Traverses on Less Trodden Path of Indian Philosophy and Religion

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

Page 119

110
Traverses on less trodden path...
of the manifold world are taken to be real by common men. 83 They think that the phenomenal world exists independently by its own. To remove this misunderstanding, Asanga like his previous thinkers, says tbat it is wrong to think that there is a difference between Naumena and Phenomena, Nirvana and Samsāra, apparent and the real. They are not two different realities posited against each other. Reality, viewed as dependent, relative as governed by causes and conditions, constitute the world (samsāra) and ine Pnenomenal world viewed as free from all conditions is the Absolute. 36 Ahe Absolute is the only real, it is identical with Phenomena. Reality lies at the very heart of Phenomenal world. It is identical wiih Phenomena in the sense that it is the basis or ground and inner most essence of all phenomenal things. Absolute is in phenomena as essence of it but is itself not Phenomena. It transcends phenomena. It is basic conception in the philosophy of Asanga that Dharmadhālu, the non-determinate Reality is the ground of the determinate entities of the Phenomenal world. This non-determinate Reality is only the ultimate nature of the determinate phenomenal entities and not other entity apart from them. Thus, that the absolute transcends phenomena does not mean that it is another reality which lies outside the world of Phenomena. There are no two sets of the real. The Absolute is the reality of the apparent phenomena and it is their nature,
Nāgārjuna, emphasising transcendental aspect of Reality, categories the whole Phenomenal existence as samvști (empirical) Satya and does not analyse the empirical experiences in derail.3" Asanga, being a great speculative thinker is not ready to accept Nāgārjuna's extreme view of bringing all Phenomenal of empirical experiences under one category i.c. under Samıļlisatia. He tried to give constructive theory of phenomena advocating three kinds of truth unlike the Nagarjuna's doctrine of two truths. The Samystisaiya of Nāgārjuna is divided into parikalpita (imagi. ned and paratantra (dependent) and Paramärıha-Satya of the Nāgārjuna is also called Parinişpanna. According to Asanga, even in the phenomenal level, there are two kinds of experiences, one is utterly unreal or illusory and other is dependent, real for all practical purposes. Parikal pita 88 and paratanıras 9 are related to worldly things while Parinis panna is
35. Tattvam sañchädya bäläpän atattvam khyati sarvatal-Ibid.-XIX-53. 36. Na cintaram kiñcana vidyate anayoh-Ibid. -VI-S. 37. His followers (Āryadeva and Candrakiti) divided sarvilisatya into two types,
viz. Tathyasarnvști and mithyasamviti. 38. MS A XI-13, 39. 39. Ibid, XI-10,