Traverses on Less Trodden Path of Indian Philosophy and Religion

Author(s): Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 116

Conception of reality in Mahāyāpa Buddhism
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pudgalanair atmya as well as dharmanairāim va. This criticism of realism of Hinayaoist led him to accept idealism. He accepts ideal Reality, i.e., pure consciousness.
Asanga's main attack against Nāgārjuna is his extremism. As far as the conception of Reality is concerned, he differs from Nāgārjuna. For Nagarjuna, we have already seen that, Reality is indescribable, transcendental and cannot even be called as pure consciousness, Asanga, a speculative thinker, is not satisfied with such type of negative attitude of Nāgārjuna. He identifies this Absolute with pure consciousness which is also free from subject object duality, indescribable, beyond determination of thought categories and non-dual, He is not ready to accept the claim of Nāgārjuna that phenomenal world is merely conceptual and lacks any basis. His aim was to reach the ground of phenomena, the apparent world, Unlike the Madhyamika he thought that phenomena though unreal, must be rooted in some reality. There must be some basis for this worldly appearence. It must not be baseless. Asarga, thinking on this line, came to the conclusion, that the base or the ground for this phenomenal world is nothing but pure consciousness. Consciousness itself appears as subject -object duality, this appearance is on account of transcendental illusion, The appearance of a form of consciousness as something objective and independent is illusary. But that wbich is ground for this appearance is real, it is the Reality, i.c., Pure consciousness.
Asauga's view is not only idealism but it is Absolutism. He was aware that mere idealistic position will not be the final goal for specula. tive system'. Nāgārjuna has already shown through his rigorous logic that Absolutism can only be reached through dialectical apdroach. Nāgārjuna has mentioned that the subject and the object are relative dependent and thus unreal. The subject and the object both are corelative categories and that one cannot be had without the other. Consciousness without an object is un-thinkable. Thus, Reality cannot be called as Pure Consciousness. The Reality is above all these thought cate gories and inexpressible. For Asanga, Consciousness is the only Reality, true existence. This is idealistic standpoint. Reality is ideal and it is pure consciousness. But he does not stop here. For him, from the ultimate standpoint, pure subject ceases to be subject. It becomes something non conceptual.s 1 This dialectical awareness compelled him to transcend his idealism to Absolutism. Adopting Nāgārjupa's dialectic method, he came to the conclusion that ultimate Reality, i.e., Pure Consciousness is something that cannot be called as a subject in the ultimate analysis. Owing to influence of transcendental illusion, conscious. ness itself appears as the subject and the object. The objectivity is only 21. Grāhyagrāhakabhāvena nirūpayitumasakyatvat.--M.S.A., p. 182.