See
Mahddharmabherisutra
(TD 9, p.
AbhidharmakosabhasyamVol-4VasubandhuPoussinPruden1991
That some ideas, poorly
grasped, are reproduced here is our fault, for only the Munis
are authoritative (pramdna) in the interpretation of the 221
For the most part, this Abhidharma, which has been spoken by me, is the Abhidharma as established by the Vaibhasikas of Kasmiir. That which, herein, has been poorly grasped, is my fault: for the Buddhas and the sons of the Buddhas alone are the
222 authority for the interpretation of the Good Law.
41. The Master, the eye of the world, is closed; the witnesses, for the most part, have perished; the Law is put into confusion by persons who have not seen the Truth; and by bad sophists, independent, from whom nothing is gained.
42. For he who knows for himself has departed on the Supreme Path, as well as the supports of the Law of the one who knows for himself: the world no longer has a Protec- tor. The defilements, which destroy spiritual qualities, now have full liberty.
43. Seeing that the Law of the Muni is in its last breath, and that it is the hour of the forces of defilements, those who
223
This concludes the Eighth Chapter of the Abhidharmakosabhd- syam, entitled "Instruction in the Absorptions/*
interpretation is the Abhidharma explained in this treatise?
Good Law.
desire liberation should be diligent.
? Footnotes 1283 1. The Kdrikd has samdpattih iubhaikdgryam; but the Sutra speaks of samddhi. On the
traditional summary of Chapter VIII and of samdpatti-samddbi, see below viii. 23 note 128. 2. Paramartha translates: "dhyana produced through arising, dhydna produced through
concentration. "
3. Kosa, iii. 2c, vi. 38a-b, 43 a-b, ii. 41d. There are three (or two) stages in the heaven of the
First Dhyana, etc. On the "dhydna existences," see viii. 12, 14a, 16c, 19c.
4. Pali: kusalacittekaggatd (Visuddhimagga, 84; see index); Majjhima, i. 301, Samyutta, v. 21, Dhammasangani, 11 (cittassekaggatd) (The translator mentions Yogdvacara's Manual, p. xxvi); Mrs Rhys Davis, Psychology, 1914, 104 (references to the canonical texts). samddhi=adhicitta, vi, p. 978; part of the Path, part of Bodhi, vi. 54d, 70; rddhipdda, vi. 69c-d, part of the Saiksa and ASaiksa, vi. 75.
BodhisattvabhUmi, fol. 82b, quotes viii. 27c-28.
On samddhi, a very "scholastic" text in Majjhima, i. 301.
The samddhiskandha embraces three parts of the Path, samyagvydydma, samyaksmrti,
and samyaksamddhi it then follows that one distinguishes: 1. samddhi \-cittassa ekaggatd); 2. the nimittas of the samddhi which are the smrtyupasthdnas; 3. the partskaras of the samddhi which are the samyakpradhdnas; and 4. the cultivation (bhdvand) of the samddhi which is the cultivation of the samddhi, the pradhdnas, and the smrtyupasthdnas ["cultivation" is understood in the sense of parifuddhi, paripuri].
5. Whoever enters into dhydna, that is to say whoever possesses the absorption called dhydna, necessarily also possesses the mental states and the mind (the four skandhas), the "discipline of dhydna" (iv. 2), which is a rupa.
6. Ekdlambanatd cittdndm is the definition of the Abhidharma; but one should understand cittacaittdndm: "The fact that minds and the mental states . . . "
7. Defined in Kola, ii. 24; English trans, p. 190.
8. In the same way that the VaiSesika maintains that a piece of cloth is white
iuklagunayogdt, through conjunction with the quality of white.
9. All minds contain samddhi, but a mind associated (sampraykta) with a weak samddhi is
not concentrated (ekdgra).
10. According to the Vydkhyd, the two definitions in the same Sutra: adhicittam iiksa katama / catvdridhydndni. On the three iiksds, see Anguttara, i. 235; ii. 194, Koia, vi. 43c, p. . In the same way that adhiiilam siksa is iita, so too adhiprajfiam iiksa is prajfld, and
adhicittam iiksa is simply citta. Now the dhydnas are adhicittam iiksa, and are thus citta; the dhydnas, moreover, are samddhi, thus samddhi is citta.
In the same way that iilapariiuddhi is iila, drstipariiuddhi is drspi, and vimuktipariiud- dhi is vimukti. (See ? ? fa, vi 76c, p. 1035)
11. The Sarvastivadin answers.
12. Mdhavyutpatti, 245,1052 1055, upanidhydtavya, nidhydyati. Kosa, i. 4lc, where the
Vydkyd explains: samtiranam. . . visayopanidhydnapurvakam niicaydkarsanam.
13. This formula figures notably in the Sutra of the Five Vimuktyayatanas quoted in Vydkhydadi. 27 {Mahavyutpatti, 81, Digha, iii. 241, Anguttara, iii. 21); Samyutta, iii. 13: samdhito bhikkhave bhukkhu yathdbhutam pajdndti; ii. 31 samddhupanisam yathdbhUtam fidnadassanam, etc. And elsewhere, Nettippakarana, 66, Anguttara, v. 3, Visuddhimagga, 371, etc.
According to all these texts, samddhi is necessary for the exact knowledge necessary for salvation. On this point, see Compendium, 55, 75; KoU, vi. Foreword p. , viii. 22d.
? 1284 Chapter Eight
14. According to Hsiian-tsang and the glosses of Saeki. According to Paramartha: "Some other masters say that ting ^ (= samddhi) is dhydna. What is the meaning of dhydna? Through "ting" one obtains knowing, seeing, so it is called dhydna. Why? Because the mind that obtains ting [=the samdhita mind] truly knows and sees. The word dhydna signifies ? *** S {cintd, cetand)\ Hang J | (to measure). Ssu is prajnd. Such is the Siddhanta. "
15. As an advance chariot is pulled by two mares bound by a yoke, so dhydna is bound by samatha and vipaiyand. In the Arupyas, calm is great, intellection small; the opposite in Anagamya (viii. 22); in the dhydnas, there is equilibrium.
Samatha = samddhi - absorption; vipafyana - prajnd.
The editors of the Pali Text Society (against several manuscripts) read yuganandha (Patisambhidd, ii. 92 and foil. ; Visuddhimagga, 149): "Some cultivate vipassana preceded by samatha;. . . some cultivate samatha preceded by vipassana . . . some cultivate samatha and vipassana bound together (samathavipassanam yuganandham bhavert)" "The dharmas bound together and which are called samddhi and prajfld do not go beyond one another . . . (samadhipaHHasamkhatd yuganandhadhammd annamannam anativattamdnd. . . ) Bodhicdrydvatdra, viii. 4, Siksdsamuccaya, 119, Sutrdlamkdra, xiv. 9. Compendium, 55, 75.
In Tantrism, yuganaddhaka or yuganaddhakrama is the non-distinction of samsdra and nirvana, of grdhaka and grdhya, etc. (Pancakrama, p. 46-48).
16. On defiled dhydna, the story of the monk who believes himself to be a Srotaapanna of the First Dhyana, an Arhat in the Fourth, but who in fact remains subject to desire, Przyluski, AQoka, 390.
Three bad "meditators," dhydyin, ? ? fa, v. 21b-d trans, p. 800 and note 76; Majjhima, iii. 14.
17. The meaning of vitarka, vicdra, priti, and sukha, is explained below.
In Niddesa, p. 373, an interesting essay on the classification of the dhydnas.
18. There is a difficulty. How does the author, by saying that the First Dhyana is vicarapritisukhavat, say implicitly that this Dhyana also "contains vitarka"} In fact, dhydndntara "contains vicdra' and "contains vitarka. " The Vydkhyd explains: yathd dhydndntare vicdro na pritisukhavdn ity avitarko naivam ayam vicdrah / vifesito hy ayam vicdrah pritisukhasahapathitah / vicdrapritisukhavad Hi pritisukhavatd vicdrena pritisukhena ca samprayuktam prathamam dhydnam ity arthah.
Vasubandhu does not say vitarkapritisukhavat, because he wishes to say that the other Dhyanas lose, in this order, the parts indicated. If one were to define the Second Dhyana as without vitarka, then dhydndntara would be confused with the Second Dhyana.
19. On the Arupyas, see Majjhima, i. 2, 164, 410, ii. 26l (where the first two are ignored), Visuddhimagga, HI, 336-340; Comm. on the Digha, Dialogues, Hi. p. 273: akasdnancdyatana is a dhydna which has the infinity of space for its object; references to the notes of Rhys Davids, ibid. p. 216.
20. Paramarth translates: "Separation-sphere-lower arises. " Hsiian-tsang: "Separation lower sphere arisen, from whence the division into four. " P'u-kuang (TD 41, p. 418? 6) explains, "It is fourfold because it arises from separation from arising in a lower sphere. " Fa-pao (TD 41, p. 788c3) says, "It is fourfold by reason of separation from arising in a lower sphere": "separation from arising" signifies "separation from defiled dharmas" or rather "to separate oneself and to arise. " One arises above because one separates oneself from what is below.
21. ? ? fa iii. 3 explains how Arupyadhatu, which does not include any places, or stages, is still fourfold from the point of view of the mode of existence of the gods who arise there: drupyadhdtur asthdna upapattyd caturvidhah. The Abhisamaydlamkdrdloka (ad Astasdhas- rikd 153, 18), after having quoted this definition, adds a line (borrowed from which Sdstra? ): dhydndd urdhvam sasamsthdno rupesadbhdvo ftha va (Sic MSS): "Or rather,
? placed above the world of the dhydnas (= Rupadhatu), it includes shape, for there exists there a small amount of rupa. " Buddhist cosmology recognizes some heavens superimposed on Arupyadhatu in which there are mansions (kung *]*! { ); see for example Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, article "Cosmology. "
Kathavatthu, viii. 8, xvi. 9. The Andhakas maintain that some subtle matter exists in Arupyadhatu (by reason of the text = vijndnapratyayandmarupam, see above p. 1222). See Vasumitra and Bhavya.
The Mahasamghikas and MahiSasakas,--and the Vibhdsd adds the Vibhajyavadins (see below),--admit the existence of rupa.
Notes of theJapanese editor--Commentary on the Samayabheda: The six types of consciousness (sad vijndnakdydh) exist in Rupadhatu and Arupyadhatu. But, if rupa exists in Arupyadhau, why is it called Arupyadhatu? Because subtle rupa exists there, but not gross rupa.
Vibhdsd, (TD 27, p. 431b6): Some say that rupa exists in Arupyadhatu, as do the Vibhajyavadins . . . The Mahasamghikas think that in Arupyadhatu there is a rupa which is the result of action.
The Sdriputrdbhidharma says that, in Arupyadhatu, there is a rupa, namely the rupa that forms part of the dharmdyatana (Kos'a, iv. English trans, p. 561).
The Mahayana says that in Arupyadhatu there is a rupa which is the result of samddhi.
See Mahddharmabherisutra (TD 9, p. 293cl0) and the Mahayana Parinirvdna sutra (TD 12, p. 4l5al7, a25): "The saints of the Two Vehicles cannot know how the gods of Naivasamjnanasarhjnayatana are . . . Only the Buddha knows of those that have life (ayus, shou-ming K^pf ) among the Asamjnin gods; the same for beings in Naivasamjfianasamjfiayatana. "
22. Vydkyd: "According to others, we should understand: By virtue of the text: sarvaso rupasamjndndm samatikramdt, it is proved that there is no longer any rupa in drupyasamdpatti. " The Japanese editor understands: "Because it is denied that there is andsrava samvara in this samdpatti. "
23. See iii. l4a. "Transparent" poorly renders the sense of the word accha. This refers to a rupa which can pass through other rupas, a material resembling ether. "
24. For "the absorption existences" (upapatti), like the "absorptions" (samdpatti), become better and better.
25. See ii. 14, iii. 3.
26. On samsrsta, vii. p. 1099, and iii. 32a-b.
Mahakotthita converses with Sariputta on this subject, Majjhima, i. 206 (See Kosa, ii. 45,
English trans, p. 233).
27. But the two Chinese versions, here and below, read: ndmarupa-vijndnayor, a reading confirmed by the Pali sources.
However the Vydkyd quotes the Sutra: tadyathayusman sdruputra dve nadakaldpydv dkdsa ucchrite sydtdm / te'nyonyanisrite / anyonyam ni/ritya tistheydtdm / tatra kaicid ekdm apanayed / dvitiya nipatet / dvitiydm apanayed ekd nipatet / evam dyusman sdriputra nama ca rupam cdnyonyaniiritam anyonyam nisritya tisthati. . . Same comparison in Samyutta, ii. 114; but ndmarupa and vijndna, not rupa and ndman.
28. Argument of the Vibhajyavadins according to the Vibhdsd, see above, note 21.
29. A very close edition, Samyutta, iii. 53 (trans, of Warren, p. 162).
30. Vydkyd. The stanza: dyur usmd'thd vijrldnam . . . "When life, heat and vijndna leave the body, it remains, deserted, insensible, like a piece of wood" (ii. 45a), proves that the Sutra refers only to Kamadhatu, for 1. there is no physical body in Arupyadhatu; 2. in Rupadhatu,
Footnotes 1285
? 1286 Chapter Eight
the body exists, but "does not continue after death": rupadhatu tu yadi apt kdyo'sti tatra
kdyanidhanam [according to iii. 9].
31. The formula for those beings who spontaneously arise (upddukas) is : vijfidnapratyayam saddyatanam, for ndmarupa are five skandhas which have not yet taken up the state of saddyatana (anispannasaddyatandvastha); now saddyatana exists from the very begining of upapdduka beings, ? ? /a, ii. 14, p. 175.
32. This results from the Sutra of which we have the Pali edition in Digha ii. 63: vijHdnam ced ananda mdtuh kuksim navakrdmed apt nu tan ndmarupam kaUlatvdya sammurchet / no bhadanta / vijHdnam ced dnanddvakrdmya ksipram evdpakrdmed apt nu tan ndmarupam itthatvdya prajndyeta / no bhadanta / vijfianam ced ananda daharasya kumdrasya kumdrikdyd vd ucchidyeta vinaiyen na bhaved apt nu tan ndmarupam vrddhim vipulantdm dpadyeta/ nobhadanta.
33. The Uddyisutra (Kofa, ii. 44d, English trans, p. 229) says: bheddc ca kdyasydtikramya devdn kavadikdrdhdrabhaksdn anyatamasmin divye manomayakdya upapadyate.
Anguttara, iii. 192, compare Digha, i. 34,186.
34. Pritydhdravacandt; iii. 98.
35. Ye te sdntavimoksd atikramya rupdny arupydh . . . viii. 32. 36. Madhyama, TD 1, p. 581? 9.
37. Compare Udana, iii. 10. Bhava defined i. 8c.
See the Foreword to Chapters V and VI, p. xxi. Through the first worldly dhydna, which
is a certain dhydna, one cannot rise above the First Dhyana; and thus following. There is no bhava by which one can gp beyond Naivasamjnanasarhjnayatana which is Bhavagra, the summit of bhava. Furthermore, one cannot encounter a definitive departure from a lower state in any superior state of existence, for falling is always possible. Thus one leaves bhava only through the Path which does not from part of the Dhatus, and which is not bhava.
38. Vibhdsa, TD 27, p. 431? 5: Objection of the Vibhajyavudins: If there is absolutely no rupa or physical matter in Arupyadhatu, then the rupa of beings who die in Kamadhatu and Rupadhatu and who are reborn in Arupyadhatu, and who, later, die in Arupyadhatu and are reborn below, will have been cut off for 20,000,40,000, and 80,000 kalpas. How is their rupa produced anew? If, as you suppose, their rupa, having been cut off, abandoned {prahina), is produced anew, what would prevent us from saying that the samskdras, even though cut off and abandoned upon the obtaining of Nirvana, would reappear later? In order to avoid this problem, one should admit that rupa exists in Arupyadhatu.
39. Paramartha: "Because it is perfumed (ydsita) by a former cause which should ripen in rupa, the mind has the efficacy to now produce rupa. "
It indeed appears that the expression vdsand (Kofa, iv. 27d, p. 594, vii. 28c,p. 1137, 30c, 32d) is foreign to the Sarvastivada. However this may be, Samghabhadra does not use it.
Samghabhadra, in his Prakaranafdsana (TD 29, p 964b26) says, "What is the meaning of the expression drupya? It means that there is no rupa there. When one dies [in Arupyadhatu] and is born below, the rupa arises from citta. We maintain that, in this world, material and non-material (rupin, arupin) dharmas are produced in fact in reciprocal dependence: from the change of the mind there arises the diversity of rupa; when the material organs are modified, the vijHana is likewise different. Thus, when a being dying in Arupyadhatu arises below, the series of his mind (cittasamtatt) is found to be favorable to the production of rupa, and, by its force, the rupa of a lower existence if favorable to this arising. However it is not permissible to say that rupa arises solely from the mind. It also exists by reason of the series-of-mind-accompanied-by-f>>^ of a former existence: the rupa, destroyed for a long time, is its own seed. We maintain in fact that sabhdgahetu is at one and
? the same time past and present (ii. 52a, p. 262). For the Arhats who have already attained Nirvana have cut off without residue the series of the skandhas; there does not remain any cause which could produce the arising of new skandhas: there is no case to which one could applytheexampleofabeingwhodiesinArupyadhatu[andtakesupanewrupa\ (Seethe argument of the Vibhajyavadins, note 38).
In his Nydydnusdra (TD 29, p. 757cl7), Samghabhadra says, "The dgamas quoted by our adversary do not prove that rupa exists in Arupyadhatu. His argument from reason has no value, for, even though there is no rupa in Arupyadhatu, the rupa of a being of Arupadhatu who has just died and is about to be reborn below comes from the mind. We state that in this world. . .
40. iii. 3c-d: nikdyam jivitam cdtra niiritd cittasamtatih; see ii, 41,45.
41. Vydkhyd: prayogakdla dkdiddiny dkambanani. Hsuan-tsang: The ascetic, in his preparatory exercise, thinks "Space is infinite," "The sixfold vijfidna is infinite," "There is nothing. "
On the drapyas, and how one obtains them, see Majjhima, i. 164, Sutta 121, Visuddhimagga, 326 and following.
Vibhasd (TD 27, p. 432c23): "It is not by reason of its nature or by reason of its object, but by reason of its prayoga that dkdsanantya receives its name. The beginner (ddikdrmika) considers the characteristic of emptiness of the top of a wall, of a tree, of a house; when he has 'grasped' this characteristic of infinite dkdsa. " In the drupyas, the ascetic considers anitya, pratyaya, etc.
Vasumitra explains how, in dkimcanya (preparatory stage), the notion of subject and object is dispelled; see above Chap. VII note 323.
42. This is a question as to whether or not there is samjfid in the fourth drupya, the sphere of "non-samjfid and neither non-samjfid" Anguttara, iv. 426; Kathdvatthu, xiii. 12; Vasumitra and Bhavya.
The "absorption of the cessation of samjfid and vedand" can be obtained only by an ascetic who has entered into this drupya (ii. 44d, English trans, p. 229 and iii. 6c). From this fact, one can conclude that samjfid exists there. (On the subtle-subtle mind, viii. 33b).
43. Compare Majjhima, i. 435, ii. 230; Anguttara, iv. 422> Visuddhimagga, 335. This refers to the samjfids of the lower absorptions. In fact one enters into the fourth drupya by being disgusted with it, by a meditation practiced in the sdmantaka of the third drupya.
AA. That is to say "a cause of stupidity" (sammohakdrana).
45- kasmdt tu tais tad evath grhyate, that is to say, according to the Vydkyd: tair iti tatsamdpattibhis tad iti naivasamjfidndsamjndyatanam evam grhyata iti naiva samjfid ndsamjfieti grhyata ity arthah /
46. Hsuan-tsang: The maulasamdpattis, dhydnas and drupyas, explained above are eight in number . . .
Paramartha: The maulasamdpattis, considered as real dharmas (or dravyas), are solely eight dravyas: four rUpasamapattis and four drUpyasamdpattis.
Vydkhyd: samdpattidravydni mauldniti fdkhds tesdm nopanyasyanta ity abhiprdyah. The Sakhas or "branches" are the sdmantakas (viii. 22a) and dhydndntara, or asamjfiisamdpatti and nirodhasamdpatti.
47. Here we should give up translating andsrava by "pure," a translation justified elsewhere by the synonym amala, nirmala.
Vibhasd, TD 27, p. 821cl7. Andsrava samdpatti is pure in the proper sense of the word; why not call it /uddhaka? . . . Some say: The name is established by reason of the difference of meaning. The samdpatti which is at one and the same time good (ku/aka) and
Footnotes 1287
? 1288 Chapter Eight
possessing-*iT*f<w (sdsrava, laukika), is the first contradiction of the defiled dharmas: it is called ? uddha because the sense of purity is dominant in it. The sense of andsrava is dominant in the Noble Path.
Suddhaka means kusala sdsrava; andsrava is the Path. But the kuiala sdsrava absorption is samala, sakasdya, savisa, sakantaka, sdsrava, and sadosa: how can one call it suddhaka? Now it is called thus, even though it is not absolutely pure, because it is partially so, because it is not mixed with kleia; because it opposes the klesas; because it favors the andsrava absorption which is pure in the true sense of the word; because it is favorable {anukula) to the Path; and because it is the escort of the andsravas.
48. That is to say, "one cannot, having entered into this eighth absorption, meditate on the Path. " Vibhdsd, 162. 11. One cannot practice the Path in Kamadhatu, nor in Bhavagra. See Foreword to Chapters V-VI.
49. Mahdvyutpatti, 85. 7: dsvddanasamprayuktadhydna. Anguttara, ii. 126: "A person . . . enters and abides in the First Dhyana; he tastes it, loves it, and finds therein sensible delight (tarnassddetitarnnikdmetitena cavittirhdpajjati). Ifhedieswithouthavingfallenfromit, he is reborn in the world of the Brahmakayikas. " The same for the other Dhyanas, with rebirth in the heaven which is suitable to it.
This text is invoked by the Andhakas against the Theravadins in the Kathdvatthu, siii.
grasped, are reproduced here is our fault, for only the Munis
are authoritative (pramdna) in the interpretation of the 221
For the most part, this Abhidharma, which has been spoken by me, is the Abhidharma as established by the Vaibhasikas of Kasmiir. That which, herein, has been poorly grasped, is my fault: for the Buddhas and the sons of the Buddhas alone are the
222 authority for the interpretation of the Good Law.
41. The Master, the eye of the world, is closed; the witnesses, for the most part, have perished; the Law is put into confusion by persons who have not seen the Truth; and by bad sophists, independent, from whom nothing is gained.
42. For he who knows for himself has departed on the Supreme Path, as well as the supports of the Law of the one who knows for himself: the world no longer has a Protec- tor. The defilements, which destroy spiritual qualities, now have full liberty.
43. Seeing that the Law of the Muni is in its last breath, and that it is the hour of the forces of defilements, those who
223
This concludes the Eighth Chapter of the Abhidharmakosabhd- syam, entitled "Instruction in the Absorptions/*
interpretation is the Abhidharma explained in this treatise?
Good Law.
desire liberation should be diligent.
? Footnotes 1283 1. The Kdrikd has samdpattih iubhaikdgryam; but the Sutra speaks of samddhi. On the
traditional summary of Chapter VIII and of samdpatti-samddbi, see below viii. 23 note 128. 2. Paramartha translates: "dhyana produced through arising, dhydna produced through
concentration. "
3. Kosa, iii. 2c, vi. 38a-b, 43 a-b, ii. 41d. There are three (or two) stages in the heaven of the
First Dhyana, etc. On the "dhydna existences," see viii. 12, 14a, 16c, 19c.
4. Pali: kusalacittekaggatd (Visuddhimagga, 84; see index); Majjhima, i. 301, Samyutta, v. 21, Dhammasangani, 11 (cittassekaggatd) (The translator mentions Yogdvacara's Manual, p. xxvi); Mrs Rhys Davis, Psychology, 1914, 104 (references to the canonical texts). samddhi=adhicitta, vi, p. 978; part of the Path, part of Bodhi, vi. 54d, 70; rddhipdda, vi. 69c-d, part of the Saiksa and ASaiksa, vi. 75.
BodhisattvabhUmi, fol. 82b, quotes viii. 27c-28.
On samddhi, a very "scholastic" text in Majjhima, i. 301.
The samddhiskandha embraces three parts of the Path, samyagvydydma, samyaksmrti,
and samyaksamddhi it then follows that one distinguishes: 1. samddhi \-cittassa ekaggatd); 2. the nimittas of the samddhi which are the smrtyupasthdnas; 3. the partskaras of the samddhi which are the samyakpradhdnas; and 4. the cultivation (bhdvand) of the samddhi which is the cultivation of the samddhi, the pradhdnas, and the smrtyupasthdnas ["cultivation" is understood in the sense of parifuddhi, paripuri].
5. Whoever enters into dhydna, that is to say whoever possesses the absorption called dhydna, necessarily also possesses the mental states and the mind (the four skandhas), the "discipline of dhydna" (iv. 2), which is a rupa.
6. Ekdlambanatd cittdndm is the definition of the Abhidharma; but one should understand cittacaittdndm: "The fact that minds and the mental states . . . "
7. Defined in Kola, ii. 24; English trans, p. 190.
8. In the same way that the VaiSesika maintains that a piece of cloth is white
iuklagunayogdt, through conjunction with the quality of white.
9. All minds contain samddhi, but a mind associated (sampraykta) with a weak samddhi is
not concentrated (ekdgra).
10. According to the Vydkhyd, the two definitions in the same Sutra: adhicittam iiksa katama / catvdridhydndni. On the three iiksds, see Anguttara, i. 235; ii. 194, Koia, vi. 43c, p. . In the same way that adhiiilam siksa is iita, so too adhiprajfiam iiksa is prajfld, and
adhicittam iiksa is simply citta. Now the dhydnas are adhicittam iiksa, and are thus citta; the dhydnas, moreover, are samddhi, thus samddhi is citta.
In the same way that iilapariiuddhi is iila, drstipariiuddhi is drspi, and vimuktipariiud- dhi is vimukti. (See ? ? fa, vi 76c, p. 1035)
11. The Sarvastivadin answers.
12. Mdhavyutpatti, 245,1052 1055, upanidhydtavya, nidhydyati. Kosa, i. 4lc, where the
Vydkyd explains: samtiranam. . . visayopanidhydnapurvakam niicaydkarsanam.
13. This formula figures notably in the Sutra of the Five Vimuktyayatanas quoted in Vydkhydadi. 27 {Mahavyutpatti, 81, Digha, iii. 241, Anguttara, iii. 21); Samyutta, iii. 13: samdhito bhikkhave bhukkhu yathdbhutam pajdndti; ii. 31 samddhupanisam yathdbhUtam fidnadassanam, etc. And elsewhere, Nettippakarana, 66, Anguttara, v. 3, Visuddhimagga, 371, etc.
According to all these texts, samddhi is necessary for the exact knowledge necessary for salvation. On this point, see Compendium, 55, 75; KoU, vi. Foreword p. , viii. 22d.
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14. According to Hsiian-tsang and the glosses of Saeki. According to Paramartha: "Some other masters say that ting ^ (= samddhi) is dhydna. What is the meaning of dhydna? Through "ting" one obtains knowing, seeing, so it is called dhydna. Why? Because the mind that obtains ting [=the samdhita mind] truly knows and sees. The word dhydna signifies ? *** S {cintd, cetand)\ Hang J | (to measure). Ssu is prajnd. Such is the Siddhanta. "
15. As an advance chariot is pulled by two mares bound by a yoke, so dhydna is bound by samatha and vipaiyand. In the Arupyas, calm is great, intellection small; the opposite in Anagamya (viii. 22); in the dhydnas, there is equilibrium.
Samatha = samddhi - absorption; vipafyana - prajnd.
The editors of the Pali Text Society (against several manuscripts) read yuganandha (Patisambhidd, ii. 92 and foil. ; Visuddhimagga, 149): "Some cultivate vipassana preceded by samatha;. . . some cultivate samatha preceded by vipassana . . . some cultivate samatha and vipassana bound together (samathavipassanam yuganandham bhavert)" "The dharmas bound together and which are called samddhi and prajfld do not go beyond one another . . . (samadhipaHHasamkhatd yuganandhadhammd annamannam anativattamdnd. . . ) Bodhicdrydvatdra, viii. 4, Siksdsamuccaya, 119, Sutrdlamkdra, xiv. 9. Compendium, 55, 75.
In Tantrism, yuganaddhaka or yuganaddhakrama is the non-distinction of samsdra and nirvana, of grdhaka and grdhya, etc. (Pancakrama, p. 46-48).
16. On defiled dhydna, the story of the monk who believes himself to be a Srotaapanna of the First Dhyana, an Arhat in the Fourth, but who in fact remains subject to desire, Przyluski, AQoka, 390.
Three bad "meditators," dhydyin, ? ? fa, v. 21b-d trans, p. 800 and note 76; Majjhima, iii. 14.
17. The meaning of vitarka, vicdra, priti, and sukha, is explained below.
In Niddesa, p. 373, an interesting essay on the classification of the dhydnas.
18. There is a difficulty. How does the author, by saying that the First Dhyana is vicarapritisukhavat, say implicitly that this Dhyana also "contains vitarka"} In fact, dhydndntara "contains vicdra' and "contains vitarka. " The Vydkhyd explains: yathd dhydndntare vicdro na pritisukhavdn ity avitarko naivam ayam vicdrah / vifesito hy ayam vicdrah pritisukhasahapathitah / vicdrapritisukhavad Hi pritisukhavatd vicdrena pritisukhena ca samprayuktam prathamam dhydnam ity arthah.
Vasubandhu does not say vitarkapritisukhavat, because he wishes to say that the other Dhyanas lose, in this order, the parts indicated. If one were to define the Second Dhyana as without vitarka, then dhydndntara would be confused with the Second Dhyana.
19. On the Arupyas, see Majjhima, i. 2, 164, 410, ii. 26l (where the first two are ignored), Visuddhimagga, HI, 336-340; Comm. on the Digha, Dialogues, Hi. p. 273: akasdnancdyatana is a dhydna which has the infinity of space for its object; references to the notes of Rhys Davids, ibid. p. 216.
20. Paramarth translates: "Separation-sphere-lower arises. " Hsiian-tsang: "Separation lower sphere arisen, from whence the division into four. " P'u-kuang (TD 41, p. 418? 6) explains, "It is fourfold because it arises from separation from arising in a lower sphere. " Fa-pao (TD 41, p. 788c3) says, "It is fourfold by reason of separation from arising in a lower sphere": "separation from arising" signifies "separation from defiled dharmas" or rather "to separate oneself and to arise. " One arises above because one separates oneself from what is below.
21. ? ? fa iii. 3 explains how Arupyadhatu, which does not include any places, or stages, is still fourfold from the point of view of the mode of existence of the gods who arise there: drupyadhdtur asthdna upapattyd caturvidhah. The Abhisamaydlamkdrdloka (ad Astasdhas- rikd 153, 18), after having quoted this definition, adds a line (borrowed from which Sdstra? ): dhydndd urdhvam sasamsthdno rupesadbhdvo ftha va (Sic MSS): "Or rather,
? placed above the world of the dhydnas (= Rupadhatu), it includes shape, for there exists there a small amount of rupa. " Buddhist cosmology recognizes some heavens superimposed on Arupyadhatu in which there are mansions (kung *]*! { ); see for example Hastings' Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, article "Cosmology. "
Kathavatthu, viii. 8, xvi. 9. The Andhakas maintain that some subtle matter exists in Arupyadhatu (by reason of the text = vijndnapratyayandmarupam, see above p. 1222). See Vasumitra and Bhavya.
The Mahasamghikas and MahiSasakas,--and the Vibhdsd adds the Vibhajyavadins (see below),--admit the existence of rupa.
Notes of theJapanese editor--Commentary on the Samayabheda: The six types of consciousness (sad vijndnakdydh) exist in Rupadhatu and Arupyadhatu. But, if rupa exists in Arupyadhau, why is it called Arupyadhatu? Because subtle rupa exists there, but not gross rupa.
Vibhdsd, (TD 27, p. 431b6): Some say that rupa exists in Arupyadhatu, as do the Vibhajyavadins . . . The Mahasamghikas think that in Arupyadhatu there is a rupa which is the result of action.
The Sdriputrdbhidharma says that, in Arupyadhatu, there is a rupa, namely the rupa that forms part of the dharmdyatana (Kos'a, iv. English trans, p. 561).
The Mahayana says that in Arupyadhatu there is a rupa which is the result of samddhi.
See Mahddharmabherisutra (TD 9, p. 293cl0) and the Mahayana Parinirvdna sutra (TD 12, p. 4l5al7, a25): "The saints of the Two Vehicles cannot know how the gods of Naivasamjnanasarhjnayatana are . . . Only the Buddha knows of those that have life (ayus, shou-ming K^pf ) among the Asamjnin gods; the same for beings in Naivasamjfianasamjfiayatana. "
22. Vydkyd: "According to others, we should understand: By virtue of the text: sarvaso rupasamjndndm samatikramdt, it is proved that there is no longer any rupa in drupyasamdpatti. " The Japanese editor understands: "Because it is denied that there is andsrava samvara in this samdpatti. "
23. See iii. l4a. "Transparent" poorly renders the sense of the word accha. This refers to a rupa which can pass through other rupas, a material resembling ether. "
24. For "the absorption existences" (upapatti), like the "absorptions" (samdpatti), become better and better.
25. See ii. 14, iii. 3.
26. On samsrsta, vii. p. 1099, and iii. 32a-b.
Mahakotthita converses with Sariputta on this subject, Majjhima, i. 206 (See Kosa, ii. 45,
English trans, p. 233).
27. But the two Chinese versions, here and below, read: ndmarupa-vijndnayor, a reading confirmed by the Pali sources.
However the Vydkyd quotes the Sutra: tadyathayusman sdruputra dve nadakaldpydv dkdsa ucchrite sydtdm / te'nyonyanisrite / anyonyam ni/ritya tistheydtdm / tatra kaicid ekdm apanayed / dvitiya nipatet / dvitiydm apanayed ekd nipatet / evam dyusman sdriputra nama ca rupam cdnyonyaniiritam anyonyam nisritya tisthati. . . Same comparison in Samyutta, ii. 114; but ndmarupa and vijndna, not rupa and ndman.
28. Argument of the Vibhajyavadins according to the Vibhdsd, see above, note 21.
29. A very close edition, Samyutta, iii. 53 (trans, of Warren, p. 162).
30. Vydkyd. The stanza: dyur usmd'thd vijrldnam . . . "When life, heat and vijndna leave the body, it remains, deserted, insensible, like a piece of wood" (ii. 45a), proves that the Sutra refers only to Kamadhatu, for 1. there is no physical body in Arupyadhatu; 2. in Rupadhatu,
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the body exists, but "does not continue after death": rupadhatu tu yadi apt kdyo'sti tatra
kdyanidhanam [according to iii. 9].
31. The formula for those beings who spontaneously arise (upddukas) is : vijfidnapratyayam saddyatanam, for ndmarupa are five skandhas which have not yet taken up the state of saddyatana (anispannasaddyatandvastha); now saddyatana exists from the very begining of upapdduka beings, ? ? /a, ii. 14, p. 175.
32. This results from the Sutra of which we have the Pali edition in Digha ii. 63: vijHdnam ced ananda mdtuh kuksim navakrdmed apt nu tan ndmarupam kaUlatvdya sammurchet / no bhadanta / vijHdnam ced dnanddvakrdmya ksipram evdpakrdmed apt nu tan ndmarupam itthatvdya prajndyeta / no bhadanta / vijfianam ced ananda daharasya kumdrasya kumdrikdyd vd ucchidyeta vinaiyen na bhaved apt nu tan ndmarupam vrddhim vipulantdm dpadyeta/ nobhadanta.
33. The Uddyisutra (Kofa, ii. 44d, English trans, p. 229) says: bheddc ca kdyasydtikramya devdn kavadikdrdhdrabhaksdn anyatamasmin divye manomayakdya upapadyate.
Anguttara, iii. 192, compare Digha, i. 34,186.
34. Pritydhdravacandt; iii. 98.
35. Ye te sdntavimoksd atikramya rupdny arupydh . . . viii. 32. 36. Madhyama, TD 1, p. 581? 9.
37. Compare Udana, iii. 10. Bhava defined i. 8c.
See the Foreword to Chapters V and VI, p. xxi. Through the first worldly dhydna, which
is a certain dhydna, one cannot rise above the First Dhyana; and thus following. There is no bhava by which one can gp beyond Naivasamjnanasarhjnayatana which is Bhavagra, the summit of bhava. Furthermore, one cannot encounter a definitive departure from a lower state in any superior state of existence, for falling is always possible. Thus one leaves bhava only through the Path which does not from part of the Dhatus, and which is not bhava.
38. Vibhdsa, TD 27, p. 431? 5: Objection of the Vibhajyavudins: If there is absolutely no rupa or physical matter in Arupyadhatu, then the rupa of beings who die in Kamadhatu and Rupadhatu and who are reborn in Arupyadhatu, and who, later, die in Arupyadhatu and are reborn below, will have been cut off for 20,000,40,000, and 80,000 kalpas. How is their rupa produced anew? If, as you suppose, their rupa, having been cut off, abandoned {prahina), is produced anew, what would prevent us from saying that the samskdras, even though cut off and abandoned upon the obtaining of Nirvana, would reappear later? In order to avoid this problem, one should admit that rupa exists in Arupyadhatu.
39. Paramartha: "Because it is perfumed (ydsita) by a former cause which should ripen in rupa, the mind has the efficacy to now produce rupa. "
It indeed appears that the expression vdsand (Kofa, iv. 27d, p. 594, vii. 28c,p. 1137, 30c, 32d) is foreign to the Sarvastivada. However this may be, Samghabhadra does not use it.
Samghabhadra, in his Prakaranafdsana (TD 29, p 964b26) says, "What is the meaning of the expression drupya? It means that there is no rupa there. When one dies [in Arupyadhatu] and is born below, the rupa arises from citta. We maintain that, in this world, material and non-material (rupin, arupin) dharmas are produced in fact in reciprocal dependence: from the change of the mind there arises the diversity of rupa; when the material organs are modified, the vijHana is likewise different. Thus, when a being dying in Arupyadhatu arises below, the series of his mind (cittasamtatt) is found to be favorable to the production of rupa, and, by its force, the rupa of a lower existence if favorable to this arising. However it is not permissible to say that rupa arises solely from the mind. It also exists by reason of the series-of-mind-accompanied-by-f>>^ of a former existence: the rupa, destroyed for a long time, is its own seed. We maintain in fact that sabhdgahetu is at one and
? the same time past and present (ii. 52a, p. 262). For the Arhats who have already attained Nirvana have cut off without residue the series of the skandhas; there does not remain any cause which could produce the arising of new skandhas: there is no case to which one could applytheexampleofabeingwhodiesinArupyadhatu[andtakesupanewrupa\ (Seethe argument of the Vibhajyavadins, note 38).
In his Nydydnusdra (TD 29, p. 757cl7), Samghabhadra says, "The dgamas quoted by our adversary do not prove that rupa exists in Arupyadhatu. His argument from reason has no value, for, even though there is no rupa in Arupyadhatu, the rupa of a being of Arupadhatu who has just died and is about to be reborn below comes from the mind. We state that in this world. . .
40. iii. 3c-d: nikdyam jivitam cdtra niiritd cittasamtatih; see ii, 41,45.
41. Vydkhyd: prayogakdla dkdiddiny dkambanani. Hsuan-tsang: The ascetic, in his preparatory exercise, thinks "Space is infinite," "The sixfold vijfidna is infinite," "There is nothing. "
On the drapyas, and how one obtains them, see Majjhima, i. 164, Sutta 121, Visuddhimagga, 326 and following.
Vibhasd (TD 27, p. 432c23): "It is not by reason of its nature or by reason of its object, but by reason of its prayoga that dkdsanantya receives its name. The beginner (ddikdrmika) considers the characteristic of emptiness of the top of a wall, of a tree, of a house; when he has 'grasped' this characteristic of infinite dkdsa. " In the drupyas, the ascetic considers anitya, pratyaya, etc.
Vasumitra explains how, in dkimcanya (preparatory stage), the notion of subject and object is dispelled; see above Chap. VII note 323.
42. This is a question as to whether or not there is samjfid in the fourth drupya, the sphere of "non-samjfid and neither non-samjfid" Anguttara, iv. 426; Kathdvatthu, xiii. 12; Vasumitra and Bhavya.
The "absorption of the cessation of samjfid and vedand" can be obtained only by an ascetic who has entered into this drupya (ii. 44d, English trans, p. 229 and iii. 6c). From this fact, one can conclude that samjfid exists there. (On the subtle-subtle mind, viii. 33b).
43. Compare Majjhima, i. 435, ii. 230; Anguttara, iv. 422> Visuddhimagga, 335. This refers to the samjfids of the lower absorptions. In fact one enters into the fourth drupya by being disgusted with it, by a meditation practiced in the sdmantaka of the third drupya.
AA. That is to say "a cause of stupidity" (sammohakdrana).
45- kasmdt tu tais tad evath grhyate, that is to say, according to the Vydkyd: tair iti tatsamdpattibhis tad iti naivasamjfidndsamjndyatanam evam grhyata iti naiva samjfid ndsamjfieti grhyata ity arthah /
46. Hsuan-tsang: The maulasamdpattis, dhydnas and drupyas, explained above are eight in number . . .
Paramartha: The maulasamdpattis, considered as real dharmas (or dravyas), are solely eight dravyas: four rUpasamapattis and four drUpyasamdpattis.
Vydkhyd: samdpattidravydni mauldniti fdkhds tesdm nopanyasyanta ity abhiprdyah. The Sakhas or "branches" are the sdmantakas (viii. 22a) and dhydndntara, or asamjfiisamdpatti and nirodhasamdpatti.
47. Here we should give up translating andsrava by "pure," a translation justified elsewhere by the synonym amala, nirmala.
Vibhasd, TD 27, p. 821cl7. Andsrava samdpatti is pure in the proper sense of the word; why not call it /uddhaka? . . . Some say: The name is established by reason of the difference of meaning. The samdpatti which is at one and the same time good (ku/aka) and
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possessing-*iT*f<w (sdsrava, laukika), is the first contradiction of the defiled dharmas: it is called ? uddha because the sense of purity is dominant in it. The sense of andsrava is dominant in the Noble Path.
Suddhaka means kusala sdsrava; andsrava is the Path. But the kuiala sdsrava absorption is samala, sakasdya, savisa, sakantaka, sdsrava, and sadosa: how can one call it suddhaka? Now it is called thus, even though it is not absolutely pure, because it is partially so, because it is not mixed with kleia; because it opposes the klesas; because it favors the andsrava absorption which is pure in the true sense of the word; because it is favorable {anukula) to the Path; and because it is the escort of the andsravas.
48. That is to say, "one cannot, having entered into this eighth absorption, meditate on the Path. " Vibhdsd, 162. 11. One cannot practice the Path in Kamadhatu, nor in Bhavagra. See Foreword to Chapters V-VI.
49. Mahdvyutpatti, 85. 7: dsvddanasamprayuktadhydna. Anguttara, ii. 126: "A person . . . enters and abides in the First Dhyana; he tastes it, loves it, and finds therein sensible delight (tarnassddetitarnnikdmetitena cavittirhdpajjati). Ifhedieswithouthavingfallenfromit, he is reborn in the world of the Brahmakayikas. " The same for the other Dhyanas, with rebirth in the heaven which is suitable to it.
This text is invoked by the Andhakas against the Theravadins in the Kathdvatthu, siii.
