World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 889

UPANIŞADIC INFLUENCE ON MAHĀYĀNASŪTRĀLANKĀRA
Prof. Dr. Yajneshwar S. Shastri
The Upanisads indeed occupy a unique place in the development of Indian thought. The seeds of almost all the systems of Indian philosophy are to be found in the Upanisads. The Upanisads are the original source of Indian philosophy as a whole. They can be termed as Himalayas of Indian philosophy. Just as different rivers having origin in the Himālayas flow in different directions; similarly, all the schools of Indian thought including Cārvāka, Buddhism and Jainism have their roots in and, are influenced by Upanisadic philosophy. Upanişads are regarded as the fountain-head of different schools of Indian philosophy. Dr R. D. Ranade rightly pointed out that the Upanisads supply us with various principles of thought and may thus be called the Berecynthia of all the later systems of Indian philosophy. Just like a mountain which from its various sides gives birth to rivers which run in different directions, the Upanisads also constitute that lofty eminence of philosophy which from its various sides give birth to rivulets of thoughts which as they progress towards the sea of life, gather strength by the inflow of inumerable tributaries of speculation which intermittently join these rivulets, so as to make a huge expanse of waters at the place where they meet the ocean of life. There are many direct and indirect evidences to prove that Buddhism has its roots in the Upanisads. Buddha's utterances about Reality such as unborn, unmade, non-becoming and uncompounded, and the word immortality3 etc., show that his conception of Reality is the same as that of the Upanisadic thinkers. In the Mattavilāsaprahasana' written by King Mahendra Vikramavarma (7th C. A.D.) we find a statement of a Kāpalika saying that in the matter of thieving tbe Buddha was a greater hand than Kharapata (the promulgator of the science of theft) as he has built his Pitakas and Kosas with the things stolen from the Upanisads and the Mahābhārata. This statement may be an exaggerated one but it throws some light on Upanişadic influence on Buddhism. Most of the Mahāyānists were learned Brahmins before conversion to Buddhism. It is, thus, not surprising, if these philosophers, viz., Mādhyamikas and Vijñānavādins brought Buddhism closer to the Upanisadic thought. Buddhism undoubtedly owed a great deal to Upanisads and influenced in its turn the later Vedāntic school.
We are here, mainly concerned with Asanga's Mahāyānasūtralankāra and Upanisadic influence on it. Mahāyānasütrālańkāra is one of the most important works on Mahāyāna Buddhism. This work represents Vijñānavāda school of thought. Here, the author has discussed almost all the topics of Buddhism. In fact this work is a landmark in the development of Mahayana Buddhism. We can see tremendous
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