Structure of the Anuttarrayasutraa-e

(Wu-hangching)
s-

Jikido Takasaki
(1)
The Anuttarasrayasutra is a small but important Sutra which expresses
the theory of tathagatagarbha, i. e. the Matrix of the Buddha. At present,
only a Chinese version of this Sutra is available with the title of 'wu-shang-
i-ching(無 上 依 経)', translated by Paramartha ih the latter half of the 6th

cent. A. D. (Taisho. No. 669).

with one glance at this Sutra, one may notice a similarity of its chapter
(2)
divisions with those of the Ratnagotravibhaga (Uttaratantra). Leaving aside
the first and the last two chapters which form its introduction and conclusion,
respectively, the central part of this Sutra consists of 4 chapters whose
titleS are II. Tathagatadhatu-parivarta(如 來 界 品), III. Tathagatabodhi-p. (如

來 菩 提 品), IV. Tathagataguna-p. (如 來 功 徳 品), and V. Tathagatakriya-p.

(如 來 事 品), respectively. These four are quite identical with those of the

firstfourchaptersoftheRatna., Whoseaccountisgiveninv. I, 23 as the

(3)
4 aspects of gotra. The term anuttarasraya (無 上 依) seems to mean the

Tathagata who possesses those 4 aspects.

Furthermore, at the end of each chapter, the Sutra emphasizes the in-
conceivability (acintya) of these 4 subjects. In the Sutra, they are nothing
but an extentional explanation of the inconceivability of the Tathagata
given at the top of Chap. II. as an answer to the question why the merits
of the Stupa worship are limitless. However, their description can be traced
word by word in the Ratna. in its prose commentary on vv. I, 24 & 25

(1) This Sanskrit title is restored from Chinese: 無 上 依 経. (Abbreviation: AAS)

(2) The Ratnagotravibhaga Mahayanottaratantrasastra, ed. by E. H. Johnston.

Patna, 1950. Cf. Taisho. No. 1611. (Abbreviation: Ratna. or RGV)
(3) 1) samala tathata (=tathagatagarbha, dhatu, gotra), 2) nirmala tathata
(=bodhi, dharmakaya, asrayaparivrtti), 3) buddhaguna (=buddhadharma),
4) jinakriya (=tathagatakrtyakriya, karman).
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(31) Structure of the Anuttarasrayasutra (Wu-shang-i-ching) (J. Takasaki)
which, in their turn, are commenting verses of v. 23 (gotra is visayah
paramarthadarsinam'). (RGV. p. 21, 17-18=AAS, Chap. II, Taisho. Vol. 31,
p. 470 c; RGV. p. 22, 5=AAS. Chap. III., p. 473 c; RGV. p. 22, 8-9=AAS.
(4)Ch
ap. IV, p. 475 c; RGV. pp. 24, 9-25, 3=AAS. Chap. V, p. 476 b-c)
This fact does not show that the Ratna. imitated the structure of this
Sutra, but quite the contrary, it seems to show that this Sutra was com-
posed after the Ratna. as a kind of sutralization of the latter. This hypot-
(5)h
esis will be proven upon examining the contents of the Sutra.
This Sutra uses a categorization with respect to the characteristics of
gotra or dhatu, similar to that in the Ratna., but under the chapter on
bodhi. Its ten divisions are (1) svabhava (自 性), (2) hetu (因 縁), (3) pari-

pantha (惑 障), (4) phala (至 果), (5) karman (作 事), (6) yoga (相 撮), (7)vrtti

(行 虜), (8) nitya (常 佳), (9) avenika (不 共), and (10) acintya (不 可 思 惟). This

is actually a mixture of the 10 meanings of 'gotra' and the 8 meanings of

'bodhi' in the Ratna. Namely, (2)-(4) are identical with (11) hetu and (III)

phala among the 10 meanings of gotra, in the Ratna., of which (3) pari-
pantha is included under (III) phala' in case of the Ratna., while the last
six (nos. 5-10), except for (9) avenika, are identical with the last five subjects
among the 8 meanings of 'bodhi in the Ratna. Although (9) avenika has
no equivalent passage in the Ratna., its idea is taught here and there. However,
in the explanation of (1) svabhava, whose idea is fundamentally identical
with (I) svabhava of 'bodhi' in the Ratna., the Sutra refers to asrayaparivrtti'
with its 4 characteristics which are not in the Ratna. On the other hand,
the six subjects starting with (V) yoga among the 10 meanings of 'gotra'
in the Ratna., are included in the chapter on tathagatadhatu in this Sutra
but with a slight difference in arrangement and wording. As to Chap.
IV. Tathagataguna-parivarta, the Sutra mentions the 180 avenikadharmas

(4) A comparison of equivalent passages is given in a table at the end of this

article.
(5) The same hypothesis was made by prof. Tsukinowa of Ryukoku University,
more than two decades ago, but he did not give any detailed comparison
between the two works. See Kugyoichijo-hoshoron ni tsuite (On the Uttara-
tantra), Nihonbukkyogakukyokai-nenpo, Vol. 7, 1935.
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 Structure of the Anuttarasrayasutra (Wu-shang-i-ching) (J. Takasaki) (32)
including the 80 anuvyanjanas which are not in the Ratna., but names for
the 32 mahapurusalaksanas are identical with those mentioned in the Ratna.
It is only the chapter on Tathagatakriya that differs entirely from the
Ratna. in its contents.
Besides these similarities with the Ratna., a more strong factor which
shows that this Sutra is an imitation of the Ratna. is that this Sutra refers
to certain passages which are quotations from other Sutras in the Ratna.
as if they were its own sentences. For instance:
(Chap. II.)
1. A passage on the meaning of gotra being sadayatanavisesa taken
from the Sadayatanasutra (p. 469b, RGV. p. 55, 16-17);
2. a passage on anutpadanirodhata of the Tathagata taken from the
Jnanalokalankarasutra (p. 469b; RGV. p. 9, 10-13);
3. a passage on dharmakaya endowed with the Buddha's properties
which are avinirbhaga, amuktajna, acintya, etc., taken from the Sri-
malasutra (p. 469b, RGV. p 12, 10-14);
4. a simile of the Vaidurya stone taken from the Sagaramatipariprccha
(p. 469b, RGV. p. 49, 5-9);
5. a passage on cittaprakrti and agantukaklesa taken from the same
Sutra (p. 469b-c; RGV. pp. 49, 9-50, 7);
6. a passage on the 3 states of dhatu (avasthaprabheda) taken from the
Anunatvapurnatvanirdesa (p. 469c; RGV. pp. 40, 16-41, 5);
7. a passage on the penetration of tathagatajnana into the living, beings
taken from the Tathagatotpattisambhavanirdesa of the Avatamsaka (p.
470a; RGV. p. 24, 2-6, 1-2);
8. a description of the Buddha, his teaching and disciples, being an
authority for the Triple jewel taken from the Dharanisvararajasutra
(p. 470 a; RGV. P. 3, 18);
9. a parable of a householder with respect to the Bodhisattva's compas-
sion taken from the Sagaramatipariprccha (p. 470a-b; RGV. pp. 47,
7-48, 13);
10. a passage on dhatu being asraya of all dharmas, real and unreal,
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(33) Structure of the Anuttarasrayasutra (Wu-shang-i-ching) (J. Takasaki)
taken from the Srimalasutra (p. 470b; RGV. p. 73, 2-5);
11. a passage on the inconceivability of dhatu taken from the same
(6)S
utra (p. 470 c; RGV. p. 22, 1-4);
(Chap. III:)
12. a passage on tathagatagarbha covered with millions of defilements
taken from the Srimalasutra (p. 470c; RGV. p. 79, 10);
13. a passage on the Icchantikas taken from the Anunatvanarnatvanir-
desa (p. 471 a; RGV. p. 28, 3-4);
14. a passage on those who are proud of their conception of sunyata
taken from the Kasyapaparivarta (p. 471b; RGV. p. 28, 11-12);
15. a passage on the 4 gunaparamitas (subha, atma, sukha, nitya) taken
from the Srimalasutra (p. 471 c, 472 a; RGV. pp. 30, 19-31, 6);
16. a passage on the 3 epithets of the Tathagata, viz. dharmadhatu-
parama, akasadhatuparyavasana, and aparantakotinistha taken from
the Dasabhumikasutra (p. 472 a; RGV. p. 32, 8-9):
(Chap. V.)
17. a passage on the inconceivability of tathagatakriya taken from the
(7)
Dharanisvararajasutr, a (p. 476b; RGV. pp. 26) 16-27, 3).
Another reason of my hypothesis is that the Ratna., in spite of its
abundance of quotations, never uses this Sutra as an authority, while this
Sutra is quoted and utilized-only in the. Buddhagotrasastra (佛 性 論) trans-
(8)
lated by Paramartha, which, in turn, has a detailed explanation of tatha-

(6), (7) See the table attached at the end of this article (no. 1 & 4, respectively)
(8) Taisho No. 1610 (Vol. 31, pp. 787-813).
Quotations of the AAS in the Buddhagotrasastra are as follows:
1. p. 801c (如 無 上 依 経 中 読 …)=AAS. p. 469b=RGV. p. 12, 6 (apart of a

quotation from the Jnnalokalankarasutra.);

2. p. 806b (故 無 上 依 経 説 ……)=AAS. p. 469c=RGV. pp. 40, 16-41, 5 (a quo-

tation from the. Anunatvapurnatvanirdesa.);

3. p. 806b (如 無 上 依 経 説 ……)=AAS. p. 469c=RGV. p. 41, 13-15 (a commen-

tary passage);
4. p. 812a (如 無 上 依 経 説 ……)=AAS. p. 469b=RGV. p. 55, 16-17 (quotation
from the Sadayatanasittra).
Paramartha's translation of the Mahayanasamgraha-vyakhya of Vasubandhu
(Taisho. No-1595) also quotes the AAS. (Vol. 31, pp. 259c-260a=AAS. p. 469b-c
=RGV. pp. 49, 11-50, 7, a quotaion from the Sagaramatipariprccha). But the
quotation is not found either in the Tibetan version or in Hsiian-chuang's transla-
tion of the same text. It is probably an insertion made by Paramartha himself.
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 Structure of the Anutta,rasrayasutra(Wu-shang-i-ching) (J. Takasaki) (30

gatagarbha with its ten meanings, similar to those in the Ratna., and with
newly added commentary passages here and there, among which we find a
certain number of equivalents in the Anuttarasrayasutra.
Now it may be quite clear that the Anuttarasrayasutra is a composition
based upon the Ratna., reshaping its contents into the frame of sutra style
and keeping stress on the bodhi aspect which is the ultimate basis (anut-
sarasraya). As fot its introduction and conclusion, the original of Chap. I.
(9)i
s, as already pointed out by scholars, the Adbhutasutra whose versions are
(10)
available in Tibetan and Chinese as well, and whose main subject is the
admiration of merits of the Stupa worship as the highest observance of
Buddhist, while Chap. VII. is a kind of eulogy to the Buddha (buddhastotra)
and Chap. VIII. Parindana-parivarta is an enlarged one of the conclusion
of the Adbhutasutra in accordance with enlargement of the central part.
The connection of the tathagatagarbha theory with the Stupa worship and
the eulogy to the Buddha is not a merely mechanical and accidental con-
nection at all, but it shows the existence of an essential interrelation among
them. Namely, the Stupa worship and the eulogy to the Buddha had origi-
nally taken place among a group of Buddhist from which the Mahayanist
(11)
community came into existence, and the core of the tathagatagarbha theory
is in its ekayana theory, i. e. the pure' faith in the Buddha as of ten
(12)
referred to in the Ratna. Being thus, the Anuttarasrayasutra may be the
most developed expression of the tathagatagarbha theory in its full and
pure aspect. (In the case of the Buddhagotrasastra, the tathagatagarbha
theory is interwoven with the Vijnanavada on one hand, and on the other
hand, the faith in the Buddha in the forms of the Stipa worship and the
eulogy to the Buddha is little referred to due to the scholastic character of

(9) e. g. D. Tokiwa : Introductory remarks to a Japanese translation, of the

Mujoekyo (無 上 依 経), Kokuyakuissaikyo, Kyoshu-bu, Vol. 6, 1932, p. 111f.
(10) Taisho. Nos. 688, 689; Tib. Otani Catalogue, No. 985.
(11) Cf. Prof. A. Hirakawa's articles on the characteristics of the Mahayana
Buddhist monachism. (e. g. Daijobukkyo no Seiritsushi-teki Kenkyu, ed. by S.
Miyamoto, Tokyo, 1954, p. 447f.)
(12) Cf. S. Takemura: Nyoraizo no Kugyosei (The ultimate nature of the Matrix
of the Buddha), Ryukokudaigaku-ronshu, No. 359, 1958, pp. 39-53.
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(35) Structure of the Anuttarasrayasutra (Wu-shang-i-ching)(J. Takasaki)
t1lis Sastra.)
Lastly, I shall presumably refer to the date when, the author who and
the place where of the composition of the Anuttarasrayasutra. 1) Coming
after the Ratnagotravibhag a and before the Buddhagotrasastra, the date of
this Sutra is after Vasubandhu, sometime in the late 5th or early 6th century
A. D. (Here, the authorship of Vasubandhu on the Buddhagotrasastra is
neglected because the date of the Ratna. seems to be contemporary to Vasu-
(13)
bandhu.) 2) The composer of this Sutra was probably some one in the circle
to which Paramartha, the Chinese translator of this Sutra, had belonged.
3) As Hsmng-chuang (玄 装) translated the Adbhutasutra independently in

the 7th cent. A. D. and as there is no Sanskrit or Tibetan material which

informs us of this Sutra, it might be unknown to Indians of those days, and
hence it seems to be composed somewhere outside India, e. g. in Sumatra
and the like, where Paramartha had stayed on his way to China.

(Inconceivability (acintyatva) of the Buddha in the 4 aspects.]

AAS. RGV.
Chap. II.
佛告阿難, 佛婆伽婆般浬葉後起刹立塔
造像供養, 功徳福報不可構量, 微塵算
籔所不能知。 云何 如此。阿難, 如來希
有 (1)(2)
不可思議。所以者何。爲界爲性不可
(3)
思議。爲菩 提爲讃得不可 思議。爲功徳
(4)(5)
爲法不可思議。爲利盆爲作事不可思議。
(Taisho. 16, 469b)

(13) Cf. M. Hattori: Busshoron no Ichikosatsu (A view on the Buddhagotra-

sastra), Bukkyoshigaku, Vol. 4, 1955, p. 160 ff. I quite agree with Mr. Hattori's
opinion that the Buddhagotrasastra was written by Paramartha on the basis
of his knowledge of the RGV.
(1) adbhuto cintyah;
(2) dhatu, gotra;
(3) bodhi, adhigama;
(4) guna, dharma;
(5) artha-kriya, karman.
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 Structure of the Anuttarasrayasutra (Wu-shang-i-ching)(J. Takasaki) (36)

(1) 阿難, 云何如來爲界不可思議。阿 tatra samala tathata yugapad ekakalam

難, 是如來界在有垢地, 浮不浄法倶在 visuddha ca samklista cety acintyam etat
一時, 是庭不可思惟。依甚深理而得解 sthanam gambhira-dharmanayadhimukta-
脱, 或 阿羅漢, 或辟支佛, 非其境界。 nam api pratyekabuddhanam agocaravisa-
阿難, 有二種法不可通達。一者 自性清 yatvat/yata aha/dvav imau, devi, dhar-
浄法界不可通達。二者煩悩垢障不可通 mau dusprativedhyau/prakrtiparisuddha-
達。唯 阿既蹟致菩薩與大法相慮。能 穂 cittam dusprativedhyam/tasyaiva cittasyo-
能受能持。 諸菩 薩聲聞縁畳信佛語故得 paklistata dusprativedhya/anayor, devi,
知此法。 阿難, 如來 爲此界性不可思議。dharmayoli srota tvam va bhaver atha va
(470c) mahadharmasamanv-agata bodhisattvah
sesanam, devi, sarvasravakapratyekabud-
dhanam tathagatasraddhagamaniyav evai-
tau dharmav iti/(p. 21, 17-p. 22, 4)
Chap. III.
(2) 阿難, 云何如來爲菩提不可思議。 tatra nirmala tathata purvamalasamklista
……復 次, 眞如本不被染, 末無垢行不 pascad visuddhety acintyam etat sthanam

可 思議。 阿難, 是名菩提不可思議。 /yata aha...... (p. 22, 5)

(473c)
Chap. IV.
(3) 阿難, 云何如來爲功徳不可思議。 tatra vimala buddhagunah paurvaparyenai-
一切 如來恒河沙劫無邊功徳, 在於惑地 kantasamklistayam api prthagjana-bhumav
及於浮地, 相掻相鷹未曾相離無垢清浄 avinirbhagadharmataya nirvisista vidyanta

不可思議。(475c) ity acintyam etat sthanam / yata aha......

(p. 22, 8-9)
Chap. V.
tatra jinakriya yugapat sarvatra sarvakalam
anabhogenavikalpato yathasayesu yatha-
vaineyikesu sattvesv aksunam anugunam
pravartata ity acintyam etat sthanam/yata
aha/samksepamatrakenavataranartham sat-
tvanam apramanam api tathagatakarma
pramanato nirdistam/api tu, kulaputra,

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(37) Structure of the Anuttarasrayasutra (Wu-shang-i-ching) (J. Takasaki)

(4) 阿難, 云何如來爲事不可思議。阿 yat tathagatasya bhutam tathagata karma

難 諸 如來 事無藪無量, 世間衆生不能 tad apramanam acintyam avijneyam sarva-
畳知。難依語言, 不能顯現。不可示人 lokena/anudaharanam aksaraih/duhsam-
令他悟解。 一切佛土虞無 所閾。一切如 padam parebhyali/adhisthitam sarvabudd-
來 随順季等。過於意境, 無分別相, 猫 haksetresu/samatanugatam sarvabhoga-
如虚 室無有分別。與法界相構故。 kriyabhyah/nirvikalpam akasasama taya,
nirnanakaranam dhamadhatukriyaya/iti,
vistarena yavad visuddhavaiduryamani-
drstantarn krtva nirdisati/tad angina,
(6) (7)
諸善 男子, 是故佛説如來之事不可思議。kulaputra, paryayenaivam veditavyam acin-
行遍一切庭。 一切庭無失, 随行三世庭, tyam tathagatakarma samatanugatam Ca
不滅三寳性。如來佳是事 中, 如來身相 sarvato navadyam ca (trikalanubaddhanr
(8)
不捨虚室性, 一切 佛土顯 現 自身。如來 ca) triratnavamsanupacchettr ca/yatha-
言説非音聲性, 同其類 音而説正法。如 cintye tathagatakarmani pratisthitas ta-
來不取心爲境界, 諸衆生心根性欲樂皆 thagata akasasvabhavatam ca kayasya na-

悉通達。阿難, 是名如來爲事不可思議。vijahati sarvabuddhaksetresu ca darsanam

(476b-c) dadati/anabhilapyadharmatam ca vaco na
vijahati yatharutavijnaptya ca sattvebhyo-
dharmam desayati/sarvacittarambanavi-
gatas ca sarvasattvacittacaritasayan na
prajanatiti/(p. 24, 9-p. 25, 3)

(6), (7) Note that, instead of the usual Ananda, the AAS uses here kulaputra
which is identical with that in the Dharanisvararajasutra quoted in the RGV-
(8) Words in parentheses are supplied from the Tibetan version of the RGV.
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