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20. A SHORT SURVEY OF THE CONTENTS
The SBh. is a part of the YBS of Arya Asanga. In this bhumi the author deals with the carya of a Śrāvakayogācāra, i. e., a yogin in the stage of a Śravaka, who intends to proceed towards the higher stage of a pratyekabuddha and Bodhisattva leading to the attainment of Nirvana and in this context he delineates the various aspects of a yogin's career in the Sopadhika and the Nirupadhikā
bhumis also.
The present bhumi is divided into three sub-sections, also called bhūmis or sub-stages, namely, the gotra-bhumi, the avatara-bhumi and the naiskamya-bhūmi. Broadly speaking, the SBh. deals with the Abhidharm (of the Śrāvaka-carya) in the career of a Yogacara. This carya has been graphically described in detail in gradual stages of the career of a Śrāvak-pudgala in the four sub-chapters called Yoga-sthānas (Ys).
The gotrabhumi deals with the nature of pudgala, while the avatarabhumi elucidates the way how a yogin enters the path of nirvana (nirvaṇabhūmi) and the naişkramyabhumi presents a detailed analysis of how a pudgala crosses over the empirical state of behaviour and proceeds to enter the Nirvana through the purification of mind, its states and various kinds of mental orientation. Incidentally, the yoga-bhāvanā, the bodhipakṣika dharmabhāvanā, the Sunya-anatma-duḥkha-bhāvanā, the aryasatyabhāvanā and the vajropama-samadhi are also mentioned.
While the first Ys. contained a detailed account of the nature of gotra, avatara and naiṣkramya along with a comprehensive analysis of Sila, āhāra, kalyāṇamitrată and the dhutagunas, the second Ys. contains detailed note regarding the enumeration and classification of various
