Dharmaśrī on the Sixteen Degrees of Comprehension

7/28/2019 Dharmar on the Sixteen Degrees of Comprehension

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C O N T E N T S

I. ARTICLESD harm asri on the Sixteen Degrees of Co mprehensionby Leon Hurvitz 7Indrabhuti's 'Confession of Errors in the FundamentalTe achin gs of the Vajrayana', A Critical Edition, EnglishTranslation and Discussion, by Nathan Katz 31Non-duality of the T wo Tru th s in Sinitic Madhyamika: Originof the 'Third Truth' , by Whalen Lai 45Transpersonal Psychological Observations on TheravadaBuddhist Meditative Practices, by James Santucci 66Bodhicaryavatara 9:2 as a Focus for Tibetan Interpretationsof the Two Truths in the Prasangika Madhyamikaby Michael Sweet 79

II . SHORT PAPER1. Some Bud dhist Poems in Tamil, by G. Vijayavenugopal 93

I I I . BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICESReviews:1. The Prajnaparamita Literature, by Edward Conze 992. Two Ways to Perfection: Buddhist and Christianby Shanta Ratnayaka 1033. An Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systemsby F. D. Lessing and A . Wayman 1044. Religion and the Legitimation of Power in South Asia;

Religion and Legitimation of Power in Sri Lanka;Religion and Legitimation of Power in Thailand, Laosand Burma, by Bardwell Smith 1075. Studies in Pali and Buddhism, Edited by A . K. Narain 109


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Notices:1. B ud dh is t W isdom . T h e mystery of the self, by George Grimm 1112 . B uddhi sm . A se l ec t b iography , by Satyaprakasli 1123 . Liv ing B uddh i s t M as te r s , by Jack KornjieUl 1124 . Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis , by Steven T. Katz 112

I V . N O T E S A N D N E W S1. On B uddh i s t R esea rch In fo rm a t ion (B . R . I . )

of the Ins t i tu te for Advanced Studiesof W orld Rel ig ions ( IASW R), New York 113O B I T U A R Y H 6

L I S T O F I A B S M E M B E R S 117

The Edi tor - in-Chief wishes to express thanks to Roger Jacksonand Rena Crispin for their assis tance in the product ion of this issue.


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a n d ( d ) u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e a n a l o g u e (anvayajnana), the lat ter twohaving to do wi th the Spheres of Form (rupa) and of Formlessness(ampyadhdtu). For information, cf . LVP 6.179-83, where much wil l befo un d tha t does no t ap p ea r below bu t which does not conflict with it . AsMr. Wil lemen says on p. 231, n. 56, of his work, the Noble Path(aryamarga) is div ided into two , on e of the lea rne rs ($aiksa,yu hsiieh tao

# fy-JL ), i.e., of those below arhattva, and one o f t he ' non- l ea rne r s '(asaiksamdrga, wu % hsiieh tao), of the arhantah, who have no th ing m o reto learn . Th e f orm er , in tu rn , is subdivide d in to a 'pa th of v is ion '(darsanamarga, chien tao ^ f t ) and one of ' real izat ion ' (bhavanamarga,hsiu *f tao). All eig ht acts of acqu iescence, of acce ptan ce on faith (ksanti)an d the f irs t seven of the e ight acts of und ers tan di ng (jnana) belong to'vis ion ' , th e last jnana alone to ' real izat ion ' . (The same note has a chartgiv ing a birds ' -eye view of the issue.) T h e a pp ro ac h to be fol lowed willbe to res ta te what Samghadeva and Narendrayasas have to say , whichh ap p en s to be near ly the sam e, then to reserve for Comment t h e r e m a r k sof Samghadeva , which , to my knowledge , have no prec ise analogue .T h e p re se nt at io n b egin s with verses, which deal only with categories (a)and (b) regarding the f i r s t of the Four Noble Truths .

T h e s u p r e m e w o r l d l y d h a r m a s n e x t i n o r d e rInvar iably ra i se up (another form of) dharma-acquiescence .The acquiescence in i t s own turn produces gnos is , andBoth together regard the lowest woe.2T h is 'acquiesc ence ' is qual i tatively differ ent from t he 'pat ie nce '

ju s t de a l t wi th in the passage pre ced ing w hat is be ing dea l t wi th h ere ,i . e . , the four a ids to penet ra t ion (catvari nirvedhabhdgiyani), the differen ce be ing tha t the pre sen t one is wi tho ut outf lows or , in o th er w ords ,do es no t co nd uc e to re bir th in the world . I t indicates a wil l ingness, evenan eagerness , to see a t ru th tha t one has never seen before .3

Final ly, to the qu est io n as to the object of these acquiescenc es a ndgno ses , the ans we r is the T ru th of Woe as it a ffec ts th e K am adh atu .

CommentS a m g h a v a r m a n c o m m e n t s t h a t t h e s u p r e m e w o r l d l y d h a r m a s ,

w i t h o u t m o v i n g ,4 shake o f f wrong deeds (hsieh yehft # , duskarmanf),bad destinies (hsieh chuff ^k, durgati) and wrong views {hsieh chienfp L,8


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mithyadrsti). By 'wrong deeds ' a re meant the f ive enormous of fenses(pancanantaryakarmani), viz., a. matricide (matrghata), b. parricide(pitrghata), c . m u r d e r o f a n a r h a n t (arhadghata), d. in t roduct ion ofdisuni ty in to the counci l s of the Order (samghabkeda), e, striking aB u d d h a w i th mal ic ious in ten t and w i th such force as to draw blood(tathagatasyantike dustacittarudhirotpadanam). By 'wrong views' are m eantthe five wrong views, (cf. n. 3, a.-e.) .

Also , the supreme wordly dhar tna d iv ides acquiescence in thed h a rm a of th e T ru th of Woe in such a way as to pro du ce five certaint ies .T h e s e ar e, nam ely, th e certaint ies of a . gr ou nd , b. aspects (?), c . object,d . ksana (m om en t o f t im e) , e . im m edia t e cond i t ion . Th ese a re thene x p l a i n e d , a . T h e g r o u n d (ti it, bhumi?) on which a pers on a t ta ined thesupreme wor ld ly dharma i s the same as tha t on which he a t ta ins toacquiescence in the dharma of woe. b . The same i s t rue for aspects(hsing If, akara}) and objects, as also for ksana, the last named in thesense tha t t he m om en t tha t he tu rn s h is back on the one is t he m o m entin which the o the r i s p roduced , e . F ina l ly , t he im m edia t e (p recond i t ion of the acquiescence in ques t ion is the sup rem e wor ld ly dh arm a,wi thout which the sa id acquiescence would not come in to be ing. 5

T h e f if th of S am gh ab ha dr a 's five 'equal i t ies ' is t rea ted inMahavibhasa 5 (T2 7.22a b) . H er e too the me ani ng is tha t taukika-gradharma is a samanantarapratyaya to duhkhadharmaksanti, that nothingcan obs t ruc t or h inder the passage f rom the one to the o ther .In tere s t ing ly en o ug h, a t the end of the pa rag rap h in ques t ion (22b) is asentence tha t reads , ' In the moment immedia te ly fo l lowing thesupr em e worldly dharma Q shihtiyijawuchiencha-na-^: % - >t & M-fy fp,laukikagradharmanantaraksane}), acquiescence in the knowledge of thedharma o f woe (k'u fa chih jen % >ity&> duhkhadharmajnanaksanti)invar iably an d evident ly come s to the fore . For th is reason th is dh ar m ais a cer ta in ty , never turning back, (shift ku tz'u fa chiieh ting pu t'uiJt * *fc ;* -* %- T- iH i flta evaisa dharmo niyatavinivartan'iyah}).

In the two systems, in other words, a . and e. are shared, whileakara (b.c.) and alambana (c .d. ) , present in both, occupy respect ivelydifferent posi t ions. Each, f inal ly, has one that is missing in the other ,viz., ksana (d . in Sam gha dev a ' s sys tem) and indriya (if indeed that is them e a n i n g of ken, b. in the catalogue given in the Abhidharmamafiavibtuisa).All the sa m e, the Mahavibhasa presen ta t ion m en t ions ksana specifically,which may wel l mean tha t the not ion of an uninter rupted moment oft ime i s inc luded there in tha t of an immedia te and necessaryp r e c o n d i t i o n .9


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There fo l lows a puzzl ing s ta tement : ' Infer ior pa t ience ' (hsiajenT l, mrduksanti) applies to the Truth of Suffer ing and i ts four aspectswi th respect to a l l three spheres . 'Middle pa t ience ' {chung


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dharmasamyagdrsti?) is called the 'sixteen pur e (states of) m ind ' {shih liuchinghsin -f- * >$ ,c , for soqasabhisarnayah}). T o this, the other two identifythis process with the 'uninterrupted' (anantaryamarga; the w ording, inboth cases, is tzufa we chien teng it >$ . tJ\ %, lit. etaddharmasarnanantaram).T h e pros e com me ntary also says the same thing, with some variation. Samghadeva, whose treatment is, as usual, the tersest, identifiesthe sixteen abhisamayas by specifying that each of the Four NobleT ru th s becom es the object first of acquiescence, then of unde rstand ing ,both with reg ard to the S phere of Desire, then of acquiescence and ofunderstanding by analogy, both for the two upper spheres. The'acquiescence' (Jen ,t, ksanti) he identifies with the 'unint errupte d pa th'(xvu ai tao%jfcfi_> '. anantaryamarga), the 'understanding' {chih *i ,jnana) with the 'path of deliverance' (chieh t'o tao jty | i , , vimuktimarga).Finally, he identifies these sixteen with 'viewing the dharmas' (chienfa& &, i.e., darSanamarga, although, strictly speaking, it is only the firstfifteen of which this may be said).Narendrayasas says the same thing, except that he does specifythat darSanamarga applies only to the first fifteen of the abhisamayas,while the last of them belongs to bhdvanamarga. T he latter extends fromthat point up to and including the 'concentration likened to diamond'(chin kangyii ting ^flj fr _, vajropamasamadhi), from which point on thepractitioner is known as one who has 'already done what was to bedone* (so tso yi pantf ft &ty,\krtakaran iya). The stages of practice aregrouped collectively under three headings, those of the 'ground ofview' (chien ti % *t, i.e., darianamarga), the 'grou nd of cultivation' (hsiu+f ti , i.e., bhavanamarga) and the 'grou nd (of them who have) no thing(left to) learn' (wu hsiieh ti , i.e., ataiksamarga). NarendrayaSas concludesby saying that, now th at h e has described th e 'grounds', he will go on todescribe the persons (Jen A . , pudgala) who occupy them.

CommentAbhidharmakosa 6.28 reads as follows:ksantijnanany anantaryamuktimarga yathakramam/adrstadrster drnmargas tatra paricadaSa ksanah//28//

(Note anantarya" fo r anantarya.) LVP 6.190 sq. ren de rs this as follows:'Ksantis et jnanas sont, dans l 'ordre, anantaryamarga et vimuktimarga.11


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Pa rce qu' i ls se pr od ui se nt chez qu elq u'u n qui voi t ce qui n 'a pas ete vu,quinze moments sont chemin de la vue . ' The bas ic text i s Kn'sa 6.28b,acc om pa nie d by the com me ntar ies (Dw arikadas 930 ff., LV P 6.191 sqq.).

One wi l l now a t tempt to expla in as much of the commentary toth e abo ve verses as is relev ant to the m atte r at ha nd . First, how ever, o nemust review three sets of categories .

a . Eac h of the F ou r Noble Tru ths has fou r aspects . T h u s, 1) woe{duhkha) has a) anitya ( ' im perm anen t ' ) , b ) duhkha ( 'douloureux ' ) , c )siinya ( 'vide') , d) anatmaka ( ' impersonnel ' ) ; 2) the origin of woe{samudaya) has e) hetu ('cause'), f) samudaya ( 'origine') , g) prabhava( 'causation successive') , h) pratyaya ( 'en tant que realisant un effet enc a u s a t i o n c o n j u g u e e , abhinispadanayogena); 3) the suppress ion o i woe{nirodha) has i) nirodha ( 'destruct ion ') , j ) santa ('calme'), k) pranlta( 'excellent ') , 1) nihsarana ( 'salvifique'); 4) the Path that leads to thesuppress ion o f woe (pratipad, marga) has m) marga ( 'chemin') , n) nyaya( ' ra i sonnable ou pra t ique ' ) , o) pratipad ( 'obtent ion ') , p) nairyanika( 'sor t ie defini t ive ' ) .

b . At each s tage of h is dev elop m ent , the pra c t i t ioner r ids h imsel fof h is def i lements in n ine s tages , the def i lements be ing of threedegrees of in tens i ty , v iz . , ex t reme {adhimatra), m iddl ing (madhya) a n dsl ight (mrdu), eac h of which is s imilar ly divided into ex tre m e, m idd lingand slight. Each act of self-liberation consists of two steps, anataryamarga,or 'pa th of immediacy ' , and vimuktimarga, or 'path of del iverance ' . LVP6.278 says th is abo ut the m : 'L e . . . chem in qui ne pe ut e t reem pe ch e . . . es t le che m in pa r lequel es t ab an do nn e un obs tac le . . Le. . . ch em in d e de l ivranc e . . . es t le pre m ier ch em in qui na isse de livrede l ' obs t ac l e abandonne au m oyen de Vanantaryamarga.'

T h e r e fol low a qu at ra in an d a br ie f com m enta ry tha t a re v i rtua llythe sa m e in al l vers ions : Any one wh o, du r in g the fir st f if teen m om entsof the s ix teen abhisamayas, was of comparatively dull faculties is calledone who 'ac ts in accordance wi th fa i th ' {sui hsin hsing t&tt 11 ,ts'ung *hsin hsing, i.e., Sraddhanusarin), because he has gained his insight inkeeping wi th the predica t ions of a person whom he t rus ted , whi le thepe rs on of sh ar p facul t ies is cal led on e who 'acts in acco rdan ce with theDharma' {sulfa >t hsing, ts'ungfa hsing, i.e., dharmanusdrin), because hisu nd er s t an d in g is based on a d i rec t in tu i t ion of the D oct r ine .

I t will be recal led th at th e 'path of del ive ranc e ' {vimuktimarga, chieht'o taoift Hi i t ) has n ine s tages . Samghadeva ' s next quat ra in says tha t aperson who has not ye t separa ted h imsel f f rom the pass ions of theSphere of the Desire is moving in the direct ion of the First Frui t12


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(srotaapattiphala), while the on e wh o has sep ara ted himself from the sixlowest ones i s moving towards the Second (sakrdagamiphala); he whohas f reed himsel f f rom a ll , towa rds the T hi rd (anagdmiphala).NarendrayaSas ' s quat ra in says the same in only s l ight ly d i f ferentlan gu ag e . Samg had eva ' s pro se com me ntary spec if ies the n ine ca tegor iesa n d t h e w o r d s srota'apanna a n d sakrddgamin, both in t ranscr ip t ion, butdoes not add anything s igni f icant . NarendrayaSas ' s commentary i ssomewhat more specif ic . I t ident i f ies the person st i l l in the Sphere ofDes i re as one ' to ta l ly bound by a l l bonds ' (chiiyi ch'ijo &-*/] * | sakala-bandharw). I t goes on to say that , when such a person ' reaches a f ixedportion' (ckih chueh ting fent >k $_ 'i, niyamabhagam prapya}), then hefaces the fruit of the srota'apanna {srota'apattiphalapratipannako bhavati?).As in the case of Sam gh ade va , so he re too the com m enta ry speci fies thenine degrees, going on to say that , once the lowest s ix have beena b a n d o n e d , t h e p e r s o n ' e n t e r s c e r ta i n ty ' (Ju chixeh ting ^ # %_ ,niyamamavakramati}), which m ea ns tha t he now faces the frui t of the sakrdagamin(sakrdagamiphalapratipannako bhavati,).* One who has abandoned allni ne , f inal ly, aga in 'e nte rs cer tain ty ' in the sense that he faces the fruitof the anagamin (anagamiphalapratipannako bhavati?).

Sa m gh av arm an has two qua t r a ins w here t he o th e r two have on lyon e , an d hi s co m m en tary is , cor re spo nd ingly , long er (11 Ta isho l inesas agains t 6 for Samghadeva and 17 1/2 for NarendrayaSas) . Hespecifies that , if the sraddhanusarin o r dharmanusarin has not yet f reedhim sel f f rom the K am ad ha tu , or even if he has , bu t only of on e of thef i rs t f ive categ orie s of bon ds , the n h e is a srota'apattiphalapratipannaka, acandidate for the Fi r s t Frui t . 9 A perso n w ho has not f reed himself at a llf rom th e bo nd s of the Sp he re of Des i re is a sakalabandhana, while onew ho h as freed him self f rom the lowest of the m is an asakalabandhana(pit chiifo % 4r -*f ) Sa m gh av arm an proc eed s to say som ethin g of w hosem ea n in g I am not qui te cer ta in . T o the exte nt tha t I have und ers t oo d i t,i t is as follows: Once a person has freed himself of the five lowestca te go r ies of bo nd s , in one ju m p h e escapes rebi r th (? ch'ao sheng li shengkl % fa t ) O n e w ho , with resp ect to th e 'view of woe to be cut off in th e

Sphere of Desire ' , severs the f ive lowest categories of bonds at tains thedh arm a-g no s i s t ouc h ing t h e dha rm a o f woe and bea r s d i rec t w i tness tode l ive rance . The same app l i e s , mutatis mutandis, all along the l ine up toand including the same with respect to the 'view of the Path ' . Final ly,w h e n one ha s seve red the five lowest categ ories of bo nd s to be severedon the 'path of cul t ivat ion' , one at tains the frui t of the sakrdtigdmin a n dbears d i rec t wi tness to de l iverance .1 013


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The second quatrain says that anyone who severs from sixth ro ug h eight of the bond s just m entioned 'faces the second fruit' (i.e.,is a sakrdagamiphalapratipannaka), while one who leaves the 'eighthground ' is on e 'facing th e third (fruit', i.e., an anagamiphalapratipannaka).T h e p rose co m m entary simply says the same thing in different words,bu t it is worthy of no te that the second couplet is inter pre ted to meanthat anyo ne from the Sph ere of Desire up to and including the top ofthe Sp her e of Formlessness is under these circumstances, presumably hea ded for the fruit of the anagamin (i.e., an anagamiphalapratipannaka).T h e next quatrain , as well as the prose comm entary accompanyingit, is, exc ept for d ifferences in word ing , virtually the same in all threeversio ns. It says that, up on attainm ent of the sixteenth abhisamaya, thecandidate is a firm occupant of the Fruit in question, the one of 'softviews' (Juan chien & jt, mrdudrsti?) being called 'liberated by faith' (hsinchieh t'ottfcftt.Sraddhavimukta), the one of 'sh arp views' (li chien i'l I, soSamghadeva and Samghavarman), or of 'pure views' {ching chien >f i> ,so Narendrayasas, but both standing, presumably, for tiksnadrsti ortiksnadarsana) be ing called 'arrived at insight' (chien tao&JL, drstiprapta).The commentary, specifically, says that the sixteenth abhisamayacorresponds to marganvayajnana, that on e who has not left the S phe reof Desire becomes a srota'apanna, one who has abandoned the sixthcategory of bonds a sakrdagamin, one who has abandoned all nine ananagamin. It goes on to say that one of 'dull faculties' (tun kenfatk, i.e.,mrdvindriya), the hitherto sraddhanusarin, is now a Sraddhavimukta, whilethe one of 'sharp faculties' (li ken *J id , iiksnendriya), is now a drstiprapta.

CommentThe above statement is based princiaplly on Samghadeva.Bey ond saying that 'p ur e view' m eans 'sharp view', Narendrayasas saysthe same thin g in words only slightly different. Sam ghavarm an beginsvirtually th e same way, but ends quite differently. H e says that on e ofslight insight who ente rs the darSanamarga is called a sraddhanusarin andthat, when he comes to rest in the Third Fruit, he is known as a

sraddhavimukta, while the one of sharp insight, called dharmanusarinupon entry into the darsanamarga, is now known as a drstiprapta.Samghavarman concludes by saying that the drstiprapta, whose faith(hsin it , sraddha) is actually stronger than that of the sraddhavimukta,has a faith 'perfumed by wisdom' (hui so hsiin % tf f, prajnavasita?),which accounts for his name.14


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Two points seem to mer i t comment . Fi r s t , the 'pass ions to bea b a n d o n e d b y m e d i t a t i o n ' a r e t h e t e n samyojanas ( the f ive ment ionedin n. 10 as well as ruparaga, a t t achment t o t he Sphere o f Form;arupyaraga, a t t ac hm ent t o t he Sp here o f Formlessness; auddhatya, agitat i on ; mana, p r i d e ; moha, delus ion) ; a l l deeds tha t , whi le not unwholesome, do not conduce to leaving the wor ld (knsalasasrava) and thosethat , whi le placing no obstacle in the path of salvat ion, are moral lyn e u t r a l (anivrtavyakrta); i m p u r e avijnapti. '' T h e second poin t wor thy ofc o m m e n t i s t h a t arhattva is not achieved by the 16 abhisamayas, t ha tarhattvaphalapratipatti i s as high as one can go. Cf . LVP 6.196.

Samghavarman has ano the r qua t r a in pecu l i a r t o h i s ve r s ion ,fo l l owed by r a the r an ex t ens ive p rose commenta ry . The wholepas sag e , in sum , ma kes a s ta tem ent so surpr i s ing , in the l ight of wha t Ikn ow f rom e l sew here in the Ab hid ha rm a, tha t I am not cer ta in ofha vin g un de rs to od it cor rec t ly . Since , m oreo ver , th i s par t i cular t ext ispe cul ia r to Sa m gh av arm an , I have no ana logu e agains t which to verifyth e accuracy of my in terp re ta t io n . For what it is wo r th , I pres ent ith e r e .

By sever ing the e ighty-e ight ' bonds ' {chieh *$ , samyojana) appl i cable to the path of vis ion (chien too jt iL , darsanamarga),n the prac t i t i one r ach i eves srotaapattiphala. A nd so on u p to the person onanagamya,13 who dwel ls in the Frui t of the srota'apanna. A per son who ,b y s o m e m e a n s o r o t h e r (?fangpien i it, r e p r e s e n t i n g upayena}), over c o m e s the strongest (shang shang -t A, i.e., iiksnafiksna o r adhimatra-dhimatra) of t he obstacles to del iv eran ce is cal led a sakrdagamiphalaprati-pannaka. H er e Sa m gh ava rm an says som eth ing t ha t r em inds one a b it o fw ha t he said abo ve . F ro m th e point ju st specified u p to that of theperson who, having severed the f ive lowest ca tegor ies of bonds ande s c a p e d r e b i r t h , p r o d u c e s marganvayajnana, on e has to d o with a srota-appana. He is not a sakrdagamiphalapratipannaka, since the path of thel a t t e r has not presented i t se l f to h im for a s ingle moment(? u fa 4 f j$L - & fi & yasmat tatphalapratipannakamargaekaksanam apy asmai na pratipannas tasmat} na saksadbabhuva tasmat}).Q. There are many bonds to sever . Why did the Blessed One speakonly of three? 1 4A . T h e t e n anuSayas15 are basic, namely, the five views in addition todoubt , lus t , anger , pr ide and inc lar i ty .1 6 On the path of view (chien taog, j , darianamarga) one severs s ix of these, namely, the f ive views anddoubt . When th i s has been done , t hen t hey a re seve red pe rmanen t ly .T h r e e o f t h e anusayas a re p r ime mover s , t h r ee secondary . 1 715


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In the absence of any defini t ion of 'mental cognit ion to beabandoned by realization' {bhavanaprahatavyam manovijnanam iii.above) , I conclude that the reference i s to mental cogni t ion having todo wi th pass ions to be banished by real izat ion /medi ta t ion . 'Puret h o u g h t ' is t h o u g h t h av i n g nirvana as its object. That is, the view of asubs tan t i a l pe r son {shen shien % ,, satkayadnti) is a pr im e mov er(pravartaka), while the e xt re m e views of etern i ty an d of absolute f inali ty(pien chien jJL jL . antagrahadrsti) are secondary movers (anuvartaka); th ewillful cho ice of on e's ow n style of religious life (siUivrataparanuirsa) is aprime mover, while the wil l ful choice of views (drstiparamar'sa) is as eco n d a r y m o v e r ; d o u b t (vicikitsa) is a prime mover, while false views(mithyadrsti, specif ical ly the denial of the t ruth of dependent originat ion , pratityasamutpada) are secondary movers .

W hat Sa m gh ad ev a t reats next in a s ingle sloka, an d w ith less tha n 7l ines o f com m en tary (in the Ta i sh o ed i t ion ) , Nare ndrayasas enunc ia t esin the s am e a m ou nt of verse and ab out twice as m uch prose (15 l ines),wh i l e Samghavarman has abou t twice as much mate r i a l as Narendrayasas , viz., tw o slokas and 31 l ines of com m enta ry . W hat we shal l do her eis , fo r ou r imm ed ia te pu rp ose s , r ep rod uce Sam ghadeva ' s ver sion , t henu se S am g h av a r m an ' s a s Comment, followed by the Abhidharmakosa an dt h e mafiai>ibhasa in the same sense. Since Narendrayasas fal lssomewhere between the o ther two, there shal l be no ment ion of h isver s ion .

S a m g h a d e v a ' s sloka, more or less l i teral ly t ranslated, would beabout as fol lows:

One by whom cogi ta t ion has not yet been complete ly severedIs l imited to bir th in bir th-and-death seven ( t imes) .The house- to -house (wanderer ) , hav ing had th ree , i s f in i shed .Both are si tuated in the Frui t of the Path.

Making no a t tempt a t vers i f icat ion , one might venture the fo l lowingrestoration: j I acchinnabhavanaheyah saptakr tparamo jayate kulamkulas tutriskrtparam ahl ubhau ca margapliale vartetell 'Cogitation' renders ssu wei,? $., which here clearly stands for bhavana, ' real izat ion ' , about which

m or e be low. Sam ghadev a ' s com m entary m igh t be sum ma r ized asfol lows: T h e f irst ardhassloka means tha t t he saddhavimukta and thedntprata, not yet free of the kle'sas to be aband oned by bhavana (wei li yilchieh ssu wei so tuanjan nao i- & & If t 1% tffa *| ?# , go ing back to a presumable acchmriaJidmavatarabhavan&ieyakk'sdh), shall be reborn and die seven16


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t imes , i .e ., seven t imes each (?) am on g gods and m en, but no mor e . T h et h i r d pada means t ha t a kulamkula is on e who has e l iminated the thre egrossest kle'sas, i.e., adhimatradhimdtra, adhimatramadhya and adhimatramrdi{shangw eishang chung sluing shang i . ft i . f A J:) . H e shall be re bo rn intotwo c lans (kula) or t h ree , among gods and men , t hen ach i eveparinirvana. The last pada me ans that saptakrtparama and kulamkula shallboth dwell in srotaapatti{phala?).

Comment

One who has not exhaus ted the seeds (? var ie t ies? chung it ) ofthe path of cul t ivat ion (hsiu tao^iL)Receives b i r th among those who are born and die seven t imes .I t i s to be known that what is meant by thatIs that , when the term is ful l (chi man \ #, the person in ques t ionis a) srota'apanna.S a m g h a v a r m a n ' s p r o s e :

W h e n t h e srota'apanna has not yet exhausted the var iet ies of thepath of cul t iva t ion (tisiu tao chung, r epresen t ing a p robab le bhavatia-mtirgavidhayah) know that his absolute term is seven existences, that is,seven births each am ong manusyas (jen chien A t/\), in antarabhava {chungyin *f f^), in upapattibhava (shengyin *- 7$) and am on g kamadhatudevas {yiichieh t'ien U f * . ) . 'Seven* mea ns , in every case, no m or e th an seven, as,for example , in the case of the ' seven- leaved t ree ' (ch'i yeh shu* I # ,saptapamavrksa).Q . W hy jus t seven, ne i the r mo re nor less?A. It is l ike o n e bit ten by a 'seve n-ste p se rp en t ' : the victim's matiubhutas(physical elements) le t him take seven steps, but the poison wil l not le th im take an e igh th . In the sam e way, the force of dee ds m akes for sevenrebi r ths , but no more than tha t i s poss ib le , thanks to the might of thePath {tao li & a, mdrgabalena? margavasena?). When the practitionerdwells in marganvayaksanti (if anvayaksanti i s indeed the meaning oftseng shang jen


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mutandis, on e bo rn a m on g god s . T h e d if ficu lty i s the w ord ing , for thela t ter cer ta in ly seems to refer to t ranscending both groups , the wordsu sed b e i n g ch'ao ii , ' to ou tpa ss ' , an d li %% , ' to leave '. T he y m ean that ,in order t o ge t beyond the manusyaloka a n d devaloka, respectively, thebe in g m ust be re bo rn seven times in the sph ere in quest ion . At any ra te ,i f in the course of e i ther the Holy Path (sheng tao1j.1t, r ep resen t ing ap r e s u m a b l e aryamarga) makes i t appearance, then , thanks to the 'ho ldof the power of deeds' (yeh li ch'ih -f i) i$ , karmabaladhrtyd}), theprac t i t i oner in ques t ion does no t exper i ence parinivana.Q. I f a t the end of seven reb i r ths there appears no Buddha in thewor ld , t hen how does the p rac t i t i oner ge t arhattva?A. T h e r e a re two views. 1. H e gets it as a laym an, but , onc e having goti t , does not retain his secular status (represent ing a possible grhasthahsann evarhattvam prdpnoti prapya tu na grhe tisthate}). 2. He leaves thehouse hold wi thout und erg oing any change in form. This seems to repres en t rupam na vikaryaiva pravrajyate, possibly in the sense that heb eco m es a religievx by na tu re wi thou t hav ing to assume the ou twarda p p e a r a n c e of o n e . T h e reason s g iven nu m be r e ight, a . T h e pract i tionerin qu es tio n achie ves unassailable purity , b. His ho pe s have been fulfil led,c . H e sees the er r or s in miscond uct . For these thre e reasons he does notfall from srota'apatti in to durgati. Also, d . he is not bo rn into the B ud dh a-kula, e. the fire of his gnosis (chih huo y * , re pr es en t in g jnanagni?)i s b r igh t and pure , f . he sees the decept ions (? kuo & , l it . ' t ran sg res sions') in visaya a n d dhatu, g. his acquiescence and insight are perfect(repr esenting a possible yatah iamathavipasyane asya parinispanne tatah),h. he has been 'per fumed ' by the medicinal herbs of the Noble Path{aryamargausadhya vasitatvena?). H e is l ike a crown princ e, like a ma n whoseinn er fire is en ha nc ed (? ju nei huo tsengjen 4* (*? * ff ^ ) , like an agilefish {ju ch'iaopienyu * *5 ffc fc). T h is is why th esro taapanna does not falli n to durgati. (Nei ther do some prthagjanas, t o be su re , bu t t he i r nu m be ris sma l l , an d t he escap e is no t cer ta in ; hen ce no me nt ion of them he re .T h e srotaapanna, on the o the r ha nd , is a m em ber o f a des t ined g r ou pniyatavarga}, de st in ed , tha t is, for nirvana, for perfect en l igh tenedintuition chii cheng chiieh &% , samyaksambodhigatika}) N ot allsrotaapannas must necessar i ly go through seven reb i r ths .

S am g h av a r m an g o es o n t o t h e kulamkula.If one severs three or four variet ies (of bonds) ,Ach i ev i n g t h e i r co u n t e r ag en t s ,Leaving only two reb i r ths or th ree ,

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O n e is cal led (a w an d er er f rom) family to family (chia chia %- %-,kulamkula).

There a r e t h ree r easons fo r pos i t i ng t he kulamkula, viz., 1. his 'severance o f t he agon ies ' (Jan nao tuanfy $ If , i .e . , his abandonment of thed e f i l e m e n t s , klesaprahana, 2. his perfection of his facult ies (ch'eng chiuken fct,t$. , indriyasiddhi? siddhendriyatva?), 3 . his 'receipt of birth' (? skousheng % &., represent ing jatyadana or upapatlyadana?). 1. refers to thosede f i lem en ts o n the p la in of the Sp he re of Des i re tha t a re to be rem ove dby rea l iza t ion (bhavana, as opposed to 'view' , dariana, of which morebelow, i .e. , to kamadhatuklesabhdvandprahna) or, to be specific, to threeor four var ie t ies thereof, for beyond tha t the kulamkula ends , t heabandonment of the f i f th l eading automat ica l ly to the s ix th and tosakrddgamiph'ala, the s tep immedia te ly fo l lowing srota'apatti. 2 . meanstha t the prac t i t ioner ge t s the counteragents and facul t i es f ree ofout f lows ( i f tha t indeed i s the meaning of pi te tui chih su lou chu kenK. \\M>% 4 \% #., which may repre sen t some thing such as tatpratipaksana-sravendriyapraptya). 3. m ea ns tha t in some cases the re are m ore rebi r th sin the Sphere of Desire , a t t imes two, at t imes three. Unless al l threecondi t ions are met , one i s not a kulamkula. There a r e two k inds o fkulamkula, viz., 1. deva, which m ean s two or thre e reb i r ths as a god inthe Sphere o f Des i r e , whe the r i n one devaloka or in two or three ;2. manusyakulamkula, which may mean in one wor ld (? t'ien hsia i. T, ortwo or three , or in one c lan (chia, for kula"?), or two or three .Q . W h a t d o e s kulamkula m e a n ?A. P roc ee din g f rom c lan to c lan , the n on toparinirvana, i t is th e hig he str a n k o f srotaapanna (cf. Willemen, 74 f .) .

Be fore go ing on to con s ider w hat is sa id in the Koia and theMahavibhasa i t wo uld b e well to m en t io n that the 88 anusayas m e n t i o n e dabove are al l to be el iminated by 'view' (darsanaprahatavya, dartonaheya,drggheya). T o th em ar e ad de d 10 tha t a re to be e l iminated by 'rea lizat i on ' (med i t a t i on , ' deve lopment ' , bhavanaprahatavya, bhavanaheya), viz.,raga, dve$a, moha a n d mana on the level of the Sphere of Desire , thesefour less dvesa on the leve l of the two upper spheres . The Mahavibhasadeals wi th the saptakrtparama in T 2 7 . 2 4 0 b - 2 4 l b . A s u m m a r y n o wfollows.

T h e n u m b er 7 do es not re fer to a to ta l of seven bi r ths , but ra th erto a maximum of seven bir ths {upapattibhava) in each of two spheres ,devaloka a n d manusyaloka, as wel l as in the intermediate existences(antarabhava) preceding them. Severa l reasons are g iven for the19


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m axim al n u m b e r 7 , no t a ll of which are un de rs to od to me , bu t which Ireproduce here for what they are wor th , a t t imes in my own words , a tothers in those of M. Louis de La Vallee-Poussin.

1. Si plus (de sep t) , si mo ins, on p ro du ira i t do ut e; qu 'i l naisseda ns sep t ex is tences ne cont red i t pas le dharmalaksana, c'est-a-direla nature des choses , e t n ' es t pas cr i t iquable .2 . T h e vipakahetu has the power of generat ing only so manyvipakaphalani, n o m o r e .3. En ou t r e , pa r la force de 1'acte, i l prend sept existences; parla force du Chemin i l n ' en prend pas une hui t ieme. De meme quel 'ho m m e m o rd u pa r le serpen t -des-sep t -pas fait sep t pas par laforce des grands elements et , par la force du poison, n 'en fai t pasun hu i t ie m e. En ou tr e, s'il pre na i t hui t existence s, il ne po ssed e-ra i t pas le Chemin dans sa hui t ieme naissance, car la nature duChemin es t qu ' i l ne peut s ' appuyer sur un hui t ieme corps duKam ad h a t u . I f t h e r e we r e n o aryadharma from this putat ivee igh th reb i r th onwards , t hen there wou ld be no satyadariana(beyond the f i rst?) , nor any aryaphalaprapti o r abhisamaya, a n daf t e r t he ach ievemen t oiaryatva on e would reve r t to prthagjanata.Since no ne of th is is t ru e , the re i s no e ighth reb i r th .

4. I f there were an e ighth reb i r th , one would outpass thetrailokya, gain arhatsamyaksambuddhadharmavinaya (?) exceedingthe number o f Ganges ' s sands and no longer be o f the Buddha ' scom pan y , ju s t as beyond the seven th deg re e o f k insh ip there a reno re l a t ions .5. At the t ime of tseng shang jen (duhkhanirodhagam inyampratipadi dharmanvayaksantih}), apar t f rom seven reb i r ths as devaa n d manusya in the Sp he re of Desire and on e reb i r th in each of thetwo upper spheres , one can ga in apratisamkhyanirodha in anyreb i r th . A dh ar m a sub jec ted to apratisamkhyanirodha no longermakes i t s appearance , hence on ly seven reb i r th s .6 . There a re on ly seven sthanas (ch'u jL ) in the Sph er e ofDesi re , v iz . , that o f humans {manusyaloka) and six of gods{devaloka), hence ' seven b i r ths ' means one in each .7. There are l imits to the force of the nine classes of kleia,hence only seven reb i r ths . (?)8. In the course of seven rebir ths one perfects the sevensambodhyangas ( l imbs of en l igh tenment) ; no more than seven arer e q u i r e d .1 89. In th e co urs e of seven reb ir th s on e perfects seven afrayani-yamas and seven dryamargas.1910. In the course of seven reb i r ths , one thoroughly counter acts seven anuiayas.20

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T h e n u m b er 7 is a maxim a l num be r ; t he re may be seven eacham o n g go ds and m en , o r t h e re may be une ven nu m ber s , i.e ., on e le ss inone sphere than in the o ther , anywhere f rom 6:7 or 7 :6 to 1 :2 or 2 :1 .Q, W here does the paripurnasrota'apattika (? yuan man yii liu'ifl % j$ >,)fulfi ll his seven r eb ir th s? Is i t am on g gods or me n th at he com pletes hiss e v e n t h r e b i r t h a n d e x p e r i e n c e s parinirvana}A. T h e r e is a conf lic t of theor ies .

1 . T h e bi r th in the cou rse of which on e a t ta ins srota apattiphalacounts as one of the seven. In other words, i f i t i s bi r th as a god,one s t i l l has to go through seven as a human, and vice versa.2 . The bi r th in ques t ion i s not reckoned in to the to ta l . A godmust come back for seven rebi r ths as a god, a man as a man.T h e first view is m istak en . (This is followed by ar gu m en ts in refutation.)Q . I f o n e fulf il ls th e seven reb ir ths in a Bu dd ha- less age, do es on ea t t a in arhattva as a (lay) ho us eh old er (grhastha)}A. A ga in, th e re is a confl ict of two views.

1. I t is im po ssible to attain to arhattva as a househo lde r .2. O n e may at t a in arhattva as a hou seh old er , then go on to jo i nthe O rd e r , for one m ay be a d i sc ip le of the Bu dd ha in te rms of theDharma (7 fa erh Fo ti tzu ii ft ff> $ \ , dharmato Buddhasisyah?) T h ecase is l ike that of the f ive hu n d re d rsis w ho cult iva ted the Path onMount Rigi l i , a t bot tom sravakas in a Budd ha- less ag e , wh o la terimi ta ted an ape tha t had appeared before them in the guise of adisc ip le of the Buddha. By imi ta t ing the ape , they a t ta ined topratyekabodhi,21 ' because , be ing adepts , they were not therec ipie nts o f the s igns of non -bel ieve rs ' . (This is followed by so m e

di scuss ion o f t r ansmigra t i on under t he t e rm liu chuan wang lai& * M * )There is more on the kulamkula in Abhidharmamahavibhasa 53

( T 2 7 . 2 7 4 b - 2 7 7 a ) . It is p a r a p h r a s e d b elo w .There are cases in which the fet ters (of sensat ion, not ion, const i

t u e n t s and cogn i t i on , vedanasamskaravijiianabandhanani}) are 'notunsevered ' , i . e . , those of the kulamkula, of the sakrddgamin and of theekavlcin.22 Between the one who seve r s t he sha rp-midd le de f i l ement samong those which , be long ing to t he Sphere o f Des i r e , a r e t o bee l im ina ted by rea l iza tion a nd th e on e who severs the s light def i l eme ntsof sensat ion, etc . , on the same level is found the kulamkula, who hassevered the f i rs t three or four on the level of the Sphere of Desire , as21


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well as the sensations, notion s, constituents and cognition that go withthem . In other w ords, the kulamkula rema ins subject to the rem ainingfive or six. T h e sakrdagamin severs six, is left with three. The ekavicinsevers seven or eight, is left with one o r two. This is the meaning o f 'notunsevered'.As to visible matter, the anagamin already free of attachmentthereto, free of its fetters on the fifth bhumi (i.e., on the lowest of thearupyas?), is also free of attach m ent to the third dhyana, but not to thefou rth. So it goes down to the third bhumi (the third dhyana?), wh ere theanagamin is free of attachm ent to the first dhyana, but not to the second.O ne free of th e fetters of visible m atter on the second bhumi (the seconddhyana?) is not yet free of the taints (jan % , meaning the obstacles,nivarana?) of the first dhyana.Q . If the sensations, etc., are severed, have the fetters thereof thereb ybeen removed?A. Both are true of the arhant with respect to sensations, etc.,rem ova ble w he the r by view or by realization in all thre e sph eres (thoseof Desire, of Form and of Formlessness).

2. T h e anagamin free of attachment to dkimcanyayatana (second-highest stage in the Sphere of Formlessness) is free of the fetters ofsensation, etc., on all levels. And so on down to the one not yet free ofattachment to the first dhyana, who is free of the fetters of sensation,etc., to be eliminated by view in all th ree sp here s and by realization onthe first bhumi (i.e., thefirstdhyana?).3. The one free of attachment to vijndndnantyayatana (the secondstage in the Sphere of Formlessness) but not to dkimcanyayatana is freealso of th e fette rs of sensation, etc., to be eliminated by view in all threespheres and by realization on the first seven bhumis (i.e., everythingfrom the first dhyana up to and including naivasamjn^ndsarnjndyatana orbhavagra).4. A nd so on dow n to the one who has not severed his attachm entto the first dhyana but who has severed the fetters of sensation, etc., tobe eliminated by view of all three spheres and by realization on thelowest bhumi (i.e., thefirstdhyana?).

5. T h e srota'dpanna and the sakrdagamin have severed the fetters ofsensation, etc., to be eliminated by view in all three spheres.6. T h e re are som e who have severed the fetters of sensation, etc.,bu t w ho still have n ot rid themselves of their fetters, viz., a. kulamkula,b. sakrdagamin, c. ekavicika. (The above is repea ted about their respectivelevels.) This is what is meant by 'having severed the fetters but being22


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not yet rid of them' (yi tuanjei li hsi & If ^ !Jl 4? chinndvltasamyojana'?).Q . W e ar e de a l in g with o ne who r ids h imsel f of on e de gr ee or two ofde f i lem en ts an d of th e sensa t ions , e tc . , tha t go wi th the m . Why is he notl isted under srotaapanna} Why s ingle out the kulamkula, sakrdagamina n d ekavicika who are not yet r id of their fet ters , whether they haves e v e r e d t h e m o r n o t ?A . W h e r e t h e srotaapanna is co nc ern ed , the s ta tem ent does not applyto t he sakalabandhana ( ' le saint qui n 'a pas coupe une des passions aco up er pa r le che m in m on d a i n ) , bu t it does app ly t o a ll t he o the r t h ree ,s ince th e for m er is no t necessar i ly dest ine d for destru ct ion of the saidpass ions (aniyatavinasabhimukhya}), while the lat ter are dest ined not todestroy them (niyatavinasabhimukhya?).Also, the srotaapanna, in the case of the severance of one or twoclasses of kle'sa (def i lement , a f f l i c t ion) , exper iences no in ter rupt ion byd e a t h a n d r e b i r t h (cyutyupapatti). One who has severed f ive classes ofde f i lem en ts is cal led ayogacarya; onc e he has at tained to srotdapattiphala,he makes a great effor t to el iminate his def i lements on the level of theSphere of Des i re , tha t a re to be e l iminated by rea l iza t ion, for he canh a v e n o cyutyupapatti before eliminating the major (?) class of defilements . I f he has severed f ive classes of def i lements , there can beabso lu t e ly no cyutyupapatti for him until he has severed the sixth class aswel l . S ince the three types , beginning wi th the kulamkula, invariablyh a v e cyutyupapatti, t hey a re ment ioned apa r t f rom the srota'apannaT h e kulamkula is one kind of srotaapanna, the ekavicika one kind ofsakrdagamin. There a r e two k inds o f kulamkula, those born in to twokulas and those born in to three . The former has severed the f i r s t fourc lasses of def i l em ents in the S ph ere of Des i re , an d h as the seeds of onlytwo lef t ; the lat ter , having severed the f i rs t three, has three lef t .Q . W hy is there no kulamkula w ho h as severed five classes of defileme nts?A. A n yo n e wh o has seve red five has autom atical ly severe d six, an d ist h e r e b y a sakrdagamin. T h e sixth class is weak an d can no t resis t th esakrdagamin, ju s t as a th in thr ea d i s not en ou gh to pul l an e lepha nt . T h eekavicika is on e w ho ha s severed seven or e ight

F o r t h e Kosa's posi t ion, cf . LVP 6.200,206.S a m g h a d e v a 's n e x t sloka reads as follows:W h e n s ix ar e com ple te , he is the one wh o once goes an d com es ,W hi le on e sep ara ted f rom e ight is sa id to be of On e Seed.W he n a ll n in e have been ann ih i l a ted , he is a n on - re tu rne r ,For he has al ready lef t the cesspool of desire .

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T h e c om m en ta ry is as follows: T h e First foot mea ns that up onex ha us t ion of six var ie t ies of def i leme nts , to wit , the thre e sh arp one san d the th re e m idd l ing ones , he is a sakrdagamin. To him are lef t oneb i r th above the heavens and one b i r th among men . When he has oncegone and come back , he shal l ach ieve parinin>ana. This is why he iscal led sakrdagamin. The second foot means that upon the exhaust ion ofeig ht v ariet ies he is an ekabijin. T o h im is left but on e bir th, which is whyhe is called ekabijin ( 'of one seed ' ) . The third foot means that upon theex ha us t io n o f all nine he is cal led anagamin. H e is cal led th at because hedoes not come back to the Sphere of Desi re . The reason i s that he i sf inal ly out of the cesspool (quagmire) of desire.N ar en dr ay as as has verses tha t say in effect the sam e thing as thoseof Sa m gh ad ev a, as well as a co m m en tary that begins and en ds v i r tuallythe sa m e way. His co m m en tary to the second foot , however , is d i f feren ten ou gh to me r i t separa t e t r ea tm en t . 'On e separa t ed f rom e ight is o fone seed ' he explains by say ing that 'one seed ' (ekam bijam) means theseed o f o n e b i r th (yi sheng chung tzu - *L # +, ekasya jater bijam?). 'Such aman has but one remain ing b i r th , whether among gods or among men. 'The last expression {jojenjo fieri % A $ & , representingmanusye.su vadevesu va?) is follow ed by the expression yi chung yi chung tzu -#-#!>w hic h, if not a copyist' s e rr o r , is tautological . Th e f irst yi has the variantr e a d i n g erh , ' two' , which may simply be a clumsy way of saying thatt h e r e a r e t wo kinds of r eb i r th , one among gods , one among men , erhchung- it s tanding for someth ing such as dvayor vidhyoh. If that is ther ead i n g t h en t h e yi chung tzu that fol lows begins the next sentence,wh ich re ad s , ' "O ne seed" me ans one seed amo ng men , one seed am ongg o d s . ' T h e n ex t se nte nc e is also a bi t op aq ue , for it read s huof'an nao ch'apieh mingyi chung tzu & *f 1% 1 l \ X - H h which 1 take to be a literal tran slation of som ething such as atha va klesavisesa ekalnjam ity ucyate, signifying,poss ib ly , that th er e is on e par t icu lar k ind of def i le m ent or, ra th er ,res idu e of defi lem ent called 'one seed ' . T ha t is fol lowed by som ethingeven more opaque: tang chih ssu-Vo-han kuo chan g sheng tao she't i'if\ vt^-f. f t d l #> wh ich may re pr es en t the fol lowing: srota'apatti-

p/ialenaryamiirgah samgrhyata itijfmtavyam. Aga in, if I am right, the text issaying what there seems to be no need to say , namely , that the srota-apanna belongs to the aiyamarga, i .e., that he is no longer of the world.As a l r eady s t a t ed , t he r emainder o f Narendrayasas ' s commentary i smore o r l ess the same as Samghadeva ' s .

Samghavarman, as a l ready ind icated , expresses the same idea int h r e e slokas, eac h fol lowed by i ts own co m m en tar y. T h e f irst read s thu s:24
http://manusye.su/http://manusye.su/http://manusye.su/


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would be born in the Sphe re of Form, which means that the karmakle'sasof the Sphere of Desire would definitely be an obstacle (to rebirth inthat sphere).25 T h e ekabijin is a supe rior sakrdagamin.The thi rd sloka reads as follows:O ne who has eliminated nine classes is a no n-re turn er.It is to be known that there are many kinds,W he the r five, or seven, or eight,W hile some say that they are m ore num erou s yet.T hi s leads to the topic of the anagamin pro pe r, a subject to which asepa rate study has been d evoted.

NOTES:

The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.1. Charles Willemen, The Essence o] Metaphysics. Bruxelles: Publications de 1'Institutdes Hau tes E tudes Bo udd hiqu es, se>ie "Etudes et Tex tes," 1975. In this translation, Mr.Willemen gives, and defends, Abhidharmahrdaya for the title and Dharmairi for theauthor 's name.

2. Willemen 71 (104) translates as follows: 'After the highest worldly dharma oneis certain to produce a patient acceptance of dharma. After the patient acceptance onepro du ces the know ledge. Both realize the lower suffering.' While Mr. Willemen's interpretation, at the beginning, makes more sense, my own is, I believe, defended by thethre e c om me ntaries, all of which gloss U'u :k with tz'u ti %.3. Narendrayasas and Satnghavarman mention that, by seeing the supreme

worldly dh arm as in the Sp here of Desire, one severs ten defilements {anusaya), to wit, a.the false view of a substantial personality {satkayadrsti), b. the views of the two ex tremes(antagrahadrsti, viz., those of th e impossibility of self-extrication from the worldly ro un d,sasvatavada, and of the denial of reincarnation, ucchedavada), c. the false view tha t one'sdee ds have n o bearing on on e's destiny {mithyadrsti), d. the equally false view that on e maypick and choose one's beliefs at will (dntiparamarsa), e. the no less false view that one mayattain to deliveranc e by th e religious practices and rituals of one's own choice (silavrata-paramar'sa), f. lust (for the unwholesome, raga)t g. malice (towards the wholesome,pratigha), h. delusion (as to the object of f. and g. moha), i. pride (as to one's own imaginedreligious attainment, mana), j . doubt (as to the validity of the Buddha's teachings,iiieikitsa). In this context, shih if ., usually kle'sa, here represents, rather, anusaya.

4. If this, indeed , is the m eaning of pu tso pu hsiangpu hsing % Vf T i7 %ft5. The word 'certainties' in the first sentence renders ting ' , which is, withoutmuch doubt, niyama or niyama. What this seems to mean is that, given a certain conditionin the laukikagtadharma, a certain fixed condition must also obtain with respect toduhkhadharmaksanti, and that there is no room for uncertainty or for any alternative.26


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T h e only an alo gu e I can f ind is in Abhidharmamahavibhasa 3 (T27.13c) , whoseconten ts might be pa raphrased as fo l lows : Laukikagradharma a n d duhkhadharmaksantihave four points a t which they coincide (ssu shih teng*9 f f, catasrah samutalff), na m e l y ,

a . Equal i ty of gr ou nd (ti teng*& f, bhumisamata}). By this is m ean t that , wha teverthe ground on which one a t t a ins duhkhadnarmakssanti that is a lso the gr ou nd on which o nea t t a i ne d laukikagraliarma.

b . Equality of base {ken ik teng, asrayasamatal). Whatever the base(s) connected(ksiang yingt8/., samprayukUi) with duhkhadharmaksanti, they are also the onesc onne c t e d w i t h laukikagradharma. ( I f on e wo nde rs what is the dif ference between bhumia n d asraya, i t i s more than poss ible that ken, here as e lsewhere , r epresen ts indriya aftera l l , but in the broader , ra ther than in the nar rower , sense . )

c. Hstng t-j- teng. He re , however , a s in the case of Sam gha bha dra , the contex t do esnot indicate the meaning of the f i r s t syl lable , a many-faceted word. The dif f icul ty isc o m po un de d by t he c om m e n t a r y , in w h ic h hsing hsiangtj iB'is used as a verb. Hsinghsiangis , to be sur e , use d in Hsi ian- tsa ng's t rans la t ions , but it se ldom is an exact equivalent for aSan skr i t t erm . T h e cases that I have been able to veri fy use the word to represe nt prakaraa n d dkara, r espec t ive ly . The meaning appear s to be the manner in whichbe ha ve s or ap pe ar s to beh ave . He re , how ever , it is bein g used as a verb, which m akes itdif f icul t to co ns tru e . May it possibly rep rese nt akarayati, used in the sense of marking orof charac te r iz ing an aspec t?

d. 'Equ ality of object ' (so yuan fij *$.teng, alambanasamata}) seems to me an that w hatwas the object (ching *, vtsaya) of one 's attentio n in the one case if l ikewise so in th e o th er .6. I am no t cer ta in of hav ing fully un de rs to od wh at has bee n rep hra sed above.T h e ' puzz l ing ' s t a tem ent i s end or se d by the Abhidharmako'sa. Cf. LVP 6.166.

7. M r . W il lemen refers to p. 84 of his own work, wh ere on e read s , T h e s e t hre ek n o w l e d g e s (dharmajnana, anvaya", samvrtijnana) comp r ise a ll knowledges . Am ong them ,kno wled ge of dh ar m a i s ca lled the pu re know ledge tha t t akes as i ts r ang e suf f e ring ,or iginat ion, cessat ion and the path within the realm of des ire . Because in i ts range oneex pe r ien ces for th e f ir st t ime the character is t ics of dh arm a, i t is cal led kno wled ge ofdharma. ' I have taken some l iber t ies with Mr . Wil lemen's Engl ish, which is occas ional lyless than i t should be .

8. Chiieh ttng>* almost cer ta inly s tands for niyama o r niyama. Cf. LVP 6.180. If Iha ve und e r s t o od c o r r ec t ly , niyama is nirvana, while niyama is the qua lity of hav ing ntnianaas one ' s sole object . LVP has , in the notes to 6.180-3, a great deal of addi t ionalinformat ion inc luding mate r ia l on niyama niyama nyamu, a word of obviously uncer ta inetymology tht has given r ise to much fanciful speculat ion.

9 . T h e avarabhagiyasamyojanani are the mis taken view of a substant ia l personal i ty(satkayadrsti), the mis taken view that the re l igious observances of one ' s own choice(Brah ma nica l on es a r e mea nt ) w ill cond uce to sa lva tion (silavrataparhmana), do ubt as tothe va l id i ty of the Buddha ' s Doc t r ine (vicikitsa), lus tful a t tachment to the Sphere ofDesire (specif ically sexual desire, kamacchanda) and malice (vyapada).

10 . T h e ch ief dif ficulty is tha t one is her e deal in g with the s ixteenth abhtsamaya, bywhich t ime the dar'sanamarga has presumably been lef t behind. That , a t leas t , i s theposi t ion of the Ko'sa, a posi t ion with which the presen t text ap pe ars to disagre e . T h e ninecategor ies of bonds , ment ioned above on a l l levels , that of the Sphere of Desire , of thefour dhymias and of the four ariipyas.27


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11. Best explained in LVP 4.3 sq., no. 2: "Lorsqu'un homme ordonne unassassinat, il n'accomplit pas le geste par lequel le meurtre est perpetre; 1'ordre qu'ildo nn e est seulement u n preparatif de m eur tre; il n'est pas coupable de "l'informationcorporelle de meurtre". Mais, (4) au moment oil meurt l'assassine, une "non-information" d e m eu rtre nait en lui: il est, de ce fait, coupable de m eu rtre. ' 'Non-inform ation' isLVP's equivalent for ainjnapti.

12. Th is refers to a distribution of the ten basic anulayas among the Three Spheres.The ten are a) satkaydrsti, th e view either that the death of the body is all-final, i.e., a denialof reincarnation, or that a termination of reincarnation is impossible, i.e., a denial ofnirtwia, c) mithyadnti, 'false view' specifically the view that the m oral (or imm oral) qualityof one's acts will have no effect on one's next incarnation, d) drstiparamar'sa, the notionthat on e may have what views one pleases, with no significant effects, d) iifoinatapharamarsa,arbitrary choice of disciplinary codes and of vows, specifically of Brahmanical vows andpractices, with a mistaken belief in their efficacy, f) raga, desire for the unwholesome,g) dvesa, abh orren ce of the wholesome, h) moha, inability to distinguish between the two,i) mana, pr ide, specifically the false ascription to oneself of specific deg rees of enligh tenm ent and /or saintliness, j) viakitm, doubt as to the truth of the Bu ddh a's teachings. In theSp he re of D esire, all alike have to do with the First Noble Tru th (10); all but a), b) and d)with the Second (7) and Th ird (7); all but a) and b) with the Fourth (8). In the two up perspheres the situation is the same, except for the total absence of g). Th us, in the Sphere ofDesire one has 32, in the Sphere of Form 28 and in the Sphere of Formlessness 28,yielding a total of 88.13. Anagamya, as already indicated, is the stage prepa ratory to the First Dhyana.in the context, srotaapattiphala can refer only to "pratipatti, while 'dwells . . . ' refers to thephala itself.Anagamya is my rendition of wei chi hsing $ $


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{prasrabdh?, ch'ing anH #) , f . concentra t ion (samadhf, ting . ) , g . equanimi ty (upeksa-sambodhyahga, s/ie chueh chih ft % ).

19 . I t is imposs ible to say wh eth er ch'iyi ting -t # t fk, trai


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(ama)', interpreting niyama as if it were niramo, i.e., ni + r'ama. For more on this somewhatpuzzling w ord, cf. n. 8 and the literature cited the re. Th e same comm ent applies to theparagraph bestriding pp. 17 and 18. N. 8 mentions chiieh ting, a mo re rational equivalentof niyama (ttiyama, nyama). It is unlikely th at, at the time these translations were ma de, theChinese knew, or even suspected, that chiieh ting an d li sheng represented the sameoriginal. The whole expression refers to the attainment of certainty.

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Dharmaśrī on the Sixteen Degrees of Comprehension

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