRAP H Y 49

that the distance between t wo worlds is yoj anas .

O ur o wn c hilio c o s m is known as the S aha world which means ,

either the place o f suffering o r the capital of a chili o c o s m and ,

is that to which S akyamuni limi ted the r evel ation o f himself .

Cla s s ificatio n o
f t he World S ys t e ms .

The infinity o f space and the countless number of worlds

which it contains being admitted the next ta sk is t o disc o ver
, ,

how Buddhism sets about classifying them .

Hin ayana with its doctrine o f the ra rity o f the Buddhas

, ,

divides the uni verse into three categories : ( 1 ) Cakrav alas

which appear t o the Buddhas but whi ch do not receive his ,

Dharma and in which a Buddh a is never b orn ( 2 ) Cakrav alas

,

receiv ing the Dharma o f the Buddhas but in whi ch a Buddha ,

is never born ; ( 3 ) Cakrav alas in whi ch S upreme Buddhas

thems elves appear Thi s division is late and appli es only t o
.

1
certain branches o f Hinayana chi efl y the southern branches ,
.

The tendency of Northern Buddhi sm especially Mah ayana , ,

was t o uni versalize Buddhahood .

P erh aps the most important di vision o f the universe into

the three regions o f Kama o r D esire R apa o r F orm and
Arfipa o r F ormlessness 2
Thi s classification is common t o .

all forms o f Buddhism and must therefore be considered ,

somewhat m ore in detail .

The Kama dhat us o r worlds o f desire consist o f those

realms where the inh abitants still suffer from various pa s sions .

Those in the lower regions are still subj ect t o pain ; th ose
in the upper regions enj oy a physical and sensuous pleasur e .

This realm includes the material worlds o r earths with the ,

various forms o f life contained therein and the s ix Kama , .

heavens .

The R apa dh at us are those realms in which the lower fo rms

o f desire are exter mi nated but in which the inhabita nts are ,

1
InC yl on ( cf M B ) it is s aid that t h C kr
e . . . e a a v al a s al way g in gr up
s o o s

o f threea rr ang d f ll ws
, e T hi d o ctrine
as o o 0
°
C s is u nkn o wn in t h e N rtho .

2
A K 8—1a . .
50 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

still possessed o f fig ur e and shape and are still susceptible ,

t o the finer forms of inte llectual desire Thi s real m consists .

o f S ixt een seventeen o r eighteen Brahm a heavens situate

, ,

above each Kama dh atu .

The Arfipa dh at us are those realms wherein even figure and

body disappear and onl y life remains These realms are
, .

generally enumerated as four in the first three o f which there ,

still e xi sts some form o f consciousness whil e in the fourth ,

there i s n e ither consciousness no r unconsciousness .

In addition to these Mah ayana postul ates an infinite ,

number o f B uddhakse t ras o r Buddha l ands in which the

highest followers o f Buddhism are reborn .

A more detailed examination o f these three realms had

best be divided in the foll owing way ( 1 ) A description of the
cosmi c geography o f the Buddhists o r a cha rt o f the c o n ,

figur ation o f the earth (2 ) A table o f the various heavens and.

hells etc which are t o be found in the bowels o f o r above

, .
,

the earth ( 3 ) Description of the various beings who are

.

supposed to inh abit these regions .

The E art h s F o undat io n

’
.

The basis of each world is a materi al earth and since each ,

worl d and theref o re each earth is uniform the general plan ,

o f o ne earth holds good fo r all others .

All the S fit ra s and S astras agree that the earth is in the

shape o f a cyli nder the visible worl d being on the fl at section
,

o n top while the cylinder proper co ns ists o f l ayers of different

,

kinds o f material s These layers are composed as follows

.
1

1 At the very bottom o f each earth and thus supporting

.
,

is the i nfinite and thus unmeasurable worl d of Akas a S pace ,

o r ether which at the same time is above around and in each

, , ,

o f the other spheres .

2 Above this there is a layer o f air o r wind solid and

.
,

immovabl e to such an extent that it cannot be penetrated

1
AK l l la
.
—; N A 3l l a
. .
-
; MV . .
—
13 3 4 0 ; F A 3 2 l 5a ;
. .
— D A 9 2a ;
. .

Y B 2 7a
. .
; of . Ce yl n a
o cc o u nt s ME
. .
 C O S MI C GE OGRAPHY 51

by di amonds It is yoj anas in depth but its

.
,

di ameter and circum ference cannot be mea sured .

3 Above thi s is the layer o f water

. yoj anas deep , ,

with a circumference of yo janas .

4 Above this is a layer o f gold or hard rock in contra

.
, ,

distinction to the soft m o ul d o f which the earth proper is

composed It is . yoj anas deep and has the sam e ,

circumference as that o f wate r .

5 Finally there is the layer o f earth proper

.
,
y o$ana s ,

deep o n t o p o f whi ch are the various moun tains oceans

, , ,

continents etc Its circumference is the same as the

, .

prece ding t wo .

The earth is suppos e d t o be create d held togeth er and , ,

generally sus tained and supporte d by the aggregate resul t of .

the actions of all sentient bein gs The manner o f its crea tion .

and destruct ion will be described hereafte r .

M ahdmeru ,
t he Ce nt ra l M o unt ain .
1

In the exact centre of this and all other world s I S situate

a huge mountain which is the navel o f the earth and con , ,

cerning which many legends have arisen Various .

supernatural beings are on its Sides o n its summi t as well as , ,

immediately above it .

Its total height above the surface o f the central sea which
surrounds it is yoj anas and bel ow its surface it ,

reaches down to the bottom of the earthl y layer (anothe r

yoj anas ) R egar ding it s diamete r there is much
.
,

difference o f Opini on All agree that t h e grea te st di ameter is

2
.

at its base (i e s e a l evel ) and at its summi t the smallest portion

. .
-
,

being between these two parts The maximum diameter is .

the same as the height yoj anas O n the sides are ,

.

certain excrescences which are the abode o f certain o f the ,

deities such as the four t iers o f heavens rul e d over b y the

,

1
A K 1 1—
2a .
; F L 32 8b ; Y B 2 7a
. .
— . .
— . For C yl n M B
e o . . 10 ; K I 18 7
. . .

2
For C yl
e on M E 10 . . .
52 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI L O S O P H Y

Catur Mah arajikas ( the F our Grea t Kings ) o r the guardia ns ,

o f the four di re c tions .

E ach o f thes e rul ers has hi s o wn especial col our whi ch he ,

imparts to the te rri tory over which he rul es s o that each side ,

o f the central mountain has a di f ferent hue as have the seas , ,

r ocks atmosphere etc in each direction By reason o f the

, , .
, .

int e rmi ngling of these four primal colours in those parts where
the y overlap eig ht shades are enumerate d v iz
, , .

I n the north Gol d , .

In the north east Virgin Gol d -

, .

In the east S ilver , .

In the south east P al e B l ue -

, .

In the south B lue , .

In the south west P urple -

, .

In the west R e d , .

In the north west Golden R e d -

, .

To the Buddhists the whol e o f the known worl d formed but ,

a part o f Jam b fidv ipa the great southern continent which , ,

acco unts for the fact that t o us the s ky seems blue but for ,

the peopl e inh abiting other continents in other directions

the sky has a di fferent colour .

The S eve n R oc ky Circ le s .

R ange d around Maham e ru ( at interval s between whi ch are

oceans ) are seven rocky o r mountainous circl es gradua lly ,

decreasing in altitude and increasing in circumference As .

regards a ltitude the extent o f each mountain under the water

,

is the same yoj anas ) The altitude o f each mo untain

1
. .

a bo ve the water decreases by ha lf and the diameter of each ,

is th e same as the extent of its el evation above water Thus .

2
these circles are
1 Yug o/rndhara
.
— I t surroun d s Meru on a ll sides though
.
,

s eparated from it by an ocean yoj anas wide Being .

1
H r a n d e l e w h re A K h
e e s D A h s
e t he ba i o f . as . . a as s s

c al c ul ati n Oth e r w o r ks va ry b e t we n t h t wo I f o ll w A K
o . e e . o .

2
M Vy 2 80 No t w acc unts giv e t h s am l i t e c mp cha rt o o e e s s e o

2 a ; M V 1 3 3—1 3 b ; Y B 2—
.
. . .
, ,

K I 186 ; als M E 1 2 ; A K 1 1—
. . o . . 7b . . . . . .
54 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

is an ocean The . sal t ocean o r that betwe en Nimimdhara and ,

t h e ou te r circl e , is the ocean in which are placed all the

inh abi ted continen ts and s o is the o nl y one known to mankind
, .

Al l of the firs t seven oceans are yoj ana s deep Their .

diame ter ha s been given above The depth o f the salt ocean .

has also been s ta t e d Its wid t h is . yoj anas The .

circumference o f the whole earth o r Cakra v ala and therefore ,

the out e r circumference of the salt ocean is yoj anas , .

Incidentally t he fi g ures for the diameter o f the earth ma y be

o f in t e r e st The Ab h idharm a Ko s a gives the foll owing
.

enum e ration Me ru having a diameter of

. yoj anas ,

it s radius is FTOI n the outermost point o f Meru to

the out ermost po int o f Nimimdhara is yoj anas
being land a nd an equal amount water ) Across
, .

t h e s a l t oc e an it is yoj anas o r more exactl y ,

yoj anas s o that the total diameter o f the earth is

,

y oj anas .

According t o som e accoun ts the interior seas are fill ed with ,

various kind s of perfum e d wa ters The Ab hidharma Ko Sa .

,

however merel y says tha t their waters possess the eight

,

ma g ic quali ti e s : ( 1 ) purity ( 2 ) coolness ( 3 ) swe e tness (4) , , ,

s oftness (5 ) l ightness ( 6 ) fragrance (7 while drinking it

, , ,

do e s no t inj ure the mouth ( 8) when drunk it does not inj ure ,

t he stomach .

Various re a s ons are given for t h e sa ltness o f the eighth o r

g r e at ocean Th e following
. are the mos t frequent : ( ) In
1
the middle of the s ea is a gre a t fish whose po ll utions cause ,

the sal t taste ( 2 ) in the ancient days a Rsi us e d his magic

powers t o e ffect the brackishness ( 3 ) the salt taste is caused
b y the ear th s impurities which have been washed away into
’
,

the s e a.

The ocean do e s no t overfl ow in spite of the water constantl y

b eing a d ded b y the r ivers b e cause there are four j ewels at ,

the bo ttom o f the ocean which absorb a ll the surplus water ,

.

These change the wate r into various th ings which eventually ,

disappea r l ea vi ng no r esiduum The tide s were explained

,
.
 C O S MI C G EO GRAPHY 55

by the theory that the water at sta te d periods fl ows in and

out o f the palace o f the Naga lnng situate at the bottom o f ,

the s ea .

The F our Great Co ntine nt s .

1

Located in the eighth or outerm ost or salt ocean and , , ,

outside Nimimdhara o r the seventh rocky circle are the four

great co ntinents one on each side o f the world
,
.

1 On t he N orth
. yoj anas in extent is the ideal continent
, , ,

Ut t arakuru square in shape like a chair or the lid of a box

, ,

having four equal Sides each side yoj anas long 2

,
.

2 On t he E as t
. or yojanas in extent is P arva
, ,

v ide ha in the shape o f a ha lf moon

,
Ac c o rding t o the Abhi -
.

dha rma Ko Sa it has thr e e sides o f

,
yojanas e ach and ,

a fourth o f 350 yojanas .

3 On the We s t is Aparag o daniya o r Go da niy a in shape

.
,

round like the full moon 7 500 o r 7 000 yoj anas in circumfer
, , , ,

ence with a diameter of

, yojanas .

4 On the S outh there is the great continent J am b ii dv ipa

.
,

in shape like a triangl e ( with the point facing south ) having ,

a circumference somewhat over yoj anas The .

Ab hi dh arm a Ko Sa states that three o f it s sid e s are

yoj anas long and a fourth o nl y 3 1 , .

Most accounts further add that in the vicinity and o n each

side o f these four continent s there are two large islands o r
sub continents (i e o ne o n each side ) making in all twelve large
-
. .
,

inhabited portions o f the world Connecte d with the northern .

contin ent are the isla nds Kurava and Kaurav a ; with the
ea ste rn continent D eha and Vide ha with the western
continent S atha and Ut t a ramant rina with the southern
continent Camara and Aparac amara All are inhabite d by .

s ome spe cies o f man though ac cording t o o ne acc ount

, , ,

Camara is inh abit e d only by ra ksas or demons .

1
A K l l 4a
.
—; . .
—
F T 3 2 8 b ; Y B 2- 7 b ; M Vy 2 17 . . . . .

2
For Ce ylo n a mp ificati l o ns M
E 1 5 , fo r t h e N o r D A 94 fl
. . th . . .
56 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

In the e arl y stages o f Buddhist cosmo l ogy Jam b iidv ipa ,

consisted o nl y o f India and the immedia t el y surroundi ng

countries the other portions o f the world being unknown
, .

Later when Japan China Centra l Asia etc

,
came to be, , , .
,

known they were likewise count e d as part o f the same

,

continent S till l ater E urope Africa and even America were

.
, , ,

put in the same category .

A great many mythica l detail s w ere added t o the Buddhist

descript ions o f Jam b ii dv ipa chiefl y with reference to the ,

1
principal mountains l akes rivers and forests With these, , , .
,

however we need not concern our sel ves and may rest content
, ,

with referring the curious to the p rincipal original authoriti e s .

B uddhis t As tro no my .
2

All schoo l s o f Buddhism taught that attached t o each

Cakrav ala there is a sun and moon as well as a mul titude of ,

star s all comparatively small bo dies which move in their

,

orbit around Mount Meru causing the division into days , ,

nights months years etc

, Both the s un and the moon were
, , . .

supposed to be about yojanas above the l evel o f the

s ea o r the same height a s Yu am dh ara the fir st of the rocky
g ,

circl es s o that this circle and Meru itself hid their rays from
,

the continents lying o n the other S ide from which the sun and
moon happened for the moment to be Both s un and moon .

continuall y revolve around Meru the path o f their orbit ,

being between Nimi m dhara and the outer circl e o r in other , ,

words above the great salt ocean Consequently when it i s

, .
,

da y in the southern continent it is night in the northern

continent sunset in the eastern continent and sunr ise in the
, ,

western continent .

The Ab hidh arm a Ko s a states that the disc of the s un is

5 1 yojanas in diameter that o f the moon 50 The s un is ,
.

composed o f gol d and crysta l th e moon of Silver and lapis

1
C yl n ampli fic ati ns M E 15 ff f t h N rth D A 9 3 ff
For e o o or e o

A K 1 1— 8 b ; N A 3 1—
.

12 ; F A 3 2—
. . . . .

2
. . 1 6a Cf M E 2 0 h o win g
. a . . . . .
, s

diff re nce s o f S o u th rn a c c o unt whe r s un 5 0 y i n d m o n 40 y i

e e s, e o . a o o .
 C O S MI C GEO GRAP H Y 57

lazuli Acc o rdi ng t o some accounts the sun is really square

.
, ,

and o nl y it s movement and its distance make it seem round .

In the s un is the pa lace o f the s un god Sfiry a and in the moon , ,

that of the moon god Candra E ach palace is 1 6 yojanas high

,
.
,

and 8 yojanas square .

Frequent menti o n is made o f the two fol d pat h o r marches -

o f the s un the northern and the southern F o r the s ix

1
.
,

months o f the southern march the Sun g raduall y passes

5 1 yojanas beyond the southern limi t o f the southern continent
Jam b iidv ipa and shines directly over the s ea while during the
’

, ,

northern march its orbit is such that the s un shi nes directly
upon the continent itself F o r this reason the days are colder .

in winter since the rays o f the s un fall upon the ocean rather
,

than upon the continent itself whil e for the inverse reason ,

it is warmer in summer F or -the same reasons when the orbit .

,

o f the s un graduall y passes to the south the days littl e by

littl e become shorter and the nights l onger while during the ,

period when the s un swi ngs to the north the days are l onger
and the nights shorter At the time when the days are l ongest
.
,

o ut o f the thirty m uh firt a s into which the day and ni ght are

divided the days have eighteen muh firt as and the nights
,

twelve and vice versa when the orbit is changed D uring

, .

the middle course the days and nights have fift e en

m uh firt a s each .

The rays o f the s un are always the same neither increasing ,

nor decreasing in heat The seeming difference in their .

intensity is due to the change in orbit the intervention of ,

clouds which act as a screen to mi sts that arise from the ,

g round and t o
, the actions o f R ahu the great As ura ,

who occasionally eclipses the s un by swall o wi ng it .

With regard to the m o o n several reasons are advanced to ,

account fo r its phases Most importa nt however is the fact .

, ,

that when it is near the s un the overpowering light of the

latter prevents it s own light from being seen e t c Wh ile it , .

1
Acc r ding
o to ME . . 2 1, t h e C yl n
e o ese c unt thr
o ee path ins t ad
s e of

t wo m arch es.
58 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

takes the sun s ix months to Change from its northern t o its

s outhern path the moon undergoes its entire cycle o f change
,

in one month .

With regard t o the sta rs we are told that they are ,

innumerable there being , o f especial n O

te They are .

made o f a very pure material and are inhabited by devas ,

b elonging t o the rea lm o f the F our Great Kings In ancient .

days the stars were arranged into a number o f different

constellations a certain number being assigned t o each country
, ,

whereb y it and its inhabitants might be protected .

Consequently each quarter has its own protecting stars ;

,

in the east S ix ast erisms and in the other three quarters,

seven each Ther e are in addition ni ne planets counting

.
, , ,

the s un and moon as two Apart from these last two .

,

there are z 1

1 Ang araka
. Mars .

2 Budha
. Mercur y .

3 B rh as pat i
. Venus .

4 S ukra
. Venus .

5 Sanais ca ra
. S aturn .

6 and 7 R ahu and Ketu the two great As uras some , ,

tim es call ed the ascending and descending mode

respe ctively .

As regards the size of these stars we find widely differing ,

accounts Accordi ng to the Lo kaprajii apt i the largest are

.
,

1 8 kro Sa S the smallest 3 kro Sas the average si z e being 1 0 o r

, ,

1 2 kro Sa s .

The S ig ns f o t he $odiac .

Al ong with other astronomical ideas the Buddhists adopted ,

the us ual enumeration o f the twelve signs o f the solar and the ,

twenty seven o r twenty eight signs o f the lunar z odiac

- -
.

S trangely enough the latter was much better known I have .

foun d no mention o f the solar z o di ac in any old Hinayana

1
M Vy
. . 2 25 . Cf . ME
. . 24 .
 C O SMI C G EO GRAPHY 59

work In the S annipat a S atra (a late Mah ayana work)

.
1
t he
twelve signs o f the solar z o di ac are
1 A re d ram
.

2 A white bu ll
. Taurus .

3 A ma n a nd a wo man
.

4 A re d crab
.

5 A red lion
.

6 A b lac k virg in
.

A pa ir of s ca le s
7 . Libra .

8 A black e lk
. S corpio .

9 A ce nta ur
. S agittarius .

1 0 A s e a mo ns ter
. Capricorn .

1 1 A white ma n
. Aquarius .

12 . Two fis h P isces .

The fact that there must have been some historical

c onnexion between the eastern and western zodiacs is obvious .

The twenty eight members of the lunar zodi ac are also

-

found among the early Hindus Arabians and Chinese Their , ,

.

S ans krit names are as follows 2 °

1 . Krt t ika .

w R o hi ni .

o
o Mrg a SiraS .

x
s Ar dra . P firv as adh a .

n
c P unarv as u . Ut t aras adh a .

u
g Srava na .

s ASl e s a . Abb ij it .

o
o Magh a . Sat ab his aj
9 . P firv a phalg uni . Dhanis t h a .

10 . Ut t ara ph alg uni . P firv a b hadrapada .

11 . Hast a . Ut t a ra b ha dra pada .

12 . Citr a . R e v at i .

13 . S v at i . ASv ini .

14 Visakh a . . Bhara ni .

1
B ut ME . . 23 giv it f C yl nes or e o .

2
M Vy
. . 2 2 5, o f M E 24
. n th infl u nc
. .
, o e e e of th e se si gn s F T 32—
17 a
. . .
60 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

3 . THE D IVI S IONS OF THE T HR E E DHATUS

The Re la tio n be t wee n the D hatus a nd the E arth .

Having thus brie fly dis posed o f the receptacle o r material

world we are now fr ee to exa mi ne the spacial relation that
,

exists between the earth and the vario us divis ions o f the three
dh at us This may be expressed in the following way
.
1

The Arilpa Dhat u

The four ariipa heavens have no spacial abode , a nd ,

consequently have no place in cosmic geo g raphy

, .

The R upa Dhat u

The sixteen seventeen o r eighteen heavens o f the R fipa
, ,

Dh atu are all arranged in tiers o f three or more high above ,

the earth .

Kama Dhatu The

1 . The s ix Kama he ave ns — F our are above the earth and ,

below the R ii pa heavens O ne is on the summi t o f .

Mount Meru O ne is half way down it s sides

.
-
.

2 . Manhind inhabit the four continents .

3 . The P re ta s are sometimes j us t under the earth some ,

times
its s urface ou .

4 . The Anima ls a r e sometimes in the air o r o n the earth ,

but mostly in the water .

5 . The B e lls are for the most part in the bowels o f the earth ,

d irectly under Ja m b fidv ipa .

The prominent pa rt which each o f these di visions and sub

d ivisions of the three dh at us has played in Buddhist specul ation
r enders necessary a somewhat more detailed explanation
o f each .

Kama D hatu . The He lls .

2

Buddhism postul ate s an i nfinite number o f hells with ,

various degrees o f tort ur e according to the amount o f evil

1
AK . 8—1a .
2
AK . 1 1—
5b ; . .
—
N A 3 1 5 a ; D A 9 7 6 if
. . . Y B 4 14a
. .
— .
62 MANUAL OF B UDD H I S T PHI L O S O PHY

According t o most accounts including the Ab hidharm a ,

Ko sa these hells are underneath the southern continent

, ,

near the hot hells and ranged shaft li ke one underneath

,
-

another but in such a way that the middle o r fourth hell is

,

widest a nd the top and bottom hell the narrowest Ot her

, . .

accoun ts claim that these cold hell s are o n the oute r circum
fer ence of the world between the two Cakrav alas , .

The ho t hells are a s f o llo ws

1 S amji va where the victims tear o n e anothe r s fl esh
’
.
,

by means of metal claws and are then destroyed by ,

fire but are revived by a cool wind in order t o undergo

,

furt her torture The rewa rd o f evil action as regards

.

the body tongue and mi nd , , .

2 Kdla s ut ra the hell o f black ropes so called because the

.
, ,

victims are loa de d with fiery chains The reward o f .

evil actions against one s parents a mo nk o r the ’

, ,

Buddha etc , .

3 S am h the hell of collected mi ser y the reward f

'

.
g a t a o r , o ,

accumulated sins especially arising from the three ,

fold bonds ignorance lust and anger , , .

Raurava o r the hell o f lamentations from the shrieks

, ,

uttered by the victims thrust into fiery iron caul drons .

The reward o f murderers and poisoners .

5 M a hdraurava the hell of great lamentations where

.
, ,

Similar but more intense forms o f suffering to the

prec e din g are undergone The reward o f heretics .

and malefactors .

6 Tapa na the hell o f bur ni ng heat where the victims a r e

.
, ,

burnt in iron ovens The reward o f those who have .

burnt li ving beings .

7 P rat dpana the hell of extreme heat where the victims

.
, ,

are thrust in a lake of fire and pierced with iron spikes ,

when they attempt to escape The r eward of habitual .

malefactors and apostates .

8 Avi e i o r the n o n intermittent hell s o called because

.
,
-
,

there is no intermission in the suffering and because ,

 THE D IVI SIONS OF THE T HR E E D HATUS 63

the suffering is unmixed with any form o f pleasur e .

The reward of the most serious offences .

With regard t o the location o f these Narakas t he com ,

’
mente ries s ay that immediatel y below the earth s surface ther e
is an earthy loam o f 500 yoj anas depth then another layer ,

o f white clay likewis e 5 00 yoj anas deep Below this is .

S am jiv a and the s ix foll o wing hells o n e under another

, , ,

occupying in all the space between and yoj anas

below the surface o f the southern continent E ach o f these .

hells has a diameter o f yoj anas .

Below this is the roof of Aviei which is yojanas ,

below the surface and is itself ,

yojanas broad wide and , ,

deep s o that its fl oor is

,
yoj anas from the level of the
earth The Ab hidharm a Ko s a adds that according to some
.

accounts all the hells instead o f being in tiers are o n a level

, , .

Furthermore all the accounts agree that each hell possess e s

,

Sixt een annexes which makes the total number o f hot hell s
,

into 1 36 .

There was some differ ence of opini on as to whether the

1

fiend s who infli ct torture o n the damned are really sentient

beings o r soulless automata created by Kar mi c power The .

consens us o f Opi ni on was in favour o f the latter theory ,

except for Yama the king o f the dead before whom the dead
, ,

appear are j udged and th eir j ust puni shment assigned

, , . .

S ome accounts state that the j udgment o f women is in the

hands o f his Sister In any case Yama and his retinue are
.
,

living beings born there as the resul t o f a vow r egistered in

the past He has eighteen chief mi ni sters and thousands o f
.

retainers Th e position o f Yama s court is also dispute d

.
’
.

The Ab hidharm a Ko sa states it to be 500 yoj anas under the

earth O thers claim that it is o n the circumference of the globe
. .

The Kama Dhatu . The Ot he r Divis io ns .

Abovethe hells come the realms of ( 1 ) the Pretas or gho ul s ,

who according to the Ab hidh arm a Ko sa have their head

, ,

1
AK
.
—
1 1 7b .
 64 MANUAL OF B UD D HI S T PHI LO S O P HY

quarters in the underg round palace o f Yama but al so inhabit ,

cemeteries and dark caverns etc ( 2 ) The a ni mals o f all kin ds

, , .

found all over the surface o f the earth and in the air but , ,

most o f all s o s ay the commentaries in the water ( 3 )

, , .

Mankin d who i nh abit the four great continents and the eight
,

s ub continents 4 The A u as the i erior deities

1
-
( ) s r . nf , ,

frequently represent ed as opposed to the superior deitie s ,

who occasionally appear upon the earth but who for the ,

most part i nh abit the lower r egions o f Meru and the ,

seven r ocky circles ( 5 ) The D evas who inhabit the upper .

r egions o f Meru and the heavens immediately above its ,

summit .

The D eva heavens are o f s ufli cie nt importance to merit

separate attention .

2—
( )
a The H ea ve n of t he F o u r G re at K ing s The inhabitan ts .

o f the lowest o f the s ix deva heavens the Catur m ahara ika

j ,
-

Heaven i nh abit the mansio ns o f the s un and the moon and

, ,

the summits o f the seven interior rocky circles but thei r ,

headquart e rs are the four tiers or excrescences on the lower

hal f Of Mount Meru The lowest of these tiers is .

yoj anas above sea level the second above the -

,

first the third

,
above the second and the four th ,

yoj anas above the third s o that the highest point o f ,

this realm is yoj anas above s e a level o r j ust half -

,

the total height of the mountain These four tiers protrude .

from the S ide o f Meru and yoj anas

respectively In the first tier dwell the Yaksa s known as t he
.
,

Karo tapani o r the firm handed In the second the Mal adharas
,
-
.

o r the holders o f crowns In the third the S adam adas o r .

, ,

the ever intoxicated ( with pride ) and in the fo ur th and highest

-
,

tier the F our Great Kings themselves and their immediate

retainers The four g reat kings are the guardians o f the four
.

1
See e s pe c iall y D A p l o3 b
— N A 3 1—
l 4a ; F T 3 2 —
. . . .
,

2
A K 1 1 1 0a
.
; . . l 8a ; Dt . . .
, p . 1 04 6 ; Y B 4 -
. .4a .

F o r t he S o u th M E , . . 24 .
 THE D IVI SIONS OF THE THR EE DHATUS 65

quarters and s o o ne is placed o n each o f the four sides of

,

Meru Their names are

.
1

D h guar di an f the e st ( 2 ) V i d h k
'

1
( ) rt a ras t ra o a ; ,
r il a a ,

guardian o f the south ( 3 ) Viriipdksa guardian o f the west ,

( )
4 V a i Sr a v a na guardian o f the north,
The retainers o f the .

first are Gandharvas o f the second Kum b handas o f the , ,

thi rd Nagas and o f the fourth Yaksas ,

.

E ach o f these four kings has ninety o n e sons who share in -

the name privileges and duties of their parents and help

, , ,

t o guard the ten regions of space Further each king has .

,

eight all powerf ul generals who act as agents o f the fo ur

-
,

kings and have charge o f the lesser deities o f the mountains ,

rivers forests etc all over the world The chief o f these
, ,
.
, .

generals is Vaide ha who acts as the S pecial prote ctor o f ,

B hiksus and is fr equently portrayed at the end o f Chinese

,

S iit ra s as the symbol o f guardianship against all evil The .

Ab hidharm a Ko sa adds that among all the D eva realms

the i nh abitants o f thi s heaven are the most numerous .

b
( ) T h e H eave n of t h e t hi rt y t hr ee Go ds
2
o r the T ra
y a s t rim Sa -
,

heaven is the second heaven o f the D eva lokas All tra di tions
,
-
.

are in agreement that this hea ven is placed o n the sum mi t o f

Meru occupying the whole of the space thereon each o f whose
, ,

s ides is generall y stated to be yoj anas long At each .

o f the four corners there is a peak 5 00 yojanas hi gh where ,

reside the Vajrapani Yaksa s who act as guar di ans o f thi s ,

heaven In the middl e o f the flat summit table o f Meru is

.

the royal city o f Sakra the chief o f the D evas This city , .

is called S udarSana th e beautiful to s e e E ach side is

, .

2 500 yoj anas long and its circumscribing wall o f gold is

, ,

1 1 yo janas hi gh The fl oor o f this heaven 1 s o f a hundred

.

colours Nevertheless it is as soft as cotton foll owing the

.
, ,

foot as it ascends and descends In the mid dl e o f this city .

is the palace of Sakra called Vaijayant a The length o f each , .

o f its sides I s 2 50 yojanas O n each o f the four sides o f the .

1
M Vy 22 3
—
. . .

2 A K 1 1 106 .
-
; F T 3 2 2 ou ; D A
. . . .
, p . 1 05 a ; Y B . .

F
66 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI L O S O P HY

j ewell ed city is a pleasure park with a magic lake The names .

o f these frequently described parks are ( )

1 Ca it ra ra t ha o n ,

the east ; ( 2 ) Purus yaka o n the south ; ( 3 ) MiSrakav ana , ,

o n the west and ( 4) Nandana on the north O n the north , .

east o f the city there is a magic tree 1 00 yoj anas high ,

emitting a beautiful perfume o n the south west is the meet ing -

hall o f the gods o f this realm where they gather together t o

discuss the law .

1—
( 0 ) The o the r fo ur De va lo kas The remaining heavens o f .

th e Kama dh atu are

1 Yama
.
,
yoj anas above the second heaven and
yoj anas above s e a level Here there is no division -
.

o f day and night it being perpetual day time ,

-
.

2 Tusita
. yoj anas ab o ve t h e Yam a heaven and
,
'

above s ea level where r eside the heavenl y illumi nating

-
,

deities who shed li ght upon all the world Thi s is a very
,
.

popul ar heaven among the Buddhists fo r here went ,

Mah am aya the mother o f Gautama o n her death and here

, , ,

r eside the Bodhisattvas b efore their fin al incarnation o n earth

as Bud dhas F or this reason Maitreya the next Buddha ,
.
,
$

resides at present in this heaven .

3 N irmana rat i yoj anas above the Tus it a heaven

'

.
, ,

and yoj anas above s e a level The name means the -

.

heaven o f trans forming pleasures s o called because subj ective ,

des ires are at once transformed into Obj ective pleasures ,

thoughts as well as wishes being creative forces .

4 P a ra nirmita va éavarti
. yoj anas above th e
,

preceding heaven and yoj anas above sea level

,
-
.

It is the heaven o f the freedom of tra ns formations and th e ,

highest o f the Kama heavens Here it is that a Sing le look .

may generate new Karma S trangely enough either in this .

,

heaven o r immediately above it is the abode o f Mara the ,

Buddhist S atan who is the king of lust and cupi dity and is
, ,

therefore the rul er of the Kama dh atu o r the realm o f desire , .

I
M V y 2 19 ; A K —
1 1 l 2o ; N A 3 1 16 a ; -
D A 9 2b ;
. MB
. . 25 ; CP . .

—
. . . . . .

1 3 9 ; Y B 4 14a
. . .
 THE D IVI S IONS OF THE T HR E E D HATUS 67

The Ab hidharm a Ko sa state s that there was a di fference of

opinion regar di ng the dimensions of these heavenly mansions .

According t o o ne o pinion Yama and the others are fo ur times ,

the size o f the Traya s t rim Sa hea ven while others state that ,

each heaven is twice the Size o f the o ne immedi ate ly below it .

Above the heavens o f the Kama dh atu where both cupidi ty ,

a nd fo rm
‘
remain are the heavens of the R fipa dh atu frequently
, ,

called the Brahma h eavens where cupidity no longer has a ,

place but where the i nh abita nts still have bodies and so
, ,

Shape or f o rm (r apa ) These heavens are variously enumerated

.

as sixteen seventeen and eighteen In the Ab hidharma

, , .

Ko sa which gives the number as seventeen the heavens are

1
, ,

enum erated as follows

H B ra hma kdyika the heaven o f Brahma s retainers
’
.
,

N B ra hmapuro hita the heaven of Brahma s m iniste rs

J ’
.
,
D-
O M ahd brahma the heaven o f Brahma himself
, .

h P a ri t td bha the heaven of lesser light

b
, .

Apra md ndbha the heaven o f infinite light

T
J
C .
,

G A bhds vara the heaven of universal li ght

b
.
,

N P a ritt a éubha the heaven o f lesser purity

I
.
,

O
Apramd na s ubha the heaven o f infinite purity
’

O .
,

9 S ubha hrt s na the heaven of universal purity

.
, .

1 0 Ana bhra ka the cloudless heaven

.
, .

1 1 P u nyapras ava the heaven of fortunate birth

.
, .

1 2 B rhatpha la the heaven o f great results

.
,
.

1 3 Ab rha the passio nl ess heaven

.
, .

1 4 Atapa the heaven without heat o r affli ction

.
, .

1 5 S udrs a the heaven o f perfect form

’

.
, .

16 S uda réana the heaven of perfect vision

.
, .

1 7 Aka nistha the highest heaven

.
, .

S outhern accounts 2
generally ag ree in enumerating the
R fipa heavens as Sixteen agreeing o n this poin t with the ,

1
8 2a ,
-
cf . M Vy. .2 19 ; D A . .
, p
.

1
ME . . 2 6, C P . . 138 .
es MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O P HY

KaSmira S arv as t iv adins though there are points of di vergence

,

o n names Mahaya ni sts for the most part and practically

.
1
,

all schools in Chi na and Japan give the full number eighte en , , .

In this conn exion the Buddhist theory of Dhyana must be

taken into co ns ideration for the Dhyanas are intimately ,

associated with the R fipa heavens and the various heavens ,

are classified ac c o rding t o the Dhyana to which they appertain .

Dhyana means me di tation o r contemplation but later the ,

w ord was us e d t o indicate a special type o f meditation in ,

which four o r five state s were di stinguished .

When o nl y four Dhyanas are S poken o f they are as follows 2

,

1
( ) supe rnatur al ecstasy associated with vic ara a nd v it arka .

( 2 ) ecsta tic contemplation no longer associated with either

vicara o r v it arka o r in other words where reasoning gives
, , ,

way to intuition ( 3 ) conte mplation where ecstasy gives way

t o serenity ; ( 4) deep meditation where the mind becomes
indifferent t o pleasur e and pain According t o the .

Ab hi dharm a Kosa the first three riipa heavens are gained

3 ’

a s the res ul t o f the practice o f the first dhyana and s o are ,

called the F ir st D hyana Heavens In like manner the next .

,

three are call ed the S econd D hyana Heavens ; the next

three the Third Dhyana Heavens ; and the last eight the .

F o ur th D hyana Heavens .

The divis ion o f the Dhyanas int o five ins tead o f four is
frequently made in the later schools more especially in those ,

incline d to esotericism 1
In th is case the second o f the four
.
‘

Dhy ana s ,
Intuitive Meditation is divided into two parts
”
, ,

the fir st co rresponding more o r less to the occidental

ins tinct and the second to spiritual perception no t
derived from intellect In the schools which enumerate
both fiv e Dhyana s and eighteen rfipa heavens the relation ,

o f the Dhy ana s and the heavens is as follows The fir st three

t o the first Dhyana the next three to the second D hyana

1
Y B 4—
14 a
2
M Vy . . 1 12, Y B . . 1 1 - 43 a .

— cf a ls o
. . .

2
8 2 a, . A S P 2—
.7b . . B ut a l in Ne o
so . S t u C P 14 1
. . . .
70 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

delaye d In fact rebirth here is o ne o f the eight Akuéalas

.
,

o r evil moments eight times o f birth not conducive t o

, ,

enligh tenment .

So far the Mah ayana and Hinayana account s o f the v arious

,

r ealms o f existence have been more o r less in agreement but ,

o n o ne po int th ere is wide divergence We have already

.

notice d that while the pe rformance o f go od deeds will result

in reb irth in o ne o f the D e v al o kas o r Brahmalokas etc yet , .
,

as such a reb irth is frequently a hindrance rather than a help ,

o n e wo nders wh ere a man sho ul d strive to be reborn in order

—
t o r eap the greate st advantage where there is a place free
from affli ction and yet is o ne where spiritual progress may
b e made .

P ractically all forms o f Hinayana are s ilent on this point ,

b ut in Mah ayana we find an atte mpted solution in the doctrine

o f the s o call e d Buddha Kse t ras o r Buddha lands reference
-
,

t o which will be found in practically all the s ii t ra s o f this

s chool. The basic idea o f this dogma seems to be that every
n upon r eaching supreme and perfect e nl ightenment
a cquir es a S p iritual realm t o which he repairs after death an d
,

in which h e continues t o ins truct his Bodh isattvas and other

ersons who may be born there leadi n g them t o sup r eme
p ,

e nl ighte nment for themselves These mann ers Of rebirth

.

naturally appealed very strongly t o the Mah ayanists and ,

consequently in m any o f their devotional writing s we find the

'

authors piously d esirous that the merit which they may have
acqui re d by i ns tructing the world through their written works
may se c ure fo r them at death rebirth in o n e of those lands .

As usual there is great inconsistency in the various accounts

,

and enumerations o f these Buddha Ks e t ras since every ,

Buddha field is really so great and s o large as to be c o existent -

with the universe and y e t at the same time there are as many
,

Buddha fields as there have been Buddhas In the earlie r .

days o f Mah ayana a man endeavoured to be reborn in any

 THE D IVI SIONS OF THE THR EE DHATUS 71

Buddha land o r at least in the realm o f the Buddha who took

,

his especial fancy As time went o n however Mah ayana .

, ,

became more monotheisti c particularly in its Chin ese and ,

Japanese phases and the belief g rew that there was but o ne
,

supreme and universal Buddha who includ ed and over ,

shadowed all the rest Cons equently the Buddha land of this .
,

Buddha whoever he happene d t o he came t o be the goal o f

, ,

ordina ry ambition His torically we find that there were two

.
,

monotheistic strains which finally resulted in two different ,

schools in o n e o f which t h e supreme being is known as

,

Va iro ca na and in the other Amitabha

, Co ns equently we .
,

find likewise two main lines o f development in the Buddha

Kse t ra theory .

a B s —
( ) uddha K e t ras in t he Vairo cana s choo ls The followers
o f Va iro c a na were for the most part the esotericists and

occultists who were generall y more concerned with the control

’
o f one s destinies in this life than in the world t o come so ,

that the paradise doctrine of this school did not receive the
same development as did t h e Amitabha paradise doctrine .

Nevertheless the Buddha Ks e t ra idea was no t wholly

,

neglected In certain cases the t e n o r thirteen stages o f

.

B o dh is a t t v aho o d were symb o lized as material heavens in the ,

highest o f which dwelt Vairo c ana himself E ven more .

interesting are the thirteen stages of the path of progress of

the righteous departed as taught in the esoteric school of
China and Japan
1 Aca la where the soul remains fo r the first week afte r
.
,

death .

2 Sakya muni for the second week

.
, .

3 M a riju éri for the third week

'

.
, .

4 S a ma nta bhadra for the fo ur th week

.
, .

5 Ksitig arbha for the fifth week

.
, .

6 M aitre ya for the Sixth week

.
, .

7 B ha isajag uru for the seventh week

.
, .

8 Ava lo hite s va ra for another hundred days

.
‘
, .

9 M aha s thd maprapta for another year

.
, .
72 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O P H Y

1 0 Amitabha ,
. for another three years .

1 1 Ahso bhya for another seven years

.
, .

1 2 Akd éag arbha and

.
,

1 3 Va iro ca na for ever

. .

b
( ) B udd h a K s e t ra o
f t he Amitab ha s ch o o l —T u r ni ng no w to
the oth e r school we find that the Am itabha cul t is base d
,

al most exclusively o n reb irth in para di se through self

renouncing adoration t o Ami tabha so that among the followers ,

o f this school the Buddha Ks e t ra doctrine received very reat

g
development O riginally but o n e o ut o f many equally
.

important r eal ms (the Av at ams aka S atra assigns t o it a still

l ower position) it came gradually to assume pre eminence
,
-

among all the para di ses po ssibly because by chance it was,

placed in t he west The principal scriptur al authorities for

.

the doctrine are : ( 1 ) The larger S uhhdvati vy uha S il tra -

,

which dealing with the past te lls how this marvellous land
, ,

came t o be created through the great vow o f Dharm akara

Bodhi sattva who la ter became Am i tabha Buddha
, ( )
2
the Amitdyur Dhyana S atra o r th e s atra o f the meditation ,

upon Ami tabha which deals with the present o r how men
, ,

sho ul d s o conduct themselves as to secure rebirth in

Am i tabha s land ; ( 3 ) the smaller S uhhdvati vy d ha S fil m
’
’
,

which deals with the future i e the futur e condi tion o f thos e
, . .

who gain this Ks e t ra and gives a long description o f the great

,

b liss that is to be found there Apart from occasional mention .

elsewhere two works in the S astra literature o f India deal

,

more particul arly with the doctrine O ne o f these .

is a B odhis attvabhumi o r discourse o n the stages of a

,

Bodhisattva ascribe d to Nag arjuna the other a com

, ,

mentary o n the S ukhav at i v y fiha called the Amitdyur -

'
s utro ade s a ascribed to Va s ub andhu
p ,
In both o f these works .

the purely material side o f the paradise doctrine is retained ,

and Amitabha is still but a single and semi hi storical Buddh a -

,

and his paradise but a si ngle even if important Buddha Ks e t ra .

The rather monotonous tone o f t h e descriptions o f delights to

b e found in these various works may be seen from t he
 THE WO RLD OF S ENTI E NT BEI NGS 73

translation o f the three S ukhav at i S fit ras in the sacred b o o kS

o f the E ast .

4 . THE WORLD OF SENTI E NT B E INGS 1

Clas s ifica tio n e ntie nt B e ing s

f
o S .

We have alrea dy seen the geographica l position o f the

various divisions o f the three dh at us We must now study .

the persons who i nh abit these realms .

First of all in this connexi on must we give the principa l

categories into which sentient beings are divided These .
.

are : ( 1 ) the five or s ix gatis o r desti nies ; ( 2 ) the seven ,

v i fiana s t hit is o r bases o f co ns ciousness s

j ,
3
( ) the nine abod e

o f sentiency .

The F ive or S ix Ga tis — This is the most important o f all .

Buddh ist classifications of sentient beings and is the basis o f ,

the various Buddhist wheels of life or charts of existence .

The fiv e fold division is made by most branches of Hin ayana

-
,

the six fold division by a few branches of Hinayana and most

-

branches of Mah ayana The five gatis are 2

.

1 The inhabitants of the Narakas or hells

. .

2 P reta ghouls goblins o r demons

.
, , ,
.

3 Animals . .

4 Ma nkind . .

5 D evas o r gods
. .

Where a sixth gati is added it consists o f the Asura s ,

titani c de m o na ic monsters somewhat akin t o the D evas

, , ,

with whom however they are constantly at war Th ose who

, ,
.

defend the five gati theory never doubte d the existe nce o f the
Asuras They were merely not of s ufli c ie nt impo rtance to be
.

given a place as a separate destiny and were grouped either ,

with the pretas or animals o r both S entient beings when .

they die are reborn into one or the other o f these five destinie s .

There is no other form o f existence possible The geographi cal .

1
For C yl o n M E
e , . .
, c hap . 11 .
2
A K 8 5a
.
— .
74 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

r elationship between the three dh at us and the five gatis has

already been given .

e v n i
The S e V jiiana S thit is — ‘

The th ree dh atu and the five

.

gatis are likewise divided into those realms which do and those
which do n o t support consciousness Those which do are .

divided in a seven fold manner forming the seven Vijfiana

-
,

s t hi t is which are
1
,

.1 Those real ms in which the bodies as well as the thoughts

o f the i nh abitants differ from o n e another This includes the .

whole o f the Kama dh atu and also the first Dhyana heavens
o f the R ii pa dh atu except during the period o f creation
,
.

2 Those realms in whi ch the bodies are diverse but the

.

thoughts uniform This consists o f the first Dhyana heavens

.

dur ing t he period o f creation inasmuch as at that time all ,

are filled with the single thought We have been created by ,

”
Brahma .

3 Those realms in which the bodies are the same but the
.

thoughts diverse This co ns ists o f Ab h as v ara and the other

. .

heavens of the second Dhyana .

4 Those realms in which both the b odies and thoughts of

.

the inhabitants are u ni form This consists o f the heavens o f .

the third Dhyana .

,5 6 7 The last three Vi jii ana s t hit is consist of the three

,
.

lower divisions Of the Arfipa dh atu .

The thr ee evil places (hells pretas and animals ) the heavens
, , ,

o f the fourth D hyana as well as the fo urth heaven o f the

,

Ar apa dh atu are not classed as v ijfiana s t h it is inasmuch as

, ,

life a nd conditio ns therein do not serve as stimuli o r supports

.

( s t h it i) o f consciousness .

The N ine Abo de s of S e ntie ncy 2

The nine s o called abodes .
- -

o f se ntient beings consist o f the above seven v ijfian a s t hit is ,

with the addition o f the fourth Ariipa dh atu and the , ,

unconscious deities o f the fourth Dhyana heavens These .

r ealms are s o call e d because sentient beings exist there

willingly o r in other words they are s ui table abodes for
, , ,

1
AK 8 7 — . a . M V y 1 6 9 A K 8 —
9 b 1
. .
, . .
 THE '
WO RLD OF S E NTI E NT B E I NGS 75

living beings The ev il rea lms are not included in this

.

category S ince they may be likened to pris o ns rather than

,

a bodes Nor for somewhat more metaphysical reasons are

.
, ,

the other sections of the fo ur th Dhyana included .

The F o ur Kinds of B irth a nd t he S tag e s of the F act ua ,

S entient beings revolve in an eternal circle through t h e five

gatis D ying in o ne gati they are reb o rn in another There
.
,
.

1
are four methods whereby this rebirth may take place They .

are : ( 1 ) Birth from an egg ; ( 2 ) birth from a womb ; (3 )

birth from slime ; ( 4) apparitional birth I ns tances o f egg .

birth a r e various kinds of birds of womb birth such ani mals ,

as the horse cow dog etc,

o f slime birth are mosquitoes
, , .
,

flies and various other insects Apparitional birth is so called

, .

beca use it is miraculous without visible support and wi th , ,

all the organs instantaneously perfectly formed Of such .

birth are the i nh abitants o f the various heavens and hells .

The normal method of birth for man is from the womb but ,

o ccasionally the other three methods occur The a ni mal gati .

a lso includes a ll four methods o f birth Three have already .

been mentioned Apparitional birth takes place in the case o f

.

d ragons etc All the denizens o f the heavens and hel ls have
, .

no other method o f birth than apparitional P retas are .

s ometimes born from the womb sometimes a pparit io nal ly , .

O f all the various kinds o f birth apparitional birth is the best , ,

b ut Buddhas and Bodhisattvas receive womb birth that their

humanity may be complete .

In the case o f womb birth the foetus goes through a regular ,

order o f development Five principal stages o f embryo

.

d evelopment are usually enumerated These are : ( 1 ) Ka1ala ;

2
.

( 2 ) Arb uda ; ( 3 ) P esi ; ( 4) Ghana ; ( 5 ) P ra Sa kha .

The D octrine of the I nt e rme diat e E xis te nc e 3 — There was a .

good deal o f difference o f Opinion among the various Buddhist

s ects as to whether o r not at death a being passed at once

1
M Vy 1 6 8 ; A K 8—
1 1b
A K 9—
. . . .

1
8b . .

1
L ng
o d is cu i n ss o , A K 8—l 3 b ff
. .
76 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T PH ILO S O PHY

into his new existence o r whether there is a short period o f

,

existence in an intermediate state The Mah as anghikas .

deni ed the doctrine o f the interme di ate existence whil e ,

the S arv as t iv adins and most o f the later schools accepted

the doctrine which later was worked o ut in some detail The
, .

following points concerning the S arv as t iv adi n doctrine o n

the subj ect may be of interest .

The being in the intermediate state is posse s sed o f a defini te

b ody but of a very subtile kind In shape it is of the same kind
, .

as his future existence Thus in the case o f a person destined

.
,

t o be born as a man The intermediate body is of the same

.

siz e as a child 5 or 6 years of age The organs are always .

complete The intermediate bodies o f those destined fo r the

.

R fipa dh atu are possessed o f clothes as are Bodhisattvas and

some others but the maj ority o f beings destined t o the
,

Kama dh atu are nude S uch beings can s e e other b eings o f

.
’

the same cla ss in certain cases of the classes below them They
, .

are possessed o f certain magic powers such as being able t o ,

pass through space and o n the death o f the previous perso n

,

the new interme di ate body is attracted to the place o f its new
birth through desire going there miraculously Its destiny
,
.

is fixed The body destined for human birth never develop s

.

into another existence It partakes o f no solid food but .

,

r eceives its sustenance from smell The duration o f it s .

existence is indefinite existing until such time as the new

,

body is prepared fo r habitation though ordinarily s ay some , , ,

it lives for o nl y one week o r seven weeks If a male it ente rs .

the right side of the mother s womb and faces the back ’
,

if a female it enters the left side o f the womb and faces front .

In the case of twins the child born last is th e oldest .

1—
S ize a nd D uration of L ife of the Vario us Re a lms A wo r d .

must be said concerni ng the natur e o f life in each o f the various

gati through which sentient beings pass F irst as regards their .

stature No exact figures are given fo r the destinies lower

.

1
A K 1 1~ 1 5 b ff
. . N A 3 1 2 1 a ff
. .
-
. CP
. . 142 ; Y B . . 4- l 4a an d —
4 14b .
78 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI L O S O P HY

and ni ght are marked by the openi ng and closing of sacred

lotuses .

In the R upa dhat us there is neither day nor night and the ,

duration of li fe is measured by Kalpas In the first the average .

durati o n of life is one middle kalpa o r 1 a m ah akalpa ; in the ,

second 2 middle kalpas o r 1 a m ah akalpa in the third 1 kalpa

,

in the four th 2 kalpas ; in the fifth 4 kalpas ; and s o o n ,

doubling in such a way that the number o f y o j anas fo r

average height is the same as the number o f kalpas the ,

highest being kalpas .

In the Arfipa dh atu or realm o f F orml essness we have even

, ,

greater fi g ures In the fir st the duration of life is

. kalpas ,

in the second kalpas in the third kalpas and

, ,

in the fourth kalpas .

Finally the duration o f life in the three evil gatis ( a ni mals

, ,

pretas and hells ) must be taken into c o nsideration Ani mals

, .

have no fixed duration of life S ome live o nl y fo r a moment .

and some for centuries The greatest s pan of life is enj oyed
.

by a species o f drago n which lives for o ne middl e kalpa .

The day o f a preta is equal to a human month Thirty such .

days make a preta month twelve such months a preta year , ,

and a preta lives for 500 such years No exact figures are .

given for any of the hells save the ho t hells The wh o le ,

.

dur ation o f life of the heaven o f the four great kings is equal
to a ni ght and a day o f S amjiv a and the i nh abitants live for ,

5 00 years o f such days The duration o f life in the next S ix

.

hells c o rresponds in a sim ilar mann er t o life in the remaini ng

five deva heavens In the seventh hell the duration of life
.

is half a middl e kalpa and in Avi ei the duration of life is a

,

whole middle kalpa .

1 —
N a ture of Life i n o t he r Re a lms A few out o f the many .

other such details o f li fe in the other gatis as found in the

Buddhist books are as foll ows E very form of sentient being
is under the necessity of ta king food though there are four ,

1 Cf . e s pe cia lly A K .
—
1 1 l 3a ff . .
—
Y B 4 14 b ff .
 THE WO RLD OF S E NTI E NT B E I NGS 79

kinds o f fo o d : ( 1 ) corruptible f o o d i e foo d capable o f

1
,
. .

being digested which is the food used by all fo rms of men and
,

by the D evas of the six Kama heavens ; ( 2 ) food that is

partaken by contact only which appertai ns t o the upper
,

di visions of the Kama heavens and the l o wer regions of the

R ii pa dh atu ( )
3 f o o d that is partaken of by c o nt e mplation ,

as is the case with the upper regions of the R fipa dh atu ;

4
( ) food that is partaken of by the knowledge o f it This .

appli es only t o the inh abitants Of the Arfipa dh atu .

In all of the heavens save those of the Ar fipa dh atu clothes

are used though sex remains o nl y in the heavens of the Kama
,

2
dh atu . There are five ways of satisfying sexual desire
1
( ) by copu l ati o n ; ( )
2 by embracing ; ( ) by the h o lding o f
3
hands ; ( 4) by laughing or smiling at o ne another ; ( 5) by
l o oking at o ne another Living in contact with the earth
.
,

the i nh abita nts o f the heaven o f the four great kings and als o
o f the heaven of the thirty three gods unite by copul ation
-
, .

In the Yama heaven a S ingle embrace produces a new being .

In the Tus it a heaven the mutual holding o f hand s s ufli ce s .

In the Nirm anarat i heaven smiling and in the highest Kama ,

heaven a single glance c o nstitutes sexual union Birth .

( which is appariti o nal in all the heavens ) takes pl a ce in the

Kama heavens as follows S hortly before a deva is born o n e
of the devis finds a fl ower in her hand S he knows by this .

fact that a child is to be born to her and accordingly afte r ,

seven days birth takes place often h o wever by suddenly , , ,

appearing o n her knees At the time of their birth the children

.
,

are as if five to ten years of age There then appears .

spontaneously a precious vessel filled with di vine food ,

partaking Of which the new born being grows in siz e like the
-

rest o f the devas while magic trees provide them with

,

necessary garments The i nh abitants o f th e R apa and

.

Ar apa dh at us are born fully grown and without the aid of any
sort o f parent and in the R fipa dh atu are born ful ly clothed
, . .

We are also informed that the gods o f all three realms speak
1
M Vy 1 6 9
. . . A K 1 1— 12 6 ; N A 3 1—
1
. 1 6a . . .
80 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

o nl y the Aryan language a sort o f heavenly S anskrit which

, ,

moreover they speak correctly without having t o lea r n it .

In the Kama dh atu there are three ways o f enj oying

pleas urable obj ects the first o f whi ch applies to men and the
,

four lower deva lokas and is by rul ing over and enj oying the
,

sense pleasures they find around them The second which .

,

applies to the fifth deva loka by creating pleasurable obj ects

,

and then ruling over and enj oying those things which they
themselves have created The third which applies onl y t o
.
,

the sixth deva loka is by rul ing over and enj oying the sense
,

obj ects especially create d fo r their enj oyment by others .

E ven in the most pleasurable regions ( apa rt from S ukh av at i)

life mus t come to an end an d the devas must die here to be
,

b orn el sewhere As they begin to grow o ld five signs o f

.

d eca dence begin t o appear These are ( )

1 .The fl owers upon
their heads begin t o decay ( 2 ) their eyes grow dim and move
uneasily in fear o f the change which they know must come
3
( ) the lust re o f their bodies begin s to fade ( )
4 perspiration
begins t o exude from under their arms ; ( 5) they listlessl y
a bsent themselves from their proper places .

In the va r ious Buddha ks e t ras the pleasures are even greate r

a nd more lasting but o f a less sensual nature
,
Most o f t h e .

pleasure is o f a spirit ual natur e and consists of listening to

,

th e holy law According t o the older school s of Buddhism

.
,

these Buddha ks e t ras themselves a r e not permanent and life

t herein is o nl y the preparation for Nirvana or Buddhahood ,

but in the S hin sect o f Japan reb irth into S ukhav at i is its e lf
t he highes t go al and is final and compl e te happine ss
,
.
 P AR T II
C O SMI C ANALYS I S
S ubje ct ive a nd Objec tive Clas s ifica t ion .

We no w come to the consideration o f the ul timate elements

into which the Buddhists thought the universe coul d be
—
decomposed a subj ect which promi ses t o be o f greate r
inte rest Here at the very outset we are faced with a very
.
, ,

curious situation for we find a t wo fold analysis o f the

,
-

uni verse one subj ective and the other Obj ective In the former
, .

instance the nature o f any o ne personality is examined and by ,

a process o f analysis the seemingly unified personality is

broken up into a number o f component parts which are ,

ul timate o r elemental and since every personality is a ,

mi crocosm closely corresponding to the macr o cosm it follows

that the component parts o f the persona li ty are als o the
component part s of the universe .

The obj ective classification is merely a re arrangement o f -

these component factors in a more scientific way i e by ,

. .

examining the whole universe irrespective of any o n e ,

personality It follows from this that the obj ective and

.

subj ective classifi cations are mutually inclusive and that the ,

difference between them is merely one Of standpoint .

In point o f fact the origin o f the two categories is due to

the pecul iar nature of the Buddhist hi storical development .

1
Primitive Buddhism was founded upon an agnostic basis ,

certainl y as regards the external wo rld The Buddha declined .

t o state whether it was infini te or finite whether it is eternal ,

o r n o n eternal
-
Consequently for primitive Bud dhism a
.
,

complete list o f the elements of being approached from an ,

obj ective point of V iew was impossible ,

.

Nevertheless a certain amount of subj ective analysis was

,

permitted and in fact encouraged In order to eliminate

, , ,
.

1
C f p cially t h agn s t ic pa ag fr m t h S atra P it aka c ll c t d by
. es e e o ss es o e o e e

Warr n in hi s B in Tr an chap 2
e . s , . .
82 MAN UAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI LO S OPHY

the belief in the atman as taught by the Upa ni sads the Buddha ,

is said to have state d that the personality is not a uni t but ,

a compound of various factors such as the material body , ,

co ns cious ness feeling ideas volitions etc In the early days

, , , , .

little further analysis seems to have been attempted But thi s .

was s ufli c ie nt start fo r the Indi an mi nd always given to ,

analytical subdivisions E ach o f the main groups became .

many times divide d until a very complex chart of the factor s ,

o f li fe was eventually tabulated .

O nce this had been done it is easy to understand how the ,

next stage t h e re grouping o f these component pa rts from the

,
-

obj ective point o f view came to be under t aken The earl y , .

agnostic position o f primi tive Buddhism was soon neglected 1

,

and the categories already enumerated including all forms of

,

life and all aspects o f the external uni verse it soon became ,

obvio us th at it was more logical t o re arrange the categorie s -

in such a way as t o form a complete philosophic a nalysis of

the factors o f being .

We s e e therefore that the subj ective analysis was earlier

, ,

and less systematic than the obj ective analysis and tha t ,

subsequently the latter tended as more lo gical to over , ,

s hadow the forme Having been embo died in the s fit ras 1

.
,
‘

however the subj ective classification was n ever lost Sight o f

, ,

and we find that occasionall y the later philosophers including ,

B uddhag ho s a preferred to revert to the earlier grouping

, ,

although acknowledg ing the validity o f the obj ective

classifi cation .

A
( ) TH E SU B J EC TI V E C L ASS I F I C A TIO N
O wing to its pri o rity in point o f time and also t o its greater ,

simplici t y it is a d visabl e t o co ns ider the subj ectiv e

,

classification first This consists o f three categories v iz .

2
,
.

S e g f 30 f A K whe r me f t h l d r agn ti c pas ag s n

1 e o e os s e co
ee . . . o .
, e so O

c rn ing t h
e o ul e u d by V s u b n dh u t o d n y it
e s ar xi te nc
se a a e s e s e .

C P g iv th
2 cat g ri b ut cant atte nt i n b ut th y
es e se e nu me r at d
o es s o ,
e a re e e

pp 18 2 —
. .

. 3 An xc ll nt di s c u i n f ach cat g ry fr o m t h e P al i po int f

. e e e ss o o e e o o

i w wil l b f un d in M R h y D avi ds Buddhi t P y h log y wh r o rigin al

V e e o rs . s
’
s s c o , e e

s o ur c e s qu te d
are o .
 C O S MI C ANALYS I S 83

The Five S kandhas 1 . .

2 The Twelve Ayatanas . .

3 The E ighteen Dh at us . .

In the present instance it is more convenient to co nsider

the five skandhas as o ne divisio n and the twelve ayatanas
1
and the eighteen dh at us as a second division .

1 . The F ive S kandhas

Ge ne ra l D is cus s i o n .

The five skandhas constitute the component parts o f a

personality though certai nl y in later Buddhism they are no t
, , ,

ultima te factors inasmuch as each of them is subj ect to s ub ,

division It is prob able that the very name implies that each
.

o f them was co ns idered a complex

g roup rathe r than a unit ,

fo r the word means heap collection group Vas ub a ndhu , ,

.

—
( A K 1 1 4b) cites the f o ll owing passa ge from the s fit ras :
.

Al l thi ng s possessed o f form whether past present o r future , , , ,

whether internal or external whether coarse o r fine whethe r , ,

mean o r great whether distant o r near all such things ,

-

constit ute one S kandha called the rfipa ,

Al l the ul timate factors are classified into five groups o r

skandhas and these five groups constitute the personality
, .

This doctrine o f the five skandhas is un do ubtedly very o ld .

Frequent mention is made of them in the S i i t ras where the y

‘

are chiefl y cited in dispr o o f o f the atman theory The sou l .

( a tman ) is not n o r is it the possessor ,

of the body feelings , , ,

ideatio n etc In fact there is no so ul at all but the

, .
, ,

pers o nality consists of these groups a nd nothing more . .

No where in the s fit ra s is there a categorical or logical

‘

definition of the five skandhas and it woul d seem as if each ,

o f the terms taken separately formed part of the commo n

property of contemporary Indian thought and that the o nl y ,

1
F S a t i adin
or a rv p ciasll y A K
v t h w h l f t h fi
s see e s t nd c n d e e o e o e rs a se o

fa c S ang P a r 6—l ; D S k f 1 7 f in d iy f 18 f ay atana n d

.
,

s . . . a . .
, . or r as , . or s, a

f 1 9 f kand ha F Y g d c d in
. or s
p cia
s lly
. F s k or nd o r s se e es e . . a

Ab S m S n 1—
. a 1 b ff
. V M S l ik C P pays l ittl atte nti o n t o t h e
a .
, . . . .
, e . .
, e

s u b j ctiv c l a
e ificat i n
e ss o .
84 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S OPHY

o riginality dis played by Bud dhism was the doctrine that these
skandhas and nothing more constituted the personality .

Unfortunate ly for us the names o f the five skandhas are ,

not s o ill uminating as they s eem t o have been to the ancient

Indians and we find in the O ccident a wide variety o f terms
,

used t o translate them The names and arrangement of the .

skandhas is almost invariably as follows

1 R apa . 3 S amjfia . . .

2 Vedan a . 4 S a mskara . . .

5 Vijii ana . .

1 . R il pa literally form o r shape ( sometimes colo ur )

, ,

corresponds r oughl y to our matter and in the personality ,

implies the physical body Among the many other defini tions .

are ruppati whence rii pa ) a most d ifli cul t word to ,

trans late but which implies subj ect t o transformation

,

”
affecte d dis turbed disintegrating mo di fied ,

( A K 1 —l 0
. a ) .

The other defini tion more in accord with o ur o wn i deas ,

o n the subj ect is that which resists o r impenetrable

,

P rimitive Buddhism gives no defini te subdivision o f this

S kandha other than that state d in the verse quoted above
, ,

but we know that the te rm riI pa referred to the matter

'

constituting o ur o wn and other bodies as well as inanimate ,

matte r An enumeration o f the thirty t wo part s o f the body

.
-

is frequently given o f whi ch the five sense organs are the most ,

important while external matter is als o given a fiv e fol d

,
-

classification ( corresponding t o the five sense organs ) We .

know moreover that all matter whether internal o r external

, , , ,

was supposed t o be derived from the four elements earth water , , ,

1
fire and air which constitute the four ul timate states of matter
, ,
.

The S t hav irav adins subdivided matter a little more

systematically 2
F our divisions were ul timate o r n o n
.

1 Cf . t he fam o us Ke v a d dh a su tra in D N . .
( D E . . 1 c rr p nd in g
o es o

t o D A 8 1a
. . .

2 au th riti n th
For nd t h f ll o win g tat m nts s
o es o e se a e o s e e ee t he l i t g iv n
s e

un d rebj ctiv ana lys i b l w

o e e s e o .
86 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

w ord fo r word the definition given it b y Va s ub andhu

( A K 1
.
— 11 b ) .

3 S ai
. is s ometimes rendered perception and some
times conception That it is not mere sense perception is ,

I think clear when S am jfia is compared with Vijfiana The

, , .

per ceptual side seems to be more emphasized by the P ali

o r S t ha v irav adin commentaries as wh en the Vib h ang a , ,

t o give Mrs R hys D avids translation divides S arnjfia into

’
1
.
,

( )
1 cog n i tive assimilation upon the occasion o f sense and ,

( )
2 cog n i tive assim il ation o n the occasion of naming .

The S arv as t iv adins and the Yo g ac arins o n the other hand , ,

e mphasiz ed the conceptual aspect —

Va s ub andhu ( A K 1 1 1 b) . .

defines it as the grasping o f the differences o f

characte ristics and again S am jiia S kan dha h as fo r its
, ,

essence the grasping o f images i e it seiz es hold o f the , . .

attribut e s blue o r yellow long o r short male o r female

, , , ,

”
pleasant o r unpleasant antipathetic and sympathetic etc , ,
.

P ersonally I favour the term

,
ideation as a translation
o f S a m fia and Mrs R hys D avids tells me that this will also
j ,
.

cover the P ali use o f the term .

The correlation o f S amjfia with the sense organs is also

seen by its division into s ix categories as in the case o f ,

Vedana .

4 S am
. skara — Unquestionably the most difficul t term to ,

e xpla in is S amsk ara and a large number o f different renderings

,

have been given rang ing from S pence Hardy s conscience

,
’

which is certai nl y wrong to P rofess o r R hys D avids ,

confections which is perhaps the most correct

etymologically though personally I should prefer
,
co

efficients In point o f fact however S amskara earl y , ,

b ecame associated with Karma or action as may be seen by , ,

it s position in the P rat it ya S a mut pada It has thus been .

r endered into Chinese ( ii t o do to perform ) and in the , , ,

S amyukt a Agama it is said all creatively active S as rav a

1
E P sy
. . se c t . on S kan d has .
 C O SMI C ANALYSI S 87

s am s krt a dharmas are cal led the S ams kara upadana -

s ka ndh a ( S A f . .

In many of the s fit ras some attempt seems to have been

made to limit S amskara t o volition ( Octana volitional —
mentation ) Thus the S am yukt a Agama (o p cit ) says
. . .

The gr o up o f s ix volitions ( corresponding to the six sense

organs ) constitutes S a mskara s ka ndha ( also quote d by
A K .
—
1 l l a) .

The defini tion o f S amskara as volition would have rounde d

o ff the Buddhist li st Of the five skandhas very well but as ,

psychological analysis continued and further factors in the ,

menta l proc e ss were formul ated a place had to be made for ,

them in the classification of the factors o f the personality .

Here there was a difli cult y The later Buddhists dare d not .

add t o the fiv e fold classification which they believed t o have

-

been laid down by the founder s o that the newly postul ated ,

factors had to be arranged somewhere inside the five already

existing skandhas The m o st conveni ent dumping ground
.

was found to be S amskara which thus became a weir d medley ,

o f otherwise unclassified mental factors Thus Mrs R hys . .

D avids ( Bud P s y . S peaking of this matter says

.
,
The ,

constructive aspect ( of this s ka ndh a ) was reserved for

volition The other fift y one factors ( of the P ali enumeration )
.
-

are rather c o e fficie nt s o f any conscious state than pre

-

eminently active or constructive fun c t io ni ng s .

Va s ub a n dh u feels that an ap o l o gy is needed for including

this addi tional material though his excuse is rather lame
,
.

—
He says (A K 1 1 1b) that the reason the Buddha stated that
.

S a mskara s kandha consists o nl y o f the S ix fold Ce t a na is -

because this factor is the most important since S ams kara ,

means creative activity and in Ce t a na this attribute is more

,

predominant than in the other facto rs Nevertheless the other .

,
“
factors must not be excluded for if this were done the
,

remaining Cait a s ikas and Citta Vipra yukt a dharmas would

,

not be included in any o f the skandhas and consequently ,

they would be independent o f suffering and the cause o f

88 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

suffering and hence co ul d not be cut o ff and co ul d not be

,

known . F o r as the Blessed O ne has said

,
If a single thing ,

be not analysed o r remain unknown I say that it is impossible

, ,

to attain the end o f suffering Co ns equently all s ams krt a ,

activities not included in the other fo ur skandhas a r e placed

inside the S a mskara s kandha .

S a ms kara thus came to be use d as a term denoting all the

mental concomita nts which are at any time associated with
the arising o f Vijiiana o r consciousness Consequently since .
,

Ve dana and S amjfia come under this category they also

'

we r e enumerated a part of S amskara S O that from the ,

absolute point o f V iew the five categories were reduced t o

thr ee v iz
,
.

( 1 ) The Body .

( )
2 M ental properties o r concomitants of consciousness
,
.

( )
3 C onsciousness .

Nevertheless respect for tradition prevented the older

,

and clum sier fiv e fold classification being di sregarded s o

-
,

that we find the later commentaries trying t o explain why

Vedana and S am jii a are included in S amskara and yet also
listed as separate S kandh as Va s ub andhu has the following .

remarks o n the subj ect (A K 1 16 b) — Among the .

Ca it a s ika s Vedana and S a m jfia are considered separate

,

skan dh as because they serve as causes o f pugnacity and o f the

wheel o f birth an d death a nd because of the due order of , .

their functio ni ng There are two bases o f pugnacity O ne is

. .

the expression o f various desires the other is the expression ,

o f various Opinions Vedana and S amjfia act respectively as

.

their predominating cause O wing to the emotions ( Vedana) .

all the desires are made ma ni fest O wing to erroneous .

ideation ( S am jfia) all theories are made ma ni fest Both .

b irth and death have Vedana and S amjfia as their principal

causes since the wheel o f birth and death is set rolling o wi ng
,

to man s enslavement to the emotions and his attachment

’

t o erroneous theories F or these two reasons and because

.

o f t he due order o f their causal functioning to be explained ,

 C O SMI C ANALYS I S 89

hereafter Vedana and S am jfia are considered separate

,

skandh as .

A word must be said concerni ng the subdivi sion o f

S amskara Apart from Cetane which is specifically
.
,

mentioned many of the mental propert ies later included in

,

this s kandha are found separately enumerated in the S fit ra

P i taka but no attempt seems to have been made to give a
,

detailed o r definite categorization .

In the Hinayana Ab hidh arm a period elaborate charts of ,

the S ams kara s were compiled the individual items con

1
,

sisting of the various mental properties casually mentioned in

t h e s fit ra s together with a certain number o f factors de duced
,

by individual introspection It is to be regretted that s o many .

are o f the former type since the use o f terms is very vague ,

in the s fit ra s and many psychological terms were but as

o bite r dic ta which were later enshrined in the Ab hidh arm a
,

works as final revelations o f ul timate truth The right of .

such items t o be considered ul timate factors was therefore

very acutely defended by minds able to formul ate a far more
scientific analysis Of mental components .

The S t hav ira v adins enumerated fift y two such S ams karas 2 -
.

Among the S arv as t iv adin s there was much variation in

number fo r some considerable time and it was not until the ,

time of Vas ub andhu that the number was definitely put

at forty six which afterwards remained the standard figure
-
, .

The Yo g ac arins hovered between fift y one fift y two and -

,
-
,

fift y three but fift y one was eventually considered the

-
,
-

orthodox fig ure 3
Incidentally the Yo g ac arin fift y one is by .
,
-

no means in agreement with the fift y two Cait a s ikas of the -

S t ha v irav adin s .

5 Vijridna the last of the skandhas is usually translated

‘

.
, ,

consciousness or c o gnition This definition is quite

in accord with all the c o mmentaries and many references to ,

1
Cf . e . D ham S n par t ( B o o k I o f R D t rans
g . . a .
, 11 . .
) .

2
At l e as t aft e r B uddh ag h o s a s e e E xpo s i t o r
—F s k —S dh
, .

2
Y Bh . . 53 Ab S an . . 55 ; A V P
. . . . . . .
= 51 and V . MS
. .
90 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

the te rm shows that it denoted for the Buddhists merely

awar enes s in the broadest sense o f the term Hence it is .

associate d with much which we sho ul d call sensation save ,

that it lacks the hedo ni stic element which is given to Vedana .

Again it is associated with the perceptual aspect o f S am jfia

, ,

save that it is ampler in its scope implying not merely the ,

seeing o f a thing but the ful l awareness o f it or the ,

absorption of the image into the conscious mind .

The distinction between Vijfiana and S amsk ara pa rticularly ,

in the late r us e o f the latter term is that Vijfiana is c o n ,

s c io us ne s s o r the various aspects of consciousne s s

and S a ms kara is the contents o r functional phases o f con
s c io us n e s s Thus the awareness o f a visual obj ect implies
.

attention (m anaskara ) sensation o r contact ( spar sa ) etc , ,

.

An d further as Vedan a and S a m jfia are considered as

,

S am s karas we find that even these are phases or functions

,

o f consciousness r ather than independent realities .

That Vijiiana involves both the sensatory and ideatio n

aspects o f consciousness can be seen from the minimum
s ix fold class ification o f Vijfian a common to all forms of
-

Buddhism however many additional aspects may be added

, .

The s ix divisions consist o f five kinds o f cons ciousness

dependent respectively upon the five sense organs and o ne ,

type o f consciousness dependent upon the operation of the

mind (manas ) This last possesses several functions peculiar
.

t o itself such as intellection reasoning and memory

, , ,
.

The most important addition to this s ix fold category was -

made by the Yo g ac arin who added two more making eight , ,

in all To this certain other authorities chiefl y Chinese have

.
, , ,

1
added a ninth .

Among the S t hav irav adins in addition to the s ix fold ,

-

group Vijfiana was also classified in a di fferent way under

,

eighty nine di fferent hea ds This arrangement is peculiar to

-
.

this school and had no effect upon later philosophic

,

s pec ulation .

1
Cf . s e ct . on Vi j in
.
pg fl a nd
fi a g .
 C O SMI C ANAL YSI S 91

Turning now from the skandhas taken separately let us ,

c onsider them fo r a moment as a whole To us there seems .

little logical basis for this fiv e fold division of the personali ty

-
,

and it wo ul d seem as if the Buddhists themselves were struck

by its pragmatic nature and that the non material part of
,
-

the personality was arbitrarily broken up into four

c o ordinate parts chie fl y in order to emphasi z e the complex
-
,

c ompound nature o f the mind .

Nevertheless the fiv e fold division is not altogether lacking

,
-

in psychological insight and more particul arly if the volitional

, ,

aspect of S amskara had been retained we shoul d have had ,

a certain correspondence between the east and those western

psychologists who divide the mi nd into ( 1 ) feeling ( 2 ) reason , ,

and ( 3) volition corresp o nding respectively to Vedana

, ,

S amjfia and S a mskara which with Vijfiana consciousness

, , , ,

considered as a whole and R fipa the body woul d give us the

, , ,

foll owing classification

1 . The body includi ng sense organs
,
.

2 . Consciousness o r awareness reception o f the sense

, ,

impressions transmitted by the sense organs .

3 . R esultant feeling o f like or disli ke of these impre s sions .

4 . Ideati o n or the formation of mental images concerni ng

the nature o f the external world from which sense
impressions are derived including the classificati o n,

( naming ) o f those obj ects which are pleasant and those

which are unpleasant .

5 . Voliti o n o r will with respect t o choosing as far as

possible those obj ects which are pleasant and those
which are unpleasant Later as we have seen mental
.
, ,

activities other than volition were added but were ,

placed in the same category .

It was o nl y the early mistranslation of the names o f the

five skandhas which prevented it being seen that some such
92 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PH ILO S O PHY

scheme was in the mind o f the early Buddhist philosophers .

In this conne xion and more or less in defence of this position

, ,

o ne o r two points deserve attention .

VI Jnana follows immediately upon the inte raction O f the sense

organs and sense obj ect and without the inte rmediary action o f
,

a separate facul ty such as Vedana o r S am jfia This is obvious .

from the frequently repeated texts to the e ffect that a s

a resul t o f visible obj ect and organs o f sight visual c o n
s c io u s n e s s comes into being and also from the correlation
o f the sixth sense obj ects S ix sense orga ns and s ix aspe cts
, ,

o f consciousness to form the eighteen dh at us or facto r s o f

existence From this fact the sens a tory aspect o f Vijiiana

.
,

becomes obvious a fact that is sometimes overlooke d owing

, ,

to Vijfiana s place among the skandhas Vedan a and Sa mjfia

’

interveni ng between it and R apa the body We find however ,

.
, ,

that while retai ni ng the traditional order in the bar e

enumeration of the skandhas both B uddhagho s a and ,

Nag arjuna give their exposition o f Vijfiana immediately

after their explanation o f R fipa .

Vedana S am jfia and S a msk ara do not first arise as a resul t

, ,

o f bodily functio ni ng and then produce Vijfiana for it is ,

expressly said that these cannot exis t independent o f

consciousness 1
. R ather are they accessories even though ,

necessary accessories of consciousness which arise

simultaneously with it S ince they are thus but concomitant
.

phases dependent upon Vijfiana which arises directly from ,

the operations Of the sense obj ects and sense organs the late r ,

Buddhists grouped them together as Ca it as ikas or m e nt als

and the S t hav irav adins and S arv as t iv adins gave them in ,

their external classification of the universe the following ,

invariable order
1 . R fipa .

2 Citta o r Vijfiana
. .

3 Ca it a s ikas
. .

1
AK .
—
4 3a ; M Sh. .
, p . 173 .
 94 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

Kl e Sa s ( S am s kara s )
The Kl e Sa s arise in dependence upon
.

Vijfiana and on the other hand the first three defile Vi fiana
,
j
once they have arisen Thus the order of the skandhas is in
.

accord with their mutual de fil e m e nt .

Again rfipa is like a plate Vedana is like food or drink

, .

conta ined in the plate S am jri a is like a sauce S a ms kara is

’

.
,

like the cook and Vijfiana is like the eater Thus the order
’

, .

o f the skandhas is in accord with t e simil e of the plate etc

h , .

Again the order o f the skandhas is in accord with the

,

r elative position o f the dh at us ( realms o f existence ) e g in . .

the Kama dh atu there are various subtle forms of desi r e

where the r apa characteristics are made ma ni fest In the .

Dhy an as o f the R ii pa dh atu one finds sukha and pr iti etc ,

.
,

where Vedana is particularly prominent In the three first .

Arii pa heavens they grasp the idea of space etc s o that here , .
,

S am jfia is the most prominent In the highest heaven Ce t ana .

is the dominating factor s o that this realm is characteriz ed

'

by S amskara Al l these four are supports of Vijfiana

.
”
.

2 . The Twe lve Ayata na s a nd the E ig hte e n D hatus

The other categories of the subj ective classification o f

e xistence consist of the twelve ayatanas and the eighteen
dhat us . These had best be considered together Both are .

categories which were formul ated not from an analysis o f the

human personality nor from an obj ective analysis o f the
external world but as the resul t o f the investigation o f the
,

functions o f consciousness and the means whereby con ,

s c io us n e s s is produced Here all the component parts o f

.

being are grouped together with reference to the part they

play as cons ciousness producers for Buddhism starts with ,

the assumption that consciousness is not an eternal self

existent thing but is the temporary product o f certain
pre existent material factors
-
.

Ayat ana says Mrs R hys Davids means P lace o r sphe r e

,
.
,

1
o f meeting o r o f ori g in o r the ground of happe ni ng
,

1
B Psy . . se ct . on Ay at .
 C O S MI C ANAL YSI S 95

Va s ub andh u ( A K 1 —1 5a ) renders
. it the
gate o f production o f
the Citta and Cait as ika dharmas More
freely we ca n explain
.

the term as being the basis of consciousness o r the factor s ,

which bring about conscio usness In this cate gory the various
.

aspects of c o nsciousness th emselves are no t included .

The Ayata nas are twelve in number and are as follows , .

1 . Obj ect o f sight

2 . Obj ect o f hearing
O
O Obj ect of smell
S ense obj ect
Obj ect of taste
.

P-
I

C
I
J
Obj ect of touch
b
O O bj ect of thought
O rgan o f sight
‘
l
s
‘

D
( Organ o f hearing
9 Organ of smell
S ense
.

organ .

10 . Organ o f taste
11 . Organ o f touch
12 . Organ o f thought
D hat u , like dharma is defined as that which bears its o wn
,

attributes but Vas ub andhu ( op cit ) says that the term means
, . .

Species o r genus o r even element j ust as o ne says that a

, ,

mountain co nsists of certain elements : gold silver copper , , ,

etc In like manner does the world consist o f so many dh at us

. .

Consequently we may call the dh at us the factors o f con

,

s c io us n e s s , or more correctly the elements o f existe nce ,

regarded from the standpoint o f consciousness and its caus es ,

since the dh atu category contain all the twelve ayatanas and ,

in addition the s ix maj or divisions o f co ns ciousness its elf ,

making eighteen in all These are .

1 S ight obj ect

.

2 S ound obj ect

.

3 S mell obj ect

S ense obj ect
.

4 Taste obj ect

.

5 Touch obj ect

.

6 Mental obj ect

.
 96 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

7 . S ight
o rgan
8 . S ound organ
9 S mell organ
S ense organ
.

10 Taste organ
.

11 . Touch organ
12 . Mental organ
13 . Consciousness d ependent upon sight
14 . Consciousness dependent upon sound
15 . Conscio usness dependent upon smell R ecipient
16 . Co ns ciousness dependent upon taste conscious ness .

17 . Consciousness dependent upon touch

18 . Conscious ness dependent upon mentation
A
few words concerni ng each of these factors will not be
o ut o f place .

1 The F ifte e n S e ns uo us F ac t ors consisting o f the five

.
,

sense Obj ects the five sense organs and the fiv e fold sense
, ,
-

perceiving aspects o f consciousness These are not s o likely .

to be misunderstood but to each term a somewhat peculia r ,

interpretation was g iven .

( a ) The F ive S e ns e Objects

These consist o f visible obj ects audible obj ects etc ; , ,

Consider carefully the word obj ect The substantialist wo ul d .

sa
y that there is but o n e substance which is perceived in ,

different ways by the five senses is seen by the eye is touched , ,

by the hand etc No t s o for the Buddhist partic ul arly after

,
.
,

the atomic theory had been accepted 1

E ve ry material
‘

obj ect consists o f molecul es ( S a m g h at a param anu o r Kal apa ) , .

E ach molec ul e contains at least o n e visual atom ( dr avya

p ara m anu ) i e o n e atom ,
which affects
. the
. eye a n d no other .

sense organ one taste atom which affects the tong ue and no
,

other sens e organ etc Co ns equently the sense organs receive ,

.
,

in reality impressi o ns from different obj ects even though ,

these obj ects o r atoms all form part of a single molecul e o r ,

atomic group Concerning the nature of these atoms and

.

1
Cf . A K 4—
. 1 a if , wh r e e a ll t he f llo wing p int
o o s a re d i cu
s sse d ; al f
so . 30 .
98 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

philo so phers and we find them stating that the num b er o f

,

the dhat us is n o t thereby increased because (A K 1— 1 3b ) .

though twofold yet as their S pecies their sense obj ect and
, ,
-
,

their resultant consciousness is the same their nature is o n e ,

When further they paused to consider why these partic ul a r

, ,

orifices were t wo fold the older explanation was that these

-
,

orifices were made in pairs for the sake o f adornment as with ,

but a single orifice sentient beings wo ul d appear hideous .

B ut the phil osophic Va s ub a ndh u obj ected to this expla nation ,

and argued that their two fold nature ( A K 1—1 4a ) was due -
.

t o more practical reasons v iz that we may have a clearer

,
.
,

o r more exact impression o f the external Obj ect When we .

look at an obj ect with o n e eye closed W e are unable to see ,

it clearly .

( )
c S e ns e P e rce iving Aspec ts
f o Co ns cio us ne s s
The five aspects o f consciousness concerned onl y with t h e
cognition o f sense data arise from the interaction o f sens e
obj ect and sense organ o r more accurately the sense obj ect
,
-

atoms and sens e organ atoms -

The transient nature o f .

consciousness and incidentally o f the sense obj ects and sense

,

organs is seen from the fo ll owing citation from the S amyut t a

,

Nikaya Consciousness comes into being monks because , ,

o f two things Because o f the S ight organ and visual obj ect
.

there comes into being visual consciousness The organ o f .

sight is impermanent fl eeting constantly changing Visible

, , .

obj ects are the same Visual consciousness arising from such
.
’

a conditioning relation which is impermanent fl eeting , ,

cons tantly changing is itself no less so for how can it be that

, ,

consciousness arising from such an impermanent r elation

can itsel f be permanent ( S N iv .
,

Two further detai ls call for mention La ter Buddhists .

,

when dealing with sense perception laid great emphasis o n ,

the distinction between individual perception ( s v a b h av a

lak sa na ) and aggregate perception ( sa mjfiana laksa na ) The -
.

S ixth aspect of consciousness mano v ijii ana wa s cons ider e d,

-
,
 C O S MI C ANAL YSI S 99

to have aggregat e pe rception or to be co g ni sant o f obj ects , ,

comm on t o all the same o rgans But the first five V ijfiana s .

were limi ted in their scope to their o wn field o f action th e y ,

had o nl y an indi viduate cognizance o f the homogeneous

obj ect immediately in front of them and did no t encroach ,

upon o ther fields .

This individuality o f perception however only referred t o , ,

each v ijfiana cleaving to its own ayat ana Inside o f its o wn .

sense group every v ijfiana and aggregate perception as ma y

,

be seen from the following discussion in the Ab hidharma

Ko sa ( 1 8a ) -
Obj ects o f touch were divided into eleven
.

divisio ns S ome teachers thought that at any o ne time

.

tactual cons cious ness coul d o nl y perceive o ne derivative

and four elemental groups owing to the doctrine o f ,

s v ab hav a l aksa na but Vas ub andh u says that tactual c o n

-
,

s c io us ne s s can perceive all eleven simul taneously b ecause , ,

all being within one ayat ana they did not constitute a cas e ,

o f sa m fiana laksa na
j -
.

Again Buddhism asserte d that Vijfiana has three kinds

,

o f cogni zance or S amkal pa

1
O ne S v a bhav a samkal pa is .
, ,

immediate sense perception o f the Obj ect presented to it the

second S m rt i s amkalpa is memory or the cogniz ance o f present
, ,

sense data associated with the memory o f former similar and

dis simil ar sens e impressions The third S ampray o g a s amkal pa .
, ,

may be called reaso ni ng or intellect ion based upon sense data .

Of these three functions o f consciousness Mano v ijfiana ,

-

possesses all three The fir st five V ijiiana are possessed of

.

S v ab hav a samkal pa alone

I

2 The F ive N o u s e ns uous D hat us present some o f the most

.
-

interesting problems o f Buddhist philoso phy though for the ,

present we can but co ns ider their bare outline .

( )
a The S e ns e Obje ct
The mind proper or mental cognition is consid ered a sense
in the same way as the first five v ijfiana Consequently it .
,

1
have
I no t f und this d ctr in in P ali tr diti o n
o o e a , b ut it is co mmo n to
b th S ar v
o . a n d Y g s ch
o l
. e A K 2 oo s , se . .
1 00 MANUAL OF BUDD HI S T P HI LO S OP HY

too is po s sessed o f the three fold distinction o f sens e Obj ect

,
-
,

sense organ and sense perceiving aspect o f consciousness

, .

The sense Obj ect in this case co ns ists of those things which are
the subj ect o f mentati o n Thus in s o far as we reason o r .
,

thi nk about Nirvana Nirv ana becomes a sense obj ect o r, ,

the obj ect o f Mano v ijfiana The formul ation o f the group of
-
.

factors constituting this dh atu was obviously subsequent to

the S atra period fo r we find some di ffe r ence o f detail among the
,

various schools .

The S t ha v irav adin enumeration is as follows

1

1 Nirv ana the highest reality

.
,
.

2 The subtle f o rms o f R apa matter which cannot be

.

perceived by the physical sense organs or their ,

associated v ijfiana .

3 Citta o r mind itsel f

.
,
.

4 Cait a s ikas o r mental prop e rties

.
,
.

5 P rajfiapt i o r concepts o r notions

.
,
.

Th e S arv as t iv adin in enumeration was

2

1 The Vedan a S am jiia and S amsk ara skandhas with all

.
, , ,

their numerous subdivisions .

2 Av ijfiapt i R fipa o r unma ni fested rii pa

.
,
.

3 The three As ams krt a dh armas o r the transcendental

.
,

and permanent facto rs o f existence making seven ,

divisions in all .

The Yo g ac arin enumeration was

3

1 The Cait a s ika dharmas

. .

2 The Citta V ipra yukt a dharmas

.
-
.

3 The six As a m s krt a dharmas

. .

4 The subtle forms of matter

. These four categorie s .

when subdivided make eighty two dharmas in all -

.

At r t sight there appears to be a grea t deal of divergence

fis
o f op inion concer ni ng mental obj ect among the three schools

1
CP
. .
, p 3 a
. n d p . 120 .

2
AK 1 10

mg
. .

AV P dis c
A ?
3
. . 1- 1 a , see . .
1 02 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

caksur or indriya
brings about the a rising v ijfian a o f Caksur -

o r the visua l consciousness so does the transmitted energy

,

o f all the imm e diately preceding v ijfian as bring about the

arisi ng o f the Mano v ijfiana -

.

(c ) The S e nse pe rce iving Co ns cious nes s

-

At the pr esent moment littl e need be said about the nature

o f the Mano v ijfiana -
We have already said that this aspect
.

o f consciou s ness possesses aggregate as well as individual

perception as opposed to the other five types o f conscious

,

ness and mo reover while the l atter has onl y s v ab hav a

, , ,

s a mkal a the former has s am pray o g a s amkal a and

p , p ,

sm rt i s amkal a as well N o r mus t it be forgotten that the

p .

Yo g ac arins added two other types o f consciousness which ,

shared some o f the attributes and functions of the old Mano

vijii an a .

The Buddhists laid great stress upon their division of the

uni verse into the eighteen dhat us or elements and used these ,

categories t o expl ain many o f the functions of life and j ust as ,

the VaiSe sikas after enum erating their list o f dravya or

,

substances proce e d e d t o expoun d the list o f gunas o r qualities

,

o r attributes possessed by each o f these substances s o did the ,

Buddh is ts give a good deal o f attention to the charact eristics Of

e a ch o f the eighteen dhat us even though the non substantia list
,
-

position o f Buddhism made it impossible for them to carry o ut

the theory o f inherent attributes possess e d by self existent -

substanc e s Consequently in place o f a list o f funda menta l

.
,

i nh erent guna s the Buddhists after enumerating their list

, ,

o f dh at us merel y attempte d to pl ace them in different l ogica l

,

groups ; e g those which a r e visibl e and those which are

. .
,

invisibl e those which are de fil e d ( S as rav a ) and those which ,

are not de fil e d (anas rav a ) ; those which are obj ective a nd .

those which are subj ective etc F or the most part however
,
.
, ,

these classifications were o f little philosophic import s o that ,

we may r es t c onte nt with referring the curious to the origina l

authoritie s .
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 1 03

B
( ) TH E O B J EC T IV E CL AS S I FI C A TIO N
We now come t o the consideration o f the component pa rts
o f the uni verse c lassified and analysed from the obj ective

standpoint Here no longer does the human personality o r

.

the process of consciousness serve as the starting point -

.

R ather are the phenomena o f life both menta l and physical

, ,

considered universally .

Here also do the component parts o f the universe receive

, ,

a new designation It is curio us t o no t e how many terms there

.

are which we are forced to render elements o r factors o f

existe nce The difference in terminology has almost
exclusive reference to the standpoint from which the analysis
o f the universe was made A word must now be said con
.

cerning their relations hip .

The skandhas o r component parts o f the human personality

are for the most part aggregates or compounds and not them
selves ultimate o r simple factors of existence Vedana and .

S am jiia t o be sure
,
are treated as ultimates
,
The .

S arv as t iv adins state moreover that all the vario us classes

, ,

o f v ijfian a c o nstitute but o n e ultimate factor but t h e other ,

schools consider even the v ijfiana s kandha as composite .

R fipa and S ams kara are certai nl y names fo r groups of elements

and not true ul timate factors themselves .

Th e dhat us come nearer to a scientific conception of ul timate

factors since a ll but o ne (dh arma dh atu) are discrete simple
, , ,

ultimate el ements Dharma dh atu however is a generic

.
, ,

term and includes a great many discrete facto rs

, .

With the enumeration of the dharmas however an attempt , ,

( even though n o t altogether successful ) was made to enumerate

those factors which are themselves the underlying units o f the
other g roups and to them therefore may we properly assign
, , ,

the term element o r ultimate fact o r The wo rd factor rather .

than element has been chosen inasmuch as the latt er t a m

,

has been us urped by the four Mah ab hfit as The dh armas .

include not only thes e elements but apply also to the menta l
,

and other S pheres .

1 04 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI L O S O PHY

The dharma cl assification came to have more and more

importance assigned to it in the subseq uent developments of
Buddhist phil osophy and finall y usurped most o f the attention
,

previous ly given to the skandhas and dhat us It is therefore .

, ,

imperative that careful investigation h e ma d e both o f the

meaning o f the term and the Obj ects denoted by it .

The M e aning of D harma .

D harma has been used in a great variety o f senses It has .

been well call ed the bl ank cheque o f Indian thought In the .

present instance howeve r it has no relation to the more usual

, ,

significance of truth law religion duty etc Al ong with

, , , , .

dh atu and for simil ar reasons it has been defined as that

, ,

which bears its own attributes meaning thereby ultimate

entities possessed o f their o wn characteristics as opposed to ,

groups of phenomena whose cha racter istics a r e derived from

ul timate substances which underl ie them Being thus con .

t ra s t e d with phenomena l groups and constituting the factors

o f which such gr oups are composed Mrs R hys D avids .
’

r endering o f the term by phenomena ( in her trans o f the

'
.

D ham S ang ) is by no means happy wh il e her

. . mental ,

states is still less s o since many o f the dharmas are not

,

mental ( as she herself admits ) .

O n the othe r hand ul timate factor

,
and element
are equally liable t o be misunderstood fo r the doctrine o f the ,

dharmas never co nfl i ct s with the anti substantia list position o f -

Buddhism O nl y the As ams krt a dharmas ( Nirvana

.
,

which are purely transcendental are uncaused and unde rived ,

.

The other dharmas are not like the eternal substances o f the
Jainas and VaiSe sikas wh ich are uncaus e d eternal and
, , ,

possessed o f certain i nh erent attributes which remain

unchanged even though all o f their manifested attributes
undergo transformation E very singl e one o f the S ams krt a
.

dharmas o r fact ors o f phenomenal l ife are impermanent ,

caused cond itioned Thus for exampl e the ato ms o f the

,
.
, ,

five s ens e o rgans and t h e five sense obj ects ( each s ense organ
106 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O P HY

First ,
as regards their pe rmanence fill 713 fi) .

S upposing that no oth er form o f organic existe nce wer e

possibl e other than that which we see around us t o day we -
,

coul d s ay that the eye is a permanent factor in human life ,

even though ever y single eye is nec essarily impermanent ,

and subj ect t o decay In t he same way the various dharmas

.

a re permanent fa ctors in life even though every o ne of them

,

is constantly being d estroyed and r ecreated .

S econd as r egards the curious list of dharmas which both

,

the S t hav irav adins and S arv as t iv adins enumerate Both .

contain certain thi ngs which can be called neither mental nor
material though many o f these are inconsistently classed
,

by the S t hav irav adi ns under r upa s kandha while the ,

S arv as t iv adin s enume r ate them more logically as a separate , ,

group unconnected with either matte r or mind Among these .

are homogeneity decay vitality birth

,
The S arv as t iv adins
, ,
.

sa y that these are not merely modes o f other substances but ,

are themselves separate dharmas o r ul timate factors of life .

From the foregoing we may s e e that the conception o f

dharm a is o ne o f the m o st original contributio ns o f
Buddhism to the history of human thought much in the same ,

way as Plato s Ideas and Ar istotl e s F orms

’
o r the
’

d octrine o f substance Many Buddh ist ideas are derived

.

from or at least shared with other systems o f thought but

, ,

the doctrine o f dharma has no exact parall el with any other

conception s o that it is most curious that no one has as yet
,

d eal t with the curious philosophic position which the doctrine

involves .

Clas s ifica tio nf o t he Dha rma s .

Having thus examined the meaning o f the word dharma ,

l et us now turn t o the enumeration o f the dharmas themselves .

F irst as regards their grouping .

In the Ab hidhamm at t ha sangaha 1

representing the ,

S t hav irav adin tradition we find the following arrangement

,

1
CP . .
, p . 81 .
 C O S MI C AN ALYSI S 1 07

1 . Citta ,
mind consci o usness
or ,
.

2 . Cait a s ika s o r mental properties

, ,
.

3 . R fipa or matt er, .

4 . Nirvana o r the highest r eality sometimes defined as

, ,

As am s krt a .

Th e S arv as t iv adi n classification ( AK 4—1 a ) is .

1'

1 . R fipa matter , or .

2 Citta o r mind
.
, .

3 Cait a sika s o r menta l properties

.
,
.

4 Citta V ipra yukt a o r mi scel laneous factors

.
-
,
.

5 As ams krt a o r unconditioned factors one of which is

.
, ,

Nirvana .

The Yo g acarin cl assification is

2

1 Citta or mi nd
.
, .

2 Cait a s ikas o r mental properties

.
,
.

3 R fipa o r matter
.
, .

4 Citta V iprayu kt a o r miscellaneous factors

.
-
,
.

5 As a ms krt a or unconditioned factors

.
,
.

Al l three school s agree in calling those dharmas which

a re not defi ni tel y As a m s krt a S am s krt a s o that in reality , ,

there are but two great categories : ( 1 ) The As am s krt a o r

E te rn al unconditioned el ements of existence which do not
,

e nter into combination ; and ( 2 ) S ams krt a conditioned and ,

impermanent el ements which enter into combinations to

form the phenomenal world around us This second group .
,

as we have seen the S t hav irav adins divide into but three
,

c ate gories while both the S arv as t iv adins and the Y o ac arins
, g
postul ate four This fo urth category Citta V ipra yukt a
.
,
-
,

mea ns literally not conn ected with mind but it is als o defined
, , ,

as being equally disassociated with matter o r r upa This .

c ategory consists of certain dharmas which are somewhat

incongruously placed under r upa by the S outhern Buddhists ,

1
Al s o P r P ad ,.l la f .
-
.

2
A V P l l a , ls o S
. . .
-
a at D . . 1a .
1 08 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

together with certain dharmas which are not found in the

S outhern list at a ll .

Al though there is some disagreement as to the exact

number o f dharma s included under each category all the ,

schools agree that r apa dharmas consist o f the component units

o f the R fipa s kandh a Citta dharmas of the component parts
o f the Vijfiana s kandh a whi le the Cait as ikas consist o f the
Vedana and S am jfia skandhas together with the component ,

pa rts o f the S amskar a s kandh a According to the .

S arv as t iv adi n s and Yo g ac arin s the Citta V iprayukt a dharmas

,
-

are al so incl uded in the S a ms k ara s kandh a .

There is also comparative unity o f opinion concerning the

relationship between the dharma s o n the o ne hand and the
dh at us and ayatanas on the other The five sensuous sense .

organs and sense obj ects belong t o t h e B fipa dh armas The .

five sensuous forms o f consciousness belong to the Citta

dharmas To this category also belongs the sixth or Mano
.

V ijnana ,
and Mano dh atu while the r emaining dh atu o r
-
,

ay at ana the obj ect of mentation includes all the other

, ,

dharmas .

The accompanying cha rt will serve to make clear the

relationship supposed by all the s chools t o exist between the
skandhas the ayatanas the dh at us and the dharmas
, , ,
.

In the earlier stages o f all three schools there seems to b e a

good deal o f deviation and inconsistency in the enumeration o f
the dharmas In this period no exact numerical definition
.

seems t o have been given but in the later stages o f each

,

school an attempt was made t o fix artificially the number o f

1
each group as well as the total number o f dharmas .

Thus in the S t hav irav adin school R fipa consists of twenty ,

seven o r twenty eight Citta of eighty nine Cait as ika s o f

-
,
-
,

fift y two dharmas while Nirvana consists o f an additional

-
,

dharma but no especial mention seems to be made of the

,

total number o f dharmas taken as a whole .

1
F or auth o r , se e l is t ab o v e .
1 10 MAN UAL OF B UD DH IS T PHI LO S OP HY

1 The S t h av irav adins

. however know o f but o ne
,
1
,

As ams krt a dharma Nirvana Nirv ana is to be gained by the

, .

ann ihilati o n o f the r o ots which l ead to r ebirth and may , ,

therefore be call ed the cessation o f phenomenal life though

, ,

a person who attai ns t o Ni rv ana continues in bo dil y existence

until hi s span of life is exhauste d after which the phenomenal ,

dharmas wh ich compose his personal ity disintegrate having ,

no furthe r creative fo r ce to keep them together Nirvana .

,

then is o f two kinds : ( 1 ) Nir vana with a subsidium o r

, ,

Nirvana associated with a still e xisting per sonal ity ; and ( 2 )

Nirvana without a subsidium o r the state o f Nirvana after ,

the phenomenal personality has disintegrated The fact that .

Nirvana is called a dharma shows that it was considered a

positive concept and not a mere negation of life .

2 The S arv as t iv adi n s enumerate three Asa ms krt a dharmas

. .

These are ( )
1 A k as a ( )
2 P ra t is amkh y a
, Niro dh a and ,

( 3 ) A pra t is a m kh y a Niro dh a .

( )
a A k a s a corresponds t oin the West is calle d either
what
.
—
space o r ether Va s ub andh u says (A K 1 3 b) it has fo r it s . .

characteristic non impeding and since it offers no obstacl e

-
, ,

matter (r upa ) freely functions ther ein The fact that Ak asa .

is always considered a substance and an eternal and

unchanging unity shows that Akasa is not merel y empty
space o r l ack o f matter but a positive entity having many
, ,

attributes common to the o ld idea o f ether .

An important point to notice in this connexi on is th at the

S t hav irav adins give Ak as a among their lis t o f derived
material dharmas produced by the four Mah ab hfit as while ,

with the S arv as t iv adins it is el evated to the rank o f an

Asam s krt a dharma In point o f fact howeve r the
.
, ,

S arv as t iv adins seem to distinguish between two kind s o f

Akasa th e first the eternal and omnipresent ether the other
, ,

to empty space with which is frequently associate d the s ky

,
.
.

The first is translated by the Chinese as [E 23 (hs ii k un g )

’
,

1
See C P . .
, p . 168 .
 C O SMI C ANALYS I S 111

and the second b y $ Q ( ng) al one The second concept

’
k u .

a g rees more o r less with the S t h av irav adin conception of

Akasa Thus the Mah av ib hasa ( 75
. Hs ii k ung is -
’

not r apa while k ung is r apa (i e lack of rfipa or int erstices

,
’
. .
,

between r apa ) Hs ii k ung is invisible k ung is visible

.
-
’
,
’
.

Hs ii k un g is Anasrav a k ung is S as rav a Hs u k ung is

’ ’ ’
- -
.
,
”
as a m s krt a while k ung is s am s krt a I n each case the
’ '

.
,

defin ition o f k un g c o rres ponds t o the S t h av irav adin Akasa

’
.

—
In ano ther passage Va s ub andhu (A K 1 2 16) b rings o ut the . .

str o ng difference bet ween th e Asa m s krt a Ak as a and the

Akasa which is me r ely empty space
,
K ung is an interstice .
’

( o r hole ) The apertu r es in a gate ( as regards inanimate

obj ects ) o r in the mouth or nose (as r egards animate obj ects )
”
are called k ung ’
.

From thi s it wo ul d seem cl ear that the S arv as t iv adins

regard e d the As ams krt a Akasa as ether and the S ams krt a ,

Akasa as space .

6
( ) P r a t isa mk h y a N ir o dh a is conscious cessation .

Va ub andhu (A K 1 3b) says

s — . It has for its nature freedom
.

from bondage P rat is amkhya means conscious deliberation ,

and is a type of intelligence since it deliberates upon each o f

the four No ble Truths The atta inment of cessation (Niro dha.
,

i e the cessation o f the taints and passions ) by means o f the

. .

power o f deliberation is therefore called P rat isamkh y a

Niro dha j ust as a cart pul l ed by b ull o cks is call ed a b ullock
,

”
ca rt by the elimi nation o f the middle term Va s ub andh u .

then goes on to discuss whether this P rat is amkh ya Niro dha

is uni fo rm and homogeneous i e whether the attainment o f , . .

freedom from one bond impli e s simultane o us emancipation

from all others and he answers ( op cit )
, By no means fo r . .
,

it differs accor di ng to the basis of the bondage ; that is t o say ,

th e emancipation from bondage is in a ccord with the extent o f

basis of the bondage If this were not s o when one annihilate s
.
,

o ne kl e éa all other kl e sa s wo ul d thereby be destroyed ,

and conseq uently traini ng in order t o master the others woul d

, ,

b e unnecessary (which is false ) .

1 12 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

Nevertheless although emancipation from the kl e sas ,

must be accomplished individually yet this process leads to ,

complete freed om from all bonds in the end and so Nir vana , ,

o r compl ete freedom from all bonds by means o f conscious

e ffort come s within this cate gory and thus P rat is amkhya
, ,

Niro dh a is identified with the only As ams krt a dharma kn own

to th e S t hav iravadins .

( ) p
c A ra t isa m k h y a N iro dh a in contrast with the preced ing , ,

“
is unconscious cessation and is explained as the non
arising of consciousness no t as the r esul t of conscious effo rt , ,

but by l ack o f the necess a ry s ufficing conditions Va sub an dhu .

( A K . 1 — 1 4.a ) says Just as when the mind is intent upon

o ne obj ect all other obj ects o f sight sound smell ta ste
, , , , ,

and touch are l ost because the group o f the five v ijfianas ,

remains in the not yet a risen ( or futur e ) state and consequently

- -

neve r a rise at a l ater moment since they are unabl e t o perceive

past sense obj ects In like manner because o f the inc o m
-
.
,

p l e t e n e s s of s u ffic in
g causes A p ra t is a mkh y a Niro dh a is ,

”
brought about .

E ach o f the three As ams krt a dharmas according to the ,

S arv as t iv adins is separate and discrete Cons equently they

,
.
,

are pl ural ists inasmuch as they accept mo r e than o ne eternal

,

unconditioned el ement .

3 The Yo g ac arins
. I n contrast to the S arv as t iv adi ns
-
,

the adherents o f the Yo g acarin school enumerate s ix

As am s krt a A
’
1
dharmas These are ( )
1 . k as a ( )
2 ,

P rat is amkh ya Niro dha ( 3 ) Aprat is amkh ya Niro dha ( 4) , ,

Acala ( 5 ) S am jfia V e dan a Niro dha ( 6 ) Tathata The fir st

,
-
,
.

three are the same as the As ams krt a dharmas o f the

S arv as t iv adins and ther efore need not be discussed
, ,
The ,
.

additional th ree are

( )
a A c a l a is literally i m movab,
ility This is a menta,
l .

state identified with Upe ks a or indiffer ence o r the trans , ,

1
S at . dh . dv . p 2 V MS f l
, .
, . nd . . .
, a A . S am S an
. . e nu m r at e
e

e ig ht A sa ms k . by divi ding T athat a int thr c l a o ee sse s.

1 14 MANUAL OF B UD D HI S T P HI LO S O PHY

conditions bringing about phenomenal existence do not arise .

The fourth and fifth As a ms krt a dharmas ar e but inferior

stages leading t o noumenal existe nce .

d 2 . a, or M a tte r 1

Having finish e d o ur survey o f the Asa ms krt a dharmas we

now turn t o the S ams krt a dharmas o r the ultimate facto rs , ,

which enter into combination in the phenomenal world ; -

and of which they are the proximate cause Consequently .

,

they are defined (A K 1— 4 b) as mundane temporal (i e . .

,
. .

belonging to the worl d o f time ) possessed of causes and ,

condi tions phenomenal capabl e o f being describ e d by words

, , ,

tainted (s as rav a ) and associated with the two truths D uhkh a

and S am uday a S ince these are the ul timate parts o f
phenomenal life and such life consists o f matter and mi nd
,

( including the phases o f the mind ) such dharmas are ,

classifie d int o R apa Citta and Cait a s ika dharmas to which , , ,

o ther schoo l s woul d add Citta V ipra ukt a d harmas

y
-
.

Le t us first consider the R fipa dhar mas o r the ma t e r ial ,

factors of existence All schools o f Buddhism agree that .

e very materia l dharma fa ll s into one or other o f two categories

( ) The ul timate o r underive d and ( 2 ) the derived They

1 ,
.

a re gene r ally agreed that the ul timate dharmas are four

in number and co ns ist o f the four Mahab hfit as o r four ,

mate rial el ements which are earth water fir e and air , , , , ,

th ough each o f these terms has a very special signi ficance fo r

the Buddhists .

R egarding the enumeration of the derived material dharmas ,

there is not qui te such uniformity though all lists include the ,

five sens e obj ect s and the five sense organs however many ,

other dh armas may be given .

1
For S tr p
. .S an ( B o o k 2 o f R t Tr an s ) C P p a r t vi p 1 5 4 ff
3 o f Dh . . .
, . .
, . .

F o r S a r v W u s hih p i p o s h a l un fi r s t ha l f o f fir s t fa s c A K fi r s t hal f o f
‘ ‘
- - - .
.
, , .

firs t fas c fo r P r an d M V fifth gr antha F o r Y o g A V P 1 3 6 a n d 4a

. . . . . . . . .
-
,

p . 2a .
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 1 15

( )
a The Ult imate M ater ia l E leme nts

These the four Mahab hfit a s require as we have said

, , , ,

es pecial attention as they are easily misun derstood The

, .

us e o f the te rms in the Hinayana s fit ras is somewhat vague ,

so that we are left uncertain as to what interpretation was

given t o them in primitive times but all the later schools ,

agree that the elements are themselves only perceptible

through touch What we see hear smell o r taste are o nl y
.
, , , ,

sense obj ects derived from the elements E ven as regards the .

facul ty o f touch certain of the things sensed are o nl y

,

derivative sens e obj ects though in addition the touch sens e

, , ,

organ can perceive the el ements themselves .

—
The Ab hi dh arm a Ko sa ( 1 9a where a detailed di scussion
,

will be found ) gives us the foll owing chart of the attributes

and functions o f each o f the four elements

E very molecule of every material obj ect contains at least

o ne ato m of each o f these four elements Thus a molecul e o f .

what we call water contains atoms o f earth water fir e and , , ,

air in addi tion to the atoms o f the sense obj ect s but it s o
, ,

happens that for the time being the water element has a
predominant infl uence s o that we call the molecul e in question
,

—
water The Ab hidh arm a Ko sa ( 4 l b ) has the follo wing state
.

ment concerni ng the matter Q uery : If the f o ur

.

Mahab hfit as always arise together in all molecul es whether , ,

hard or moist ho t or mobile h ow is it that we can s e nse o n e

, ,

a nd n o t the others 4 An s wer Because for the time bein g the

’

nature o f o ne happens to be predominant s o that o ur

.
,

s enses notice o n e and not the others ”

The Mahav ib hasa .

is even more emphatic o n this point and in o ne passage ,

 1 16 MANU AL OF B UDD HI S T P HI L O S O PHY

1 —
( 3 1 511 ) gives long argum ents to support the Buddh ist
position .

In this connexion o ne doctrine peculiar to the S t hav irav adin

school must be noticed They believe that o nl y three o f the .

Mahab hfit a s are tangible i s th at the water element cannot , . .

be felt and as no element is perceptible t o the other senses

, , ,

it follows that the ver y existence of th is element can o nl y be

known by a process of i nference Thus we find S $ Aung . . .

( C
. P l 55n ) saying :
. P a rticles o f matter are held together
by Apo ( cohesion ) ( water ) which cannot be felt by the sense
o f —
touch e g when o ne put s his hand into cold water the
. .
,

s oftness o f the water is not apo but pat hav i ( earth ) the ,

cold felt is not apo but tej o (fire ) the pressure felt is not apo ,

but vayo ( air ) From this one can easily s e e that the
Bud dhists a r e not dealing with Thales water An aximenes ’

,
’

a ir H e ra kl e it u s fire o r the P eripatetics matter of Greek

’ ’
, ,
”
philosophy .

F or this reason we shoul d prefer to call the m ah ab hfit a s

forces rather than material elements except for the fact tha t ,

they are considered atomic and therefore are obviously

material .

What is the connexion between the four ul timates and the

various de n v at iv e forms o f matter ? B uddhagh o s a re pre ,

senting the S t hav irav adins merely says that a derivative form ,

of matter is aided by the four elements supporting ( earth ) ,

binding (water ) maturing (fire ) and moving ( air ) it like an

, , ,

i nfant prince being fed bathed dressed and fanned , , ,

.

( A t t S a. l quote d.D ham S a ng R D tran s p . . . .

,
.

The S arv as t iv adins and the Yo g ac arins deal more

explicitly with the causal relation between them givi ng a ,

fiv e fold relationsh ip o n e for each o f the m ah ab hfit a s take n

-
,

separately and o ne for them altogether The Mah av ib hasa

,
.

( 1 2 7 6 b-
) gives us the follo w ing chart
1 P ro ducing a s a mothe r gives birth to a
.
,

all four .

2 Re lia nce as a dis ciple relies upon his teacher

.
,
fire .
1 18 MAN UAL OF B UDD H IS T PHI LO S O PHY

The following is a comparative list o f the derivative material

dha rmas as taught in the three schools
,

( )
1 S t ha vira vadin .
( 2 ) S arvas t ivadin .
( 3 ) Yog acarin .

1 . S ight organ 1 S ight organ. . . 1 S ight organ

. .

2 S ound 2 S o un d . 2 . S oun d
3 S mell 3 S mell . 3 . S mell
4 Taste 4 Taste . 4 . Taste
5 . Touch 5 Touch . 5 . Touch
6 . S ight obj e ct 6 S ight obj ect . . . 6 . S ight obj ect .

7 S ound 7 S ound . 7 . S ound

8 . S mel l 8 S mell . 8 . S mell
9 . Taste 9 Taste . 9 . Taste
10 . Touch 1 0 Touch . 10 . Touch
11 . F emale S e x 1 1 Unma ni feste d
. . 11 . Matter includ e d
12 . Male S e x matter
. . under dharma
13 . F ood . dh atu .

14 . O rgan o f Life .

15 . S pace ( ak asa ) .

16 . Gest ure .

17 S peech .

18 . Buoyancy .

19 . E lasticity
20 . P ower o f Adaptation .

21 . P ower of Aggr egation ( birth ) .

22 . D uration .

23 . D ecay .

24 . D eath ;

The curious crudity and ill ogicality of the S t hav irav adin
school is at once obvious Here are placed side by side . , ,

material obj ects and the modes o r activi ties o f these organs ,

such as buoyancy o r elasticity birth death etc , , ,

.

The S arv as t iv adin s have taken some o f the categories o ut

o f this list and placed them more appropriately among the , ,

Citta V ipra y ukt a dharmas

-
Ak asa in the sense o f mere .
,

empty space the ape rtures o f th e body e t c being but the

, ,
.
,
 C O SMI C AN ALYSI S 1 19

absence o f a thing is not considere d a separate dharma

, ,

although as we have seen Akasa in the hi gher sens e is

, , , ,

placed among the As ams krt a dharmas The r emaining .

dharmas of the S t hav irav adin list are igno red for though ,

masculinity and femi ninity we re classed among the twenty

two in driy as yet since they wer e not considered ul timate
,

elements they were omitted from the lists o f dharmas

,
.

It may at first sight seem strange to us that even the

, ,

logical S arv as t iv adin and Yo g ac arin philosophers shoul d have

been content to keep the sense organs and sense obj ects as
ultimate factors o f existence but the reasons for their doing
,

s o become obvious when the Buddhist theory o f matte r is

taken into consideration As we have already remarked in

.

dealing with the dhat us sight obj ects smell obj ects etc are
, , ,
.
,

fo r the Buddhists really existing obje cts separate from though , ,

produced by the f o ur m ah ab hfit as Thus what we consider

.
,

a single material obj ect such as a lum p o f earth is really

, ,

something very complex It contains not o nl y minute

.

particles of all the four elements which are invisible but als o ,

minute visible particles ano ther s e t o f pa rticles which can

,

be tasted others which can be smelt etc and since

, , .
, ,

accordi ng to the premises the whole uni verse of inanimate

,

matter c o nsists of compounds o f these ul timate sense particles

in addi tion to the fo ur m ahab hfit a s it wo ul d be inconsistent
,

if they were not counted as separate dh a rmas .

It is the same way with the sense organs The particles o f the .

ca ksur indriya are quite di fferent from the four m ah ab h fit a s

-
,

and equally distinct from the five kinds o f sense obj ect atoms .

Hence they a r e ul timate factors of existence .

Le t us postpone for a moment examination o f the eleventh

categories o f the S arv as t iv adin s and Yo g acarins and deal
somewhat more in detail with each o f the sense organs and
sense obj ects .

( ) he S e ns e Org ans
i T
We have alrea dy learned to distinguish betwe en what the
world knows as sense organs and what the Buddhists consider
1 20 MANUAL OF B UD DHI S T P HI LO S O PHY

to be the true sense organs The physical eye is not the true
.

sense organ though it contains minute percipient particles

,

which constitute the organ o f vision Thus the physical .

eye is complex Its molecul es contain atoms of the four

.

m ah ab hfit as and atoms o f four o ut of the five sense obj ects

,

( sound is generally excluded ) It also contains the body

.

organ ( kaya indriya ) atoms and fin ally the atoms o f the ,

caksur indriy a itself This idea common t o all forms of

.
,

Buddhism is express e d by B uddh agho s a in the follo wing

,

words
First the aggre g ate org a ni sm ( phys ical eye ) There
a r e fo ur teen constituents : the four elements the six ,

attributes dependent upon them vitality nature body , ,

sensibility ( kaya indriy a particles ) and the visual sentient ,

o rgan (the true sight sense organ ) When the world seeing
an obviously extended white obj ect fancies it sees the eye ,

it o nl y perceives the basis o f the eye But that sentient

organ which is there bound inher ent derive d from the four ,

”
great principles (m ah ab h fit as ) this is the visual sense ~ -
.

( A t t S a
.l quot
. e d R D trans D. h S a n
. . . .
,

An d s o it is wi th the other sense organs the matter o f the ,

five indriyas being qui te different from t h e other kinds o f

matter S ometimes the sense organs proper are called the
.

principal indriy a while the sense orifices ( e g the physical

,
. .

eye ) are call ed the a uxiliary indriya .

All accounts agree that the particles constituting the five

indriya s are incredibly minute Concerni ng their shape and .

their position we find the follo wi ng statement

1 The
. E ye I ndriya — R egarding this
. the commentators
quote the follo wing verse
The visual sense by which he beholds forms ,
’
Is small and deli cate comparable t o the lous e s head
,
.

( op cit ) . .

Va s ub andhu adds that the atoms o f the caksur indriya are -

diffused over the s ur face o f the eye Just as the particles .

122 MANUAL OF BUDDHI S T PHI LO S O PH Y

S outhern Buddhists the distinction is found for the first time

in B uddh ag h o s a S $ Aung is mi staken however when he
. . .
, ,

tells us ( C P 1 60 ) that the distinction beg an with B uddhagho s a

. .
,

as it is insiste d upon by the S arv as t iv adins both in the

Mah av ib has a and the Ab hidharm a Ko sa ( M V —
1 3 7b . .

and A K 2 . . Va s ub a ndhu tells us moreover that the , ,

scope o f the eye is even greater than that of the ear It is t o .

be regretted that the Buddhists did not tell us more concerni ng

the natur e of the medium between the sense organ and the
sense obj ect .

2 The S arv as t iv adin s draw a distinction between the eye

.

and ear o n the o ne hand and the nose tongue and bod y , , ,

o n the other from another point o f view

,
The former are .

able to sense any number o f param anus at the same time ,

as when we s e e either a mountain o r a fl e a (A K 2 19a ) — . . .

The latter class o f sense organs however can at any o ne , ,

moment sense only the same number o f obj ective atoms as

their own If a certain sense obj ect contains a greater number
.

o f ato ms than the sens e organ atoms wi th which they come

into contact the sense organs o nl y sense at o ne moment the

,

equivalent number o f sense obj ect atoms and then sens e ,

the remaining fraction a moment later the interval ,

between the two periods being s o small and the proces s

o f double sensation s o rapid that we usually cons i d er
the whole affair simul taneous .

ii
( ) The S e ns e Objec t s

We have already seen how the Buddhi sts in their rej ection ,

o f the doctrine o f substance were forced to deny that what,

we experience are various qua litie s i nh erent in an external

and unified obj ect but rather that when e g we perceive
,
. .

red there is really a separate atom o f redness im ping e ing

o n the caksur indriy a and that this atom is a c o existing
- -
,

but independent atom in a molecul e o f obj ective matter .

This doctrine was carried to its logi cal extreme no matte r

how strange the conclusions may seem to us Thus the y .
,
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 1 23

claimed that there were atoms o f shape as well as colour

( th ough this was denied by the S a u t ran t ika s A R 1 3 ,
. .

and that when we experience with the eye the sensation round ,

it is because there is an atom o f roundness in the im ping e ing

molecul e This can be seen from the discussion carried on in
.

the first Chuan o f the Ab hidharm a Ko sa : S ome teache rs

s ay that some obj ects are possessed o f both shape and colour .

How can this be 4 (Attempted answer ) Because we can s e e

“

therein both ( shape and colour ) ( Obj ection ) This sensation .

”
refers to o ur cognition and not to the external obj ect ,
.

( A. R .1 — 7 a ) .

Cons equently when we see something that is both long and

,

white in r eality we a r e sensing two separate atoms and their

, ,

uni ty is purely subj ective Most o f o ur complex notions .

are thus reduced to a subj ective compounding o f a few simple

external factors .

Nee dless t o say this ph ilosophy once accepted led to a

, , ,

carefu l examination o f j ust what things are ul timately

obj ective and distinct The final enumerations were o nl y .

reached after considerable th o ught and controversy ranging

over a long period o f time beginning with the crude and ,

hesitating ca tegories found in the Dhamma S anga ni (which

co ns equently had more o r less t o be foll owed by all the later
S t hav irav adin s ) down to the logical lists of the later
S a rv as t iv adins The S arv as t iv adin s had in fact a much
.
, ,

mo r e d efinite list of categories than the Y o g ac arins fo r , ,

inasmuch as the latter thought that all matte r is the product

o f the mind the pr o blem of the ul timate uni ts o f the obj ective
,

universe was not for them an urgent o ne .

In the present ins tance therefore we may r est content , ,

with quoting Va s ub andh u s enumeration o f the divis ions

1 ’

of each sense obj ect which r epresent the S arv as t iv adin

o pinion o n the subj ect referring the curious t o the other ,

original authorities 2

1
AK
. . f 1 fir t hal f s Al s o M V yu p 195
—
, .
, . . .
, . .

2
F or S tr S han S ang.
- . tr .
, p . 1 8 3 ff . F o r Y o g Ab h S a m S a n
. . . .
, l 2b fl .
1 24 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

1 Type s
. o
f S ig ht Obje cts — (a ) Ther e are eight kinds of

S ams t h an a r apa ,
or shape obj ects
l . Dirg ha long ,
or .

2 . Hra s v a o r short , .

3 . V rt t a o r square
, .

4 . P arim andal a ,
or round .

5 Unn at a o r high
.
, .

6 Av an at a o r low
.
, .

7 . S at a
even , or .

8 Vis at a o r uneven
.
, .

b
( ) There are twelve kinds o f var na rfi pa or colour obj ects , ,

o f which four are pr imi tive and eight derivative

1 Nila o r blue
.
, .

O P ita o r yellow
L .
,

Lo h it a o r red
S
O , .

Av a dat a or white , .

Ab hra o r cloud colour , .

Dh ama o r smoke colour , .

R aj as or dust colo ur , .

Mahika o r must c o lour

D
E
O , .

9 Ch aya o r shadow ( where obj ects can be seen )

.
, .

10 Atapa o r ( dazzling) brightness ( like sun )

.
, .

11 A l oka o r light colour ( like moon stars )

.
,
.

1 2 An dh akara or darkness ( obj ects invisible )

.
, .

2 Type s of S o und Obje cts

.
— These are of eight varieties ,

obtained by dividing sound in two di fferent ways : ( 1 )

according to the nature o f the sound and the obj ect which
emits the sound ( 2 ) accordi ng to the nature of the sound as
j udged by its e ffect upon the auditors .

The first division is that between ( 1 ) Upat t a m ahab hfit a -

hetuka o r sound produced by obj ects which have the power

,

o f perception ie sentient agents ; and ( 2 ) Anupat t a

, . .

m ah ab h fit a hetuka o r sound produced by obj ects not having

-
,

the power o f perception i e non sentient agents These ,

. .
-
.

classes are divided into (a) articul ate sound and ( b) inarticul ate ,
1 26 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI L O S O PHY

Jain atomic theory like that o f the Buddhists seems a

, ,

borrowed and not an o riginal doctrine I have been unable t o .

fin d any reference to atoms o r mole cul es in the Jnana

P ra s t h an a n o r in any o f the s ix pada which with them
, ,

constitute the original Ab hidharm a canon o f the

S a rv as t iv adin s .

The Mahav ib has a however probably compos e d in the

, ,

early part o f the second century A D makes frequent mention . .

,

o f the atoms in it s interpretation of the older works and ,

s eemingly with no sense o f incongr ui ty That it was quite .

prevalent at this time is seen from the fact that the

Ab hidharm a H rdaya translated into Chinese in the thir d
,

c entury A D.
( o n e. o f the earliest Ab h idh arm a w o r ks to be
translated ) contains the whole theory in its developed form
, .

The atomic theory plays an integral part in the philosophy

o f Va s ub an dhu and S ang h ab h a dra The early and classical
.

Yo g ac arins moreover accept the theory provisionally in

, ,

spite o f their idealism The later Yo g ac arins however

.
, ,

b eginning with D ig nag a felt that the doctrine stood in the

,

way o f the doctrine that all phenomena spring from the mind
-
,

and in his Alambana pra tg ag a Dig nag a wrote a very able

refutation o f the atomic theory .

The Neo S t hav irav adin school founded by B uddhag ho s a

-

does not seem to have gone at first into details of the atomic
, ,

theo ry as found in the north but the kalapa theory ( corre ,

s o n din t the S a rv as t iv adin S am g hat a param anu ) was

p g o

used by B uddh agho sa h imself in the At t ha S alini and was ,

ther eafter considered an integral part o f the S t hav irav adin

philosoph y the idea being mentioned and considerably
,

d eveloped in the Abhidha mma tt ha S a ng aha At a somewhat

-
.

l ater time ( when I do not know ) the ul timate uni ts o f the

,

kalapa o r molecul e received the name param anu and ,

P rofessor Maung Ting tells me that at th e present time it is

c ons idered an integral part o f S t h av irav adin philosophy .

1 At o ms
.
— The S arv as t iv adin s (Ab Hr 1 etc ) tell us . .
, .

t hat there are fo ur teen kinds o f a t oms j us t as the scientist ,

 CO S MI C ANAL YS I S 1 27

at least o f a generation ago would have said that there are

eighty o dd kinds o f ato ms o ne kind for each element The ,
.

number fourt een is accounted for by o ne being given t o each

o f the sense organs and one to each of the sense obj ects and
, ,

four additional ones for each o f the f o ur Mahab hfit a s .

Unlike the atoms o f the Va ise s ika s and Jains h o wever , ,

the atoms o f the Buddhists are not eternal They spring into .

being from time t o time and then are destroyed lapsing , ,

seemingly into nothingness ( cf A K 1 2 latter half ) Thus . .

, .
,

the ato ms of the five sense organs and sense obj ects originate
owing t o the atoms of the four elements and wo ul d instantly ,

la pse into decay were it not for the sustaini ng power o f the (

elemental atoms Hence every derivative atom has with it

.
,

sustaining it o n e atom o f each o f the Mahab hfit a s E ven these

,
1
.

m ah ab hfim ika atoms however are not themselves permanent

, , ,

but undergo a four fold process o f birth continuance decay

-
, ,

and destruction followed by a new cycle of birth etc This

, , .

phenomenali st view o f the atoms is o f inte rest as a cont rast

to the substantive view of the atoms held b y their Indian
c o ntemporaries .

2 The M o lec ule s — These atoms are grouped together

.

into molecul es and all parts of the material un iverse consist

,

o f these molecul es called S am g hat a param anus by the

,

S arv as t iv adin s and kal apas by the S t hav irav adins

, .

Va s ub andhu tells us that the molec ules o f non sentient -

matter are the simplest and that even these are at lea st ,

eight fold i e containing at the very least atoms o f each o f

-
, . .

the fo ur elements and four of the sense obj ects atoms o f sound ,

no t being necessarily included Where a soun d atom is .

produced by the acti o n o f the other atoms the m o lecules are ,

then nine fold S trictly speaking even an eight fold molecul e

-
.
,
-

contains at least twenty atoms since there are four sense ,

o bj ect ato ms and each such derivative atom must have o n e

atom of each o f the four elements supporting it making four ,

1
A K 429
. . .
12 8 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI L O S O PH Y

derivative and sixteen elementary atoms in the simplest

molecul e This number is increased to five derivative and
.

twenty elemental atoms in the case o f those m o lecul es .

containi ng sound atoms The number eight o r nine there .

refers only to the different kinds o f atoms in a molecul e and ,

not to the total number of constituent ato ms .

The molecul es of every a ni mate body is more complicated .

E very such molecul e must contain at least nine ki nds o f

atoms fo r in addition to the foregoing necessary eight each
, , .

molecul e contains an atom o f the kaya indriya o r touch ,

sense organ The molecul es o f the sense orifices ( eye ear

.
, ,

nose etc ) a r e at least ten fold for such a molecul e must

‘

-
.
, ,

contain n o t o nl y the four elemental atoms four sens e obj ect ,

atoms and a k aya indriya atom but also an additional atom

,
-
,

o f the sense organ in question .

S ince the Neo S t h av irav adin s retained the whole twenty

-

eight divisions of r apa o f the old P ali Ab hidharm a their list ,

o f the component parts o f a molec ul e di ffers somewhat from

the preceding Those who are interested in the subj ect will
.

find particul ars in Ab hidh am m a t t ha S a ngaha (C P 1 6 4 . .

,

iv
( ) The E le ve nth Ca teg ory f
o t he N o rt he rn S cho o ls

Before closing o ur discussion o f the divisio ns o f r apa or

matter as known t o the Buddhists we must examine the t wo ,

as yet un explained categories namely the Av ijfiapt i r apa o f , ,

the S arv as t iv adins and the mentally perceived matter o f

,

the Yo g acarins .

1 Av ijfiapt i was a term o f much dispute among t h e

.

Buddhists and there were even widely di verging opinions as

,

to the general group under which this particular category

sho ul d come The term means not manifested
. o r no t

expressed o r latent According t o the Buddhists ever y

,
. ,

physical act word o r thought should have some correspondi ng

, ,

res ul t In many cases t h e r esul t was open and o b v ious An

. .

act visibly modified the nature and position o f the m o lecul es .

S ometimes however n o such manifested ( v ijfia pt i) res ul t

, ,
13 0 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O P H Y

which we have no sensuous knowledge and which are no t the ,

obj ects o f the five sense organs but of the mind Thus atoms .
, ,

etc cannot be seen they can o nl y be inferred

.
, , The .

Y o g ac arin s have placed in a separate cate gory all those

aspects o f matter which are thus defined whether these aspects ,

be obj ect ively existent o r mer ely the r esult o f mistaken

c reative imagination on the part of the mi nd This includes .
,

but is not confined to the Av ijfiapt i r apa of the S arv as t iv adins

, ,

and constitutes the eleventh category o f the Yo ac arins

g .

III . CI TTA, OR MI N D
Having completed o ur survey o f the Buddhist theory o f
matter let us now examine their theory of the mind This is
, .
,

as we have seen discussed in a two fold way in Buddh ist

,
-

books : ( 1 ) Mind itself in its various divisions known as ,

Citta o r Vijfiana ; and ( 2 ) menta l qualities evok e d by mind

in the process o f its origination and which are kn own as ,

Cait a s ikas .

In the present instance we are concerned with the first

al one But in order that we may understand the various
.

types o f mind enumerated by the Buddhists it is necessary ,

once more to emphasize the caused and conditioned nature

,

o f a ll mentation Buddhist books are constantly repeating

.

the Buddhist adage that there is not ego entity no self ,

existing m e nt at o r and that not o nl y is the m e nt at ing

,

personality evoked by a combination of causes and conditions ,

but also that mind ceases to e xist when sense obj ect and sense
organ cease to interact S trangely enough even the .
,

Yo g ac arin s who were idealists refus e d to believe in a

, ,

permanent individual mind substance but stated that though -

,

mind is the only ul timate reality every individual mind is ,

constantly changing and being remodelled under the infl uence

o f causal law .

All this o f course is in accord with the curious anti

, ,

substantialist position assumed by Buddhism all along the

line There is no eternal self existing matter Likewise there
.
-
.
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 13 1

is no eternal self existing qui escent substance known as mind

-

having a prior existence and which is merely stimulated into

activity when brought into contact with the sense obj ects by
means of the sense organs R ather certainly according to .
,

Hinayana Buddhism is it a definite product created o ut of,

nothing by the interaction of the indriyas and vi sayas .

This consid eration is important inasmuch as many of the ,

s o called divisions of min d are ty es of mentation classified

p
-

in acc o r dance with the nature o f the stimulus which brought

them into being Consequently we find two different methods
.
,

o f cla ssification O ne is according to the physical basis from

.

which mentation arises This method of classification is .

common t o all forms of Buddhism including the three sch ools ,

with which we are at present more pa rticularly concerned .

The other method o f classification is more complicated and ,

deals with all possible s ta te s of mind which can arise at any

given place e g o n earth the R fipa dh atu etc or with the
, . .
, , .
,

conditio ns (as o ppo s e d t o the bases ) under which they arise

'

This latter mode o f classification seems to be pecul iar to

the S t hav irav adin school P ossibly the clumsiness o f the .
,

S outhern list caused the philosophers of other schools t o

think such attempts at classification ill advised -
.

1 . Mind Clas s ified acco rding to the B as e s which E vo ke it

Befo re proceeding to consider the divisions of the m ind ,

however it will be well t o take into consideration the different

,

terms that are used for mind and see what they mean Apart , .

fr om Nama ( name ) in the compound Nama R apa which -

,

covers the whole o f the non material part o f the hum an -

personality there are three terms which are most frequently

,

employed These are Citta Manas and Vijfiana

.
1
Western , , .

scholars have not yet come to a standard translation o f these

imp o rta nt words but provisionally we may say that Citta is
,

mind Mana s is reason and Vijiiana is cons ciousness

, , .

1
See d i c u io n
s ss of e ach t rm e , A . K
.
—
4 1 3a .
13 2 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S OPH Y

Citta the Buddhists d erived probably wrongly from Citra

, , , ,

o r variegate d ( E xp 1 a term which the Chinese render,

fi g or arising by compoun din g This derivation was

,
.

probably given by way o f added emphasis to the doctrine

o f the non substantial nature of the mind
-
The term is very .

little used in the s fit ras but came to be the standard word ,

in late r days for t he who le o f the subj ective life as opposed '

to rapa o r even t o the Caita s ikas and in some ways ,

”
corresponds to our soul hea rt or spirit provided ,

that all these te rms are de at m aniz e d -

.

M anas the Buddhists derived from a term t o measure

,

m
( ) a . It implies the calculation evaluating j udging o f a thing , , .

Consequently it is frequently used when the mind is considered

,

a reasoning factor When used technically therefore we may .

, ,

call it R eason but frequently it li ke Cit t a may be render ed

, , .
,

Mind It is interesting t o no te however that when the

.
, ,

Mah ayanists say that the whole universe is but the creation
o f Mind or that nothing exists outsid e the mind
, it is
Citta and not Manas that is used Very occasionally Vijnana
'

takes the place o f Citta in this connexion .

Vignana is perhaps the oldest o f the three terms and in the ,

e arly s fit ra s when the reincarnati ng pe rsonality is spoken o f

, ,

it is Vijnana and not Manas o r even Citta that is mentioned , , .

In la te r times however it came to be used almost exclusively

, ,

for the sensatory experiencing as pect o f the mind In this, .

way Citta or the mind as a whole is said to be divided into s o

, ,

many Vijnanas o r types of data receiving forms o f cognition -

.

In the midst of all this confusion it is agreeable to find ,

that the Buddhists at least the S arv as t iv adin s and ,

S t hav irav adins agree that there is onl y a difference in

,

terminology and that the thing spoken o f is the same ( C P

,
. .

2 34 ; A K 4 . The slightly different use o f the term s by

.
,

the Yo g ac arins will be dealt with presently .

As regards the actual number o f divisions of Vijnana ,

t he S t h av irav adins and the S arv as t iv adins are i n agreement

1

A K 1— 1 6 fo f ull d is c us s i o n
1
.
, r .
 1 34 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S OPHY

o ne dharma or ultimate factor and that consequently the ,

six v ijfianas are but six aspects o f one v ijfiana rather than s ix
—
separate entities ( cf A K 1 l l b) This doctrine o f the . . .
, .

unity o f v ijfiana doe s not o f cour se inte rfere with the , ,

anatman theory .

The eight fold division o f v ijfiana postulated by the

-

Yo g acarins 1
consi s ts o f the foregoing plu s two others , .

These additional two are

1 Klis ta ma no Vijnana literally s oiled mind co ns ciousnes s
.
-
,
-
.

—
,

h
T is may be rendered by self consciousness 4 1 5b ) -
.

Whereas Mano v ijfiana carries o n the ordi nary process o f -

re aso ni ng it deals with ideas more o r less as they come

, ,

without consciously o r continuously distinguishing between

that which appertains to the self and that which apper t ains
to the non se lf This continual distinction is the work of the
-
.

seventh v ijii ana which acc o rdi ng to the Yo g ac arin s functions

‘

, , ,

even when a man is asleep or is otherwise unconscio us .

It is t h e basis o f the constant tendency towards the atman

theory for it falsely considers the Alaya v ijfiana ( the eighth
,

v ijfian a the basis of all the other v i fiana s ) to be a real and

, j
permanent ego entity although in reality it i s in a constant ,

s tate of fl ux .

2 A laya Vijnana means repository consciousness since

.
,

it is the basic form o f all other consciousness and in fact o f , , ,

a ll forms o f existence All the other v ijfianas have their .

origin in the Alaya v ijfiana and o wi ng to their activity the ,

constructi o n of the phenomenal world takes place Th is .

is not the place to discuss the whole o f the idea listic philosophy
o f the Yo ac arin s but mention must be made of the triple
g ,

function of the Alaya v ijfiana The firs t we can call the .

positive ( 38 fl n eng ts ang ) because it s t ores up the seed s ‘

,

of all th e other V ijnanas The second we can call the negative .

( 9
1 ? s o ts ang ) because it receives the infl
‘
uence o f all t h,
e

1
b ul k o f V M S c o n s i s t s
Th e ofa full di u i n o f e ach sc ss o of th s e Vij
e

F o r Al a y a pp 6 a—
. . . .

1 5 b ; fo r K1
, . . Man Vij pp 1 5 6—
.2 l ; fo .
, . a r t h e Fir t S ix s

Vij , 2 1a
. se q .
 CO S MI C ANAL YS I S 1 35

other pheno menal v ijfianas The third is this v ijfiana con .

s ide re d as the o bj ect o f false belief because t he seventh

1
,

v ijfiana c o nstantly c o nsiders that this ever changing Alaya -

V ijnana is an eternal ego entity

2
.

In accordance with their p o stulation o f three kinds of

mental activity not immediately connected with the senses
( M an o K lis ta mano a n d
-
A laya v ijfi an a s ) the Y o g ac arin s -
,

slightly modify the old defini tions o f Citta Manas and , ,

Vijnana All three terms s ay the Yo g ac arins may be used

.
, ,

o f any of the eight aspects o f c o nscious n ess but more especially ,

d o es the eighth or Alaya v ijfiana ta ke the title Citta m o re

especially does the seventh v ijfiana receive the title of Manas
while Vijfiana applies more particularly to the sixth v ijfiana .

( Cf Wei s hih lun c h é ng

. a well known commentary on -

the where p 48 seq the matter is discussed at

, . .
,

length ) .

Finally we may add that whereas the S arv as t iv adins

, ,

c o unt their s ix v ijnanas together a s forming but a single

’

dharma in their list of seventy fiv e the Yo g ac arins count -

,

each o f t h e eight v ijfianas separately in making up their list

o f a hundred dharmas This fact however may be easily
.
, ,

mis understood It is not that the S arv as t iv adins beli eve in

.

t h e unity of the mind more than the Yo g ac arin s but rather ,

that acco rding to the Yo g ac arins there is in reality only o ne

substa nce—Mind o f which all o ther things are derivatives
, ,

and since it attempts to enumerate all the impor tant

derivatives it gives each of the v ijfiana s a separate place
,
.

2 . Clas s yica tio n of the Mind , a cco rding to its P la ce a nd Co nditio n

a

This elab o rate classification o f the mind plays j a very

important part in the S t hav irav adin Ab hidharm a works but ,

it seems to be confined t o this scho ol Co nsequently while it .

,

is necessary t o g ive this list it is no t essential that we should ,

go into great detail about the matter .

MS 2— ifi 3
2
V 6b E rs as F
“
“
. . . .
1 36 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S OPHY

A fe w preliminary remarks however will not be out o f , ,

place The ful l list consists of eighty nine dh armas but

.
-
,

within this number certain main types o f classification can

1
be discerned .

l Consciousness
. classified according to wheth er it
appertains to the Kama R upa or Ar upa dh at us , , .

2 Co ns ciousness classified accordin gto whether it 1s active

.
,

passive o r neither Thi s means : ( a ) active

, .that which
'
engenders karma for the fut ur e (b) passive conscious nes s
which com e s into being as the result o f past Karma ; (0 )
neither consciousness which though active lea ds to no
:
, ,

further rebirth and may therefore be considered inoperative , , .

This refers to the actions o f the Buddha P ratyeka Buddhas , ,

and Arhats who are free from the wheel of birth and death
, .

E ach o f these categories may be several times subdivided

1 Active Co ns cio us ne s s is divi ded into meritorious and
.

demeritorious Meritorious is divided into that which

.

appertains ( i ) To the kama dh atu ; (ii ) to the rapa dh atu ;

( iii ) t o the arfipa dh atu ; and ( iv ) transcendental state o r
emancipation D emeritorious is divided into o nl y one
.

category that which apperta ins to the kama dh atu but this
, ,

is subdivided into (i ) that roote d in gr e ed ( ii ) that rooted in

hatred ( iii ) that rooted in ignorance .

2 P as s ive Co ns cio us nes s is likewise d ivided into ( a ) that

.

appertaining to the kama dh atu ( b) the rapa dh atu (c) the , , ,

arfipa dh atu and ( d) transcendent ,Kama dh atu resultant .

,

consciousness is likewise d ivided into ( i ) meritorious the

, ,

result of previous good karma and ( ii ) demeritorious the result , ,

o f previous b a d karma 1
() is again subdivided into ( )
a .

associated with hetu o r root conditions and (b) di ssocia te d ,

with hetu o r root conditions .

This method o f classification having been once clearly

understo o d the accompanying chart giving the whole
,

eighty nine divisions of consciousness will become intelligible

-
.

1 Cf fir t p ar t
. s of CP
. .
, p . 8 1 if , a nd Bo o k I of R D . . tr an s . Dh S .

pp . 1- 1 6 5 .
1 38 MANUAL or B UDDHI S T P HI LO S OPHY

s eem to accord a certain relative unity to the Citta and

Cait a s ika dharmas where Citta is sometimes said to be
,

considered as a sphere and Cait as ikas as its separate sections .

O ne other thing has to be borne in mind in this connexion .

These Cait a s ika s do not pretend to be a li st o f all mental

complexes which may be found in an individual R ather are .

the Ca it a s ika s the elements o f which these complexes are com

posed and j ust as the four m ahab h fit as and the five sense
,

obj ect atoms may combine in an infi ni te number of ways t o

form the complex external world around us so may the ,

various Cait a s ika s be compounded in an i nfi nite number o f

ways ranging from the simple thoughts and desires o f a child
,

to the most abstrus e metaphysical i nference ( cf C P 2 3 7 . . .

No w a word as t o the main groups into which the Ca it a s ika s

may be divided All schools are agreed that there must be
.

1
at least three such groups v iz , .

1 General menta l properties which are neither meritorious

.

no r demeritorious .

2 Meritorious mental properties

. .

3 D emeritorious mental properties

. .

1 Ge ne ra l M e nta l P ropert ies

. The S arv as t iv adins do not .
-

further divide this group but the S t hav irav adins (at least, ,

the Ne o S t hav irav adins ) and the Yo g ac arins state that there
-

are two kinds o f general mental properties ( i ) uni versal

mental properties which are found in every form of mental
,

activity and common to all forms o f v ijiiana ; and ( ii )

particular mental properties which are found only under ,

certain c o nditions and limited to a certain type o f v ijfiana .

2 M e rito rio us
. The Yo g ac arins and S arv as t iv adins do
-

not divide this group but th e S t hav irav adins usually introduce
,

a rather pragmatic four fold division -

.

3 D e me rito rio us
. The S t hav irav adins do not divide this
.
-

category but the S arv as t iv adins and Yo g acarins go into great

,

detail The S arv as t iv adins give the f o llowing three groups

.

1
Fur the r de tail s in a uth o riti es c it e d a b o v e .
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 1 39

( )
1 The f un damental kle sa dharmas ; ( 2) the Akusala o r ’

pos itively demeritorious dharmas which are also fundamental ,

o r non derivative ;
-
and ( 3 ) the Upakle sa dharmas o r s ub
s idia r
y kl e sa s d erived fr o m the dharmas of the preceding
,

two catego ries O f the t wo categories Mala kle éa and

.
,
-

Akusa la the latter is the more positively evil

,
.

The Yo g ac arins o n the o ther hand o nly make a distincti o n

, ,

between the fundamental kl e s as and the subsidiary kl e sas

’

though as we shall s e e later they introduced several internal

, ,

subdivisi o ns particularly as regards the second category

, .

4 I nde te rminate —I n the S t havi ra v adin school all o f the

.

Cait as ikas were included in o n e or other o f the preceding

three categories but both the S arv as t iv adins and Yo g ac arins
,

added a fourth group consis ting of those dharmas which are ,

indete rminate and which may be either meritorious or

meritorious according t o circum stances o r which for other ,

reasons can c o me under none of the preceding heads .

From the preceding remarks it wi ll be seen that the ,

S arvas t iv adins 1
had the following arrangement o f the
Cait as ikas
1 . M ahabhamiha dharmas , or general mental properties ,

ten in number .

Ku s a la mahabhumika dha rmas

'
2 .
-
mental properties , or

comm o n to all types of meritorio us mental activity ,

ten in number .

E le sa mahabh amiha dha rmas the fundamental passions

'

3 .
-
,

o r a ffl ictions s ix in number ,
.

4 Aku sfala bhumika dha rmas o r evil m ental properties

'
-
.
, ,

two in number .

5 . Upa kle sa bhilmika dha rmas the subsidiary passions

-
,

derived from the preceding two categories ten in ,

number .

6 . Avyahrt a bhumika dha rmas or miscellaneous mental

-
,

properties eight in number ,

.

1
A K 4—
.3a . .
1 40 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

The Yo g ac arinarrangement was as fo ll ows

1

1 . Univers a l mental properties common to ev e ry ac t o f ,

cons ciousness and neith er meritorious nor de

,

meritorious five in number , .

2 . P articula r mental properties found only in certain ,

types o f mentation but neither meritorious no r ,

demeritorious five in number , .

3 . Me ritorio us mental properties eleven in number , all of ,

them fundamental .

4 . F unda me ntal Kle sas six in numb er (d e mer itorious ) , .

S ubs idiary Kle s as twenty in number ( d emeritoriou s )

’

5 .
, .

6 . I nde terminate mental properties four in num b er , .

The S t hav irav adi n

classification was 2

1 Unive rs a l mental properties seven in num b e r

.
, .

2 P artic ula r mental properti e s six in number

.
, .

3 D e me ritorio us mental properties fourte en in numb e r

.
,
.

4 Unive rs a l meritorious mental prope rties nineteen in

.
,

number .

5 The Abs tine nce s three in number ( meritorious )

.
,
.

6 The I llimita ble s two in number ( meritoriou s )

.
, .

7 Re as on (meritorious )
.

Before we can go into further details concerni ng general

relatio nships it will be necessary to enumerat e the constitu ent
dharma s o f each of the categories .

I . Ge ne ral Me nt al P rope rt ie s

A The S arv as t iv adins made no distinction betw e e n t h e

.

universa l and particular o r rather they believed tha t all o f ,

3
the foll owing dharmas are uni ver sal They are .

1 Veda na o r feeli ng
.
, .

2 S am j ideation
’

ia
r o r.
, .

3 Octa na o r volition
.
, .

4 S parsa o r sen sation

.
, .

1
V . MS
. . 5—
22 a.
1
CP . .
, p . 9 8, mn e m o ni c v r e se .
3
A K 4 3b. .
— .
142 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

4 . S am adhi ,
or concentration the singling o ut o f a single ,

obj ect o r notion and remaining fixed upon it .

5 Mati or intelligence o r wisdom

.
, This is the reaso ni ng , .

power whereby we can frame rational notions as

opposed to the more automatic s amjfia which serves ,

merely t o give an object a name .

C The S t hav irav adins prepared the following list

.
1

There are se v en universals

1 S par sa ( passa ) o r sensation
.
, .

2 Ve d an a ( vedan a) o r feeling
.
, .

3 S amjfia ( s a fifia) o r ideation

.
, .

4 Ce t ana ( c e t a na) o r volition

.
, .

5 E kagrat a
.
( e ka
gg a t a) o r indiv idua l ity o f obj e c t ,

sam adh i ) .

6 Manas kara ( m anas ikara ) o r attention

.
, .

7 Jiv it e ndriya (jiv it indriya ) psychic li fe or vitality

.
, .

There are six particulars

1 Vit arka ( v it a kka ) inqui ry o r i ni tial application o f
.
,

the mind .

2 Vicara ( vic ara ) investigation o r sustaine d application

.
,

o f the mind .

o
s
Adhim o ks a (a dhim o kkh a ) o r d eciding , .

e Virya (v iriy a ) effort or energy , .

m Priti (piti ) z est or pleasurable interest , .

Chanda ( Chanda ) will or desire to act

a
c ,
.

The S arv as t iv adins and the Yo g ac arins have the same

dharmas even though the arrangement is di fferent There is
, .

a difference however between the S arv as t iv adins and Yoga

, ,

c arins on the o ne hand and the S t hav irav adins o n the other .

The former have only ten general dharmas as opposed to the ,

thirteen of the latter The Jiv it e ndriya o r vitality o f the .

S t h av irav ad ins is placed by the former schools among the

Citta V ipray ukt a dharmas and not among the Cait as ika s
-
,
.

1
C P pp 9 4 5 H r
. .
, n d g n r all y p aking l
.
-
. wh r I hav r t r e d
e e , a e e s e e se e e, e es o

t h w r d t o S kt in o r d r t o faci l it t e c o mpa r i s n with t h e n o r th rn li s t

e o s . e a o e ,

t h P al i f r m s b e in g a dd d i pa r e n th e i
e
no e s s .
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 1 43

Vit a rka Vicara are placed by them among the Av yakrt a

an d

o r indeterminate Ca it a s ika s This brings the S t hav irav adin .

list down to ten But P riti is considered in the North a variety

.

of j oy ( s o m anas s a) and therefore o ne aspect o f Vedan a , ,

and is n o t therefore counte d a separate dharma In place o f .

the priti the Northern schools have mati or intelligence , ,

which corresponds t o the Prajfia ( pafifia) o f the S t hav irav adins ,

who however place it not among the general but among t h e

, ,

meritori o us mental properties The S t havirav adins likewise .

, ,

reserve t h e term samadhi for the higher forms of concentration ,

and give the term Ekagrat a for ordi nary concentration .

II Me ritorio us Menta l P rope rtie s

.

A The S arv as t iv adins

.
1
enumerate d the follo wing ten
dharmas as members o f this category
1 Sraddh a faith or devoutness
.
, .

2 Apra m ada carefulness or self control

.
,
-
.

3 Pra s rab dh i sere ni ty or cheerfulness

’

. .
,

k
Upe ks a equa ni m ity o r indifference
i
t -
, .

Hri o r shame (at d oing an evil action)

l

J C .
,

Apat ra pa o r humility
B
G , .

Q Alo b ha or absence of cupidity , .

O Adv e s a or absence of hate

O
, .

9 Ahi ms a o r compassion o r h armlessness

.
, ,
.

1 0 Virya or effect o r energy

.
, , .

B The Yo g ac arins have the sa me ten but have added an

.
2
,

additional dharma Am o ha or enlightenm ent ( non stupidity )

, ,
-
,

which the Ab hidharm a Ko s a believes t o be identical with the

Mati of the preceding category and s o does n o t list as a ,

separate entity The order o f enumeration however i s some

.
, ,

what different and is as follows ,

1 Sraddh a or faith .
, .

2 Viry a o r energy .
, .

3 Hri o r shame .
, .

4 Apat rapa or humility .

, .

1
AK
. . 4—
4 a ; N A 1 1 1 6a
. .
-
.
2
V MS. . . 6 - 2 4a .
144 MANUAL OF B UD D HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

5 . Al o b ha o r absence o f cupi d i ty
, .

6 . Adv e sa o r absence o f hate

, .

7 . Am ob a or absence o f ignorance
, .

8 . Pra srabdhi o r sereni ty , .

9 . Apra m ada o r careful ness , .

10 . Ahi ms a or harmlessness
, .

11 . Upe ks a, or indi fference .

It will be observed that this arrangement contains the

oppo sites of all o f the three fundamental roots o f evil the ,

famous lo b ha or cupidity dv e sa o r hatred and moha , , ,

ignorance .

C The S t hav ira v adin

.
1
e num era tion differs cons iderably
fro m both the above lists and is far more elaborate and ,

involved even though less scientific and logical The various

, .

meritorious dharmas are arra ng e d in four groups as follows ,

i
() Prajfia ( panna ) , wisdom or r e ason .

ii
( ) The I llimi t a b l e s z

1 Karuna ( karu na)

.
, pity
or ahims a) .

2 Mudita ( mudita)
.
, o r appreciation .

ii
( ) i The A bstinences
1 R ight speech
. .

2 R ight action
. .

3 R ight livelih ood

. .

iv
( ) General Meritorious Mental P roperties
1 . Sraddh a ( saddha ) o r faith , .

2 . S mrt i ( sati ) o r mindfulness

, .

3 . Hri (hiri) o r shame

, .

4 . Apat rapa ( o t t appa ) o r humili ty , .

5 . Al o b ha ( al o b ha ) o r absence of cupidity
, .

6 . Ad v e s a ( adosa ) absence o f hate

, .

7 . Tat ra m adhyas t hat a (t at ram ajjhat t at a) , or balance of

mi nd upe ks a) .

1
CP . .
, pp . 96- 7 .
146 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

11 . Kaukrt ya (kukkuc ca ) remor s e worse , , .

12 . S t y ana (th ina ) sloth , .

13 . Middha (m iddha) torpor , .

14 . Vic ikit s a ( vic ikicc a) perplexity d oubt , , .

The S arv as t iv adi ns adopte d 1

t he follo wing arrang e m e nt
of the demeritorious Cait a s ikas
A F undame nta l Kle sfas
.

1 ignorance
. Moha , or .

2 P ram ada o r carelessn e ss

.
, .

3 Ka us idya o r i na tt e ntion to what should be d o n e

.
, .

4 Asraddha or lack of fa ith

.
, .

5 S t y ana o r sloth
.
, .

6 Auddhat ya or r e cklessness
.
, .

These may be either positively demeritorious (akusala) ,

i e leading dire c tly to painful cons e quence s o r ob s curin g

. .
,

neutral ( fi f ? 325
1
EB ) in dir e ctl y leading t o p a 1nfu1 ,

resul ts .

B Aku sala Dharmas

.
2

1 Ahrikat a o r shamele ss ne ss
.
,
.

2 An apat rapa or impudenc e

.
, .

These two are positively e vil an d lea d dir e c tly t o pa inful

r e s ul ts .

C S ubs idiary Kle sas

.
3 °

u Kro dha , or anger .

w Mra ks a or h ypocris y , .

w Mat sarya o r selfis hne s s , .

k
s I rsy a, envy or .

x
c P radasa gloom o r dissatisfaction
, .

Vihim s a o r shamefulness
a

—
.
,

q Upanaha o r e nm ity , .

o
o May a o r deceit
, .

o
c Sathya o r dishonesty
, .

p Mada o r arrogance
J

.
,
l

A K 4—1
5 ; NA 7b a 11 ,

A K 4— 46 ; N A 6—
6 6 ; a ls o 2 1—
. . . . .

2
. 8b
. . . .

3
A K 4- 7 a
. .
; N A 6-
9b . . .
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 1 47

These subsidiary kle éa s have four qualities p e culiar t o

themselves i e though other c ait a s ikas may poss e ss o ne
1
, . .

o r more o f thes e qualities o nl y the upakle sas poss ess all ,

four These are

.

1 . They are to be g o t rid o f o nl y by cultivation and ,

n o t by intell ectual i ns ight .

2 . They are a s sociated onl y with Mano v ijfiana and -

,

not with the other five v ijfiana s .

3 . They are all associate d with ignorance .

4 . They may arise separately and are thus not ,

necessarily conj oined .

The Yo g ac arin enumeration 2

of the de m e n t o rio us
Cait as ikas is as follows
A The F unda me nt a l Kle sas
.

1 . Lo b ha , or cupidity .

2 . Dv e sa o r hatred o r ill will

,
-
.

3 . Vic ikit s a or doubt , .

4 . Mana o r pride , .

5 . Moh a or ignorance
, .

6 . Asa m yag dre ti or erroneous views whi ch are o f five

-
, ,

types sometimes enumerate d as separate dh armas

, .

We s e e how widely the S arv as t iv adin and Yo g ac arin

enumeration o f the f undamental kle sas differs even though ,

both lists a g ree in giving s ix dharmas Five of the dharmas .

which the S arv as t iv adins regard as fundamental are placed

among the subsidiary kle sa s by the Yo g acarins s o that o nl y ,

o ne o f the S arv as t iv adin fundamental kle sa s (Vic ikit s a)

remains To fill up this gap the Yo g ac arins have taken four
.

dharmas which the S arv as t iv adins regard as Av y akrt a

,

or indete rminate dharmas and enumerate d them as ,

fundamental kle sas These are Lo b ha Mana D v e sa and .

, , ,

Moha Incidentally this classification is much more in

.
,

1
i\
—
532 33 2 fi
g 1 1 02
-
.
2
mu s e A S S l - 4a
. . . .
1 48 MAN UAL OF B UDDHI S T P H ILO S O PHY

accord with the general spirit o f Buddhism ; this gives us

five dharmas The sixth kle sa As am yag drs t i o r errone ous
.
,
-
,

views The Ab hidharm a Ko sa considers but a negative

—
.

phase of Mati and s o does not cons id er as a separate dharma

, .

B The S ubs idia ry Kle sas

.
1

Kro dha o r anger

x

r .
,

w Upa naha o r enmity , .

c Mraksa or hypocrisy
o
, .

-
s S ant apa gloom vexation p ra das a )
u
, , .

c Karpany a o r selfishness m at s arya ) , .

c Irs y a o r envy
u
, .

f Sat hy a o r dishonesty
r
, .

o Maya o r deceit
o
, .

9 Vih ims a o r harmfulness

.
, .

10 Mada o r arr o ga n ce
.
, .

1 1 Ahriky a o r shamelessness
.
, .

1 2 Anapat rapya o r impudence

.
, .

1 3 S t y ana or sloth
.
, .

1 4 Auddh at y a o r recklessness
.
, .

1 5 Asraddha o r lack o f faith

.
, .

1 6 Kaus idya idleness o r re mi ssness

.
, .

1 7 Pra m ada o r carelessness

.
, .

1 8 Mus it as m rt it a or forgetfulness
.
, .

1 9 Viks e pa o r co nfusion
.
, .

2 0 As a mprajfia or wrong j udgment

.
, .

Comparing the S arv as t iv adin an d Yo g ac arin lists of these

s ubsidiary kle sas we find that the Yo g ac arins have adopte d
,

all ten of the Sarv as t iv adin lists (No s 1 and have .

,

further included the two Aku éala dharmas o f the

,

S arv as t iv adi ns Ag ain the four dharmas which the

.
,

Yo g ac arins ej ected from their p lace among the fundamental

'

kl e sa s are here g iven a place ( Nos 13 1 4 1 5 1 6 As .

, , , ,

r egards the last three items of the Yo g ac arin list the ,

Ab hidharma Ko sa 2
mentio ns the m as being included in
1
V MS
. . . 6—
27 ; AS S . . . 1—
4b .
2 —
4 5b .
150 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

difference of
Opinion o n this subj ect but most of the ,

S a rv as t iv adins were of the opini on that the function o f

Citta was universal and that o f the Cait a s ika s was parti c ula r
, .

That is to say Citta and the Cait a s ikas arise at exactly the
,

same moment but Citta grasps the general nature o f an

,

obj ect while the Cait a s ika s grasp each o f its attributes
,

s eparate ly making them into a synthetic whole

, .

The fun ctional relatio n ship betwe e n the Cit t as and

Cait as ikas must be fiv e fold V I z 1 -
,

t r i m —
( 1 ) Uniformi y as reg a ds t e Citta and it s inter rela te d -

Ca it as ika s arise at exactly the same ksana s o tha t the ,

Cait a s ikas o f a past ks ana are not conne cte d with the Citta
o f an immediately preceding ksana
—
.

( )
2 U n i
fo rmit y a s re g ards b a s is Here the wor d basis .

refers to the sens e organs The Citta and Cait as ika which .
,

are called inte r related must have originate d from the sam e
-
,

indriyas .

3
( ) U n ifo rm it y a s r eg a r d s co g n ize d o bjec t s — The s ens e

obj ec ts of Citta and the Cait a s ikas mus t be the s ame .

( )
4 Un ifor m i t y a s re g ar d s e s se n ce — The essence o r the
e ssential qua lities of the inter relate d Citta an d Cait as ika s -

must be the same .

5
( ) U n ifor m it y a s re g a r d s f u n c t io n — The activity o f the
Citta and Ca it a s ikas must be d irected along similar lines .

The preceding classification o f the Cait as ikas was given

with reference to their essential na ture all the goods and ba d s ,

being place d together Le t us now examine ho w these .

Cait as ikas are grouped together in any one human o r other

type or personality or in other words ho w the analytical
, , ,

grouping of the Cait a s ika s corresponds with their s ynthetic

g rouping as foun d in nat u r e .

A F irst as regards being residing in the Kama dh atu

.
2
.

Apart from the more theoretical classification o f dharmas into

good bad and ind ifferent the Ab hidharm a Ko sa tells
, , ,

A K 4 l 3 a ; N A 1 1—
1
14 ; A P 6— 1 1a
A K 4—
-

7 b ; N A 1 1—
. . . . . . .

2
. . 9 . . .
 CO S MI C AN ALYS I S 15 1

us that at any o ne time the menta l state of an individual

falls into one or other o f the following five categories and that ,

each such state contains a defini te number of Cait as ikas .

The five possible states o f mind are

()i M eritorious .

( ii ) S imple demeritorious .

iii
( ) C omplex demeritorious .

iv
( ) O bstructing neutral .

v
( ) U n o b s t ru c t in
g neutral .

i
() When a meritorious state of con s ciousness arises upon ,

analy sis it is found that the pers o nality contains either

twenty two o r twenty three Cait as ikas These consist o f the
- -
.

ten universal Cait a s ika s which are present in every state of

co ns ciousness plus the ten f undamental meritorious dharmas
, ,

all o f which are invariably present in every moment of

merito rious consciousness and finall y v it arka and vic ara
, .

These constitute the twenty two dh armas which are always -

fo und To these may be added at certain moments Kaukrt ya

.
,

o r remorse making twenty three in all

, At other times this
-
.

number is incr e ased to twenty four by the inclusion o f Middha -

,

torpor .

(ii) The simple demeritorious state o f cons ciousness consists

o f those moments when the mind is rendered e v il b association '
y
with moha ig n o ranc e b ut not associate d with any o f the other
, ,

fundamental passions such as R aga or covetousness or

, , ,

D v e sa ill will
,
-
As a mi ni mum this group contains twenty
.

Cait a s ika s These are

.
( ) The ten universal mental
1
properties ; ( 2 ) the s ix fundamental kle éa s ; ( 3 ) the two
Akuéa la dharmas ( 4) Vit arka and Vicara ( cf A K 4 . . .

S ome schools enumerated in ad di tion to the simple ,

demerit orious state composed o f ignorance and its con

c o m it ant s a separate category co ns isting o f the concomita nts
,

o f evil views but Va s ub andhu refuses to let erroneous views

,

be added as a twenty firs t Cait as ika stating as we know

-
, , ,

that error is but a negative phase of Mati hence the number ,

152 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI L O S O P HY

of names o f the Cait as ikas in a mental state associate d with

ignorance and one associated with erroneous views are the ”

same When torpor is present this category contains twenty

.

o ne Cait a s ika s .

iii
( ) The complex demeritorious states of mind consist of

mental groups containing other Cait as ikas than those

associated with ignorance These fall into three classe s .

( )
a Those states o f mind where o n e o f the four demeritori ous
indete rmina te mental properties (R aga Prat igha , ,

etc ) are present These can only arise singly h ence

. .
,

any mental sta t e which conta ins R aga is found o n

analysis to cons ist o f the foregoing t wenty Cait asikas ,

plus R aga as a twenty firs t — .

b
( ) Those mental states where one o f the ten sub sidiary
kl e Sa s are present These also can o nl v arise singly
.
,

so that when a mental complex contai ni ng say , ,

Kro dha is analysed it is found t o consist o f twenty ,

o n e Ca it a s ikas i e kro dha and the twenty simple

,
. .

demeritorious c ait a s ikas .

( )
0 Those mental states containing K a ukrt y a o r c o n ,

s c io us n e s s o f gui lt This als o contains twenty one .

-

Cait a s ikas i e Kaukrt ya plus the usual or constant

, . .

twenty .

E ach the three groups (a ) ( b) (0 ) here mentioned

of , ,

may c o ntain torpor raising the tota l number to ,

twenty two -
.

iv
( ) O bstructing neutral state s of mind These are reall y .

demeritorious but the Buddhist classes them ethically with

,

respect t o their consequences and as th ese states of mind ,

do not necessarily result directly in painful results they are ,

called obstructing neutral S uch states of mind contain a .

minimum o f eighte en Cait as ikas These are : ( 1 ) The ten .

general mental properties ; ( 2 ) the s ix fun damental kle éas ;

3
( ) V it ar k a and Vic ara To these may be added .to rpor ,

making nine teen in all .

1 54 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T P HI LO S O PHY

is obvious at the first glance for the meritorious dharmas ,

co ns ist o f o nly ten Cait a s ikas while the various kinds o f ,

demeritorious come to twenty t wo in all Under the head o f -

.

meritorious dharmas however Mati o r intelligence in the

, , , ,

list of general mental properties may be included so that we ,

get the following ta bulation

I M e ritorio us
.

1 . Mati
2 . The Ak uéa la m ah ab hfim ikas
-

II . D e me rit o rio us
1 . The Kle Sa m ahab hfimi kas
-

2 . The AkuSala b hfimikas -

3 . Upa kl e Sa -
b hfim ikas
Am ong the Av yakrt a dharmas

Total 22

In order to make the contrast between the two groups

exact however the S arv as t iv adins class only eleven o f the
, ,

demeritorious dharmas as fun damental while the remaining ,

half are considered subsidiary to o r d erive d from the , ,

preceding eleven s o that they are only indirectly o r obliq ue ly

,

Opposed to the meritorious Cait as ikas The eleven meritorious .

and eleven fundamenta l demeritorious Cait as ikas are pai red

1
o ff in the following way

Me rito rio us D e me rit orio us

1 Mati
. 1 . Moha
2 . Apra m ada 2 . P ram ada
3 Virva 3 Kaus id a
fi M‘d a 11 19 22
. .

S ra
’

4 . d dh a 4 ASradd a
. .

5 . P ra érab dhi 5 S t y ana

.

6 . Upe ks a 6 Auddhat ya
.

1
Es p ci all y P t ung 1—
e 10 5
a- s , .
 CO S MI C ANALYS I S 1 55

7 Ah rikat a
Akus ala
.

Apa t rapa 8 An apat rapa

.

8 . .

9 Alo b ha
. 9 . Lo b ha
1 0 Adv e sa
. 10 . Prat ig ha (Dv e s a
11 . Ahims a 11 . Vihims a 1
Upakle éa .

Fundamental and S ubsidiary D emeritorious Groups

b
( ) .

The remaining eleven demeritorious Cait as ikas (nine Upakl e Sa s

and two Av ya krt a dharmas ) are considered subsidiary and ,

thus onl y indirectly opposed to the meritorious Cait a s ika s .

The word subsidiary however is use d in two different senses

, ,

( )
1 Those which are derive d from the f undamental
d emeritorious dh armas ; (2 ) those which closely resemble ,

but are not derived fr o m the fundamental dharmas The ,

.

fir st method o f classification includes only the remaining

nine upakle Sa dharmas The second method o f classification
.

includes both the upa kle Sas and the two remaining Av yakrt a
dharmas .

The Yog acarins

Limita tions
of space prevent o ur going into all the details
o f the Yo g ac arins grouping and analysis o f the Ca it a s ika s ,

but the followi ng points require especial attention

A R elation between Citta and Ca it a s ika s The Yo g ac arins
. .

postulate the foll owing three points in explaining the relation

between Citta and the Ca it as ikas .

1 The Cait as ikas are connected only wi th Citta

. In other .

words they have n o direct connexion with any other dharma

‘

so that R fipa cannot produce the Cait a s ika independent o f

the action o f Citta The Yo g ac arins suppose o f course that
.
, ,

all things are ultimately derived from mind but they state ,

that the relation between Citta and the Cait as ikas is more
intimate than between any other two categories .

2 No t only are the Ca it a s ikas unconnected with any other

.

group such as R apa but they cannot exist even as a group

, ,

Vih ims a i an Up kl i
1
s n d h nc a d riva t iv d harma b ut win g t o
a e s a, a e e e e ,
o

it imp r tanc it i h r r ank e d with t h f und am n t a l d ha r mas

s o e s e e e e .
1 56 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

unto themselves so integrally are they boun d up with Citta

, .

As with the S arv as t iv adins the Yo g ac arin s distinguish two

,

phases in the process o f cogni tion ( 1 ) The general awareness

o f an obj ect ( 2 ) th e detailed awareness o f each o f its
attributes It is the especial function o f Citta to sense the
.

first and o f the Cait as ikas t o sens e the latter but owing t o the ,

synthetic characte r o f the Cait as ikas it is said that they are ,

also connected with the former process or to expre ss the ,

matter graphically
1 Citta
. general cognition .

2 Cait a s ika
. detailed cognition .

3 . The Yo g ac arins claim only a four fold uni formi ty between

-

Citta and the Cait a s ika s as opposed to the fiv e fold unifor mi ty

,
-

o f the S arv as t iv adins omitting the last o r uniformi ty o f

,

function They explain this four fold uniformity in th e

.
-

follo wing way

( )
a U n i for mi ty as regards time Both Citta. an d its
correlated Cait a s ikas must arise at the s ame ke a na .

b
( ) U niformity as regards basis The Y o g a
.c arins pos t ul a te

t wo kinds of bases for a ll kinds of mental activity O ne is the .

c o existent basis which consists o f the various se ns e obj ects

-
,

which are immediately present ca using both Citta and the

,

Ca it a s ika s to arise The other is the ante ce d ent basis which

.
,

consists o f the groups o f m e nt a ls o f the prece d ing ksana s ,

which in passing o ut o f existence transmit their energy

to the new m e nt als j ust arI S I ng The uniformity o f Cit t a
.
‘

and Ca it a s ikas as regard s basis must apply t o both types .

U nifor m ity as regards cog i zed obj ects The Y o g ac arin s

( )
0 n .

do not admit the existence o f the material obj ects apart from
the mind s o that all cogniz e d obj ects are rea lly but the
,

ej ects ( ifl 5} hsiang fen ) o f Citta and the Cait a s ika s By

’ ‘
.

uniformity o f cogni zed obj ects therefore is meant the fact

, ,

that these ej ects must be uniform .

d U niformity as regards essence The nature o r t he

( ) .

essence o f Citta and its Cait a s ikas must be uniform .

1 58 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

The merito rious mental pro pe rties These are possessed

3 . .

o f universality onl y as regards sphere being found in ,

all three dh at us .

4 and 5 Mala and Upakl e éa s These are possessed o f

. .

none of the four types o f universality but will be ,

discusse d at length below .

6 The indetermi nate mental properties

. These are .

possessed of universality as regards nature inasmuch ,

as they may be associated with either good or bad ,

but not the othe r three typ e s of univers ality .

O r to put the matter graphically we get the follo wi ng

, ,

chart
The 4 t ypes . The 6 c la s s e s .

1 . 1 . G eneral
2 . 2 . P articular
Merit o rio us
'

3 . T 3 .

4 . Co -
e xist en ce I4 . Mula E l e s a
5 Upakl e é a
.

6 Indeterminate
.

The Internal R elation between the Mfila and the

C .

Upa kl e éa dharmas The variou s types o f demeritorious

.

Cait a s ikas which received but scant attention in the

,

preceding clas sification are classified in various ways among ,

themselves The s ix Mala kle éas have all a real and

.

independent existence and therefore receive no further ,

classification but the subsidiary or Upakle éas are class ified

,

in two ways z
( )
a Those kl e éa s which have a real existence and those ,

which possess only a conceptual o r relative existe nce The .

former are derived from the mula kle éas but have an ,

independent existence The latter are mere phases of the .

m fila kl e s a s which the mind singles o ut and names for

’

pragmatic purp o ses O f the twenty Upakle éa s seven belong

.
,

to the former category and thirteen to the latter category .

The absolutely existent are ( 1 ) Ah rikat a ( 2 ) Anapat rapa

 CO S MI C ANALYSI S 1 59

( )
3 Au ddh a t y a ; S
( ) y
4 t an a ; ( )
5 A S ra ddh a ; ( 6 ) Kaus idya ;
( 7 V ik s e
pa The relatively . existent are the remai ni ng
thirteen .

( b ) Those which are greater those which are intermediate , ,

and those which are lesser These three terms do not mean .

those which are greater or lesser as regards quality but have ,

reference merely to the number o f states in which they are

t o be found The great Cait a s ikas are to be found in all mental
.

groups which are de fil e d whether classed as obstructing ,

neutral o r positively demeritorious This group consists o f .

( )
1 A d dh t ( ) y
2 S t a ( )
3 A S dd h a 4
( ) K dya ;
’

u a y a ; n a ; ra ; a u s i
5
( ) V ik se
pa ; ( 6 ) P ra m a da ; ( 7 ) M us ita s m rt i ; ( )
8 A sa-
m p jr a f
i a .

The intermediate Cait as ikas consist o f those which are

found in those states o f co ns ciousness which are definitely
evil This g roup conta ins : ( 1 ) Ahrikat a ; ( 2 ) Anapat rapa
. .

Needless to say the positively evil state s o f cons ciousness

,

also include the Cait a s ikas enumerated in the last group .

The lesser Ca it as ikas consist o f those which arise separate ly ,

i e those which arise one by one in conjunction either with

. .

the intermediate o r greater de file d Cait a s ikas as ha s been ,

explained when dealing with the S arv as t iv adin in groups

above Th e lower Ca it a s ikas are
. according to the ,

Yo g ac arin s Kro dha ; ( 2 ) Upanaha ; ( 3 ) Mraksa ; ( 4)

: ( )
1
Pradasa ; ( 5) I rs y a ; ( 6 ) Mat s arya ; ( 7 ) Sathya ; (8 ) Maya ;
9
( ) Vih ims a ; ( 1 0 ) Mada .

D . the Cait as ikas according to the eight

Classification of

v ijfiana s W hereas every Cait a s ika must be associated with

.

some aspect o f mi nd it is not necessary that each of them be

,

associated or capable o f association with every o ne o f the

v ijfianas In fact each v ijfiana has a fixed number o f
.
,

Ca it a s ikas with which it may be associated These are .

1 The E ighth Vijfiana

.
— This is associated o nl y with the
.

five uni versal Cait a s ikas which are necessarily present in

,

every type of conscious ness The Alaya v ijfiana is no t .

-

directly associated with any other Cait a s ikas even though it ,

holds the seeds o f all the othe r mental properties and v ijfianas .
160 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

2 The S eventh V1jfiana

.
— S i nce this is principally con
.

cerned with disting uishing between the mine and the not
mine giving rise to the various atman heresies all branches
, ,

o f the Y o ac arins agreed that in addition to the five uni versal

g
Cait a s ika s the seventh Vijfiana was also associated with the
,

following four de file d Cait a s ika s : ( 1 ) Moha ; ( 2 ) Lo b ha ;

( 3 ) Mana ; ( 4) D rs ti Apart from this how e ver there was
.
, ,

some difference o f opinion S ome asserted that this Vijfiana

.
[

was correlate d with these nine and none o ther but more ,

contend ed that a certain number o f other Cait as ikas must

be admi tted The principal theories o n the subj ect may be
.

summed up in the accompanyi ng chart .

3 The fir st s ixVijfian as
.
—
Mano v ijfiana o r the sixth Vij h ana
.
-

is associated wi th all o f the fift y one Cait as ika s while the

-
,

first five being more passive agents for the reception o f

impression are associated with o nl y thirty four o f the Cait as ikas -
,

as may be seen fro m the accompanying chart .

5 Uni ver s als

5 P articulars
Th e First Five
1 1 Merit o rious
Vijnanas
Lo b h a D v e s a Moha
.

, ,

Mana Vicikit s a Drs t i

, ,

G reater S ubs id i ari es ( 8 )

I ntermediate S ubsidiarie s
Lesser S ubsidiaries ( 1 0 )
I nde t e rmin at e s

We have already had a somewhat detaile d account of the

treatment o f the Cait a s ikas by the S arv as t iv adins and
Yo g ac arins Had the limitations o f space permitte d we should
.

now have examined the treatment o f the subj e ct by the

S t hav ira v adins The S t hav irav adins however were chiefly
.
, ,

concerned with sh owing the c c ordination that exists between

-

t h e fift y t wo Cait as ika s and their eighty nine divisions o f

- -

consciousness not a very interesting subj ect and as these

, ,

d e tails are already accessible in English ( Compendium of

1 62 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

( ) a The S arvas tivadin Lis t

Prapt i attainment
, or .

Aprapt i o r non attainm e nt

,
-
.

S ab hagata o r un iformity of chara cte ri st ic s

, .

Jiv it e ndriya o r vitality ,

“

Jat i o r birth
, .

S t hit i o r continuance
, .

Jara o r decay
, .

Ani t yat a o r death , .

Asa m jriika o r unconsciousnes s

’‘

, .

—
Asamjfii s am apat t i or mental tra ining le a ding t o ,

unc o ns c I Ous n e s s .

Niro dha or the mental tra ini ng le ading

-
sam a at t i,
p
to the cessation o f all existence .

Namakaya o r words , .

P adakaya or sentences , .

Vyafija nakaya or letters , .

( ) 0 The Yog acarin Lis t

The order o f enumeration was somewhat different but t h e ,

Yo g ac arins retained all of the above fourteen Citta V iprayukt a -

dharmas and add ed the following ten o f their own

1 . phenomena as oppos e d t o Niv rt t i noum e na
Prav rt t i, ,
.

2 . E v a mb hag iya o r individuality ,

3 . P rat yanub andha o r correlation ,

.

4 . Jav any a o r change ,

.

5 . Anukra m a or succession ,
.

6 . D at a o r space
, .

7 . Kala o r time,
.

8 . S a mkhya o r number ,
.

9 . S am a gri o r inherence ,
.

10 . B he da n o n i nh erence o r s e paration
,
-
.
 P AR T I I I

C O S MI C DYNAMI CS
I . THE NAT U RE AN D S C OP E OF CAU SA L I TY
E mphas is on Caus a lity .

O ne of the most important facto rs in Buddhis t ph ilosophy

is its insistence upon the th e ory o f causalit y o r causal
origina tion It is repeate dly di scuss ed in the s fit ras
.
,

frequently with especial reference to other opposing views

o f life In thi s connexion a pa ss age from the Angut t ara
.

Nikaya ma y be o f interest .

There are 0 mo nks three views held by the h e retics

, ,

which when followed by the learned are calculate d to land

, ,

them in moral irresponsibility in spite o f the perfection which

they have attained What are these three views ? S ome
.

Sramanas and Brahmins there are who maintain that whateve r

a man has in this life o f pleasure or of pain o r neither is p urely
due to predestination ; others s ay it is due to the will of God ;
others that it is due to blind chance .

No w O monks when I find Sra manas and Brah m ins

, ,

holding o r preaching such views I enquire o f them whether

they really believe in them And when they answer in the .

affir mative I s ay to them ,

Now so then y o u must ,

acknowledge that men become murderers thieves adulterers , , ,

liars etc o n account of fate God s will o r blind chance

,
.
, ,
’

, .

Accordi ngly all attempts at improvement or distinc tion

,

between right and wrong become o f no avail S uch being t h e .

’
case the moral regeneration o f the fallen becomes impossible
,
.

This sort of reasoning must silence thos e who hold any o f the
”
three views mentioned above .

The reasoning o f the Buddha may be somewhat t o o

pragmatic t o please the purely logical but it serves to bring ,

o ut quite clearly t h e th eory that things have their origin in

caus e and effect and that so far as o ur o wn destiny is

,
164 MANUAL OF B UDDH IS T P HI LO S O PH Y

concern e d we are responsible for the effects inasmuch as we

, ,

are responsible fo r their cause .

Te rms f or Cause .

Th e doctrine o f causation then was in the first place , ,

asso ciate d with the doctrine o f moral responsibility but the ,

doctrine was also connecte d with the t wo Bud dhis t marks of

Impermanence and An atman Nothing is permanent o r self .

existe nt All things in the uni verse are the ephemeral pr o ducts
.

1
o f various causes and conditions .

But while all branches o f Buddhism are in agreement as

to the validity o f the causal law o n probably no point is there ,

as much divergence as regards the interpretation o f details .

In the Nikayas we find only such phrases as Because o f the

”
existence o f this that exists this arising that also arises
, .

No r is there any specific word which cover s all forms of the

causal law We find only such words as ho he tu ho paccaya
.
, ,
“
fo r this hetu ( o r cause ) for this pac c aya ( or conditioning ,

These two words were destined to have a curious history .

2

In S t hav irav adin Buddhism hetu came t o have a very narr ow

significance namely t o indica te the c o ndit io nm e nt o f certa in
, ,

states of consciousness by the three poisons greed hate and , , ,

ignorance Hence those states o f consciousness which are

.

a ffecte d by these are called s ahe tuha o r posse s sed of hetu o r ,

cause . P ac c ay a o n the o ther hand came to signify any form

, ,

o f causal relationship o r the various ways in which o n e th ing

,

could stand in relation to another In fact the last book o f .

,

the P ali Ab hidharm a is concerne d almost exclusively with t he

twenty four pac c ayas o r poss ible rela tionships be tween
-

di fferent phenomena .

In the North o n the other hand both b y the

, ,

3
Sarv as t iv adins and the Yo g ac arins the two terms were used ,

1
Tika Nipata 6 1 P T S c d o l i p 1 7 3
, . . . . .
, v .
, . .

2
P a age t
ss s this e ff ct re t o num r o u t o m e nti n Cf h o we v r
o e a o e s o . .
, e ,

e s pe c iall y P a t i t y
r s mu t pada Sa t r a
a- a
Efi) s .

2
Lis t o f a uth o riti s will b e fo und in s e c tio n 3 b e l o w
e .
1 66 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

it co uld experienc e the result o f either good o r evil It w ould .

be b y reason of present cause independent o f karma tha t the

, ,
”
clod woul d fall again .

Well 0 king the Buddha should be reg ard e d a s the

, ,

broad earth As the clod would fall upon it irrespe ctive o f

.

any act done by it so als o was it irrespective of any act done

,

by him that the splinter o f rock fell upon his foot .

In l ike manner (of P hil tho ugh karma may cause

. .

the death of a man the death may b e due to one o f s everal

,

reasons Mi lin da cite s external caus es and karma while the

.
,

Compendium of P hilo s ophy gives ( 1 ) e xp ira tion o f the span

o f li fe ; ( )
2 expiration o f karm a ; 3
( ) e xpir ation o f both ;
( )
4 destructive karma .

It should be noted however ther e was a constant te ndenc y

, ,

t o increase the scope of karma Thus in the Kath a Vat t hu

.
, ,

o n e o f the seven Ab hidharm a work s o f the S t ha v irav adins ,

it is distinctly denied that matt er can be due t o karmaic

causality while in the Ab hidhammat t ha S angaha the fou r
, ,

things which are said to be the origins o f mate rial phenomena

are : ( 1 ) karma ; ( 2) mind ; ( 3 ) physical change ; and ( 4)
food ( p . In the S arv as t iv adin works it is r e pea te dly
said that the ca us e o f the recreation o f the universe is the
aggregate e ffect o f t he karma o f senti e nt beings in the past ,

while in the late r Mah ayana s chools where the basis o f the ,

whole universe is said to be mind the appearance o f t he ,

whole uni vers e is due t o karm a and its co rr elates .

Unive rs a lit y f o Caus a l La w .

Buddhists believe that their doctrine o f ca use and condition

is universal as regards ( 1 ) place (2 ) time and ( 3 ) obj ect .

( )
1 C a us al la w applies un ifo rm l y to all p o rtions o f the
uni verse both in the innumerable material worlds and als o
,

in the various heavens and hells .

( )
2 C ausal law applies to the three periods o f time pa s t , ,

present and future To a Bud dhist thi s m e ans moreover

,
.
, ,

th at t h e circle o f causality is endless tha t there wa s neve r ,

 C O S MI C DYNAMI CS 1 67

beginning and that there will never be an end Hence

, .

they rej ect the belief in a first o r ul ti m ate cause Vas ub andhu .

has a long and very interesting passage in the Ab hidharm a

Ko sa defining the Buddhist position o n this point ( A K 7 6a ) . .
-
.

( )
3 It appl i es to all obj ects The only exceptions are the .

As ams krt a dha rmas whi ch are eternal and uncaused , All .

o f the S ams krt a dh armas however whether R fi pa Citta , , , ,

Cait as ika o r Citta Viprayukt a have o nly a dependent o r

,
-
,

conditione d existence and are without any substantial ,

existence o f their o wn Buddhism distingui shed itself from .

most other systems by applying the doctrine o f causality and

non substantiality to the mind as well as to the body
-
.

We are told moreover that even the Buddhas are subject

, ,

to caus ality
E ven th e Buddh as o f the three age s ( past present and , ,

future ) have not been and shall not be able to alter this
” 1
great law .

This is a very important point inasmuch as it is a doctrine ,

which distingui shes Buddhism from practically every other

religio n In most other systems o f th o ught though the
.
,

causal relatio n ship is in some way recogni z e d the higher ,

po wers especially the S upreme Being are considered superior

, ,

to this law and are able as shown by their miracles

, , ,

temporarily to abrogate it Buddhism though accepting .

,

the possibility o f miracles seeks to correlate them with ,

causality The favourite theory o f the higher la w is intro

.

duce d Just as ph ys ical scientists by increased knowledge

.

'

are able t o bring about res ults wh ich to a n ordinary man seem
marvellous so according t o Buddhism do sages by means of
, , ,

pa st karma gain certain powers whic h enable them t o control

the elements To the Buddhist increase in the power o f visio n
.
,

by means o f the telescope is neither more nor less miraculous

than increase o f vision ( clairvoyance ) by means o f the
c ul tivation o f the psychic faculties E ven in Mah ayana . ,

Fr m S Ku o d s mall pamphl t Outlin e s f Mah ayana Buddhis m

1
o . r
’
a s e ,
o

se cti o n o n Causa li t y .
1 68 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI L O S O PHY

wh e re t he Buddhas accompli sh the salvation o f sentient being s ,

this salvation must be effecte d through causal agencies .

O ne final point deserves attention all schools of Buddhism -

agree that nothing can be produced by the a ction of a single

cause that every dharma is the prod uct o f at least tw o causes
, .

In the fir st ins tance this doctrine wa s probably dire cted

agains t the doctrine o f I Sv ara o r the cr e ating deity b ut in ,

later times it came t o imply that to produce an effect a cause

requires adventitious aid from without It is not therefore .
, ,

t rue t o say that eve ry cause necessarily has an eff e ct because ,

s ome single caus e s finding no favourable conditions never

, ,

com e to frui tion It is possible moreover for a s trong caus e

.
, ,

t o render a weak cause bar r en .

Applicatio ns f o Caus a l Law .

The Buddhists applie d their th e ory of causality in two ways .

Th e first was from the point of view of the groups o f dharma s

ta ken as a whole more particularly t he personality human o r
, ,

otherwise The seco nd was from the point o f view of each of

.

the dh armas taken separate ly The firs t therefore w e ma y

.
, ,

1
call synthetic the s econd analyt ical
,
.

Th e firs t aspec t was promi nent even in the early p e riod

o f Buddhist philo s ophy and was merely the development of
,

the theory o f karma sho wing how for certain causal reasons
, , ,

a man would be reborn at death in o ne o f the heavens o r h e lls .

The later schools did little more than systemati z e o r

formulari z e t he older doctrines Th is aspect of causality was .

largely centred aroun d t he o ld rune known a s the Prat it ya ,

s am ut pada .

The second aspect only became prominent in the

Ab hidharm a period Here an attemp t was made to dis ting ui sh
.

and defin e the fundamental types o f cause s and show how the ,

various kind s o f personalities and all other combinations

come into being by the action o f these types o f causes upon
the various single dharmas .

1
F o r fu rth r d i c u s s i o n f th s e t wo p o in t s o f vi e w s e e W i S hih
‘
e s o e , e ,

pp 2 12 an d 2 17
. .
170 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O P HY
‘

dis gusting and repulsive it arises be tween the s tomach and

, ,

the lower intestines As it comes into being these fo ur ,

ignorance desire attachment and action—are the cause of it

, , , ,

inasmuch as they produce it F ood is the dependence .

,

inasmuch as it supports it These five are its causes and .

1
dependences
Ha v ing thus grasped the dependence of form he then ,

grasps the dependence o f Name as follows In dependence ,

upon the e ye and wi th respect to form arises Visual Co n

, ,

s c io us n e s s ( and s o on through the other s ix phases o f

,

W h en he has thus perceived the dependent

manner o f the existence o f Name and F orm he reaches the ,

insight As Name and F orm have at the present a dependent

manner o f existence so also had they in past time s o will the y
, ,
’
have in the futur e ( Warren .B u d in Tra ns ) , . .

By a similarly continued process o f psychological analysis

we find in the end the conclusion reached that Name and F o rm
in it s origin and dissoluti o n is a part o f a uni versal chain
o f causa tion . This process is recorded in a s atra of the
Northern tradition the S fil m o n Ca us e a nd Effe ct in the P as t
,

a nd t he P re s e nt ( No which i s really a life o f the Buddha

. .

The passage in question runs as fo ll ows

At this time the third night o f his me d itation the
, ,

Bo dhisattva examined the na t ure of sentient beings and fo r

what reason o ld age and death exist Then he s aw that o ld .

age and death have birt h for their origin fo r apart from birth ,

there is no o ld age and death Again this b irth does not arise .
,

becaus e o f God o r o f its elf o r wi thout cause b ut arises

, , ,

because o f causes and condi tions fo r it is derived from ,

exis tence o r deed process in the Kama dhatu the R fipa dh atu
-
, ,

o r the Arii pa dh atu Then he exa mi ned this three fold deed -
.

pro ce ss and ho w it arose and s aw that it was d er ived from four

,

fold Attachment 2 Then he examined this four fold Atta chment -

and how it arose and s aw that i t was derived from D es ire

,
.

Then be exa mi ned this D esire and how it arose and saw that ,

Q u o te d fr m Wa rr ’
1
o en s B u d in Tra ns
. .
 C O S MI C DYNAMI CS 17 1

it wa s derived from F eeling Th en he examined t his F eeling .

and how it ar o se and saw that it was derived from S ensation

, .

Then he examined this S ens ation and ho w it arose and saw ,

that it was derived from the S ix S ense O rgans An d whence .

came these S ix S ense O rgans 2 He s aw they are derived from

the Mate rial and Menta l aspe cts o f the pers o na li ty (Name and
F orm ) Then he examined Name and F orm and ho w it arose
.
,

and saw that it was derived from Consciousness Then he .

e xa mi ned Co nsciousness and h o w it arose and saw that it ,

was derive d from Action Then he exa mi ned Action and how .

it arose and sa w that it was derived fr o m Ignorance

,

Moreover if Ignorance be annihilated then is Action

, ,

annihilate d If Action be annihila ted then is Cons cious

.
,

ness a nnihilated If Consciousness be annihilated then is

.
,

Name and F orm anni hilated If Name and F o rm be .

annihilate d then are the S ix S ense O rgans a nnihilated

, .

If the S ix S ense O rgans be annihila ted then is S ensa ,

tion annihilated If S ensation be annihil ated then is .

,

F eeling annihilated If F eeling be annih ilated then is .

,

D esire annihilated If D esire be annih ilated then is Attach

.
,

ment annih ilated If Attachment be a nn ihilated then is D eed

.

process annihilated If D eed process be annihila te d then .

-
,

is birth annihilated Finally if Birt h be annihilat e d then .

, ,

are O ld Ag e D eath Anguish S uffering Mental Affliction

, , , ,
” 1
annihilated .

To enumerate them in their proper order the twelve ,

Nidanas are
1 . I g norance Avidya , .

2 . Action S a ms k ara o r Karma ,

.

3 . Consciousness Vijfiana , .

4 . Name and F orm o f Mind and Body ,

Nama r apa -
.

1
Fas c 3 . num rati n nd partial e xpl nati o n o f t h t w l ve Nidan
. Th e e e o a a e e as

is t o b f o un d
e in man y o th r p o rti o n f t h e can n p cially t h S fit Pi t aka
e s o o , es e e ra

( se fi t ra 15 f D N an d R D avi ds in t du t i n t his tran f t hi ’

e s o . . . fit r ro c o o s . o s s a,

Th Chin e c unt rpa rt f th i fit i

e se 4 8 6 ( Ky o t o
o e o s s ra s

w he re h o we v r all t we lv in t a d o f o nl y t e n links a give n

, e , e s e re .
1 72 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

5 . The S ix S ense O rgans S adayat a na , .

6 . S ensati o n S parsa , .

7 . F eeling Vedana , .

8 . Desire Trs na , .

9 . Attachment Upadana , .

10 . D eed process o r acti v ity existence Bhava

-
, .

11 . Birth Jati , .

12 . O ld Ag e Disease and Death Jara marana

, , ,
-
.

( ) H I i
'

ai na yana nt e r
pre tat o n

I t must be co nfessed that this ancient rune o f the Buddhi s ts

lacks logical precision and later minds were much conc e rned ,

with the correct inte rpreta tion Amo ng all the branche s of .

Hina yana th ere is remarkable agreement The la w o f .

tra ns migration is brought in and the first two links are mad e ,

t o refer to the past life the next eight li nks t o the pres e nt life , ,

and the last two links to the future life 1

O r mor e in d e tai l .

the causal sequence is as follows

P as t
1 . the position in the past wh e n man ha d pa ssio ns
I g nora nce ,
through the operation of i g norance o r delusions .

2 . Actio n —The position in the past existence wh e r e a s , ,

the result o f e vil passions g ood o r b a d ka rm a wa s ,

made .

P re s e nt
3 . Co ns cio us ne s s —
position in this e xistenc e wh e r e
The
a man enters his mother s wom b and first r e c e ives ’
,

consciousness in other words t h e mom e nt o f -

conception .

1
Ab h idh pl an ati o ns o f t h e P r at S am a t o o nu m e ro us t o m e ntio n
. ex . . re

As r gar d s Hi m h w v r f S t h s e a pp e n d t o S il ac a Wo rd o f ’

e o e e or . e ra s
, , .

B uddha x c rpts fr o m Vi u ddhi M gga in Wa rr n

e e B in s e e
’
s .

c h ap 2 R P 1 89 n d 2 5 9
. . . F o S v A K l att r ha lf o f f 9 nd a ll o f
a . r ar . . .
, e . a

f 1 0 ; N A 2 5 ; R A 1 4 ; M V f 3 an d f 2 5 All th e e a e in e s se n tial
. . . . . . . . . s r

agre e m nt s o it i unne c s a ry t o cite ad diti o nal au th o rity fo r s tate me nts

e , s es

o n H i n in t rp r e tati o n s giv n h e r e af t e r
. e e .
17 4 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

the fl esh but has no t as yet a strong int e ntion of

of ,

fulfilling them .

9 Atta chme nt o r Cling ing

.
—The position wher e a man .

reaches the age of 20 o r 3 0 years o f age with pa s sions ,

and de sires growing stronger and he is no longer able

to curb them as they now possess a lasting quality
, .

Thi s is really nothing more than an intensified form

of desire .

1 0 E xis te nce o r D ee d pro ce s s —The pos ition where a man

.
-
.

perform s various actions un der the i nfl uence o f h is

desires and good or bad karma for his next exis tence
,

is thereby engendered It is produc e d by atta chment .

and corresponds in the last existenc e to action wh ich ,

gives rise to the present existence E xistence here .

means being plus action o r originating existence or ,

karma existence .

F uture
1 1 B irth
. .
— The position of a man in the next exist ence ,
’
where he once more ente rs his mother s womb and
thereby reappears in the world o f s e ntiency to
experience good and ba d karma .

Od g
l A e a n d D e a t h — The position o f the man in the
future existence where he undergoes the ravages
common to mortal fl esh Links NO 1 1 and 1 2 are . .

the same as 3 to 1 0 inclusive .

Consequent upon this interpretation Of th e twelve Nidanas ,

the Bud dhists have inve nted several supplem e ntary m e thods
o f classification .

1 .T he t h r e e e le m e n ts o
f C a us a l L ar a — A s regards s e nt ient

beings there are three invariable element s of causality

1
.

These are ( 1 ) D e lus io n or the pas sions ( 2 ) Actio n o r the

, ,

carrying out of the d e lusions o r passions into practice ; ( 3 )

S uffe ring consequent upon evil action is the nece ssary su ffering .

1
(33 fl Efi v ,1 p 1
. 6 3 c o l l
, e c.t s a n d c o m,pa r e s c a n o ni c al

pas s ag e s o n t h e s ubje c t .
 C O S MI C DYNAMI CS 1 75

In the Prat it ya s am ut pada ( 1 ) Ignorance on one hand and

-
,

D esire and Attachment on the other are cons ider e d identic al

from the causal po int Of view and together constitute D elusion .

( )
2 A ction a nd E x i s t ence o r D eed p r ocess are co ns idered -

identical and together constitute Action in the three fold -

divis ion ( 3 ) Consciousness Name and F orm S ense O rgans

‘

.
, , ,

S ens ation and F eeling on o n e hand and Birth and O ld Ag e

, , , , ,

and D eath are co nsidered identical and togethe r constitute ,

S uffe ring .

2 Ca us e and Ef
.
f e c t i n t he T hre e P e rio ds D elusion and .
,

( )
2 A ction may be t a ken together to form Cause while ( )
3 ,

S uffering constit ute s the E ffect and a s the chain of causa tion ,

—
extends over the three period s pa st present and future , ,

the twelve Nidanas may be divid e d as foll ows 1

A
( ) Caus e and Effec t in P as t a nd P res e nt

( )
a P as t Caus e
1 . I gnorance .

2 . Action .

b
( ) P re be nEff
t e ct

3 . Conscious ness .

4 . Name and F orm .

5 . S ense O rgans .

6 . S ensation .

7 . F eeling .

B
( ) Caus e and Efie ct in the P re s ent and F uture

( )
a P res e nt Ca us e
8 D esire
. .

Attachment
9 . .

1 0 D eed process
.
-
or E xiste nc e .

b
( ) F ut ure Eff e ct

11 . Birt h .

12 . O ld Ag e and D eath .

1
fig fit 55 5a , v ol. 1, p . 1 60 .
1 76 MAN UAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

3 Comm. M od ficat
i o n s —
e nta ria l
i I n this connexion two
matte rs require notice First in the immediately preceding
.
,

table in the past there is onl y cause and no e ffect and in the
, ,
‘

future there is only e ffect and no cause But the com .

m e nt a t o rs state very emphatica ll y that this is only b ecaus e

the table was given only in order to exp lain t he present
existence and that unquestionably for there t o have been
,

c au s e in the past ther e must have been effect and that a s

the result o f effect in the future there will ( unl e s s Nirvana
be g ained ) be a cause S econdly although d iffere nt words
.
,

a re used fo r the same cause s and effects in the different

pe riods yet that in r e ality the differ e nt terms are inter

,

1
c hangeable Con se quently the commentators d raw up t he
.
,

following am e nded and amplified chart

1 .
Eff e ct Birth and O l d A g e and D eath o r its

equivalent ; (2 ) Co nsciousne s s Name and F orm , ,

S en e O rgans Contact S ensation

s
, , .

2 . Caus e Ignorance and Action o r its equivalent ;

2
( ) D esire A ttachment and D e e
,
d process ,
-
.

1 . Effe ct Consciousnes s , Name and F orm S ense ,

O rgans , S ensation F eeling , or its equivalent ; ( 2 )

,

Birth O ld Ag e and D eath

, ,
.

2 . Caus e D esire Attachment D e e d proc e s s , ,

-
or its
equivalent ( 2 ) Ig norance Action etc , , .

F uture
Birth O ld A and D eat h o r its equ ival e nt
Eff e ct g e ,

( )
2 C onsciousness Name and F orm S e nse O r g ans
, , ,

S ensation F eeling , .

2 . Caus e Ignorance Action or its equivalent ; ( 2) ,

Desire Attachment and D eed process

, ,
-
.

1 Cf a rr ange m e nt in fig fi fi
.
Efi , v ol . i p
, . 16 2 .
1 78 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S OPHY

hs ing ) the se e ds ( menta l o f course ) whi ch are stored up in

of ,

the Alaya v ijfiana F o r the phenomenal wo rld t o come into

-
.

being then ( sub stantive matte r having been deni e d ) it is

,
,

necessa ry ( 1 ) that some causal force bring about the formation

Of the se e ds o f each dharma (2 ) but these seeds even after
they have been created will remain quiescent i n the Alaya
v ij an wi thout ma i festing the phenomenal u i verse unles
’

i
r a n n s

some new force comes as a stimulus o r a fertilizing force .

Thus fo r one plant to produce another plant it must produc e

,

seed and this seed must be subj ect t o the fertiliz ing i nfl uence
,

o f ground rain and sun ,

With this in o ur minds we can now
,
. ,

understa nd the four fold cat e g o rv o f the Yo g ac arins which i s

-
,

1 . S eed producing force

-

Pres ent 4 2 . S eed aus e

\ 3 S eed s t im ul
-

—4
.

F uture . Ma ni fes t ed e ffe ffe c t

Into these four g roups the twelve nidanas are placed in

the following way
1 S e ed producing F orce
.
-— This cons ists o f ignorance and
action These are the ultimate caus e s o f re birth since they
.
-
,

alone are powerful enough to pr o duce seed s Ignorance is .

divided into two kinds : ( i ) ignorance concerning cause and

e ffect i e lack Of knowledge that demerit will be invariably
, . .

puni shed and merit rewarded if not in this life then in some ,

other O wing to this type o f ignorance men perform actions

.
,

that will bring abo ut re birth in the lower gati (ii ) ignorant
-

e valuation i e even though knowing the laws o f ca us e and

, . .

e ffect men pe rfo rm ac t io ns which will lead t o re b ir th in o ne

,
-

o f the heavens Of the Kam a R iipa o r Ar apa w orlds no t

, , ,

knowing that these spheres bring no permanent happiness .

Acti o n is sub divided in several ways but in the present ,

ins tance o nl y the division o f acti o n into un fortunate fortunate , ,

and imm ovable need be noticed The first leads to re birth .

-

in the lower gat i the second to re birth in the Kama h eavens -

,

and the third into t h e t wo higher worlds ( R apa and Ar apa ) .

 C O SMI C DYNAMI CS 1 79

2 . The S e ed —This consists of the links Consciousness ,

Name and F orm th e S ense O rgans S ensation and F eeling
, , .

C ciou s ness is the seed f the e ighth v ijfiana which

( )
a o ns o ,

serves as the basis o f existence in the future life in any o f the

divisions o f the three w orlds This is the most im portant of .

the resultant seeds since the eighth or Alaya v ijfiana is

,
-

the substratum o f all the other dharmas .

b
( ) N ame and F orm — These are
. the seeds o f all the divi s i o ns
o f the skandhas o f the f uture personality exceptin g the se e ds ,

o f ( i ) the Alaya v ijii ana -

ii
( ) the ,S ix S e ns e O rga n s iii
( ) ,

S ensation and ( iv) F eeling

,
All these seeds belong t o the
.

field o f the indeterminate Vip aka phala (s e e iii p , .

( )
c The S ix S ense O rgan s — Th e se are the se e d s w h ich wil l
give rise to the eye ear nos e tongue bod y and mental
, , , , ,

indriy a s in the fut ure existence .

d
( ) S ensatio n — T his is the seed w hich will ive rise to t h e
g
Cait as ika S par sa in the next life .

—
(e ) F eeling Thi s is the seed which will give rise to t he
single Cait as ika Vedana in the next life .

3 S ee d fe rti lizing F o rces

.
-
The se e ds for the next life
.
-

having been produc e d have an innate tendency t o sprout

,

o r g ermi nate ( future corporeal exi s tence ) As yet however .

, ,

the force which they can exert is t o o weak t o act The next .

two nidanas (Desire and Attachment ) ho wever serve as a , ,

stimula nt under whose infl uence the se e ds awaken into full

activity Desire is more techni cally defin ed as the inferior
.
,

and Attachment as the superio r kle éa s associat e d wi th the

Man o v ijfiana .

Bhava o r E xistence t he tenth nid ana is defined by the

, ,

Yo g acarin school as being the above mentioned seeds o f the -

future life in their germinated stage o r when the process o f ,

sprouting has beg un as the result of the infl uence o f the kle éa s .

4 Manife s te d Effect —Just as the seed from an Old seed

.

lives o n after the parent plant has decayed bringing forth ,

a new plant s o does the germinated seed from an o ld

,
1 80 MAN UAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PH Y

pers onality after the death o f the latter result in the

, ,

ma ni festation of a new personality In this personality two .

stages are noticeable The first is the waxing stage fr o m the

.
,

moment the germi nated seed enters the mother s womb to ’

the time when in middle life the period o f growth is over

, , .

This is ca lled Jat i birth o r the eleventh ni d ana From the

, , .

time when growth ceases and decay sets in until the end o f
the new life the persona lity is said to be do mi nated b y
Jara mara na or Old age disease and d e ath
-
, , , .

ADD ITIO NA L R E MAR KS O N KA RMA

The P rat it ya s am ut pada and the whole process of
-
,

c au s a lity as applied t o the personality are s ummed up in the ,

word Karma It was therefore to be expected that the

.
, ,

Buddhist philosophers should have given a great deal of

attention t o this term and for the O rientals t o notice means
,

to introduce subdivisions It is impossible to g o into detail .

concerning all these minor classifications more particularly ,

as most of them are only Of ethical import and have no

relati o n t o philosoph y but o ne or t wo general te rms ma y ,

be mentioned .

The S arv as t iv adin and Yo g ac arin divisions o f karma are

chiefl y c o ncerned with matters dea ling with the proper
enumerati o ns o f the S ilas or moral precepts though a good ,

dea l Of space is devoted to the divi sion o f karma into Vijfia pt i

and Av ijfiapt i corresponding to the cla ssification o f R fipa into
,

Vijfia pt i and Av ijiiapt i which we have given above This .

point however we are compelled to ignore F or the rest there

, ,
.

is little system in the treatment of karma though a casual ,

survey of the Ab hidharma Ko sa ( 4t h KOSa s t hana ) gives us

the followi ng list o f technical terms som e o f which throw a ,

good deal of light o n the northern theory o f the process of

causal law in it s application to the individual .

The most important terms are

( ) ys
1 D t a dharm
-
a v e dan i ya o r karma whose-
fru its will b e ,

e xperienc e d in the present li fe .

182 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

and it is unable to operate it becomes non effective ,

-
.

A hunter Shoots one arrow ; if it misses the deer rema ins

”
unaffected .

( )
2 R e m o t e ly ff e ec t iv e K arm a o r karma , the fr ui t o f which
is t o be experienced in the next life Here also if through .
, ,

other causes this caus e is unable to operate at that period ,

it becomes non effective i s is not carri e d over to another

-
, . .

existence .

3
( ) I n d efi n i te ly ffe ec t ive K a r m a o r karm a which, is to be
experienced in some after l ife The scope o f this karma is .

not s o limited and is liable to become effective at any time

,

unless in the meantime Nirvana be attained whereupon

, , , ,

o f co urse it too becomes non e ffective

, , ,
-
.

( )
4 N o n eff
-
e c t i ve K a r m a ( li t karma which
. has been ) .

This co m prises all forms o f karma o f the first two classes

which were too weak t o operate or were counteract ed by som e ,

more powerful karma .

2 With respect to the second we hav e the following

.

divisions
( )
1 R e
p r o d u c t i ve K a r m a This
. causes conception and
then is latent It may o r may not help further according to
.
,

whether it receives support o r is counteracted By conception .

here is meant only a resetting Of the c urrent Of being

( b hav a ng )
a the fr u it O f a past karma of the remotely ef f ective
class Of the Time classification ( P E luc of Kamma p . .
, .

( )
2 S u pp or t i v e K a r m a — This ren d ers a s sistance to repro
duc t iv e karma and the phenomena thereby brought into
,

existence are given a permanent basis

—
.

3
( ) C o u n t e r ac t i ve K a r m a This tends to render nu l l and
void the karma of the tw o preceding c lasses It may thus .

counteract both goo d and ba d karma .

4
( ) D es t ru c t i v e K a rm a — Thi s class stronger than the,
last ,

cuts at the root of active o r potential karm a and causes it ,

t o become inoperative .

3 With respe ct t o the thir d we have the following sub

.
,

d iv isions
 C O SMI C DYNAMI CS 1 83

( )
1 We ig hty Karma This is s o calle d because karma o f
-

this nature Operates all others It may either be meritorious .

o r demerito rious In either case it may be productive

.
,

supportive coun teract ive o r destructive

, D emeritorious
, .

weighty karma precludes the operation o f meritori o us weigh t y

karma ti ll i t s results have been fully effected
—
.

( 2 ) D e at h p r-
o xim a t e K a rm a T h is is the K arm a which
determines the nat ure Of the next birth S hould there be any .

weighty karma meritorious or demeritorious this o f c o urse

, , , ,

would apply here In its absence however whatever karma

.
, ,

presents its elf at the moment Of death takes precedence over

all els e .

3
( ) H a bit K a rm a This is the karma
. generated by
consta nt repetition of thought word o r act It comes next , , .

in power to D eath proxim ate Karma and in fact becom e s

-
, , ,

D eath proximate Karma if it be forcef ul enough t o overcome

-

”
other karm a
—
.

4
( ) Cu m ula t ive K a r m a I t comprises all the acc um u late d
karma goo d bad and indifferent of the ages It is in fact
the whole o f each being s illimi table past—the chasing
, , , .
,
’

dogs of I nde finit e ly e ffective karma If no new karma

be powerful enough t o act then it is a karma o f this class that ,

wi ll o perate as D eath proxima t e karma -

But cumulative .

karma is s o great a store that there is absolutely no certainty

( except to a pe rfectly enlightened o n e ) as to h o w it will a ct .

It is compared to a fool s s t one throw It may strike when ’

-
.

least expected .

III . TH E LAw OF CAUS A LITY A PP LI E D TO T H E E LE ME NT S

OF EX I S TE N OE

We have examined the general scope o f the Buddhist

conception of the law o f causation and its application t o the
human pers o nality We have no w to undertake the somewhat
.

more di fficult task o f considering some Of the tech ni ca l details

involved in the theory with especial reference to the cosmi c ,

1
P .
’
s E lucidatio n of K amm a
 1 84 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

aspect In the present insta nce however we are forc e d to

.
, ,

distinguish between the development which the idea received

in the P ali o r S outhern tradition o n the o ne hand and in
the S ans krit Chinese tradition on the other
-
.

(a ) The S o uthe rn Tradition

D efinitio n f o P ras thana a nd P ra tyaya .

The P ali worth ies divide causality into Pras t hana (Pa li ,

P a tth ana ) and P rat ya ya ( P ali P a cc ay a ) relation ships Ledi , .

S adaw ( P hilo o h
s p y f o R e la tio ns J —
1 9 1 5 16 ) has a very ,

interesting definition Of these two terms P a tth ana mean s

1

( caus e proper o r) principal o r pre eminent cause among -

causes Pa c cay a may be defined as that event by which

.

a fruit or effect derived from itself occurs o r general causa tion ,

relatio ns hip in any form and not necessarily the r e lation of ,

direct cause to direct e ffect .

E ffects o f ( principal ) causes are either direct or indirect .

The one well defined sort o f e v ent which bears an indispensable

relation to a given cause is said to be a direct e ffect All other .

outcomes o f this direct e ffect are indirect e ffects Given t he .

sole adequate cause its direct e ffects invariably happen But, .

its indirect effects may o r may not take place There is no , , .

n e ces sary connexion between a cause and these indirect e ffects .

F or example greed ( lo b ha ) relates itse lf to its concomita nt

,

m e ntal and c O existent physical properties by way of special

-

condition (hetu ) Here these properties directly spri ng into

.

being along with their patth ana s o r caus e That is whenever , .

,

g re e d occurs they invariably , occ ur Bu t the matter do e s .

not stop short there Greed may g ive rise to a series o f actions
.

1
ntil t h wh l f t h P at t h ana h b e n e dite d i t wil l b e imp o ible
U e o e o e as e ,
ss

f u t kn w t h e f u ll imp l icati o n
or s o o f t h va r i o u s t y p s o f ca u g iv n by t h e
s o e e se s e

Sth i adi n s b u t I hav e th o ug ht it wi

a v ra v , t giv at l a t t h nam Of t h se o e e s e es e

t y p f cau f un d in t h S u th rn li t in rd r that th y might b e

es o se s o e o e s o e e

c m pa r d w ith t h
o e N o rth rn li t w hich I hav atte mpt d t x pl ain m e
e e s , e e o e so

w ha t m r at l ngth b l w F furth r inf r mati o n

o e e e o C P p 19 1 or q e o se e se

19 1 5—
. . .
, . .
,

1 6 p 2 1 se q Of l e s s valu i J W t t S im h s
’
a nd J , . . e s . e a a

S i n g ula i ty f B uddhi m p 7 8 ff
r o s , . .
186 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

21 . At t hi presence, or .

22 . Natth i or absence , .

23 . Vig a t a or abeyance , .

24 . Av ig at a o r co ntinuance , .

Applicat io n f o t he Twe nty fo ur P ratyayas -

.

We are told that there are four di fferent kinds o f re lations

1
,

namely the relation o f

,

1 Mind to mi nd . .

2 Mind t o body . .

3 Body to body . .

4 Body to mind . .

1
( ) A ll forms of consciousnes s which we have previously
grouped under thirty three classes are re lated t o one another
-

under this category Here the relation is symmetrical ;

.

that is the relation between the two terms A and B holds g oo d

,
”
as between B and A ( )
2 The relation between
. resultant
forms Of co ns ciousness and resultant forms o f matter are
included under this category At the moment Of conception .

they come into being simultaneously but thereafter forms of ,

cons ciousness arise in dependence upon external obj ects .

( 3 ) The relation between the four elements and their

d e rivative s are includ ed under this category It must be .

remembere d that the d erivatives cannot attain the sta tus

o f a cause o r pa c ca ya That is the rela tion between t he
.
,

primaries A and t he s e co nd aries B is sym metrical In .

other words the relation of A to B canno t be reciprocall y

,
”
borne by B to A 4
( ) Under this
. cate gor y may b e instanced
the c orrelation Of the heart basis to mi nd at the moment o f -

conception .

The Ab hidhammat t ha sangaha add s to the s e four groups tw o

-

others v iz ( 1 ) relation between term and concept o n o ne

, .

hand and mind o n the other ; ( 2 ) relation between o ne group

of states o f mind and body and another group Of states o f
- -

mind and body There also the relation between the above
- -
.

1
CP
. .
, p . 1 93 .
 C O SMI C DYNAMI CS 187

s ixcategories and the twenty four rat is stated

p
-
y y
a a s

as follows
( )
1 Mind to Mind z
1 . Contigui ty . Abeyance .

2 . Immediate Contig uity . 5 S uccession

. .

3 . Absence . 6 As sociation
. .

1 . Hetu .

2 . Jhana .

3 . Means .

( )
3 Mind to B o dy

1 . Consequence .

( )
4 B o dy t o Mind
1 . Antecedence .

( 5) Te rm and Co ncept t o M ind

1 O bj ect . 2 S ufli c ing Condition
. . .

( )
6 M in d an d B o dy t o M-
i n d and B o dy
- - -

1 . D ominance . 6 . Co ntrol .

2 . Cc existence
-
. 7 . D issociation .

3 . R eciprocity . 8 . P resence .

4 . D ependence . 9 . Continuance .

5 . S upport .

b
( ) The N o rthe rn Traditio n 1

Wh ereas the S t hav irav adin and S a rv as t iv adin schools

were in a greement on the personal interpretati o n o f caus ality ,

as opposed to the Yo g ac arins when we c Om e to deal with the ,

Northern interpretation of cos mic causality w e find that here

the Yo g ac arins and S arv as t iv adins are in agreement as
o pposed to the totall y different account handed down by the

S t hav irav adins O n certain points Of detail the two northern

.

1 S ar v o f e s pe cially A K t h e wh o le Of ff
F or . . . .
, . 6 and 7 NA . .
, f . 15
A P 1 4 ; M V 16 7 b s e q
. . . F o r Y o g s e e e s pe cially
.
- . . f . 7 , p 3 2 6, . an d

W e i S hih p 2 12 s e q
, . .
1 88 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

schools di sagreed but in th e main the doctrines concerning ,

this matter were in accord and we may therefore treat them ,

together .

Northern and southern traditions concerning cosmi c

causality seemed to have developed quite indep e ndently .

Instead Of a rather unco ordinated list of twenty four relations - -

,

we find four main prat yaya s o r ways in which o ne thing can

stand in relation to another while causality proper is explained ,

by s ix o r ten hetu and their five phala or e ffects It is ver y .

interesting to note that this doctrine Of th e six or ten hetu and

the five phalas are admitted ly later developments o f the
original Buddhist ideas but it is claimed that the doctrine o f ,

the four prat yayas was taught in the earliest Hinayana

s fit ra s themselves
1
Unfortunately we are unable to ve rify .
,

th is statement and th ough reference is made to the S am yukt a

,

Agama none o f the existing versions o f that work contain

,

the passage in question The light which this statement thro ws .

o n the development o f Ab hidharm a ideas is very important ,

more particularly a s it is in s uch strong contrast to the

S t hav irav adin s who c laim that their t w enty four prat yaya s
,
-

are all part o f the original dispensation Le t us now proceed .

to examine each of t hese cate gories somewha t more in detail .

I The F o ur P ratyayas .

P ra t yaya is explained as we have seen as being t h e , ,

conditions which bring about any g iven phenomenon Co n .

sequently the prat yaya s explain the various ways in which

,

o n e thing can stand to another

”All such relatio ns hips fall
}
.

'
2
into one o r other o f the follo wing types
1 He tu pra tyaya or direct causal relationship
.
,
.

2 S a ma nanta ra pra tyaya the relation of uniform and non

.
,

intermittent succession .

1
Th e Madhy amika s see m t hav tak e n int o c o n ide r ati o n o nl y t h e
o e s

f o u r p rat f M d .
, o . a . Vr .
( C h in e s t rean ) f 1 b u t al o c fst h amp l ificati
,
o ns o f
.
, s . e

M P P Sa t r a f s 3 2 , p 1a s e q
—
. . . .
, . .

2
A . K . 7- l a ; N A 8.
-
l 7b ; A P
. . . l o l Oa ; pp . 3 3b a nd 3 4a .
1 90 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

or the AnuSa ya s and its S am anant ara prat yaya is th e

,

immediate ly preceding group o f m e nt als .

The life strea m o f consciousness is considered more uniform

and inter related than any other life stream Thus two
-
.
,

di fferent phases Of the body are not suppos e d to be related b y

means o f S am anant a ra prat yaya The commenta tor s explain
.

this by saying that this rela tion implies uniformity and con
t ig uit y between the condi tion and the conditioned
'

Th e .

relation between two successive phases of R apa posse s s e s

neither of these two requisites sin ce the process o f change
,

is slower and two different processes o f replacement may be

going o n at the same time wi thin the body as oppo s e d to the ,

unifi e d disinte gration and replacement on the part of the mind .

In the same way th e Citta Vipray ukt a dh armas find no

-

lace s S a m a nant a ra pra t y a y a s since there is no fixed ord e r

p a ,

to succession in their appearance in the universe E ven among .

the m e nt als the last thought moment Of an Arh at was con

,

s ide re d inoperati v e since no ne w

g roup o f mental dharmas
arises phenomena producing action and passions having been
,

exhausted There being no hetu the last g roup o f mentale

.
,

cannot be said to exercis e a conditio ning funct ion

( A K
. 7 —2
. a ) .

3 Alam bana pratyaya

. or ,
—
percipient conditio n This
corresponds t o what the Cartesians would call the occasional
cause Conditione d b y various exte rnal obj ects d ifferent
.
,

types Of consciousness arise The Sa rv as t iv adins believed th at

.

the nature Of the newly arising consciousness is conditioned

by the external obj ects b ut that the cause o f the origination
,

remains Karma and the passions Hence t h e action of the .

,

external obj ects is called Alam b ana prat yaya This group is .

much more inclusive than the prec e ding inasmuch as all ,

obj ects o r all the dharmas o f the universe can act as Alamb ana
ra t a a
p y y inasmuch
,
as all dharmas can act as Obj ects of
perception R apa being the Alamb ana prat yaya o f the five
,

sensuous aspects Of consciousness while all dharmas what ,

soever can act as the Alamb ana prat yaya or the S ixth o r
 C O S MI C DY NAMI CS 191

Mano V ijnana In this way even the Asams krt a dharmas

-
.
,

and the S ams krt a dharmas o f the past and future can function
as Al am b ana pra t y aya .

It is further stated that all dharmas retain the name of

Alam b ana prat yay a even at moments when they are not
serving as Obj ects Of perception sin ce they are always ,

p o tential cond itions just as firewood is always called fuel

,

even when it is not for t he moment b urning ( A K 7 . .

4 Adhipat i pra tyaya

.
— When we exami ne the na ture o f
thing s we s e e that everything exerts an ind irect infl uence over
everyt hing else The snow on the Him alayas affects the
.

climate and hence the food clothes and lives o f all oth er
, , ,

parts of the world The indirect i nfl uence which every dharma

.

exerts o n everything else is called Adh ipat i prat y aya This .

shows how greatly the No rthern interpretation o f the

rat a a s di f
p y y fers from that Of th e S t ha v irav adins for the latter ,

have kept the literal sense o f Adh ipat i as domin ance while ,

the Northern scholastics state this condition receives its name

merely becaus e it is vast and universal inasmuch as thi s ,

rat ay a is possessed by every dharma in the uni verse It

p y .

is even more widespread than Ala mb ana prat yaya since a ,

dharma exerts an Adh ipa t i infl uence even when it is not

directly perceived .

The scope of Adhipat i has only two limitations ( 1 ) a thing

cannot be said to exercise a causa l infl uence over its elf ; ( 2 )
the Sa ms krt a dharmas ca n have no influence over the
As ams krt a s since the la tter are by defin ition un conditione d .

( A K. 7 —
5 a ) . .

From their very defini tion also we can see that the fo ur
rat a a s are applied to the various categories Of existence in
p y y
the following way All four types o f condition bring about the
arising o f both Citta and Cait as ikas The only exception to .

this is the Citta and Cait a sikas of the heaven o f unconscious

1
m ific ati o n s o f Al am P r at prin ipally fr o m t he o nto l gical
F o r t he Yo g od. . . c o

p i t vi w
o n of e , Al am P r at Sa tr a by D ig n ag a m e nti o n d in t h
s e e t he . . s , e e

I n tr du cti o n
o .
1 92 MAN UAL OF B UD D HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

ness In thi s ins tance as there i s no perception Obj ective

.
, ,

phenomena cannot be said to function as Alam b ana prat ya ya .

O nly two of the prat yayas apply to R apa and the Viprayukt a
dh armas These are Hetu pra t y aya and Adhipa t i prat yaya
. .

No t being percipient agents Alam b ana prat ya y a does not ,

apply to them The reason for their exclusion from the

.

category o f S am anant ara prat yaya has a lready b e en

e xplained .

II . The S ix Ucta s

Le t us now turn o ur attention t o th e He t us or types of ,

direct causality The subdivision o f Hetu b eing a later

.

d evelo pment o f Buddhist philosophy there wa s some ,

difference o f opinion as to the exact number of causal type s

t o be enumerate d F or the most part the S arv as t iv adins
.
1

h ad six in their lis t The Yo g ac arins s ometimes accepted the

.

s ix h e t us of the Sa rv as t iv adins
2
but frequently made mention ,

o f another list o f ten h e t us which together with five other , ,

mod es o f relationship made up their full list Of fifteen ca u sal

,

bases 3
. These special causal th eories o f the Yo g acarins ,

h owever were Of very little importance

, They played but .

little part in t h e Yo g ac arin philosophy absolute or relative ,

.

Many o f the foremost commentaries ignored them ( e g Wei . .

S hih Lun Ch eng I ) Consequently in the present insta nce

.
,

we may content ourselves with enumerating the li st o f s ix

h e t us which were common to both th e Yo g ac arin s and the
S arv as t iv adins and o f which frequent mention was ma d e
, .

In point o f fact this group is merely a new editio n Of the

,

rat a a classificati o n o f causes in which the three rat a a

p y y p y y
which h ave an indirect conditio ning effect upon phenomena
a re brought togeth er and counted as o n e hetu calle d Kara na ,

Hetu wh ile the o ne prat yaya which has a direct caus al

,

1
Of t h e
. au th o riti c ite d a b o v f t h S ar v ch l
es e or e . s oo .

2
L nka t a
a va xp und t h ix b tu fr m t h Y g tan dp o int
ra e o s e s e e o e o . s , 3 106
-

Of t h e10 f v r i n
. nd 2—
e s o 2 1 b f t h e 4 f v r io n
, a O . e s .

2
Cf e s pe ciall y
. f S p 3 3 6 fo r full l i t n d e xpl anati o n
.
, .
, s a .
 1 94 MAN UAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PHY

It therefore foll ows that every d h arma is the Kara na hetu

( 2)
o f every other dharma though it ca nn ot exercise a causal
,

infl uence over its elf Thus the element faithfulness (Sraddh a)
.

can be sa id t o be the Kara na hetu o f faithlessness (a éraddha) .

Th rough the inclusion o f Alam b ana prat y aya in this category ,

Nirvana and the other Asams krt a dharmas are likewise

included in the list o f Kara na h e t us (A K 6—2 b )
—
. . . .

“
m a h a b hu h e t u This is the term appli e d to explain the
.

1
causal workin g o f t wo dharmas which exist simultaneously .

There are two different interpretations given to this type o f

hetu
( )
1 The first is wh e n s everal different dharmas all bring about
a single effect at the same time Thus the c o working o f a .
-

number o f men brings about t he formation o f a regiment .

This implies a certain amount o f c o ordination between the -

sepa rate causal factors which leads up to the second inter ,

re t a t io n of this cause which is the n favou ed by the

p o e, r

Ab hidharm a Ko sa ( 6— 2 b ) namely : ,

( )
2 S a h ab hfi hetu
number o f dharmas
is t h e simultaneous int e raction o f a certain
In certain cases co existing dharmas not
.
-

only bring about another separate effect but they have a ,

causal infl ue nce o n one another Here inter relation impli es .

-

symmetrical inter relation i s no t only doe s A act upo n B

-
, . .

b ut B acts equally upon A .

Instance s o f this are found in both material and m e ntal

phenomena In any g iven molec ul e the inter causal i nfl uence
.
-

o f the atoms of the four Mahab hfit a s is called S ahab hfi hetu .

The relation o f the Mahab h fit as and the B haut ika s o n t h e ,

other hand is not included in this class as the relation is

, ,

asymmetrical the Mahab hfit a s i nfl uenci ng the B haut ika s

, ,

while the B haut ikas cannot directly infl uence the

Mahab hfit as .

1
Th e A K a nd iff r in th ir int rp re ta tio n Of this t yp o f aus e
AP d e e e e c

2 b n d A P 9— f und in M V 1 5—
. . . . .

S ee A . K . 6— a l ; b th vi e ws
. . a o 16 tc are o . . a, e .

Th e A P . . fo ll o w t h e fi rs t n d A K t h e s e o n d inte rp re ta tio n m e nti o n d

s a . . c e

ab v
o e“
 C O SMI C DYNAMI CS 1 95

Acco rding t o the S arv as t iv adins a mental group contains ,

fift y four dharmas which act as S ahab hii hetu

-
, These are .

( )
a Citta itself ( b ) the ten un i versal
, o r ge n eral Ca it a s ikas ,

( )
c the fou r La ks a n a s o f Citta ( d) the four Laks ana s o f each ,

o f the ten Cait a s ika s making forty in all ( A K ,6— 3 b ) . . . .

3 S am uht h t u — This is a furt her special class o f

.
p y
r a a e .

S ahab hfi hetu and refers more pa rticularly t o t h e relation

,

between Citta and t he Cait a s ika s This is distingui shed from .

the preced ing group by the closer nature of the union of

the c O existing infl uen cing parts Consequently every
-
.
,

Sa m pra yukt a hetu is necessarily a S ahab hfi hetu but there ,

are certain S ahab hfi h e t us which are not sufficiently inter

related to receive the name o f S am pray ukt a hetu The uni on .

Of the latter is so close as to imply almost fusion while the ,

former means only conj oint action in which each part retains ,

it s independent functio n The Ab hidharm a Ko aa i ll ustrates .

the action Of S ahab hfi hetu as the travelling o f merchants in

a caravan in order t o protect themselves fr o m the da ngers of
the road while t he action of S a m prayukt a hetu is illustrated
,

b y these same travellers if they are performing exactly t h e

1
same actio ns at exactly the same time .

The Buddhists b elieved that thi s closer form of union could

n o t be attained by the ma teri al dharmas or by the Citta

v ipra ukt a dharmas

y and it was therefore confined
,
to t h e

inter relation of the vari o us Cait a s ikas Their functi o n as

-
.

S am pray ukt a dharmas depends upon their previously

mentioned four o r fiv e fold uni formity -
.

4 S abhag a he tu
.
— This is usually termed homo geneous
.

c ause It is distinguished from the prec e ding category by

2
.

n o t being contemporary with its effect ; in fact it must cease ,

to exist before its phala can arise It is likewise dis t inguishe d .

from Vipaka hetu mentioned below becaus e the e ffects of

, ,

1
A K 6 l ob
. .
— .

2 T h e re a g d d al f di pu te o v r t h e c rr ct in t rpr t ati n f th
wa s oo e O s e o e e e o o is

t yp f h tu partic ul arly b tw n t h S u t ant ik n d S a t i ad in s t h e

e O e ,
e ee e a r as a arv s v ,

p r in ci pa l p in t f d iff r nc
o d e crib d A K 6 5
s o e q e e s e . .
-
a se .
1 96 MANUAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

S abh aga het u are o f the same nature as t h e cause its elf .

T hus when one apple produces another apple it is said t o be

,

a S a b h aga hetu In the same manner the first stage of the

.

huma n foetus is said t o be the S abh aga hetu o f the later

stages Its neares t corollary therefore is the S am anant a ra
.
, ,

ra t a a alre ady discus s ed but it is distingui shed from this

p y y ,

rat a a in several ways

p y y ( 1 ) It is a cause and not a condition
.
,

i e t he n ature o f the mind a s a whole is the conditioning

. .

fac tor o f the succeeding moment Of consciousness while certain ,

'

passions in the preceding moment c f consciousness whose

force brings about the a ri sing of simila r type s Of cons cious
n e ss at a later moment is called a S abh aga het u ( 2 ) .

S a m a nant a ra prat y ay a refers more particularly t o t he

re la tion o f two mental g roups at t wo successive moments ,

while S abh aga hetu may function over a prolonged pe riod Of

time ( 3 ) Co nsequently Sa manant a ra prat yaya refers o nl y
.
,

t o the mi nd and m e nt a ls while S abh aga hetu can apply to ,

the relations betw een any similar groups of dharmas such ,

a s R fipa etc ,
.

The Buddhist believed that everything ha d a tendency t o

r e prod uce itself A goo d Cait a s ika Of the present tends t o
.

produce a go od Cait a sika in the future ; an evil Cait a s ika

another evil Cait as ika This force o r tendency may b e checked .

o r th wa rte d o r may be s o weak that it is unable t o reproduce

,

itself without external aid as in the case o f indetermina te ,

th i ngs Wh ere however the force is sufficiently strong to

.
, ,

carry o ut its function of reproduction it is called S abh aga

hetu Nevert heless this causa l force is very confine d in its
.
,

scope because it applies to e ffects ( 1 ) only o f the same nature

, ,

( )
2 the same section fit
( p )u and ( ) of the same sphere
3 , .

The firs t applies to the three main categories meritorious , ,

demerito rio us and neutral The sections consist of the

, .

various sub divisions Of these three na t ures such as the five ,

groups The third h as reference to the various spheres of

.

the uni verse F or this purpose the universe is divided into

.

nine stages o ne fo r the whole o f the Kama dh atu one fo r each

, ,
1 98 MAN UAL OF B UD DHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

ina smuch as its effects are different both as regard s time of

ma turity and nature from the cause .

The dharmas which act as Vip aka hetu may belong either
t o the category o f the material ( R apa ) mental ( Citta o r ,

Cait a s ika ) o r mis cellaneous ( Viprayukt a ) but suc h dharmas

, ,

must belong to the cate gory Of positively demeritorious o r

S asrav a meritorious Neither o f th e two classes of neutral
.

( Obs t ructing and non Obstructing ) nor An-

as ra v a meritorious
ca n act as a Vipaka hetu Neutral is excluded according t o
.
,

th e Ab hidh arma Kos a because it is like a mouldy se e d and

’

, ,

An as ra v a ku sala because being uninfl ue nc e d by t he karm a ic

,

fruc t ific at io n o f the passions it is like a good seed which d oes ,

not come to fruition because it has no t been fructified by

wa t e r F or this rea so n it cannot bring about re birth
.
-
.

The Buddhists and more particularly the S arv as t iv adin s

, ,

b e li eve that there m ight be various kinds o f numerical relations

between the Vip aka hetu and its e ffects This cause was .

frequently likened to a seed and j ust as some se e ds resul t in ,

a s mall quantity Of fruit and others in a g rea t deal s o might

, ,

cert a in Vipaka b etu e have a great many results and other s

b ut few In this way a single actio n in one life may have
.

effect s in several lives but aggregate actions in several live s

,

c ould not form a sin le group resulting in a single effect in one

g
life A single thought moment may give rise t o several
.
-

subsequent thought moments b ut several thought moments

-
,
-

could not give rise to a single thought moment -

.

O n the other hand a number o f different dharmas ,

cc e xisting at any one specified time within the li mi ts of one

-

s m le hum an o r other personality might form a group acting

g
as a s ingle Vip aka hetu resulting in some o ne (o r more ) effect .

These causal dharmas might or might n o t be members o f a

single s kandha (Numerical details Of poss ible combinations
.

of dharmas skandhas etc as ca uses and e ffects will be found

, , .
, ,

A
. K 6
.
—1 2b ff ) .

From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that the h e t us

re adily fall into a t wo fold classification one made according
-
,
 C O SMI C DYNAMI CS

to the dharmas which s er v e as causes and the other ,

according to the temporal relatio nships between the causes

and their effects Thi s may be illus trated in the
.

following way

Types o f caus Types o f causality

ality where all where ca use and
dharmas may effec t are simul
act as causes . t an e o us .

Types of ca us Types o f caus ality

ality where where e ffects
only mental arise only after
dharmas c an causes d is
act as causes . appear .

O win g to the limi ted Space at our disposal it is impossible ,

to dea l at length wi th t he Northern Buddhists theory of ’

causality and it s relation to other causal theories but it is ,

important to notice ho w the n o n substantialist position o f -

Buddhism a ffected its theory o f causa lity contrasting it ,

Sharply with the causal theories o f the substantialists These .

latter philosophers whether O ccidental like Aristotle o r

, , ,

Oriental as in the case o f the Vais e s ika Jain o r S amkh ya

’

, , ,
’

systems believed in a permanent substance b e hind at t rib ut e s

,

and modes and as no phen omenon could exist wi thout this

,

substance behind it this substa nce could be said to be the

,

co ns ta nt c o existing cause In co ntrast to this the Buddhi sts

-
.
,

postulate d but two types o f causality in which cause and effect ,

were Simultaneous and in neither case were any o f the causes

,

permanent in fact both cause and effect were o f but

,

momentary duration In the other three cases of direct

.

causality the effect could only come into being after the ca use
itself had di sapp e ared ( Cf o n this point the A K argument . .

with the S amkhyas A K 1 1—

. .

2b )
,
. . .
200 MANUAL OF B UDD HI S T PHI LO S O PH Y

I II The F ive P hal as

.
1

AS the result o f the action and interaction o f the four

rat a y a s and the s ix h e t us the universe comes into being
p y , .

From the causal point Of v ie w e v e ry existing obj ect can be

said t o be o ne o f fiv e kinds o f effects E very single Obj ect .

can come und er more than one of these categories since every ,

phenomenon is the result of more th an one cause The five .

types of effects are

1 Adhipat i phala o r aggregate e ffect
.
, .

2 P urusa kara phala o r simultaneo us e ffect

.
, .

3 Nis yanda phala or u ni formly continuous e ffec t

.
, .

4 Vip aka phala o r he t erogeneous effect

.
, .

5 Visam y o g a phala o r emancipated e ffect

.
, .

1 Adhipa t i pha la is a phenomenon regard e d as the S ingle

.

effect of the general causal i nfl uence exerted by every dharm a

in the universe Consequently it is the e ffect of Kara na h etu
.
, ,

and is thereby at the same time the result Oi Alamb ana

, , ,

S am anant a ra and Adhipat i pra t ya ya s (in those circum

,

stances where such prat yaya s apply ) since these are but ,

subdiv isions Of Kara na hetu S ince such a resultant dharma .

is the e ffect Of the activity of a large number of different causal

d harmas it is frequently call ed the aggregate e ffect
,
S ince .

all things are infl uenced by all other things it follows that all ,

phenomena may be regarded as Adhipat i phala but the term ,

is specifically applied to those phenomena whose origination

cannot be accounted for by any other of the fiv e hetu Thi s .

is a very important category however for the external , ,

universe is regarded as the Adhipat i phala Of the aggregate

actions o f the sentient beings o f former times ( K 1 9 b )
A 6— . . . .

2 P urus a kara pha la literally mea ns the effect o f human

'

actions In its first sense it is taken metaphorica lly as mea ning

.

effects which are simultaneous with their causes as when a ,

man hamm ers out a horseshoe the shape assumed by t he

horseshoe is S imultaneous with the energy exerted by the
1 F or S ar v . A
. K .
—
6 14 se q . N A 1 7—
. 1a . . F o r Yo g . f . 8, p . 3 46 .
2 02 MAN UAL OF B UDDHI S T PHI LO S O PHY

of earlier h omogeneous dharmas and wi ll th us come un der ,

o ur present cate gory .

Thi s type of effect includes the results o f the activity o f

both S abh aga and S arv at raga he t us We have already s een .

the differences between these two causes the latter being ,

confi ned to those de filing infl uences which exert a productive

infl uence over all non meritorious Cait as ikas o f its o wn
-

s phere while the former merely represent the natural tend ency
,

o f the Cait a s ikas o f each S phere nature and section to , ,

reproduce itself Henc e cert a in groups o f me nt als may be

.

the result of o ne o r the other some may be the results Of b o th , ,

and som e may b e the result o f neither ( S e e the list A K . . .

6
4 . Vipaka phala heterogene ous effe ct is obviously the
, or ,

resul t of the activity o f Vip aka hetu Where the e ffect is .

n eith er s im ul taneous with nor immedi ately consequent upon, ,

nor of the same nature as the cause and yet is the result o f ,

personal activity it is called Vip aka phala Th us at the

, .
,

moment of re birth in o ne o f th e heavens o r h ells the new

-
,

Nama Rfipa is ca ll ed Vip aka phala Consequently the typ e .

,

o f caus ality represente d by Vip aka hetu and Vip aka phala

is very broad Nevertheless it is limite d in the follo wing

.
,

way Vipaka hetu must be either definitely meritorious o r

.

defini tely demeritorious as w e have alr e ady seen Vip aka

,
.

phala o n the other hand can only belong to the category of

, ,

un o b s t ruct in neutral Being pu rely a result it can belong

g .
,

t o neither defin ite moral category 1

Again Vip aka phala only .
,

applies t o sentient b eing s The wh ole sta t e o f the exte rnal

.

world is said t o be the res ul t o f karma Why is it not includ e d .

in the cate gory o f Vip aka phala 2 Because it is the aggregate

re sult Of the action o f all sentient beings and is thus Adhi pat i ,

phala while Vipaka pha la mus t be the individual result o f

,

individual action ( A K 6—
.20 a ) . . .

1
T hi s wa s a b o n e o f c o n te nti o n b e twe e n t h e S ar v an d t h e S aut ran t ika s .

F o r d is c u s s i o n a n d c o un t e r dis c u s s io n c f A K 6—14a t o 6—
.

- . 196. . .
 C O SMI C DYNAMI CS 2 03

5 . Vis amyog a pha la

is equi valent t o Nirv ana Literally .
,

it means the freedom from bondage o r emancipation from the

wheel o f birth and death This is the result of certain kinds
.

o f mental and moral training or karma and hence is regarded ,

as a special class o f Vip aka phala but the transcendental

,

na ture of the category rendered it necessary for the Buddhists

t o give it a sepa rate pla ce in their list of e ffects .

A careful exami nation o f what has preceded gives us th e

follo wi ng table o f relationships between the five phala s on
the one hand and the four prat yay as and the six he t us on t he
other
The 6 He tus . The 5 P ha l a s .

1 . Ks

3 . S am pray ukt a 1 , Adhipat i

4 . S abh aga
5 . S arv at raga P uru s a kara
6 .

The 4 P rat yayas f - Nrs y anda

1 . Hetu
2 . S am anant ara
3 . A l am b ana
4 . Adhipat i Vl s am rukt a

In this connexion o ne or two additional points mus t be

borne in mind First is the fact that some schools postulated
.

four additional effects These were ( I ) supported effect a s

.
,

in the case of the circle Of water which according to Buddhist

, ,

c osmology was supported b y the circle of air

,
In like manner .

a ll vegetation is supported by the earth 2

( ) A cquired e.f
f ect ,

a s when the mi nd by means o f meditation acqui res wi sdom .

3
( ) Harmonious effect as in the c
,a se Of the Cak s ur v ij fi an a -
,

which is the harmonized effect o f the Caksur indriya ( 4) -

.

Trained effect as when the nature of the mind is changed by

,

means of Dhyana Th ese four class es Of effect however

.
, ,

Va s ub andh u ( A K 6 — 2 7b ) considers but variatio ns o f divisions

. .

o f P urusa kara and Adhipa t i ha la s

p .
2 04 MANUAL OF B UD DHI S T PHI LOSOPHY

O wing to the predominately p sychological tone

.
all of

Buddhist speculation more emphasis has been laid upon the

,

causal relationships between the various type s o f mental

dharmas th an upon th e material dharmas It may therefore .
, ,

b e o f inte rest t o see wha t the S a rv as t iv adins h ad to s ay co n

cerni ng the causal forces exerted by o ne type of matter upon “

another Thi s problem of course la y outside the field of the

.
, ,

Yo g ac arins This relations hip may be discussed in five ways

.

1 Th e causal i nfl uenc e of o n e Mah ab hfit a upon another

. .

This is said to be o f two kinds S ahab hii and S abh aga Th e , .

first is th e relation o f the four Mahab hfit as o n o ne another

at any o ne given moment and within one special orga ni sm .

Th e latter is the way in which the Mahab hfit as reproduce

1
themselves in later moments .

2 The causa l i nfl uence exerte d by th e Mahab hfit a s upon the

.

B haut ika s We have alread y seen th at there i s a fiv e fold

.
—
rela tionship b etween the fundamental and derivative forms o f
matter The Ab hidharm a Ko sa te lls us ho wever that these
.
, ,

five kinds o f dependence are but subdivisions of th e infl uenc e

o f Kara na hetu upon Adhipat i phala .

3 The i nfl uence o f B haut ika s over B haut ikas

. Th is com .

prises S abh aga S ahab hfi and Vipaka he t us in addition o f

, , , ,

course to Kara na hetu S ahab hii hetu refers o nl y to the

‘

.
,

physical and vocal actions (which are ra nked as physical

B haut ika s ) wh ich l n v u t ue of their function as mental
,
'

associate s rank as S ahab hfi b et as In their pur ely physical .

aspect they cannot exercise this function S ab h aga .

hetu is the i nfl uence exercise d b y the previou s groups o f

B haut ika s upon th eir successors Vipaka hetu refers to t he .

karm a ic energy engend er e d by groups of B haut ikas whether ,

meritorious o r demeri to rious which will r e sult in the neutral ,

Vip aka phala (e g Caks ur indriya ) o f the future life

. .
-
.

4 The infl uence o f th e B ha ut ika s upon the Mahab hfit a s

.
.

This is b ut o f o ne kind The karma e ngendered by t h e .

1
A K 7 8a. .
-
se q .