A Different
Definition
159
B.
B.
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-1-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
?
VASUl-sAfOliU
? Abhidharmakosabhasyam Volume I
? Abhidharmakosabhasyam
of Vasubandhu
Volume I
Translated into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin
English Version by Leo M. Pruden
ASIAN HUMANITIES PRESS [An imprint of Jain Publishing Company]
Web Site -- www. jainpub. com
? ASIAN HUMANITIES PRESS
Asian Humanities Press offers to the specialist and the general reader alike the best in new translations of major works and significant original contributions to enhance our understanding of Asian religions, cultures and thought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
V asubandhu.
[AbhidharmakoSabhasya. English]
AbhidharmakoSabhasyam / [translated] by Louis de La Vallee Poussin; English
translation by Leo M. Pruden. -- Berkeley, Calif. : Asian Humanities Press, 1988- 1990.
4 v. ; 23 cm.
Translation of: Abhidharmako? abhasya. Includes bibliographies.
ISBN 0-89581-913-9 (set).
1. Vasubandhu. Abhidharmakosa.
2. Abhidharma.
I. La Vallee Poussin,
87-71231 AACR 2 MARC
Louis de, 1869-1938. BQ2682. E5P78 1988 294. 3'824? del 9
II. Title.
Copyright (R) 1991 by Asian Humanities Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of Asian Humanities Press except for brief passages quoted in a review.
? CONTENTS
A Brief Biography of Louis de La Valine Poussin xv Translator's Preface xxi
The Abhidharma:
The Origins, Growth and Development of a Literary Tradition
by Leo M. Pruden
1. Origin and Growth of Abhidharma xxx 2. Abhidhamma as "higher dhamma" xxxi 3. Abhidhamma alone xxxiii 4. Abhidhamma-kathd xxxv 5. Traditional Explanations of Abhidhamma xxxvi 6. Abhidharma in the Mahdvibhasd xxxvi 7. The Abhidhamma Pitaka xxxvii 8. The Mdtika xxxviii 9. Mdtika and Abhidharma xxxix
10. Abhidharma in the Agamas: the Religion of the Agamas xl 11. The Agamas and the Nikdyas xli 12. Abhidharmic Tendencies in Extant Agamas:
Numerical Categories, Samyuktas, and Vibhangas xlii
13. Sarvastivadin Agamas xliii
14. Samathadeva's Commentary xlv
15. Sarvastivadin Abhidharma Literature xlvi
16. Origin of the Abhidharma xlvi
17. The Second Period of Early Sarvastivadin Literature xlix 18. TheJnanaprasthdna li 19. The Vibhdsds lii 20. Development of the Literature After the Vibhdsds liii
21. The Abhidharma-hrdaya liii 22. The Abhidharmakosabhasyam liv 23. Sanskrit Remains of the Abhidharma lv
? 24. The Sanskrit Kosabhdsyam lvi 25. Translations of the Abhidharmakosabhdsyam lvii 26. Commentaries on the Abhidharmakosabhdsyam lvii 27. The Tibetan Kosabhdsyam lviii 28. Translations of the Kosabhdsyam and the F^/y/rf lix 29. Indexes to the Kosabhdsyam lix Footnotes lxii
Abhidharmakosabhasyam of Vasubandhu
by Louis de La Vallee Poussin
Introduction 1 I. Bibliography of the Kosa 7 A. Additions to the Bibliography, by Hurbert Durt 12
II. The Date of Vasubandhu. The Former Vasubandhu 13 III. The Seven Ginonical Treatises of the Abhidharma 17 A. TheJndnaprasthdna 17
B. The Prakarana of Vasumitra 20 C The Vijfidkdya 21 D. The Dharmaskandha 23 E. The Prajndptisdstra 24 F. The Dhdtukdya 27 G. The SamgUiparyaya 28
IV. Some Masters of the Vibhasa 28 A. Vasumitra 28 B. Ghosaka and the Abhidharmamrtasdstra 31 C Buddhadeva 32 D. Dharmabrdta 32 E. The Bhadanta Dharmatrdta 33
V. Some Schools of the Vibhasa 35 A. Ddastdnitkas and Sautrantikas 35 B. Vibhajyavadins 38 C Yogdcdrins 41
VI. The $ariputrdbhidharma 42 VIII. The Abhidharmasdra 44 Footnotes 49
? Chapter One: The Dhdtus
General Introduction
A. Homage to the Buddha
1. The Three Qualities of a Buddha B. Definition of Abhidharma
1. Absolute Sense of the Word
2. Conventional Sense of the Word C Definition of Abhidharmakosa
D. Purpose of the Abhidharma E. Authors of the Abhidharma
I. The Division of the Dharmas A. The Defiled Dharmas
B. The Undefiled Dharmas
C TheUnconditionedDharmas
1. Discussion of the Two Types of Disjunaion
2. Is Disjunaion Single or Multiple? D. ConditionedDharmas
1. Synonyms of "Conditioned" 2. Synonyms of "Defiled"
II. The Five Skandhas, the Twelve Ayatanas, and the Eighteen Dhdtus
A. RupaSkandha 1. Visible Matter 2. Sound
3. Taste
4. Odor
5. Tangible Things
B. The Relationship between the Five Consciousnesses
and the Five Visayas G Avijnaptirupa
D. TheFourPrimaryElements
E. The Definition of "Rupa"
F. The Ten Ayatanas and the Ten Dhdtus
G. The Vedand, Samjnd, and Samskdra Skandhas
55 55 55 56 56 56 57 57 58
58
59
59
59
59
59
61
61
62
63 63 64 65 66 66 66
66
67 68 70
72 72
? H. The Vijnana Skandha and the Mana Ayatana 14 I. The Seven Dhatus 74 J. The Manodhatu and the Eighteen Dhatus 75
The Threefold Classification of the Dharmas 16
A. The Threefold Classification of the Dharmas 16
B. The Nature of the Eighteen Dhatus 1(S
G The Definition of "Skandha," "Ayatana" and "Dhatu" 11
D. Their Provisional Existence 79
E. The Reason for the Threefold Classification 80
F. Distinctions between Vedana and Samjna 81
G. The Five Skandhas and the Unconditioned Dharmas 81
H. The Order of the Five Skandhas 82
I. The Order of the Ayatanas and Dhatus,
with Reference to the Six Indriyas 83
Some Problems Raised by the Threefold Classification 85
A. The Rupa Ayatana and the Dharma Ayatana 85
B. Inclusion in Other Skandhas, Ayatanas, and Dhatus 86
C The Eighty-four Thousand Dharmaskandhas 86
D. E.
F.
The Dimension of a Dharmaskandha 86 The Characteristics of the Skandhas and the
Threefold Classification 87 Vijnanadhdtu and Akasadhdtu 88
Classification of the Dharmas in the Eighteen Dhatus 90 A. Visible and Invisible Dharmas 90 B. Resistant and Non-Resistant Dharmas 90 C. Good, Bad, and Morally Neutral Dharmas 90 D. The Eighteen Dhatus and the Three Realms ? ? E. Pure and Impure Dhatus 95 F. Vitarka and Vicara 96 G. Vitarka, Vicara, and the Five Sense Consciousnesses 97
H. Discussions
1. How many Dhatus Serve as an Object? 98 2. How many are Non-Appropriated
to Living Beings? 98
? I. Primary and Derived Elements 99 J. Discussion
1. Can the Atoms be Accumulated? 101
2. How many of the Dhatus Cut or are Cut?
Burn or are Burned? Weight or are Weight? 102
3. How many of the Dhatus are vipdka?
Accumulations? Outflowings? 103
4. How many of the Dhatus are Real Substances? 105
5. How many of the Dhatus are Momentary? 105
K. Possession of a Dhatu versus a Vijndnadhatu 106 L. Internal and External Elements 107 M. Sabhdga and Tatsabhdga 108
N. HowaretheDhatusAbandoned? Ill O. How many of the Dhatus are "View? " 113
VI. Subsidiary Discussions 118
A. Are Visible Things Seen by One or Two Eyes? 118
B. Do the Indriyas and the Visayas Touch? 119
C. The Dimension of the Organs and their Visayas 122
D. Atoms within the Organs 123
E. Are Atoms Sabhdga or Tatsabhdga} 123
F. Time and the Support of the Consciousnesses 124
G. Why are the Organs, and not the Object,
the Support of the Consciousness? 125
H. How are the Different Consciousnesses Named? 125
I. The Body, the Organ of Sight, Visible Things,
and the Consciousness, and their Relationship
to the Different Bhumis 126
J. Which Dhatu is Discerned by Which Consciousness? 129
K. How many of the Dhatus are Eternal? 130
L. How many of the Dhatus are Indriyas? 130 131
? Chapter Two: The Indriyas
The Indriyas 153 A. Definition 153 1. Objection 155 B. General Explanation 155
The Twenty-two Indriyas 158
A. A Different Definition 159
B. The Organs of Sensation 160 1. The Saint 162
C Pure and Impure Indriyas 163
D.
A Different Definition 159
B. The Organs of Sensation 160 1. The Saint 162
C Pure and Impure Indriyas 163
D. Vipdka and Non-Vipdka Indriyas 165 Discussion: Prolonging and Shortening Life 166 Discussion: Jivita and Ayus 167
E. How Many Indriyas have Retribution 171
F. Their Moral Nature 171
G. The Indriyas id the Three Dhatus 172
H. Abandoning the Indriyas 173
I. How Many Indriyas are initially possessed
in each Dhatu? 174
J. How Many Indriyas perish at Death 176
K. Indriyas and the Stages of the Religious Life 177 1. The Quality of Arhat 179
L. Possessing the Indriyas 180
M. The Smallest Number of Indriyas 183
N. TheLargestNumberofIndriyas 183 Discussion: The Atom 184
The Mental States 188
A. Definition 189
B. The Mahdbhumikas 189
C The Kusakmahabhumikadharmas 190 Discussion: Prasrabdhi 191 Discussion: Equanimity 192 D. The Klesamahabhumikadharmas 193 1. A Different List 194
? 2. Is a Mahabhumika also Klesamahdbhwnikal 194 E. The Akusalamahabhumikadharmas 195 F. The Parittaklesikadharmas 196
G. The Number of Mental States that can Arise Together 196 H. Differences between Mental States 200 1. Disrespect versus Absence of Fear 200 2. Affection versus Respect 201
3. Vitarka versus Vkara 202
4. PrideversusPride-Intoxication 204 I. Synonyms 205
IV. Dharmas not Associated with the Mind 206
A. Definition 206
B. PraptiandAprapti 206
C TheTimePeriods 212
D. How is Prapti Abandoned? 213
E. Types of Aprapti 215
F. How does Aprapti Perish? 217
Discussion: Prapti and Anuprapti 217
G. Genre (Sabhdgatd) 219
H. The Dharma of Non-Consciousness 221 1. The Absorption of Non-Consciousness 223
I. The Absoption of Extinction 225
J. The Differences between the Two Absorptions 229 Discussion: How is a Mind produced after Absorption? 230
Discussion: Do the Two Absorptions exist as Real Substantial Entities? 232
K. The Vital Organ 233
Discussion: Warmth, Consciousness, and Life 233 Discussion: How does Death take place? 235 Discussion: Premature Death 235
L. Characteristics of Conditioned Dharmas 238 1. Primary and Secondary Characteristics 239 2. Arising 247
M. Words,Phrases,andandPhonemes 250 1. Voice 251
? N. Other Dharmas not Associated with the Mind 254
V. The Six Causes 254
A. General Comments 255
B. Reason for Existence 255
C Coexistent Cause 257
Discussion: The Sautrantikas Criticize the
Doctrine of Coexistent Causes 260
D. Similar Casuses 262 1. Definition 262 2. Objections 264 3. Similar Causes and the Path 267
E. Causes through Association 272
F. Universal Causes 273
G. Retributive Causes 274 1. Definition 275
2. Skandhas as Results 275
3. AyatanasasResults 276
H. The Time Periods 277
I. Causes and their Results 278 Discussion: Disconnection 280 Discussion: Are Unconditional Things Real Entities? 280 Discussion: Is Extinction or Nirvana Real? 281
J. The Five Results 286 1. Their Characteristics 288 2. The Time Periods 291
K. A Different List of Results 295
L. How Many Causes produce the Different Dharmas} 295
VI. The Four Conditions 296 A. General Comments 296 B. Equal and Immediately Antecedent Conditions 297 C Objects as Conditions 302 D. Predominating Conditions 303 E. The Time Periods 304 F. How Many Conditions Cause the Different Dharmas? 305
? Footnotes
326
Discussion: The Impossibility of a Single Cause 306
G. The Relationship between the Primary Elements
and Derived Matter 308
H. The Arising of Mind and Mental States 310 1. The Twelve Minds and the Three Dhatus 310 2. The Twenty Minds and the Three Dhatus 314 3. Acts of Attention 323
I. The Number of Mental States Acquired in
the Twelve Minds 323
? A Brief Biography of Louis de La Vallee Poussin
X-rfOuis de La Vallee Poussin, born in Li? ge on the 1st of January, 1869, was of French origin through his father's side of the family. His grandfather, Etienne- Pierre-Re'my de La Vallee Poussin, took part in the last Napoleonic campaigns and in 1832 was one of a group of French officers charged, under the direction of Marshall Girard, with the organization of the Belgian army at the request of King Leopold I. He married Marie-Therese de Cauwer in Namur, with whom he had four sons. The second, Gustave, was born in La Rochelle in 1829 and died in Paris in 1910; he married Pauline de Monge de Franeau, who was born in Liege in 1845. The eldest of the four children born of this marriage was Louis de La Vallee Poussin.
Orphaned from his mother at the age of 7, Louis, as well as his two brothers and his sister, were raised in Liege by his maternal grandparents. He was an outstanding student at the College Saint-Servain, in Liege, and in 1884 he entered the University of Liege where, four years later, he received the docteur en philosophie et lettres. His reading of Charles Lyall's Asiatic Studies awakened in him a desire to pursue Oriental studies, and it was at Louvain, under the direction of Charles de Harlez and Philippe Colinet, that he learned the elements of Sanskrit, Pali, and Avestan. He then went to Paris where he enrolled, from 1890 to 1893, at the Sorbonne and in the courses of Sylvain Levi at the Ecole pratique des Hautes-Etudes.
In 1892 he published a timid essay, a translation of Buddhist tales, in collaboration with Godefroy de Blonay. But as early as this same year there appeared in Museon an academic study, Le Bodhicaryavatdra de fantideva, a first indication of his tendency to research "the Saint and Sanctity in Buddhism" which marks all of his work; a first stage in this enormous task of investigating this theme pursued throughout the various Buddhist schools and the canons of scriptures.
In 1893-1894, he studied Buddhist Sanskrit and Sanskrit poetical meter "at the feet" of the great Orientalist H. Kern.
At the beginning of his activities as a Sanskrist, Louis de La Vallee Poussin was attracted by the curious and still unexplored doctrines of Tantrism. His Note sur le Pancakrama (1894) as well as his edition of this text (1896), "an authoritative summary of the nihilistic doctrines of Nagarjuna" and Une pratique des Tantras (1897) prepared the way for his first great work which is already the work of a master: Bouddhisme, Etudes et Materiaux, published by the Royal Academy of
? xvi A Brief Biography of Louis de La Vallee Poussin
Belgium (1898). This is a capital work which studies, with the method of an accomplished scholar, the relationship between Indian asceticism and the left- handed rituals. In spite of the tact and finesse with which he treated this topic, the subject let loose the righteous indignation of the great Rapson who, in a long review article, protested with severity against this exposure of "the Tantric infection". This English scholar, imbued with the theories current in his period-- theories which have not yet completely disappeared--would consider that Buddhism is only a pure philosophic system, whose only true literature are the words of the Buddha, and he openly manifested his dislike for such a subject of study as Tantrism. His criticism must have been cruelly felt by the young scholar since he did not hesitate to justify himself publically. He showed in fact, in his Tantras, that for Rapson Buddhism is only the doctrine preached by Sakyamuni, whereas for him Buddhism is the general state of beliefs which have condensed around the name of the Buddha. The Tantras are the inheritors of all the forms of Indian religions and their study is necessary to that which de La Vallee Poussin called Buddhism.
One would have thought that after this lively reaction against formalism, his works on the manifestations of popular Buddhism would have continued to occupy a large place in the activity of the young master, but he did nothing more with respect to Tantrism, with the exception of a study published in 1901, The Four Classes of Buddhist Tantras, the documents of this type, a new and living sphere of study, no longer formed the object of his publications. Following upon this excursion into the Indian jungle if badly viewed by traditionalist scholars, Louis de La Vall6e Poussin returned to monastic Buddhism, never to leave it.
It was then, in full possession of Tibetan, he did not hesitate--at more than forty years of age--to also learn Chinese. He continued the editing of enormous scholastic texts: Prajndkdramati, Santideva's commentary on the Bodhicarydvatdra (1901-1905, 605 pages) of which he published the annotated translation; an edition of the Tibetan translation of the Mddhyamakdvatdra of Candraklrti (1907-1912, 427 pages); and the Mulamddhyamakakdrikd of Nagarjuna with the commentary of CandrakBrti (1903-1913,658 pages). Taking refuge in Gimbridge during the war of 1914, he edited the Mahdniddesa (in collaboration with E. J. Thomas) and the third chapter of the Abhidharmakosa of Vasubandhu (1914-1918, 368 pages).
In mentioning these voluminous editions which come to a total of hundreds of pages, we do not pretend to evaluate his work in terms of its weight. But these figures are eloquent for anyone who has edited with the same scruples as has Louis de La Vallee Poussin, if not with the same mastery, only several pages of
? A Brief Biography of Louis de La Vallee Poussin xvii
Sanskrit text for which one must always have recourse to the Tibetan and Chinese versions. These enormous works would suffise to fill several lives and yet how much research has sprung out of his work, and how much has been enriched by it! Such are the over fifty articles in Hastings' Dictionary of Religion and Ethics, his studies on the doctrine of Karman (La negation de Vame et la doctrine de VActe, 1902), on the concatenation of the Twelve Causes (La theorie des Douze Causes, 1913), on the Three Bodies (The three bodies of a Buddha, 1906; Note sur les Corps du Buddha, 1913); and his constructions of the theory of Nirvana. All of the presentations of dogma that he developed, and by the approval that they received as well as by the reactions that they generated, have brought about the progress of Buddhist exegetical and philosophical studies up to the point where we find it today, that is, based on texts scrupulously established and patiently collated.
In the course of his long career filled with immense labor, the curiosity of Louis de La Vallee Pousin was brought to bear on all of the forms of Buddhism and on the principal aspects of Indian civilization, but the subject to which he returned most spontaneously in conversation and in his writings was Buddhist philosophy, or more precisely Buddhist scholasticism. Whereas Western phi- losophy is always more or less systematic, Indian scholasticism strives less to combine and to construct, than to set up an evaluation of the mind and of the universe by defining, enumerating, and classifying concepts. Louis de La Vallee Poussin found in this a field of study conforming to his spontaneous and to his well considered aspirations, for never was there a mind less systematic. This charaaeristic manifested itself not only in his choice of subjeas but in his research and in the manner in which he presented the results of this research. One of his most important works, Bouddhisme, has the subtitle Opinions surVhistoire de la dogmatique ('Opinions on the History of Dogma"). He recalls in the Introduaion
(p. xii) that, according to the Buddha, the ignorant "recognize only a part of things and imprudently judge the whole". He always applied all of his efforts in seeing the different aspects of doctrines. For him, Buddhist ethics is not a collection of principles which direct the conduct of humans, but adapts them to the social milieu and evolve in parallel fashion to this milieu. He presents it rather as a jurisprudence, as a seleaion of prohibitions.
One of the most useful books that he wrote, L'lnde au temps des Mauryas, is above all a presentation of contradictory thesis in which modern erudition appears to be swallowed up: he however always maintains an equilibrium, a lucidity, an admirable patience, and facts which in another author would appear fastidious, taking under his pen taking on color, relief, and the intensity of life. "A book to be
? xviii A Brief Biography of Louis de La, VaMe Poussin
written"'one has said of this work. In fact, no literary anxiety if not that of clarity appeared in this work; precise facts, indisputable documents and their interpreta- tion are also extricated from any artificial bonds that the author judged detrimental to the pure instruments of his work.
The desire to see the opposite aspects of problems never left him. One day he said to one of us who complimented him on one of his books, "There are some footnotes at the bottom of the pages which contradict the text. . . " He had us understand by this willfully paradoxical remark that he had chosen to place in this work opposing points of view, one after the other. From this we can see that he had a sometimes surprising method of expressing his ideas: he would advance in zigzags. He proceeded often through juxtaposed remarks. His style never brought about a change in the cohesion or in the unity of his thought. He did not seek to create any illusion either for the reader or for himself. Probity and sincerity were his masterful qualities, and he had a small bit of affectation to his sincerity.
But no one was less dogmatic than this specialist in dogmas. Very frequently at our pleasure, he would avoid anything that in a conversation, be it broached and directed by the speaker in a scientific direction, would appear to be tinged with pedantry, anything that would lead one to believe that he took himself seriously. The same worry is found in the numerous letters addressed to one of us where the serious answer solicited is bracketed with sudden changes having an irresistible comic effect. This attitude on several occasions led one to suppose that his religious convictions led him to mistake the various thesis that he presented. Was it not rather, himself whom he judged unworthy of attention? Better than elsewhere his character appeared in the numerous and valuable review articles which marked his work on Buddhism that appeared during almost a half century. Reviews, criticisms, controversies, are proposed and maintained in a fine, perceptive, and infinitely courteous manner. The well-chosen word takes the place of a long phrase; it is often unforeseen if not unforeseeable, but always precise.
One might ask if his aversion with respect to a systematic spirit did not come from that which, being ultimately impassioned, he mistrusted himself more than any other of the bonds of this passioa In politics and in religion, as in his relationship with his friends and those close to him, he was also so distant that one could say that he was the very soul of indifference and of lukewarmness. His sensibility explains the role that the criticism of his peers played in his academic career. And those that were acquainted with him know that the clash of ideas which followed the war of 1914 echoed sadly in his conscious and doubtlessly contributed to the ruin of his health by causing him to lose any peace he may have enjoyed.
? A Brief Biography of Louis de La ValUe Ponssin xix
After many years we saw him decline physically at a slow but unchanging pace; he became more and more thin and frail. And yet up to his last moments he maintained a fine and lucid mind and his scientific activity. He concluded the publication of two monumental works of scholarship: the Siddhi of Hsiian-tsang, and the Abhidharmakoia of Vasubandhu; he supervised the editing of the Melanges chinois et bouddhiques to which he abundantly contributed; our Bibliographie bouddhique which he supported and sustained from its beginnings was always the object of his attentions. In the summer of 1936, he explained to one of us, in order to gain us over to his project, his last academic project the enormity of which did not alarm him: to establish an index of Buddhism which would be at one and the same time both literary and archaeological. One year later, in Switzerland, he pointed out with serenity to this same visitor that he had no more than a few weeks to live. Six months later, he would have reached the age of 69.
At the present, our duty is to contribute to the better knowledge and to the utilization of his work. As soon as circumstances permit, we shall publish in the Bibliographie bouddhique his analytic bibliography which is now finally ready. Our Master himself had the aid of one of us in completing it, but on the condition that he not see it published.
Marcelle Lalou Jean Przyluski
? TRANSLATORS PREFACE
he Sanskrit word "Abhidharma" means the systematic philosophy Tof Buddhism. From the time of the Buddha onward, the Buddha's disciples, and many later generations of his followers studied, analyzed,
and re-classified the teachings of the Buddha, and in the process created a unique field of study which has come to be known as the Abhidharma. The development of Buddhist philosophy,--the Abhidharma--has continued to be developed up to the present day, especially within the field of Tibetan Buddhism.
The early part of this Abhidharma literature,--dating from the death of the Buddha to approximately the 5th century A. D. --is today preserved in Chinese translations, translations carried out largely by Hsuan-tsang in the mid-7th century; and the bulk of the later Abhidharma literature--dating from the 5th to the 12th century--is largely preserved in Tibetan translation. Only a small but important portion of this literature has been preserved in its original Sanskrit: Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosabhdsyam, and its commentary, Yasomitra's Vydkhyd. The student of the Abhidharma is therefore obliged to develop a reading ability in Buddhist Chinese, Tibetan, and of course, Sanskrit and Pali.
A significant Abhidhamma literature exists in the Pali language, a very close
dialect of Sanskrit (the word "Abhidharma" is Sanskrit, the word "Abhidhamma" is
Pali). In this Pali tradition of Theravada Buddhism (the predominant form of
Buddhism in Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia), the Abhidhamma
forms one of the Baskets (Pali: Pitaka) of canonical Buddhist scriptures, and so
assumes the role of canonical authority. Even though the Pali Canon, the Tipitaka,
was closed at the Third Council of the Theravadins held in approximately 237 B. C,
Abhidhamma works continued to be composed after this date, although with less
frequency. Theravadin scholar-monks continued to study the Abhidhamma, and
this tradition gave rise to a subcommentarial literature composed in both Pali and
the regional languages of South and Southeast Asia (Singhalese, Burmese, Thai,
etc. ). Much of this later, post-canonical Pali Abhidhamma literature remains
l
unpublished, and almost all of it remains untranslated into any Western language. So too only a small portion of the Sanskrit language Abhidharma literature exists in English translation, although at the present time slightly more exists in
French.
Although English language materials for the study of the Abhidharma
literature are quite limited,--especially when viewed in comparison with the bulk of the extant literature of this tradition,--there are some excellent books which may be read with profit by the beginning student of Buddhist philosophy.
? xxii Translator's Preface
The student would do well to read the excellent essay by Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche, Glimpses of the Abhidharma (Boulder, Prajna Press, 1978) which distills the essential message of Buddhist scholasticism and demonstrates the importance of the Abhidharma to the sddhaka of the still vital Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Another excellent work of great benefit to the student of Abhidharma is Prof. Herbert V. Guenther's Psychology and Philosophy in the Abhidharma (New Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1st edition, 1970, and many subsequent editions) which gives the author's presentation and analysis of the content of both the Northern or Sanskrit Abhidharma tradition with that of its Southern or Pali cousin.
***
It may not be out of place here to say a few words, by way of a niddna, concerning my involvement with the Abhidharmakosabhasyam.
In the years 1964 to 19661 was enrolled in Tokyo University, in the Department
2 of Indian and Buddhist Studies, where I studied the text of Gyonen's Risshu-koyo
under the direction of Prof. Akira Hirakawa. After I had finished my studies on this
text, I asked Prof. Hirakawa what he would recommend I study next. He asked me if
I wanted to continue with Vinaya studies,--Prof.
? Abhidharmakosabhasyam Volume I
? Abhidharmakosabhasyam
of Vasubandhu
Volume I
Translated into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin
English Version by Leo M. Pruden
ASIAN HUMANITIES PRESS [An imprint of Jain Publishing Company]
Web Site -- www. jainpub. com
? ASIAN HUMANITIES PRESS
Asian Humanities Press offers to the specialist and the general reader alike the best in new translations of major works and significant original contributions to enhance our understanding of Asian religions, cultures and thought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
V asubandhu.
[AbhidharmakoSabhasya. English]
AbhidharmakoSabhasyam / [translated] by Louis de La Vallee Poussin; English
translation by Leo M. Pruden. -- Berkeley, Calif. : Asian Humanities Press, 1988- 1990.
4 v. ; 23 cm.
Translation of: Abhidharmako? abhasya. Includes bibliographies.
ISBN 0-89581-913-9 (set).
1. Vasubandhu. Abhidharmakosa.
2. Abhidharma.
I. La Vallee Poussin,
87-71231 AACR 2 MARC
Louis de, 1869-1938. BQ2682. E5P78 1988 294. 3'824? del 9
II. Title.
Copyright (R) 1991 by Asian Humanities Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of Asian Humanities Press except for brief passages quoted in a review.
? CONTENTS
A Brief Biography of Louis de La Valine Poussin xv Translator's Preface xxi
The Abhidharma:
The Origins, Growth and Development of a Literary Tradition
by Leo M. Pruden
1. Origin and Growth of Abhidharma xxx 2. Abhidhamma as "higher dhamma" xxxi 3. Abhidhamma alone xxxiii 4. Abhidhamma-kathd xxxv 5. Traditional Explanations of Abhidhamma xxxvi 6. Abhidharma in the Mahdvibhasd xxxvi 7. The Abhidhamma Pitaka xxxvii 8. The Mdtika xxxviii 9. Mdtika and Abhidharma xxxix
10. Abhidharma in the Agamas: the Religion of the Agamas xl 11. The Agamas and the Nikdyas xli 12. Abhidharmic Tendencies in Extant Agamas:
Numerical Categories, Samyuktas, and Vibhangas xlii
13. Sarvastivadin Agamas xliii
14. Samathadeva's Commentary xlv
15. Sarvastivadin Abhidharma Literature xlvi
16. Origin of the Abhidharma xlvi
17. The Second Period of Early Sarvastivadin Literature xlix 18. TheJnanaprasthdna li 19. The Vibhdsds lii 20. Development of the Literature After the Vibhdsds liii
21. The Abhidharma-hrdaya liii 22. The Abhidharmakosabhasyam liv 23. Sanskrit Remains of the Abhidharma lv
? 24. The Sanskrit Kosabhdsyam lvi 25. Translations of the Abhidharmakosabhdsyam lvii 26. Commentaries on the Abhidharmakosabhdsyam lvii 27. The Tibetan Kosabhdsyam lviii 28. Translations of the Kosabhdsyam and the F^/y/rf lix 29. Indexes to the Kosabhdsyam lix Footnotes lxii
Abhidharmakosabhasyam of Vasubandhu
by Louis de La Vallee Poussin
Introduction 1 I. Bibliography of the Kosa 7 A. Additions to the Bibliography, by Hurbert Durt 12
II. The Date of Vasubandhu. The Former Vasubandhu 13 III. The Seven Ginonical Treatises of the Abhidharma 17 A. TheJndnaprasthdna 17
B. The Prakarana of Vasumitra 20 C The Vijfidkdya 21 D. The Dharmaskandha 23 E. The Prajndptisdstra 24 F. The Dhdtukdya 27 G. The SamgUiparyaya 28
IV. Some Masters of the Vibhasa 28 A. Vasumitra 28 B. Ghosaka and the Abhidharmamrtasdstra 31 C Buddhadeva 32 D. Dharmabrdta 32 E. The Bhadanta Dharmatrdta 33
V. Some Schools of the Vibhasa 35 A. Ddastdnitkas and Sautrantikas 35 B. Vibhajyavadins 38 C Yogdcdrins 41
VI. The $ariputrdbhidharma 42 VIII. The Abhidharmasdra 44 Footnotes 49
? Chapter One: The Dhdtus
General Introduction
A. Homage to the Buddha
1. The Three Qualities of a Buddha B. Definition of Abhidharma
1. Absolute Sense of the Word
2. Conventional Sense of the Word C Definition of Abhidharmakosa
D. Purpose of the Abhidharma E. Authors of the Abhidharma
I. The Division of the Dharmas A. The Defiled Dharmas
B. The Undefiled Dharmas
C TheUnconditionedDharmas
1. Discussion of the Two Types of Disjunaion
2. Is Disjunaion Single or Multiple? D. ConditionedDharmas
1. Synonyms of "Conditioned" 2. Synonyms of "Defiled"
II. The Five Skandhas, the Twelve Ayatanas, and the Eighteen Dhdtus
A. RupaSkandha 1. Visible Matter 2. Sound
3. Taste
4. Odor
5. Tangible Things
B. The Relationship between the Five Consciousnesses
and the Five Visayas G Avijnaptirupa
D. TheFourPrimaryElements
E. The Definition of "Rupa"
F. The Ten Ayatanas and the Ten Dhdtus
G. The Vedand, Samjnd, and Samskdra Skandhas
55 55 55 56 56 56 57 57 58
58
59
59
59
59
59
61
61
62
63 63 64 65 66 66 66
66
67 68 70
72 72
? H. The Vijnana Skandha and the Mana Ayatana 14 I. The Seven Dhatus 74 J. The Manodhatu and the Eighteen Dhatus 75
The Threefold Classification of the Dharmas 16
A. The Threefold Classification of the Dharmas 16
B. The Nature of the Eighteen Dhatus 1(S
G The Definition of "Skandha," "Ayatana" and "Dhatu" 11
D. Their Provisional Existence 79
E. The Reason for the Threefold Classification 80
F. Distinctions between Vedana and Samjna 81
G. The Five Skandhas and the Unconditioned Dharmas 81
H. The Order of the Five Skandhas 82
I. The Order of the Ayatanas and Dhatus,
with Reference to the Six Indriyas 83
Some Problems Raised by the Threefold Classification 85
A. The Rupa Ayatana and the Dharma Ayatana 85
B. Inclusion in Other Skandhas, Ayatanas, and Dhatus 86
C The Eighty-four Thousand Dharmaskandhas 86
D. E.
F.
The Dimension of a Dharmaskandha 86 The Characteristics of the Skandhas and the
Threefold Classification 87 Vijnanadhdtu and Akasadhdtu 88
Classification of the Dharmas in the Eighteen Dhatus 90 A. Visible and Invisible Dharmas 90 B. Resistant and Non-Resistant Dharmas 90 C. Good, Bad, and Morally Neutral Dharmas 90 D. The Eighteen Dhatus and the Three Realms ? ? E. Pure and Impure Dhatus 95 F. Vitarka and Vicara 96 G. Vitarka, Vicara, and the Five Sense Consciousnesses 97
H. Discussions
1. How many Dhatus Serve as an Object? 98 2. How many are Non-Appropriated
to Living Beings? 98
? I. Primary and Derived Elements 99 J. Discussion
1. Can the Atoms be Accumulated? 101
2. How many of the Dhatus Cut or are Cut?
Burn or are Burned? Weight or are Weight? 102
3. How many of the Dhatus are vipdka?
Accumulations? Outflowings? 103
4. How many of the Dhatus are Real Substances? 105
5. How many of the Dhatus are Momentary? 105
K. Possession of a Dhatu versus a Vijndnadhatu 106 L. Internal and External Elements 107 M. Sabhdga and Tatsabhdga 108
N. HowaretheDhatusAbandoned? Ill O. How many of the Dhatus are "View? " 113
VI. Subsidiary Discussions 118
A. Are Visible Things Seen by One or Two Eyes? 118
B. Do the Indriyas and the Visayas Touch? 119
C. The Dimension of the Organs and their Visayas 122
D. Atoms within the Organs 123
E. Are Atoms Sabhdga or Tatsabhdga} 123
F. Time and the Support of the Consciousnesses 124
G. Why are the Organs, and not the Object,
the Support of the Consciousness? 125
H. How are the Different Consciousnesses Named? 125
I. The Body, the Organ of Sight, Visible Things,
and the Consciousness, and their Relationship
to the Different Bhumis 126
J. Which Dhatu is Discerned by Which Consciousness? 129
K. How many of the Dhatus are Eternal? 130
L. How many of the Dhatus are Indriyas? 130 131
? Chapter Two: The Indriyas
The Indriyas 153 A. Definition 153 1. Objection 155 B. General Explanation 155
The Twenty-two Indriyas 158
A. A Different Definition 159
B. The Organs of Sensation 160 1. The Saint 162
C Pure and Impure Indriyas 163
D.
A Different Definition 159
B. The Organs of Sensation 160 1. The Saint 162
C Pure and Impure Indriyas 163
D. Vipdka and Non-Vipdka Indriyas 165 Discussion: Prolonging and Shortening Life 166 Discussion: Jivita and Ayus 167
E. How Many Indriyas have Retribution 171
F. Their Moral Nature 171
G. The Indriyas id the Three Dhatus 172
H. Abandoning the Indriyas 173
I. How Many Indriyas are initially possessed
in each Dhatu? 174
J. How Many Indriyas perish at Death 176
K. Indriyas and the Stages of the Religious Life 177 1. The Quality of Arhat 179
L. Possessing the Indriyas 180
M. The Smallest Number of Indriyas 183
N. TheLargestNumberofIndriyas 183 Discussion: The Atom 184
The Mental States 188
A. Definition 189
B. The Mahdbhumikas 189
C The Kusakmahabhumikadharmas 190 Discussion: Prasrabdhi 191 Discussion: Equanimity 192 D. The Klesamahabhumikadharmas 193 1. A Different List 194
? 2. Is a Mahabhumika also Klesamahdbhwnikal 194 E. The Akusalamahabhumikadharmas 195 F. The Parittaklesikadharmas 196
G. The Number of Mental States that can Arise Together 196 H. Differences between Mental States 200 1. Disrespect versus Absence of Fear 200 2. Affection versus Respect 201
3. Vitarka versus Vkara 202
4. PrideversusPride-Intoxication 204 I. Synonyms 205
IV. Dharmas not Associated with the Mind 206
A. Definition 206
B. PraptiandAprapti 206
C TheTimePeriods 212
D. How is Prapti Abandoned? 213
E. Types of Aprapti 215
F. How does Aprapti Perish? 217
Discussion: Prapti and Anuprapti 217
G. Genre (Sabhdgatd) 219
H. The Dharma of Non-Consciousness 221 1. The Absorption of Non-Consciousness 223
I. The Absoption of Extinction 225
J. The Differences between the Two Absorptions 229 Discussion: How is a Mind produced after Absorption? 230
Discussion: Do the Two Absorptions exist as Real Substantial Entities? 232
K. The Vital Organ 233
Discussion: Warmth, Consciousness, and Life 233 Discussion: How does Death take place? 235 Discussion: Premature Death 235
L. Characteristics of Conditioned Dharmas 238 1. Primary and Secondary Characteristics 239 2. Arising 247
M. Words,Phrases,andandPhonemes 250 1. Voice 251
? N. Other Dharmas not Associated with the Mind 254
V. The Six Causes 254
A. General Comments 255
B. Reason for Existence 255
C Coexistent Cause 257
Discussion: The Sautrantikas Criticize the
Doctrine of Coexistent Causes 260
D. Similar Casuses 262 1. Definition 262 2. Objections 264 3. Similar Causes and the Path 267
E. Causes through Association 272
F. Universal Causes 273
G. Retributive Causes 274 1. Definition 275
2. Skandhas as Results 275
3. AyatanasasResults 276
H. The Time Periods 277
I. Causes and their Results 278 Discussion: Disconnection 280 Discussion: Are Unconditional Things Real Entities? 280 Discussion: Is Extinction or Nirvana Real? 281
J. The Five Results 286 1. Their Characteristics 288 2. The Time Periods 291
K. A Different List of Results 295
L. How Many Causes produce the Different Dharmas} 295
VI. The Four Conditions 296 A. General Comments 296 B. Equal and Immediately Antecedent Conditions 297 C Objects as Conditions 302 D. Predominating Conditions 303 E. The Time Periods 304 F. How Many Conditions Cause the Different Dharmas? 305
? Footnotes
326
Discussion: The Impossibility of a Single Cause 306
G. The Relationship between the Primary Elements
and Derived Matter 308
H. The Arising of Mind and Mental States 310 1. The Twelve Minds and the Three Dhatus 310 2. The Twenty Minds and the Three Dhatus 314 3. Acts of Attention 323
I. The Number of Mental States Acquired in
the Twelve Minds 323
? A Brief Biography of Louis de La Vallee Poussin
X-rfOuis de La Vallee Poussin, born in Li? ge on the 1st of January, 1869, was of French origin through his father's side of the family. His grandfather, Etienne- Pierre-Re'my de La Vallee Poussin, took part in the last Napoleonic campaigns and in 1832 was one of a group of French officers charged, under the direction of Marshall Girard, with the organization of the Belgian army at the request of King Leopold I. He married Marie-Therese de Cauwer in Namur, with whom he had four sons. The second, Gustave, was born in La Rochelle in 1829 and died in Paris in 1910; he married Pauline de Monge de Franeau, who was born in Liege in 1845. The eldest of the four children born of this marriage was Louis de La Vallee Poussin.
Orphaned from his mother at the age of 7, Louis, as well as his two brothers and his sister, were raised in Liege by his maternal grandparents. He was an outstanding student at the College Saint-Servain, in Liege, and in 1884 he entered the University of Liege where, four years later, he received the docteur en philosophie et lettres. His reading of Charles Lyall's Asiatic Studies awakened in him a desire to pursue Oriental studies, and it was at Louvain, under the direction of Charles de Harlez and Philippe Colinet, that he learned the elements of Sanskrit, Pali, and Avestan. He then went to Paris where he enrolled, from 1890 to 1893, at the Sorbonne and in the courses of Sylvain Levi at the Ecole pratique des Hautes-Etudes.
In 1892 he published a timid essay, a translation of Buddhist tales, in collaboration with Godefroy de Blonay. But as early as this same year there appeared in Museon an academic study, Le Bodhicaryavatdra de fantideva, a first indication of his tendency to research "the Saint and Sanctity in Buddhism" which marks all of his work; a first stage in this enormous task of investigating this theme pursued throughout the various Buddhist schools and the canons of scriptures.
In 1893-1894, he studied Buddhist Sanskrit and Sanskrit poetical meter "at the feet" of the great Orientalist H. Kern.
At the beginning of his activities as a Sanskrist, Louis de La Vallee Poussin was attracted by the curious and still unexplored doctrines of Tantrism. His Note sur le Pancakrama (1894) as well as his edition of this text (1896), "an authoritative summary of the nihilistic doctrines of Nagarjuna" and Une pratique des Tantras (1897) prepared the way for his first great work which is already the work of a master: Bouddhisme, Etudes et Materiaux, published by the Royal Academy of
? xvi A Brief Biography of Louis de La Vallee Poussin
Belgium (1898). This is a capital work which studies, with the method of an accomplished scholar, the relationship between Indian asceticism and the left- handed rituals. In spite of the tact and finesse with which he treated this topic, the subject let loose the righteous indignation of the great Rapson who, in a long review article, protested with severity against this exposure of "the Tantric infection". This English scholar, imbued with the theories current in his period-- theories which have not yet completely disappeared--would consider that Buddhism is only a pure philosophic system, whose only true literature are the words of the Buddha, and he openly manifested his dislike for such a subject of study as Tantrism. His criticism must have been cruelly felt by the young scholar since he did not hesitate to justify himself publically. He showed in fact, in his Tantras, that for Rapson Buddhism is only the doctrine preached by Sakyamuni, whereas for him Buddhism is the general state of beliefs which have condensed around the name of the Buddha. The Tantras are the inheritors of all the forms of Indian religions and their study is necessary to that which de La Vallee Poussin called Buddhism.
One would have thought that after this lively reaction against formalism, his works on the manifestations of popular Buddhism would have continued to occupy a large place in the activity of the young master, but he did nothing more with respect to Tantrism, with the exception of a study published in 1901, The Four Classes of Buddhist Tantras, the documents of this type, a new and living sphere of study, no longer formed the object of his publications. Following upon this excursion into the Indian jungle if badly viewed by traditionalist scholars, Louis de La Vall6e Poussin returned to monastic Buddhism, never to leave it.
It was then, in full possession of Tibetan, he did not hesitate--at more than forty years of age--to also learn Chinese. He continued the editing of enormous scholastic texts: Prajndkdramati, Santideva's commentary on the Bodhicarydvatdra (1901-1905, 605 pages) of which he published the annotated translation; an edition of the Tibetan translation of the Mddhyamakdvatdra of Candraklrti (1907-1912, 427 pages); and the Mulamddhyamakakdrikd of Nagarjuna with the commentary of CandrakBrti (1903-1913,658 pages). Taking refuge in Gimbridge during the war of 1914, he edited the Mahdniddesa (in collaboration with E. J. Thomas) and the third chapter of the Abhidharmakosa of Vasubandhu (1914-1918, 368 pages).
In mentioning these voluminous editions which come to a total of hundreds of pages, we do not pretend to evaluate his work in terms of its weight. But these figures are eloquent for anyone who has edited with the same scruples as has Louis de La Vallee Poussin, if not with the same mastery, only several pages of
? A Brief Biography of Louis de La Vallee Poussin xvii
Sanskrit text for which one must always have recourse to the Tibetan and Chinese versions. These enormous works would suffise to fill several lives and yet how much research has sprung out of his work, and how much has been enriched by it! Such are the over fifty articles in Hastings' Dictionary of Religion and Ethics, his studies on the doctrine of Karman (La negation de Vame et la doctrine de VActe, 1902), on the concatenation of the Twelve Causes (La theorie des Douze Causes, 1913), on the Three Bodies (The three bodies of a Buddha, 1906; Note sur les Corps du Buddha, 1913); and his constructions of the theory of Nirvana. All of the presentations of dogma that he developed, and by the approval that they received as well as by the reactions that they generated, have brought about the progress of Buddhist exegetical and philosophical studies up to the point where we find it today, that is, based on texts scrupulously established and patiently collated.
In the course of his long career filled with immense labor, the curiosity of Louis de La Vallee Pousin was brought to bear on all of the forms of Buddhism and on the principal aspects of Indian civilization, but the subject to which he returned most spontaneously in conversation and in his writings was Buddhist philosophy, or more precisely Buddhist scholasticism. Whereas Western phi- losophy is always more or less systematic, Indian scholasticism strives less to combine and to construct, than to set up an evaluation of the mind and of the universe by defining, enumerating, and classifying concepts. Louis de La Vallee Poussin found in this a field of study conforming to his spontaneous and to his well considered aspirations, for never was there a mind less systematic. This charaaeristic manifested itself not only in his choice of subjeas but in his research and in the manner in which he presented the results of this research. One of his most important works, Bouddhisme, has the subtitle Opinions surVhistoire de la dogmatique ('Opinions on the History of Dogma"). He recalls in the Introduaion
(p. xii) that, according to the Buddha, the ignorant "recognize only a part of things and imprudently judge the whole". He always applied all of his efforts in seeing the different aspects of doctrines. For him, Buddhist ethics is not a collection of principles which direct the conduct of humans, but adapts them to the social milieu and evolve in parallel fashion to this milieu. He presents it rather as a jurisprudence, as a seleaion of prohibitions.
One of the most useful books that he wrote, L'lnde au temps des Mauryas, is above all a presentation of contradictory thesis in which modern erudition appears to be swallowed up: he however always maintains an equilibrium, a lucidity, an admirable patience, and facts which in another author would appear fastidious, taking under his pen taking on color, relief, and the intensity of life. "A book to be
? xviii A Brief Biography of Louis de La, VaMe Poussin
written"'one has said of this work. In fact, no literary anxiety if not that of clarity appeared in this work; precise facts, indisputable documents and their interpreta- tion are also extricated from any artificial bonds that the author judged detrimental to the pure instruments of his work.
The desire to see the opposite aspects of problems never left him. One day he said to one of us who complimented him on one of his books, "There are some footnotes at the bottom of the pages which contradict the text. . . " He had us understand by this willfully paradoxical remark that he had chosen to place in this work opposing points of view, one after the other. From this we can see that he had a sometimes surprising method of expressing his ideas: he would advance in zigzags. He proceeded often through juxtaposed remarks. His style never brought about a change in the cohesion or in the unity of his thought. He did not seek to create any illusion either for the reader or for himself. Probity and sincerity were his masterful qualities, and he had a small bit of affectation to his sincerity.
But no one was less dogmatic than this specialist in dogmas. Very frequently at our pleasure, he would avoid anything that in a conversation, be it broached and directed by the speaker in a scientific direction, would appear to be tinged with pedantry, anything that would lead one to believe that he took himself seriously. The same worry is found in the numerous letters addressed to one of us where the serious answer solicited is bracketed with sudden changes having an irresistible comic effect. This attitude on several occasions led one to suppose that his religious convictions led him to mistake the various thesis that he presented. Was it not rather, himself whom he judged unworthy of attention? Better than elsewhere his character appeared in the numerous and valuable review articles which marked his work on Buddhism that appeared during almost a half century. Reviews, criticisms, controversies, are proposed and maintained in a fine, perceptive, and infinitely courteous manner. The well-chosen word takes the place of a long phrase; it is often unforeseen if not unforeseeable, but always precise.
One might ask if his aversion with respect to a systematic spirit did not come from that which, being ultimately impassioned, he mistrusted himself more than any other of the bonds of this passioa In politics and in religion, as in his relationship with his friends and those close to him, he was also so distant that one could say that he was the very soul of indifference and of lukewarmness. His sensibility explains the role that the criticism of his peers played in his academic career. And those that were acquainted with him know that the clash of ideas which followed the war of 1914 echoed sadly in his conscious and doubtlessly contributed to the ruin of his health by causing him to lose any peace he may have enjoyed.
? A Brief Biography of Louis de La ValUe Ponssin xix
After many years we saw him decline physically at a slow but unchanging pace; he became more and more thin and frail. And yet up to his last moments he maintained a fine and lucid mind and his scientific activity. He concluded the publication of two monumental works of scholarship: the Siddhi of Hsiian-tsang, and the Abhidharmakoia of Vasubandhu; he supervised the editing of the Melanges chinois et bouddhiques to which he abundantly contributed; our Bibliographie bouddhique which he supported and sustained from its beginnings was always the object of his attentions. In the summer of 1936, he explained to one of us, in order to gain us over to his project, his last academic project the enormity of which did not alarm him: to establish an index of Buddhism which would be at one and the same time both literary and archaeological. One year later, in Switzerland, he pointed out with serenity to this same visitor that he had no more than a few weeks to live. Six months later, he would have reached the age of 69.
At the present, our duty is to contribute to the better knowledge and to the utilization of his work. As soon as circumstances permit, we shall publish in the Bibliographie bouddhique his analytic bibliography which is now finally ready. Our Master himself had the aid of one of us in completing it, but on the condition that he not see it published.
Marcelle Lalou Jean Przyluski
? TRANSLATORS PREFACE
he Sanskrit word "Abhidharma" means the systematic philosophy Tof Buddhism. From the time of the Buddha onward, the Buddha's disciples, and many later generations of his followers studied, analyzed,
and re-classified the teachings of the Buddha, and in the process created a unique field of study which has come to be known as the Abhidharma. The development of Buddhist philosophy,--the Abhidharma--has continued to be developed up to the present day, especially within the field of Tibetan Buddhism.
The early part of this Abhidharma literature,--dating from the death of the Buddha to approximately the 5th century A. D. --is today preserved in Chinese translations, translations carried out largely by Hsuan-tsang in the mid-7th century; and the bulk of the later Abhidharma literature--dating from the 5th to the 12th century--is largely preserved in Tibetan translation. Only a small but important portion of this literature has been preserved in its original Sanskrit: Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosabhdsyam, and its commentary, Yasomitra's Vydkhyd. The student of the Abhidharma is therefore obliged to develop a reading ability in Buddhist Chinese, Tibetan, and of course, Sanskrit and Pali.
A significant Abhidhamma literature exists in the Pali language, a very close
dialect of Sanskrit (the word "Abhidharma" is Sanskrit, the word "Abhidhamma" is
Pali). In this Pali tradition of Theravada Buddhism (the predominant form of
Buddhism in Ceylon, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia), the Abhidhamma
forms one of the Baskets (Pali: Pitaka) of canonical Buddhist scriptures, and so
assumes the role of canonical authority. Even though the Pali Canon, the Tipitaka,
was closed at the Third Council of the Theravadins held in approximately 237 B. C,
Abhidhamma works continued to be composed after this date, although with less
frequency. Theravadin scholar-monks continued to study the Abhidhamma, and
this tradition gave rise to a subcommentarial literature composed in both Pali and
the regional languages of South and Southeast Asia (Singhalese, Burmese, Thai,
etc. ). Much of this later, post-canonical Pali Abhidhamma literature remains
l
unpublished, and almost all of it remains untranslated into any Western language. So too only a small portion of the Sanskrit language Abhidharma literature exists in English translation, although at the present time slightly more exists in
French.
Although English language materials for the study of the Abhidharma
literature are quite limited,--especially when viewed in comparison with the bulk of the extant literature of this tradition,--there are some excellent books which may be read with profit by the beginning student of Buddhist philosophy.
? xxii Translator's Preface
The student would do well to read the excellent essay by Chogyam Trungpa Rimpoche, Glimpses of the Abhidharma (Boulder, Prajna Press, 1978) which distills the essential message of Buddhist scholasticism and demonstrates the importance of the Abhidharma to the sddhaka of the still vital Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
Another excellent work of great benefit to the student of Abhidharma is Prof. Herbert V. Guenther's Psychology and Philosophy in the Abhidharma (New Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1st edition, 1970, and many subsequent editions) which gives the author's presentation and analysis of the content of both the Northern or Sanskrit Abhidharma tradition with that of its Southern or Pali cousin.
***
It may not be out of place here to say a few words, by way of a niddna, concerning my involvement with the Abhidharmakosabhasyam.
In the years 1964 to 19661 was enrolled in Tokyo University, in the Department
2 of Indian and Buddhist Studies, where I studied the text of Gyonen's Risshu-koyo
under the direction of Prof. Akira Hirakawa. After I had finished my studies on this
text, I asked Prof. Hirakawa what he would recommend I study next. He asked me if
I wanted to continue with Vinaya studies,--Prof.
