Abhidharmadipa with Vibhasaprabha Vrutti

Author(s): P S Jaini
Publisher: Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute

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( xiii) light. Abhidharmasamuchchaya of Asanga, edited by P. Pradhana *Abhidharmakosabhashya, that will soon be published by this Institute, and the commentary sphutartha published by Prof. Woghihara belong to this category. Prof. Santibhikshu has tried to restore the original sanskrit text of the Abhidharmamrita of Ghoshaka from its Chinese translation. The present work is thus the 3rd original sanskrit work of this school to be published and so its importance is considerable to the students of philosophy and Buddhism. The Abhidharma school merely professed to interpret and expound, the sutras. While doing so by the method of textual analysis, it began to attempt a concordance of diverse Sutras, (delivered in different contexts) in order to present their consistent and coherent interpretation. This in course of time naturally resulted in a virtual supercession of the authority of the Sutras by that of the Abhidharma. The former were regarded as conventional and partial, the latter as absolute and comprehensive. The eight-fold path became fivefold, the twelve members of the Patichcha-samuppada became 11. Additions were made to the number of Dharmas, which were probably not warranted by the Sutras. Novel interpretations were proposed and new additions were made to justify the new views and theories. This phenomenon will naturally remind us of similar developments in the realm of Hindu philosophy, where the earlier texts of the Upanishads were treated in a similar fashion by the Brahmasutrakara and his Bhasyakaras, like Sankara and Ramanuja. The philosophical thought was developing and could not be bottled in the old texts; both Hinduism and Buddhism adopted similar tactics to reconcile a reverence to the ancient texts with the dictates of their new theories. Another important point that strikes the reader of the works like the Abhidharmadipa and Abhidharmakosabhashya is that while these books show points of contact with Samkhya, Vaiseshika and Yoga,-they do not refute any characteristic