Darsanamarga Section Of Abhidharmasamuccaya And Its Interpretation By Tibetan Commentators

Author(s): L Schmithausen
Publisher: L Schmithausen
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269632/1

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259 THE DARSANAMARGA SECTION OF THE ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA AND ITS INTERPRETATION BY TIBETAN COMMENTATORS (WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BU STON RIN CHEN GRUB) by L.SCHMITHAUSEN (Hamburg) The Path of Vision (or Insight) (darsanamarga, mthon lam)? is the first immediate and truly adequate full comprehension of Truth by a given person, or arising in a given stream of personality. It is the phase which for the first time eradicates Defilements (klesa, non mons), 2 or Obstacles (avarana, sgrib pa), though, it is true, not yet all of them. But even the further stages of (at least the Supramundane) Path largely consist in a kind of repetition of the darsanamarga." The latter may thus well be called the decisive stage of the Buddhist Path to Salvation. While investigating a certain line of thought in the Yogacara treatment of the darsanamarga,4a I had to deal with the exposition of this subject in the Abhidharmasamuccaya (mion pa kun btus = ASS ascribed to Asanga. In addition to the Indian commentary, viz. the Abhidharmasamuccaya Cp., e.g., E. Frauwallner, Die Philosophie des Buddhismus. 3. Aufl. Berlin 1969, 127 and 331; Abhidharma-Studien III. WZKS 15, 1971, 83. and 86ff.: H.V. Guenther, Philosophy and Psychology of the Abhidharma. 2nd rev. ed. Delhi 1974, 195ff., 221ff., L. Schmithausen, Zur Struktur der erlosenden Erfahrung im indischen Buddhismus. Transzendenzerfahrung, Vollzugshorizont des Heils. Hrsg. v. G.Oberhammer, Wien 1978, 104ff. and 110ff. 2 E.g. AS 66,15f. 3 E.g. Vijhaptimatratasiddhi. Trad. L. de La Vallee Poussin, vol.2, Paris 1929, 590. + See references in n.1. 4a A detailed exposition of the result of this investigation will be presented in a later publication which is still in progress. AS 66, 3-68.2; AS 110b1 - 111b5. The Sanskrit text of the passage is not preserved in manuscript form; what we find in Pradhan's edition is only the editor's reconstruction, mainly from the Chinese, with the help of the pratikas includet in the ASBh. Additional help for - at least approximately - restoring the original wording is offered by a quasi-quotation in AAA 347,1-5, 7-14, and 20f. - AS 67,5-13 does not form part of the text of the AS but belongs to the ASBH (see n.52).

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260 L. Schmithausen bhasya ascribed to one Jinaputra by the Tibetan tradition, a there are several autochtonous Tibetan commentaries on the As. So far, I have examined five Tibetan commentaries, viz. those written by Bu ston Rin chen grub? (1290-1364), rGyal tshab Dar ma rin chene (1364-1432), BO don pan chen Phyogs las rnam rgyal' (1376-1451), gSer mdog pan chen sakya mchog ldan 10 (1428-1507), and Mi pham 'Jam dbyans rnam rgyal rgya mtsho 11 (1846-1912). As for the passage concerned, Bo don's commentary 12 is by far the most detailed one; next in length and substance are the commentaries of Bu ston 13 and sakya mchog ldan, 14 whereas rGyal tshab rje's 15 is significantly shorter and less substantial. Mi pham's commentary to the passage 16 is hardly more than excerpts from AS and ASB. In the present paper, I shall limit myself to a discussion of Bu ston's commentary on the passage, and to a provisional one at that. The other Tibetan commentaries will be referred to only occasionally. In order to understand and evaluate Bu ston's explanations it is, however, necessary to see how the topic of darsanamarga is treated in the basic text itself as well as in the Indian commentary which is of course authoritative for the Tibetans. This means that I have to begin with an outline of the darsanamarga section of the As and the Asbh. . 6 The paragraph on darsanamarga is explained in ASBh 76,19-78,22 (= S 85), Peking Tanjur, Sems tsam, si, 69a3ff. and 259a4ff. 6a For other ascriptions see J.w.de Jong, in: TP LIX, 340f. (= Buddhist Studies by J.W. de Jong, ed. G. Schopen, Berkeley 1979, 602f.). ? Chos mon pa kun las btus kyi tik rnam bsad si ma'i 'od zer (The Collected Works of Bu ston. Ed. Lokesh Chandra, vol.20 (VA), New Delhi 1971, 79ff.). * Legs par bsad pa chos mnon rgya mtsho'i snin po (Gsun-'bum of rGyal-tshab Dar-ma-rin chen, blockprint preserved in the State Library of Berlin, vol.Ga, second part). Encyclopedia Tibetica (The collected works of Bo-don Pan-chen Phyogs-las-rnam-rgyal). Vol. 16, New Delhi 1970. 10 Dam pa'i chos mon pa kun las btus pa'i rnam par bsad pa rNal 'byor spyod glun rgya mtsho'i rlabs kyi phren ba. The Complete works (Gsun 'bum) of Gser-mdog Pan-chen Sakya-mchog-ldan. Vol. 14, Thimphu (Bhutan) 1975, 1-340. mNon pa kun btus kyi rnam grans sna tshogs bsad pa. Collected Writings of 'Jam-mgon 'Ju Mi-pham-rgya-mtsho. Vol.70, Gangtok 1975, 401ff. 12 Bo don 658,6-699,5. As also indicated in the edition, a piece of text reaching from 692,4 to 696,6 is misplaced (it has to be inserted in 701, 2) and belongs to the section of the bhavanamarga. 13 Bu ston 578,4-585,1. 14 sakya 220,5-227,1. 15 rGyal tshab 154b3-156b1. 26 Mi pham 466,2-468,5.

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Darsanamarga section of the Abhidharmasamuccaya 261 The Abhidharma samuccaya offers four definitions, or characterizations, of the darsanamarga, three being styled a "summary" (samasatah," mdor bsdu na), the fourth being "detailed" (prabhedatah, 18 rab tu dbye na). All these definitions can be traced back to other, mostly clearly older, sources, though to this a proviso applies in the fourth case. The first definition characterizes the darsanamarga as "a concentrative absorption and comprehension ... consisting in non-perception, or non-apprehension" (anupalambhah sama dhih prajna ..., mi dmigs pa'i tin ne 'dzin dan ses rab ...), 19 i.e., as another passage of the AS 20 makes clear, non-perception of [the dichotomy of] what is apprehended and what apprehends (grahya and grahaka, gzun ba and 'dzin pa), i.e. of object and subject imagined as separate entities. This definition of the darsanamarga as "non-perception" or "nonapprehension" (anupalambha), reminiscent of the terminology of the Prajnaparamita, 21 closely resembles the characterization of the darsanamarga found in the Yogacara works ascribed to Maitreya (natha) 22 and especially in some verse fragments closely related to these, one of which is actually quoted in the AS as stemming from a Sutra. 23 According to the Maitreya texts, "non-perception" does not mean complete cessation of all experience but only cessation of ordinary experience, viz. experience dichotomized into object and subject, this cessation resulting at the same time in the manifestation of non-dichotomic absolute reality (dharmadhatu, chos dbyins). 24 The second definition of the As describes the darsanamarga as a comprehension in which what is cognized and what cognizes are completely 17 AS 66,3 = AAA 347,1. AS 66,6 = AAA 347,2; ASBH 77,1 has prabhedasah. 19 AS 66,3.; cp.AAA 347,2. AS 82,18. See E.Conze, Materials for a Dictionary of the Prajnaparamita Literature. Tokyo 1973, 35f. 22 cp., e.g., Mahayanasutralankara XI.478; Madhyantavibhaga (ed. Nagao) 1.7-8; Dharma dharmatavibhaga (ed. Nozawa) 15,8-10 (+ 48,21ff.) und 17,7ff. 2 AS 82,23; in Mahayanasamgraha (ed. Lamotte) III.17 the same verse is traced to a Yogavibhaga which is ascribed to Maitreya by Kuei-chi (cp. R. Yuki, Yuishiki-gaku Tenseki-shi. Tokyo 1962, 60).- Another pertinent verse is quoted, without indication of its source, in Trimsikabhasya (ed. Levi) 42,5-8. 24 Cp., e.g., Mahayanasutralankara XIV.23ff. and VI.7-8; Dharmadharmatavibhaga 15,9f. (+ 49,2f.).

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262 L. Schmithausen the same, or: alike (sama samalambyalambakajnana). 25 This expression stems from the sravakabhumi 26 where it is, however, not applied to the darsanamarga but to the consummation of a certain stage of the Preparatory Path, a stage at which the mental activity which investigates the four Noble Truths makes itself its object and, starting from the perception of its own impermanence, comprehends the four Noble Truths as bearing also on itself, or, to look at it from another point of view, comprehends even itself as also being characterized by these Truths. 27 In the Mahayanasangraha, 28 as in the as, the same expression is used but now, in contradistinction to the sravakabhumi, applied to comprehension free from imaginative and conceptualizing activity (nirvikalpa-jnana), i.e. to the darsanamarga. In this case, the expression should mean, in analogy to its usage in the Sravaka bhumi, that the nirvikalpa- jnana, the true essence of which is True Reality (tathata, de bin nid), comprehends this tathata as its own essence, or comprehends itself as being, on the absolute level, nothing but this tathata. There can be no doubt that this definition, like the preceding one, is, in spite of its terminological roots in the sra vakabhumi, essentially Mahayanist. But it is expressed in positive terms, in contrast to the first which is negative. The third definition of the As 29 characterizes the darsanamarga as comprehension cognizing dharmas 1) in the case of one's own person, without applying the conven tional notion of "living being" (sattva); 2) again in the case of one's own person, without applying the conventional notion of "dharmas"; 3) in the case of everybody and everything, without applying either notion. 25 AS 66,4 - ASBH 76,20 (-alambana- has to be changed into -alambaka- : cp. the fol lowing note and Trimsikabhasya 43,18 where we should of course read samasamalambyalambakam). AS 110b2 renders the compound by dmigs par bya ba dan dmigs par byed pa mnam pas mnam par ses pa, possibly implying an interpretation similar to that of the ASBh (76,20f.; cp.n.50). 26 Ed. Shukla (Patna 1973), 499,7f. and 13. 27 Ib. 498,2 ff. 28 III.9 (p.53,6f.). 29 AS 66,5 (= ASBH 76,21f.): pratyatmam-apanitasattvasamketa-dharmasamketa-sarvato-'pani tobhayasarketalambanadharma jnanam api tat. Ast 110b2f.: so so ran la sems can gyi brda dan chos kyi brda bsal ba dan thams cad du gni ga'i brda bsal ba la dmigs pa'i chos ses pa'an de yin no ll.

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Darsanamarga section of the Abhidharma samuccaya 263 This definition, almost unintelligible in the wording of the As, is taken from the Viniscayasamgrahani section of the Yogacarabhumi 30 where it is found in a more extended form. It analyzes the darsanamarga into three successive comprehensions the first two of which, to say it in other words, cognize the constituents of one's own person under the aspect of "Essencelessness of Person" (pudgalanairatmya, gan zag gi bdag med) and under the aspect of the "Essencelessness of dharmas" (chos kyi bdag med), respectively, whereas the third moment extends this twofold insight to all dharinas. This definition can be characterized as a kind of combination of a typically (though not exclusively) "Hinayanist" and a specifically Mahayanist element, and as using, though still rather economically, an analytical pattern. The fourth and most detailed characterization 91 looks purely "Hinayanist" and describes the darsanamarga as a process of sixteen moments, the number sixteen resulting from the fact that it is now the traditional four Noble Truths that are regarded to be its object and to be cognized successively, each of them, again, requiring a set of four cognitive phases. Structurally and also terminologically, this description agrees with the darsanamarga theory of the Vaibhasikas. >> But the concrete interpretation 33 of the functions of the four phases, actually given for one but valid for all four Truths, is, in the As, highly artificial and completely different from the more natural one offered by the Vaibhasikas, and it is not known to me from any source prior to the As. According to the AS, the first phase, viz. the dharmajnanaksanti (chos *ses pa'i bzod pa), is an undefiled immediately perceiving comprehension of the respective Noble Truth itself. 34 Through it one abandons the Defilements to be abandoned by the [first] vision of that Truth. 35 The second phase (dharmajnana, chos ses pa) is an immediately perceiving comprehension of the Liberation from Defilements effectuated by the first phase.* 30 Y Zi 72b3ff. 31 AS 66,6-10; cp. AAA 347,2-4. 32 CP. Abhidharmakosabhasya, ed. Pradhan (Patna 1967), 349,19ff.; E.Frauwallner, Abhi dharma-Studien III, WZKS 15, 1971, 83ff. >> AS 66,12ff.; cp. AAA 347,7ff. and ASBH 77,2ff. 34 AS 66,15 = ASt 111a1: sdug bsnal gyi bden pa mnon sum du 'gyur ba'i zag pa med pa'i ses rab - dunkhasaty (apratyaks)anubhaviny anasrava prajna (cp. AAA 347,8 and ASB 77,3f.). 35 AS 66,15f. = AS 111a1: gan gi sdug bsnal mthon bas span bar bya ba'i non mons pa spon ba ste , yaya duhkhadarsanaprahatavyam klesam prajahati (cp. AAA 347,8f. and ASBh 77,4.). 36 AS 66,17f. = AAA 347,9f.: yena jnanena ksantyanantaram vimukt im saksatkaroti.

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264 L. Schmithausen The third phase (anvayajnanaksanti, rjes su rtogs par ses pa'i bzod pa) cognizes the first two phases, and the fourth phase (anvayajnana, rjes su rtogs pa'i ses pa) confirms the third. 38 Thus, the first two phases comprehend an object (grahya, gzun ba, viz. the respective Truth and Liberation), the last two comprehend the subject (grahaka, 'dzin pa, i.e. comprehension itself). 39 There can hardly be any doubt that these four definitions or descriptions of the darsanamarga offered by the As are heterogeneous, both historically and from the point of view of content. Same even seem to be contradictory, esp. the first definition which has to be understood, in the light of its sources as well as of the As itself, as defining the darsanamarga as non-perception or non-apprehension of grahya and grahaka, and the fourth which expressly declares the darsanamarga to consist in comprehensions of grahya and of grahaka, respectively. It seems that the author of the AS has simply juxtaposed several heterogeneous definitions of darsanamarga he had found in his sources (perhaps reinterpreting the last one for reasons I could specify only hypothetically). . In juxtaposing these heterogeneous definitions, the author of the As has, however, quite apparently arranged them according to a deliberate principle, proceeding from the apophatic and unitary to the cataphatic and analytical, and at the same time from the purely Mahayanist to the mixed and finally to the essentially "Hinayanist" characterization. But beyond this attempt at systematically arranging the materials, there does not seem to be any attempt at uniting the heterogeneous elements into a philosophically or doctrinally coherent system. Several patterns by means of which this could have been achieved had already been developed in different passages of the Yogacarabhumi. One of these patterns was the distribution of different descriptions of the darsanamarga to different Paths of Salvation: to that of the sravakas (and Pratyekabuddhas) on the one hand, and to that of the Bodhisattvas on the other. 41 In the As, too, there are, indeed, one or two pas 37 AS 66,19. = ASt 111a3f.: ... sdug bsnal la chos ses pa'i bzod pa dan sdug bsnal la chos ses pa ... mon sum du 'gyur ba'i zag pa med pa'i ses rab duhkhe dharmajnanaksantau duhkhe dharmajnane ca ... pratyaksanubhaviny anasrava prajna (cp. AAA 347,10ff. and ASBh 77,10). 38 AS 66,22 - AAA 347,12: yena jnanena tam anvaya jnanaksantim avadharayati. 39 AS 67,1f. (read dharmajnanaksantijnanair with ASBH 77,13f. and AS111a5 ses pa'i bzod pa dan ses pa rnams kyis). * For this I have to refer to the study in progress mentioned in n.4a. 41 E.g. Bodhisattvabhumi (ed. Dutt, Patna 1966) 25,22ff. - For a detailed exposition and discussion of this and the following theories and passages, I must, once more,

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Darsanamarga section of the Abhidharmasamuccaya 265 sages favouring such an interpretation, 42 but they are just another heterogeneous element not applicable to the present passage which by choosing the merely formal distinction of "summary" and "detailed" seems to preclude any material distinction. According to another model, the darsanamarga proper consists in the Mahayanist uniform awareness of True Reality (tathata, de buin nid), and the "hinayanist" type of darsanamarga is nothing but a subsequent analytical conceptualization. This model, too, is hardly applicable to the As because in another passage of this text** it is clearly stated that not only this subsequent conceptualization but also the darsanamarga proper consists of 16 moments. A further model tries to cope with the difficulties by distributing the different characterizations of the darsanamarga to different levels of establishing Truth.45 But this model, too, can hardly be intended by the merely formal distinction of "summary" and "detailed" definitions in the As.. This distinction leaves us with the result that the author of the AS has, at least in the present context and perhaps with the exception of the reinterpretation of the "Hinayanist" detailed description, confined himself to collecting and arranging heterogeneous traditional materials without achieving, or even attempting, doctrinal consistency. This task was, as it were, left to the commentators. The Abhidharma sa mucca y a bhasya (ASB), goes beyond the AS mainly in two ways: Firstly, it shows a tendency towards assimilating the content of the four characterizations to one another. Of primary importance in this context is its interpretation of the fourth description, i.e. of the darsanamarga in 16 moments: The ASBh takes the first moment of each set of four as a perceptual comprehension not of the respective Truth itself refer the reader to the prospective publication announced in n. 4a 42 cp. esp. As 94,7ff. (1.8: prativedhavisesah!). *' E.g. Y, Zi 302b4ff.; 'i 15a5ff.; cp. also Zi 73a5ff. ** AS 93, 9ff. = AS131a5f.: tatt vabhisamayah katamah gan mthon ba'i lam gyi sems kyi skad cig bcu drug po dag thob pa'o ( *yah sodasadarsanamargacittaksanapratilambhah) mthon ba'i lam la ni satya vyavasthapanany abhisamayantikani samvrtijnanani pratila bhate, na tu sammukhikaroti (op. ASBH 122,18ff.). 45 Yt Zi 123b6 (ff.); cp. Bu ston 578,6ff.

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266 L. Schmithausen in the concrete-collective sense of all individual factors as characterized by that Truth, but as a comprehension of the uniform true essence (tathata, de bz in nid) of that Truth.46 And the second moment of each set is understood as referring to the "transformation of the basis" (asrayaparivitti, gnas gyur pa) 7 which, as another passage ** suggests, is to be understood as that same tathata, although now freed from the respective Defilements. In this way at least these two phases have become, to a certain extent, compatible with the first three definitions of the AS. As to these, the Asbh does not seem conscious of any incompatibility between them. On the contrary, it suggests that they are to be understood to refer to different aspects of one and the same experience. The first definition is interpreted as intending what I would call the formal aspect of the darsanamarga, viz. its being a synthesis of mental calmness (samatha, zi gnas) and clear insight (vipasyana, lhag mthon) free from imaginative, conceptualizing and reflecting activity (vikalpa, rnam par rtog pa). 49 The explanation of the second definition can be understood as clarifying what is the content of the darsanamarga, viz. tathata, this time, it is true, characterized by the non-existence of grahya and grahaka, 50 whereas the third definition seems to be interpreted as stressing what is not the content of the darsanamarga, viz. the nimittas (mt shan ma), 51 i.e. the pseudo-objective correlates of vikalpa. Thus to the ASBh the main difference between the definitions would lie in their indicating different aspects of the darsanamarga, and, of course, in the different degree of their analytical elaboration. The ** ASBh 77,2ff.: tatra duhkhe dharmajnanaksantih... duhkhasatye tattathata-pratyaksanu bhavini ... prajna. 47 ASBH 77,6ff.: taya ksantya ... parivartita asraye tadanantaram yena jnanena tam asraya parivittim pratyanubhavati, tad "duhkhe dharma jnanam" ity ucyate; cp. also 78,13. 48 CP. ASB 77,12f. saying that the (Supramundane] Path, insofar as it belongs to the dharmajnana group (i.e. the first and second moment of each set), has tathata for its object (dharma jnanapaksasya margasya tathata visayah); cp. also Buston 581,6: rnam grol tebden pa'i de bz in nid gnas gyur de (text: te) | sakya 225,7f.: "dharmata (= tathata) is twofold: pure by nature and pure in the sense of being freed from [accidental) impurities; insight into it is [accordingly] also twofold: dharma (jnana) ksanti and dharma jnana" (chos hid la gnis te ran buin rnam dag gi dan glo (text: blo) bur rnam dag gi'o ll de ses pa la yan gnis techos bzod pa dan chos ses so il ). 49 ASBH 76,19f. 50 ASBH 76,20f.: tena grahyagrahakabhavatathataprativedhat. 51 ASBH 76,21-26.

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secondary importance of such differences in the view of the ASBh - and this leads us to the second important contribution of the ASBh going beyond the AS itself is evinced by its assertion that the whole prolix treatment of the darsanamarga in the AS is only a makeshift (vyavasthanamatra) for the sake of instruction and preparation, the real nature of the supramundane state of the darsanamarga being accessible to personal experience only. Inspite of these important contributions to a doctrinally consistent interpretation of the AS, the ASBh does not, at this point, discuss the question whether there is any difference between the darsanamarga experience of the Bodhisattvas and that of the Sravakas (as one would be inclined to assume on the basis of other passages 53) and in what relation the definitions of the AS stand to this difference. 52 53 Darsanamarga section of the Abhidharmasamuccaya This problem leads me to Bu ston. The first thing to state is that Bu ston makes ample use of the explanations of the ASBh, sometimes rendering them more explicit, as, e.g., in the case of the first definition where he expressly states that nirvikalpa in the ASBh corresponds to anupalambha in the AS. 54 Sometimes Bu ston supplies additional word-explanations, as, e.g., when analysing the compounds duhkhe dharmajnanaksanti, etc. 55 Such explanations are usually helpful but occasionally questionable, e.g. when he understands the last words of the third definition 56 as a separate, positive element, interpreting the word chos (dharma) as referring to 54 52 56 267 4. Bu ston 580,4: mi dmigs pa ASBh 77,23ff. (= SS 85C which, although it has somehow crept into the Chinese version, has to be included from the text of the AS on the basis of ASt). E.g. ASBh 123,5-7. rham par mi rtog pa dmigs pa'i rnam rtog gi gnen por gyur pas 55 Bu ston 581,2f.; of the two analyses of the compound dharmajnanak santi, it is obviously the second one ((chos) ses pa'i dban du byas nas sdug bden la bzod pa) which suits the peculiar interpretation of this term given in the AS (AS 66,13ff.: dharmajnanam katamat prayogamarge ... dharmavicaranajnanam | ksantih katama purvavicaranam adhipatim krtva duhkhasaty (apratyaks) anubhavini prajna|; text changed acc. to AS and AAA 347,7f.); the first analysis (chos kyi de kho na hid ses pa'i phyir bzod pa), on the other hand, agrees, at least structurally, with the analysis of the term given in Abhidharmakosabhasya 350,5 (dharmajnanartham ksantih). --- See n.29.

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268 L. Schmithausen on the tathata.57 Such an interpretation is hardly justified, neither by the wording of the As nor by that of its source, the Viniscayasamgrahani. 58 Another example is Bu ston's explanation of the word dharma in the expression duhkhe dharmajnanaksanti, where he takes it to indicate the pecific and common features of the entities included in the Truth of Suffering] expounded in the Sutras, viz. impermanence, etc. 59 This interpretation, though reconcilable with the Tibetan text of the As, 60 is at variance with the interpretation of the ASB , 61 which is almost certainly right in understanding dharma in this passage as "doctrinal texts (dealing with the Truth of Suffering)". It is, however, other aspects of Bu ston's commentary which are more interesting. Although Buston reproduces , 62 almost literally, the remarks of the ASBh on the makeshift character of all analytical treatment of the darsanamarga, he himself seems to take the analytical description in the AS much more seriously: When explaining the detailed analysis (= fourth definition) of the darsanamarga, Bu ston points out that the statement of the AS63 that the first two phases of each set comprehend the object, i.e. the tathata, 64 whilst the last two phases comprehend the subject, i.e. [the respectively preceding phases of] correct comprehension (yan dag pa'i ye ses, Samyagjnana) 64 [itself], excludes [by its wording] both the theory that the darsanamarga does not have any finite entity as its objects as also the view of Abhya (Abhayakaragupta) who explains this statement of the AS in the sense of (comprehension of] the Essencelessness of 5 Bu ston 580,6f.: ... brda ste 'du ses bsal ba ste ma dmigs par gtogs (read rtogs) pa dan (!) de bein gsegs pa'i chos de bzin nid ses pa'o ll. 58 See n.30. 59 Bu ston 581,3: de'i dban du byas pa'i chos mi rtag pa la sogs mdo sde las bstan pa ran mtshan spyi mtshan rnams so II. 60 ASt 110b7: sdug bsnal gyi bden pa'i dban du byas pa'i chos bstan pa rnams so li. 61 ASBH 77,2: duhkhasatyadhikarika sutradidharma , cp. also the Tibetan translation (Si 69a8): sdug bsnal gyi (s) bden pa'i dban du byas pa' mdo la sogs pa'i chos ... 62 Bu ston 583,3ff. 63 AS 67,1f. (see n. 39). 64 Cp. ASBH 77,12f. 65 Bu ston 582,3f.: 'dis mthon lam chos can yul du mi byed zer ba bsal zin ... accord ing to my colleague Tsultrim Phuntsog, chos can means kun rdzob bden pa (which would, in the present context, especially consist of samyagjnana in opposition to tathata = chos nid).

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both object and subject.66 66 a Moreover, Bu ston precedes the presentation of his own interpretation of the wording of the AS with a section where he refutes other theories of how to understand the purport of the darsanamarga section of the AS, discarding, in favour of the 16 moments theory, the opinions that the darsanamarga consists of one, two, or four moments only. 6 67 Bu ston does not specify these theories; they are, however, more extensively described and discussed in the commentaries of Bo don 66 68 and Sakya mchog ldan, but a detailed investigation of this matter would exceed the limits of this paper. Finally, at the end of his commentary on the darsanamarga, Bu ston adds a paragraph 70 in which a theory suggested by a passage of the Viniscayasamgrahani" (and there connected with the theory of the darsanamarga as consisting in three successive phases) viz. the theory that the four groups of Defilements (klesa, non mons) to be removed by the first Insight into the four Noble Truths, respectively, are removed simultaneously is refuted in favour of the 16 moments theory which asserts their gradual elimination. On the other hand, the analysis of the Vaibhasikas, which agrees with the fourth theory of the AS in acknowledging 16 moments (though limiting the darsanamarga to the first fifteen moments and grouping the sixteenth 69 Darsanamarga section of the Abhidharmasamuccaya 71 - 66 Bu ston 582,4: A bhya gzun 'dzin rah bzin med pa la 'chad pa'ah bsal lo . Cp. Abhayakaragupta, Munimatalamkara (Peking-Tanjur, dBu ma, Ha), 243a8ff., where the passage under discussion (viz. AS 67,1f.) is explained as expressing that "in the [darsanamarga] object and subject are comprehended to be without es - sence (nihsvabhava)" (b2: 'dir gzun ba dan 'dzin pa dag rah bzin med pa nid du rtogs so). The position of Abhayakaragupta seems to have been accepted by Bo don, who glosses the passage AS 67,1f. accordingly (697,2): chos bzod dan chos ses kyis bzun (read: gzun) ba ran bzin med par rtogs la ries bzod rjes ses kyis 'dzin pa ran bin med par rtogs so. Cp. also Bo don 689,5 stating that anupalambha (AS 66,3) does not mean not perceiving anything at all but means comprehension of object and subject as lacking essence: mi dmigs pa zes pa yah ci yan mi dmigs pa min gyi <> bzun (read: gzun) 'dzin rah bzin med par ses pa yin la... 66 a Cp. also AAA 347, 21ff. and esp. 26ff. 67 Bu ston 579,1-4; cp. also 578,4ff. referring to statements on the darsanamarga occurring in other texts/systems (gzun gzan). 68 Bo don 662,5ff., adding (665,2ff.) a theory according to which the darsanamarga consists of eight moments. 69 sakya 224,5ff. (one moment); 225,4f. (two moments); 226,4f. (four moments). 70 Bu ston 584,6-585,1. Yt Zi 134a1. 269

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270 L. Schmithausen with the bhavanamarga 72) and in using for them the same terms, is grouped by Bu ston under the heading of "positions to be established or affirmed" (gzag), along with the exposition of the AS itself but expressly set off from it as not forming part of the AS's own system. In another passage, by the way, Bu ston states that the system of the Sravakas, though not primarily and clearly set forth in the AS, is largely in agreement with [the doctrine of] this text. 73 74 The three "summary" definitions of the AS are regarded by Bu ston as describing the nature (no bo) of the darsanamarga 75 (i.e. of the darsanamarga as a whole, and therefore of any of its moments), thus not at all as alternatives to the 16 moments theory. For the third theory of the AS, this seems to imply that Bu ston understands it as not referring to three successive moments but to three aspects of the darsanamarga which would be included in each of the 16 moments. Let me now return to the question which could not be answered in the case of the ASBh, viz. the question whether this harmonized structure. is meant to describe the darsanamarga of Sravakas, or Bodhisattvas, or both. Fortunately, Bu ston's commentary contains some pertinent remarks which suggest at least a tendency to consider the exposition of the darsanamarga in the AS as valid for a 11 vehicles, though Bu ston is obviously aware of the fact that the wording of most of the different elements of that exposition seems to fit one vehicle better than the others. valid E.g., the wording of the 16 moments theory is, it is true, primarily sravakayanist, but Bu ston 76 asserts that it is also for the darsanamarga of Pratyek a buddhas and Bodhisattvas, provided that it is given some additional qualification: The AS does not, admittedly, mention any removal of the respective Obstacle to [knowing all] that has to be known (jneyavarana, ses sgrib) but only speaks of the removal of the respective [Obstacle consisting in] Defilements 72 Abhidharmakosabhasya (Patna 1967) 352,19ff.; cp. Bu ston 579,6 and 585,1; Bo don 660,6ff. 73 Bu ston 579,1 + 579,4: dgag gzag span gsum gyi gnis... gnis pa la mdzod dan ran lugs 74 Bu ston 570,5: gzun 'dir dnos su gsal bar mi 'byun yan nan thos kyi rnam gzag phal cher de dan mthun te . Cp. also D.Seyfort Ruegg, La theorie du tathagatagarbha et du gotra. Paris 1969, 69, n.2. 75 Bu ston 580,3ff. 76 Cp. also Sakya 222,5f.

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(klesa, non mons); yet a removal of the jneyavarana, too, has, according to Bu ston, to be considered as being implied with regard to Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas, the former being freed from the concept of object to be apprehended (gzun rtog, grahya vikalpa) but not from the concept of an apprehending subject (grahakavi kalpa), whereas the Bodhisattva is freed from both. 77 However, such a doctrine with regard to the Pratyekabuddha, especially, is alien to the AS and, as far as I can see, to the older Yogacara school as a whole. It rather belongs to the tradition of the Abhi samayalan kara, a text which, as is well known, has been very influential in Tibetan Buddhism and has been commented upon by many Tibetan scholars, including Bu ston himself.80 78 Darsanamarga section of the Abhidharmasamuccaya 81 This connection with the Abhisamayalahkara tradition is also confirmed by another passage & where Bu ston says that according to the method [of describing and practising the darsanamarga insofar as it is] common [to all Vehicles, i.e. as it is practised also by Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas], [the darsanamarga forms, to be sure,] an uninterrupted series of "equiposed" (mnam bzag, samahita, i.e. non-conceptualizing) mental phases, whereas in the specific practice of Bodhisattvas it is said to be interspersed with "subsequent" (rjes thob, prsthalabdha, i.e. conceptualizing) mental phases as, e.g., cultivating the Unlimited [Meditations] (tshad med, apramana, viz. friendliness, compassion, etc.) or urging other persons to perform good deeds or praising them [for performing them on their own account]. That this view, too, stems from the Abhisamayalahkara tradition is shown by a quotation from the Ni khri snah ba, i.e. Aryavimuktisena's Abhisamayalankaravrtti, adduced by Bu ston in another place. This passage points out that for a Bodhisattva 83 78 79 79 271 77 Bu ston 581,5f.: 'dir mthon span ses sgrib spon ba ma smos kyan ran rgyal gyis gzun rtog dan byan sems kyis gnis ka spon ba don gyis thob bo ||. 80 82 Cp. esp. AA II.8 (grahyarthakalpanahanad grahakasyaprahanatah ... vijneyah khadgamargasya samgrahah); AAA 345,14-16: tatra grahyavikalpaprahanena pratyekabuddhadhigamam sravakebhyo visinasti, grahakavikalpaprahanabhavena ca pratyekabuddhebhyo 'nuttarabuddhadhigamam; cp. also AAA 403,25ff. Cp., e.g., E. Conze, The Prajnaparamita Literature. 2nd ed. Tokyo 1978, 115ff. The Lun gi sne ma (Collected Works, pt.18). 81 Bu ston 583,2f.: thun mon gi lugs kyis | mnam bzag phren (Text: bren?) gcig yin la phar phyin pas tshad med sgom pa dan gzan dge ba la 'god cih bsnags pa brjod pa sogs rjes thob kyan bar bar du bsad do || 82 Cp. E. Obermiller, History of Buddhism (Chos-hbyung) by Bu ston, II, 155. 83 Bu ston 579,3f.; the passage is found in Peking-Tanjur, Ser phyin, Ka, 114b6-8; see also AAA 354,16f.: ata evoktam Aryavimuktisenena: astame hi darsanamargaksane prayojanam bodhisattvasyapramanaih; itaratha hi navame ksane sattvadhatunirapekso nirodhe prapated iti.

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272 L.Schmithausen it is necessary to interrupt the series of the constitutive phases of the darsanamarga after the eight moment by an exercise of friendliness, etc., in order to avoid becoming, for want of concern for other living beings, inclined to premature Nirvana when subsequently comprehending the Truth of Cessation. Encouraging and praise of other persons are attributed to the 15" phase of the darsanamarga in Haribhadra's Abhisamayalankara loka. 84 Bu ston thus, at least in the case of the darsanamarga, systematically supplements the exposition of the As by materials stemming from the Abhisamayalankara-tradition. The way for such a fusion had already been paved by Haribhadra who in his Abhisamayalankara lokas uses, though without any explanations, the darsanamarga exposition of the As, especially the detailed analysis into 16 moments, in order to concretize the darsanamarga of the Bodhisattvas (!). Bu ston, we saw, supplements the fourth definition of the AS to make it applicable to the darsanamarga of not only the Sravakas but also the Pratyekabuddhas and the Bodhisattvas; similarly, he renders the third. definition, too, suitable for not only the Bodhisattvas but also the srava ka s. For it includes a comprehension free from the conventional notion of dharmas, which obviously implies a comprehension of the Essencelessness of dharmas accessible to Bodhisattvas only. Bu ston, however, remarks 86 that even sravakas, though, it is true, they cannot directly perceive dharmanairatmya, do not actually apprehend the conceptual-imaginary mark of an Essence (bdag gi mtshan ma) of dharmas either, during the darsanamarga, and that this is considered sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the definition which is, in fact, a negative one. A problem is posed, however, by the second definition of the AS - the darsanamarga as comprehension in which what is cognized and what cognizes are completely the same (or alike). This is interpreted by the ASBh(r) as comprehension of True Reality as [characterized by] the nonexistence of the [imaginary dichotomy of] object and subject (grahyagrahakabhavatathata). This explanation, which is essentially adopted also 84 AAA 357,16ff., esp. 18. 85 AAA 347, 1ff.; cp. also Bo don 667,4ff. 86 Bu ston 581,1: 'dir nan thos kyis chos kyi bdag med dnos su mi mthon yan chos bdag gi mtshan mar mi 'dzin pa'i phyir de skad bsad zer roll Cp. Sakya 221,3: dman pa'i mthon lam gyis chos kyi bdag med ma rtogs kyan chos kyi bdag tu mi 'dzin pa la bsams pa yin no ll. 87 ASBH 76,20f. (see n.50).

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Darsanamarga section of the Abhidharmasamuccaya 273 by Bu ston, 88 seems to preclude an application to the darsanamarga of the sravakas, and in fact Bu ston himself, in a later passage, 89 makes use of it in order to characterize the Full Comprehension (abhisamaya, mnon rtogs) of the Bodhisattvas as distinct from that of the sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas. But he is silent in the present passage. Gyal tshab rje, 90 on the other hand, expressly states that this definition is specific (thun mon mayin pa), i.e. refers to Bodhisattvas only. A similar view is indicated by Bo don, 91 whereas sakya mchog ldan 92 tries to render this definition, too, applicable to both vehicles by distinguishing two sets of imagined object and subject - one referring to persons and the other to dharmas - and by assigning insight into the non-existence of the first set to the Hinayanist darsanamarga, while insight into the non-existence of the second set is achieved [only] by the Mahayanist darsanamarga. 5 . I hope it has become clear from my exposition how the commentaries - Indian as well as Tibetan - try to draw doctrinal consistency out of the heterogeneous materials merely juxtaposed in the As. One could perhaps say that they explicitly and legitimately accomplish a task necessarily arising out of that very juxtaposition. But it would be more risky to assert that also the specific form of their solutions is already implied in the basic text. Especially, the elements from the tradition of the Abhisamayalankara brought into play by Bu ston are definitely alien to the basic text and its tradition. But this does not, of course, mean that his attempt at doctrinal harmonization of the As material (with itself but also with another tradition) is not highly interesting in its own 88 Bu ston 580,5: dmiqsbya gzun ba dan_dmigs byed 'dzin pa med par mnam_pas de bzin nid dan mnam par ses pa'an de yin tel. 89 Bu ston 691,3f.: sa rab dga' (read: dgar?) ... dmigs bya dmigs byed mnam nid du ses pa'i ye ses thob ste. 90 rGyal tshab 154b5: thun mon min pa'i dban du byas na gzun 'dzin rdzas tha dad kyis ston par rtogs pa'i 'bden pa mnon par rtogs pa'o ll. Bo don 662,2f.: nan thos pa* ... dmigs bya dmigs byed mnam nid du ses pa'i ses rab... med pa'i phyir ... *Read la. 92 sakya 220,78. gzun 'dzin kun brtags la'an gnis gnis te gan zag gi dban du byas pa'i gzun 'dzin dan chos kyi dban du byas pa'i gzun 'dzin no ll dman pa'i mthon lam gyis dan po gnis dan | theg chen mthon lam gyis phyi ma gnis med par mthon ba'o ll.

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274 L. Schmithausen right. Moreover, Bu ston is, from the historical point of view, obviously right in giving so much weight to the fourth, highly analytical characterization of darsanamarga in the As, and also in taking comparatively seriously the "sravakayanist" character of much of the materials contained in the AS as a whole. Abbreviations Abhisamayalankara Abhisamayalankaraloka of Haribhadra, in: Astasahasrika Prajnaparamita, ed. P.L.Vaidya, Darbhanga 1960 AS Abhidharmasamuccaya, ed. P. Pradhan, Santiniketan 1950 Tibetan translation of the AS (Peking-Tanjur, Sems tsam, vol. Li, 51a2ff. ASBL Abhidharmasamuccayabhasya, ed. N. Tatia, Patna 1976. Bo don see n.9 Bu ston see n.7 Mi pham see n. 11 rGyal tshab see n. 8 Sakya see n. 10 Tibetan translation of the Yogacarabhumi, Peking-Tanjur, Sems tsam, vol. Dzi ff. <> ( in Sanskrit and Tibetan texts = to be added a) in Sanskrit and Tibetan texts = to be deleted b) in translations = added by the translator In quotations from the Tibetan commentaries, simple underlinig means that a word or passage corresponds to the wording of the ASBh, whereas double underlining marks correspondence to the wording of the As.

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WIENER STUDIEN ZUR TIBETOLOGIE UND BUDDHISMUSKUNDE 65, Prices in Austrian Schilling 1: Ernst Steinkellner, Verse-Index of Dharmakirti's Works (Tibetan Versions). 1977. XIV, 225 p. 200,2: Lobsang Dargyay, Die Legende von den Sieben Prinzessinnen (Saptakumarika-Avadana). In der poetischen Fassung von Guhyadatta/Gopadatta aufgrund der tibetischen Ubersetzung herausgegeben, ubersetzt und bearbeitet. 1978. X, 162 p. 200,Piotr Klafkowski, The Secret Deliverance of the Sixth Dalai Lama, as narrated by Dharmatala. Edited from the Hor Chos-'byun and translated into English, with an introduction and comments. 1979. VI, 93 p. 200,4: Gudrun Buhnemann, Der Allwissende Buddha. Ein Beweis und . seine Probleme. Ratnakirti's Sarvajnasiddhi. 1980. L,175 p. 200,5: Helmut Tauscher, Candrakirti - Madhyamakavatarah und Madhya makavatarabhasyam (Kapitel VI, Vers 166-226). 1981. XXVII, 214 p. 200,6: Lobsang Dargyay, !! 99595577. qag 9557 Ask'49911 - A Concise Biography of Gun than akon mchog bsTan pa'i sgron me. 1981. VI, 45 p. 7: Ernst Steinkellner (Ed.),11 9595577 89 98qoziq m&180095 POSTS gsum-gyi-rnm-pr-bzhg-p-legs-bshd-rgy-mtsho'i-rb-rlbs / / Gun than dkon mchog bsTan pa'i sgron me'i . rNam thar sgo gsum gyi rnam bzag pa Legs bsad rgya mtsho'i rba rlabs. 1981. 20 p. 35,8: Gudrun Buhnemann, Jitari: Kleine Texte. Description of a manu script from the Bihar Research Society with 10 small texts of Jitari, and the edition of the following texts in Sanskrit: Vedapramanyasiddhi, Sarvajnasiddhi, Nairatmyasiddhi, Jatinirakrti, *Isvaravadimatapariksa. 1982. 48 p. 65,- 9: Josef Kolmas, Ferdinand Stoliczka (1838-1874): The Life and Work of the Czech Explorer in India and High Asia. 1982. XI, 58 p. 80,10: E.Steinkellner/H.Tauscher (Ed.), Contributions on Tibetan Language, History and Culture. Proceedings of the Csoma de Koros Symposium held at Velm - Vienna, Austria, 13 - 19 September 1981, vol.1. 1983. XX, 478 p. 560,11: E.Steinkellner/H. Tauscher (Ed.), Contributions on Tibetan and Buddhist Religion and Philosophy. Proceedings of the Csoma de Koros Symposium held at Velm - Vienna, Austria, 13 - 19 September 1981, vol.2. 1983. XII, 334 p. 270 To be ordered from: ARBEITSKREIS FUR TIBETISCHE UND BUDDHISTISCHE STUDIEN Maria Theresien-Strasse 3, A-1090 WIEN / Austria .