This first moment is
samayktvaniyamdvakranti
(vi.
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-3-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991-PDF-Search-Engine
The Nine Perfect Knowledges 860 2.
The Stages of Absorption 862 3.
Is Abandoning a Perfect Knowledge 864
4. How Many Perfect Knowledges
Gin One Possess? 866
5. The Anagamin and the Arhat 867 869
Chapter Six: The Path and the Saints
The Nature of the Path 895 The Four Noble Truths 896
Footnotes
I. II.
III.
The Truth of Suffering 899 1. The Three Types of Suffering 899 a. Discussion: Is the Path Suffering? 901 b. Discussion: Is there any Agreeable Sensation? 901 Argument from Scripture 903 Argument from Reason 907 The Truth of Origin 908 The Two Truths 910 The Path of Seeing: Preliminary Practices 911 A. The Three Wisdoms 912 a. Discussion: The Meaning of the Suffix -maya 913
D. E.
A.
B.
C D.
Their Order 897
1. The Meaning of abhisamaya 897
2. The Meaning of aryasatya 898
? IV. The A. B.
C. D.
E. F. G. H.
The Two Separations 913 The Four Aryavarhsas 915 Visualization of the Loathsome 916 Mindfulness of Breathing 921 The Foundations of Mindfulness 925 Heat ( Usmagata) 930 The Summits (Miirdhan) 930
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
F.
H.
I. Patience (Ksdnti) 931
The Supreme Worldly Dharmas 933 The Four Roots of Good 933 1. Their Acquisition 934 The Four Nirvedhabhagiyas 935 Loss versus Falling Away 938 The Three Gotras 940 The Moksabhagiyas 942 The Arising of the Patience of Dharma Knowledge 943 1. The Definition of niyama, niyama, and samyaktva944 The Consecutive Knowledge of Suffering 945
Path of Seeing 945 The Sixteen Mental States 946 The Three Comprehensions 947 1. Discussion: Is Comprehension Single or Gradual? 947 The Irresistible Path 949 1. Disconnection 950 The Saints: Sraddhanusarin and Dharmanusarin 952 1. Discussion: The Meaning of sraddhanusarin 952 2. Discussion: The Meaning of dharmanusarin 952 The Srotaapanna 953 Sraddhadhimukta and Drstiprapta 954 The Nine Categories of Defilements 958 The Saptakrtparamah 958 1. The Vaibhasika Objection 959 2. Response 959 Why the Srotaapanna is Incapable of Falling 961 J. AKulamkula 962 K. The Sakrdagamin 964
J. K.
L. M. N. 0. P.
Q.
I.
? L.
1. TheEkavIcika 964 The Anagamin 965 1. The Five Types of Anagamin in Rupadhatu 966 2. The Three types of Akanisthaga 968 3. The Bhavagraga 969 4. The Four Types of Anagamin in Artipyadhatu 969 5. The Seven Types of Anagamin 970 6. The Nine Types of Anagamin 970 The Seven Realms of Rebirth for Good Persons 971
M.
1. Discussion: Do the Five Types of Anagamin
Exist in Kamadhatu? 973 2. The Saint and His Repeated Births 973 Combining the Dhyanas 975 1. Why are the Dhyanas Combined? 976 The Suddhavasas 977 P. Kayasaksins 977 1. The Three Learnings 978 Q. The Antaraparinirvayin 979
VI. The Asaiksa Path 980 A. Vajropamasamadhi 981
N. O.
B. C. D. E.
F. G.
The Knowledge of Destruction 983 Definition of the Word saiksa 983 The Eight Saints 985 Detachment and the Path 985 1. The Spheres of Detachment 988 The Consciousness of Non-Arising 991 Sramanya and the Four Sramanyaphalas 992 1. The Eighty-nine Sramanyaphalas 992 2. The Five Stages of the Path of Abandoning 993 Discussion: Sramanya and the Two Results 994 1. Synonyms of Sramanya 995 a. The Wheel of the Dharma 995
Discussion: Why is the Path of Seeing a Wheel? 995 b. Threefold Revolution and the Twelve Aspects 996 2. Sramanyaphala and the Spheres 998
? A.
B. C
D. E.
F. Footnotes
H.
The Six Types of Arhats 999 1. Occasional Deliverance 1000 2. Can Arhat Fall Away? 1003 Discussion: Do Defilements Have Non-Existent Things for Their Objects? 1004 3. The Sautrantika Argument: Arhats
Cannot Fall Away 1006 a. Arguments from Scripture 1006 b. Arguments from Reason 1009 c. The Vaibhasika Position 1010
I. J.
K. L.
mi. The Various Paths 1020
The Six Gotras of Saiksas and Prthagjanas 1010 The Three Types of Falling Away 1011 Perfecting the Moral Faculties 1013 The Seven Aryans 1016 M. The Ubhayatobhagavimukta and the Prajnavimukta 1018 N. The Perfect or Complete Saiksa and Asaiksa 1019
The Four Paths 1020 1. The Meaning of the Word marga 1020 2. The Meaning of the Word pratipad 1021 The Four Routes 1021 The Thirty-seven Adjutants of Bodhi 1022 1. Their Natures 1023 2. Energy versus Exertion 1025 3. Their Order 1026
4. Their Purity or Impurity
5. Their Spheres 1029
The Four Avetyaprasadas 1031 1. Definition of the Term avetyaprasadas 1033
Perfect Deliverance and the
Knowledge of Perfect Deliverance 1034 1. Right Knowledge versus Right Views 1036
The Relationship between Disgust
and Detachment 1038
1041
1029
? Foreword
1. 1 am grateful for the generosity of the Foundation Universitaire which continues its indispensable goodwill towards Vasubandhu and his unworthy interpreter. My friend J. -B. Istas also deserves my thanks. Owing to his asammusta attention the errors of orthography are, I hope, very few.
2. With this volume, I have finished the translation of two-thirds of the Kosa. There remain Chapters VII and VIII {the jndnas and the "qualities" which consist of jndnas, and the absorptions and the "qualities" which consist of absorption), and the short "Treatise on the Refutation of the Pudgala" which is customarily regarded as the Ninth Chapter: this will be the contents of a volume which will appear in 1925. Finally we must take up again the Third Chapter whose translation in "Cosmologie bouddhique" (Kegan Paul, Trench, etc. , 1918) leaves much to be desired. And finally I shall have to fill this long work with introductions, notes, and indices which will facilitate their use.
3. In 1913-1914 I translated the Fifth Chapter from the Tibetan and J. -B. Istas has partially printed my translation. Here it is taken up again and improved
The Sixth Chapter has benefited from favorable circumstances. I made use of the Cambridge MSS--which Miss Ridding and myself copied in 1915--and from the xylograph in the India Office. Close collaboration with Miss Ridding and with E. J. Thomas led to the appearance of an English version very carefully researched from the point of view of English equivalents. A study of Paramartha, Hsiian-tsang, and the notes by Kyokuga Saeki, much though it may have enriched the commentary, has not notably changed the work that we did in Cambridge.
I considered that, without the aid of an outline which would elucidate uncertain points, the Sixth Chapter would be truly awkward
? . xiv Foreword
to read. A note on the Path will therefore be found here. ***
A Summary Note on the Path.
1. There is acquisition of the "roots of good which produce deliverance" (moksabhdgtya kusalamula, iii. 44c, iv. 124, vi. 24c, vii. 30, 34)--which are thoughts or actions inspired by the desire for deliverance (Nirvana)--in an existence preceding the immediate preparation of the Path (vi. 24d).
2. There is acquisition of the dryavamsas, vi. 5-8), moral qualities which make a perfect monk. In principle, it is considered that entry to the Path presupposes the quality of a monk, certainly the Pratimoksasamvara, the quality of Upasaka (iv, English translation p. 598, 680).
3. There is then the cultivation of the contemplation or visualization of loathsome things (asubhdbhdvand) and the application of the mindfulness of breathing (dndpdnasmrti)
(vi. 9-13), through which one triumphs over desire and distraction, and through which one becomes capable of entering into bhdvand or samddhiy absorption.
4. There is "application of mindfulness" or "application of the prajnd, the speculative consciousness, due to mindfulness" (smrtyupasthdna, vi. 14-16). The ascetic understands, in a still imperfect manner, the specific and general characteristics of the
body, of sensation, of the mind, and of dharmas in general.
5. Then there takes place the acquisition of the four "roots of good" {kusalamula) which are called "leading to penetration," nirvedhabhdgiya (vi. 17-25). These are smrtyupasthdnas of a higher nature, the highest of which, the laukikdgradharmas, "the Supreme Worldly Dharmas/' or meditation, leads directly to the pure seeing of the truths, to abhisamaya.
The nirvedhabhdgiyas are the preparatory path (prayogamdrga)
? par excellence; all of the exercises which precede it are the distant preparatory path. There now comes the Path properly so-called, the path of the abandoning of the klesas or defilements (the prahdnamdrga).
6. There is abhisamaya (vi. English translation p. 897, 946) or satyabhisamaya, "comprehension of the Truths. " This is a pure or andsrava prajnd, that is to say a prajfld free from any error (viparydsa, v. 9) and any defilement (rdga, etc. ), which grasps the general characteristics (sdmdnyalaksana, ii, English translation p. 240) of the Truths. The Truths are defined, vi. 2, 3; each one is made up of four "aspects" (dkdras) vii. 13; "comprehension" is therefore gradual (anupurva), vi. 27.
Abhisamaya is made up of sixteen thoughts, or sixteen moments of thought.
The ascetic first sees the Truth of Suffering relating to Kamadhatu. This seeing consists of two moments. In the first, duhkhe dharmajndnaksdnti (vi. 26a), the ascetic destroys any doubt that may remain relating to the suffering of Kamadhatu: this first moment is a "patience" (ksdnti), which expels a certain category of klesa; this is a path of abandoning (prahdnamdrga) or an "irresistible" path (dnantaryamdrga), v. 6l, vi. 28,65.
This first moment is samayktvaniyamdvakranti (vi. English translation p. 896) and makes the ascetic an Aryan, a candidate for the first result.
The second moment, all doubt having disappeared relating to suffering of Kamadhatu, is called duhkhe dharmajndna: this is a perfect "knowledge/' The difference between a "patience", ksanti, and "knowledge," jndna, is explained vii. l. In the second moment, the ascetic who, in the first moment, cut off the "possession" (prdpti, ii. 36c) of a certain category or group of klesas, takes possession of the "destruction" relating to these kiefas (destruc- tion = nirodha, pratisamkhyanirodha, nirvana, ii. English transla- tion p. 207, 280). The ascetic is therefore delivered from these klesas: the second moment is thus a path of deliverance (vimukti- mdrga) (vi. 28, 61, 65).
foreword xv
? xvi Foreword
In the third and fourth moments, the ascetic sees the Truth of Suffering relating to the suffering of the two higher spheres. There are the same four moments for each Truth: in all sixteen moments, eight moments of ksdnti, eight moments oijndna. The four moments of jfidna relating to Kamadhatu are dharmajnana; the four moments relating to the higher spheres are anvayajndna (vii. 3,6,8).
7. The first fifteen moments of abhisamaya make: up the "path of seeing," satyadarsanamdrga or darsanamarga, because they are the first (pure) seeing of the Truths (vi. 28c). This is the dharmacakra (vi. 54), very rapid, of such a type that it is difficult for a saint capable of reading the thoughts of others to follow the progress of an ascetic who has entered darsanamarga (vii. 6b).
The eight ksdntis or "paths of abandoning'* (prahdnamarga) which are found here bring about the abandoning (v. English translation p. 775, 854, 861), in a definitive manner, of a certain category of klesa-the klesa which is "wrong seeing" (drsti) by its nature (satkdyadrsti, etc. , i. 40c, iv. ll, v. 4, vi. 58, vii. 36), the so-called avastuka klesa--\Ax3& a certain attachment, rdgaf the rdga which is in direct relationship with the drsti (v. 33).
In the sixteenth moment, which is the first moment of the path of meditation (bhdvandmdrga), the ascetic acquires the first result, the result of Srotaapanna (on the results or "fruits," see v. 70, vi. 51),andof the sixth parijnd (v. 54). His deliverance is assured and rapid: he will obtain Nirvana after seven (or after fourteen) rebirths at the most, vi. 34a. Nevertheless, if the ascetic, before having entered the path of darfana, has not got rid of, through a worldly path of meditation {laukika bhavanamdrga) (see Para. 8 below), the klesas which can only be abandoned by the path of meditation (bhavanamdrga), he will remain, upon leaving the path of seeing, bound by innumerable klesas: the path of darsana, in sum, cuts off only the drstis, the idea of self, etc. ; it does not cut off the rdga or attachment which one experiences through agreeable sensations, which, as opposed to the idea of self, are real; it also leaves intact hatred (dvesa), etc. (v. 5a, i. 40), which only the
? path of meditation can cut off.
8. The path of meditation, bhdvand, is by nature punah punardmukhtkarana, abhydsa, repeated contemplation, or "medita- tion" (On the different definitions of bhdvand, bhdvayati, see ii. 59, iv. l23c, v. 29, 60d, vi. 5a, 70, vii. ll, 20, 27).
This path is pure or impure; as pure, it can only be cultivate by an ascetic who has trodden the path of darsana.
Let us now consider the ascetic who, although bound by all of the bonds to be abandoned through meditation {bhdvandheyak- lesa), leaves the path of seeing and enters the pure path of meditation.
This path consists of the repeated contemplation of the Truths. Through this contemplation, the ascetic will abandon, in sequence, the nine categories (strong-strong, strong-medium, strong-weak, medium-strong . . . vi. 33) of the klesas relating to Kamadhatu, relating to each of the Four Dhyanas (stages or heavens of Rupadhatu), and relating to each of the four states or four existences {upapatti) of the so-called "formless" or nonmaterial absorptions which make up Arupyadhatu (on the distinction between samapattidhyana and upapattidhyana, see viii. l); for example, he abandons all rdga (attachment or craving) first with respect to the sense pleasures, and then with respect to the delight or satisfaction that he experiences in the First Dhyana.
The abandoning of each of these categories (nine for each of the nine spheres) makes up a "moment" of abandoning or of relinquishment (prahdna or dnantaryamdrga) and a moment of deliverance (vimuktimdrga): in which moment the ascetic takes possession of the destruction of this category. In distinction to the path of seeing, these two moments are moments of "knowledge,"
jndna; there are no "patiences," ksdnti, in the path of meditation (v. 65d).
The ascetic who obtains the abandoning of the sixteenth category of the klesas of Kamadhatu (avarabhdgiya, v. 43) becomes a Sakrdagamin (vii. 35c); he will be reborn no more than once in
Foreword xvii
? xviii Foreword
Kamadhatu; he who has obtained the abandoning of the nine categories of the same defilements becomes an Anagamin (vi. 34); he will not be reborn again in Kamadhatu.
The path of abandoning through which the ascetic abandons the ninth category (weak-weak) of the klesas which are attached to the highest sphere of existence--the fourth Arupya, naivasamjndnd- samjndyatana, or simply Bhavagra-bears the name of Vajropama- samadhi (vi. 44d). It is followed by a "path of deliverance" in which the ascetic takes possession of the destruction of all the klesas or dsravas. The ascetic, endowed with the highest of the parijnds (v. 69c), is henceforth an Arhat, an Asaiksa. He possesses ksayajndna (vi. 44d) and, since he is "immovable," anutpddajndna (vi. 50) [On the different types of Arhat, the falling away of an Arhat, see vi. 56-60].
9. The name visesamdrga, the path of excellence or the excellent path, or the path of the progress, is given to the "paths" (that is to say to the moments of thought) which are better (visispa) than the result already obtained (v. 6l, vi. 32, 65).
The theory of the four paths, prayoga, dnantarya, vimukti, and visesa, is applied to many spiritual processes, for example to the acquisition of the visesas (that is to say of the spiritual qualities, guna, whose acquisition depends on the Dhyanas): acquisition of the divine eye and of the abhijnas (vii. 42), acquisition of the abhibhvdyatanas (viii. 35), etc. One process particularly worthy of notice is indriyasamcdra (vi. 4lc, 57c, 58b, 60), through which the ascetic "transforms" or "perfects" the moral faculties (indriya) of faith, etc. , making them sharp {tiksna). The classification of the Saints (Sraddhanusarin, etc. , vi. 29, 63) rests on the distinction between sharp and blunt or weak (mrdu) faculties.
10. Nevertheless, without having "seen" the Truths through a pure prajnd, without having "uprooted" the "wrong views" (satkdyadrspi, the idea of a self, etc. ), in other words, by completely remaining a Prthagjana (vi. 26a, p. 944), an ascetic can become detached (vairagya) from Kamadhatu, from Rupadhatu, and from the first three stages of Arupyadhatu.
? In addition to the pure (anasrava) or transworldly (lokottara) or Aryan path-which is "seeing the Truths/' darsanamdrga, or "repeated seeing, meditating on the Truths," bhdvandmdrga--there is an impure (sdsrava, samala) or worldly (laukika) path which is called a "worldly path of meditation," laukika bhdvandmdrga. In this path the ascetic does not progress through "attention bearing on the true nature of things" (tattvamanasikdra) or by grasping their common characteristics (sdmdnyalaksana, impermanence, etc. ); he will not think of "suffering" in and of itself, an abstraction created from the "self" or of "another" who suffers; etc. The ascetic becomes disgusted with Kamadhatu, he "detests" (vidu- sana) Kamadhatu, which is coarse, painful, an obstacle; he considers the First Dhyana as excellent, etc. (vi. 49,61). In this way he obtains, in two successive moments (a moment of abandoning and a moment of deliverance), the abandoning of each of the nine categories of klesa which attach themselves to Kamadhatu. And the same for the successive stages.
a. It is evident that a person born in Kamadhatu, and consequently defiled through birth by all the klesas proper to this sphere of existence, cannot uproot these same klesas by means of thoughts pertaining to the sphere of Kamadhatu. The ascetic should therefore raise himself above his natural state (firakrtyavas- tha) in order to become disgusted (vairagya) with Kamadhatu. As long as he is not disgusted with it, he cannot enter into the First Dhyana, since it is this very same disgust which causes him to enter the First Dhyana. The ascetic should therefore enter a state of absorption which is called andgamya (v. 66, vi. 44d, 61c, viii. 22c) and which is the "threshold", the frontier {sdmantaka) of the First Dhyana: it is in this state that he is delivered from the klesas of Kamadhatu. He rises above the First Dhyana in order to free himself from the klesas of the First Dhyana, and into the "threshold" of the Second Dhyana and so on (viii. 21d). In order to deliver himself, by means of the worldly path of meditation, from the klesas of a certain sphere, he should, on the one hand, aspire to a higher sphere, and on the other hand, enter into the threshold of the higher sphere. Consequently the ascetic cannot, by means of
Foreword xix
? xx Foreword
the worldly path, free himself from the highest stage of existence, or Bhavagra.
b. The worldly path, if it puts the ascetic in possession of the destruction (nirodha) of the klesas, or of "disconnection from the klesas" (visamyoga), only gives him a worldly possession (laukikt prdpti) of this "disconnection" (vi. 46a). This possession is not definitive. The gods of the world of Brahma are Prthagjanas who are provisionally liberated from the activation of the klesas of Kamadhatu.
It is normal for an ascetic to have cultivated the worldly path of meditation before entering the path of the pure seeing of the Truths. Who of us, in the course of the infinite number of rebirths, has not obtained the Dhyanas by the worldly path? All beings, in certain periods of chaos, are reborn in the heavens of the Dhyanas (viii. 38).
One should therefore distinguish, on the one nand, the ascetic who obtains all the results in the sequence in which they nave been explained above (Para. 8), Srotaapanna, Sakrdagamin, Anagamin; and on the other hand, the ascetic who, before entering the path of seeing, is already liberated by the worldly path from the lower categories of the klesas of Kamadhatu or of all of the categories of klesas of Kamadhatu (bhuyovttaraga, vitaraga or kamavitaraga). Such an ascetic, when he has trodden the Path of Seeing, does not become a Srotaapanna; he becomes a Sakrdagamin or an Ana- gamin according to the case. And he possesses, thanks to the Path of Seeing, the transworldly and worldly possession of the destruction of the klesas previously abandoned by the worldly path (vi. 29c, 55).
The Buddha gave a memorable example of this method: he was a Prthagjana when he came to the Bodhi Tree (iii. 41a), but a Prthagjana who had cultivated the worldly path to its extreme limit, who had no more attachment except to Bhavagra, the fourth state of Arupyadhatu. He thus obtained the quality of Arhat-- which for him was the quality of Samyaksambuddha-in thirty-two moments of thought (ii. 44a, vi. 24a): sixteen moments of "com-
? prehension of the Truths" {abhisamaya, see above Para. 6), which made him an Anagamin freed from all existence with the exception of Bhavagra; and eighteen moments (nine paths of abandoning, and nine of deliverance) of the path of meditation on the Truths, which destroy the klesas relating to Bhavagra.
11. It is normal for the ascetic, after having achieved the path of the Seeing of the Truths, to cultivate the worldly path of meditation.
Once he is a Srotaapanna, he frees himself from Kamadhatu through the worldly path: nevertheless his possession of the destruction of the klesas of Kamadhatu is a transworldly posses- sion (vi. 46, 53c). The worldly path immediately places him in possession of results superior to those of a Srotaapanna.
a. The ascetic who is detached from Kamadhatu through the worldly path can cultivate the "Path of Seeing" by entering into Dhyana; nothing is easier for him, since he "possesses" the Dhyanas and can "manifest" or actualize them (sammukhikartum) at will.
b. The ascetic who is not detached from Kamadhatu through
Path of Seeing. And he will be able, in this same anagamya, to cultivate to the end, as far as the acquisition of the result of Arhat, the pure path of the meditation of the Truths [Whereas the impure path of meditation is made up of the successive acquisition of the Dhyanas and Arupyas]. Nevertheless, it is in the Dhyanas, and notably in the Fourth Dhyana, that the path is most easily cultivated (v. 66a, vi. 24a, 47c).
c. The pure path is absent from Kamadhatu (ii. 12, viii. 5).
d. Every pure path of meditation is also absent from the Fourth Arupya; it is therefore in a lower sphere (notably, the Third Arupya) that the ascetic--when the ascetic is a god of a certain class--will be delivered from the klesas of the Fourth Arupya (viii. 20a).
the worldly path, will enter anagamya in order to cultivate the 1
Foreword xxi
? xxii Foreword
e. The types of beings who are capable of cultivating the path (vi. 55).
12. One can obtain the quality of Arhat without having cultivated the Dhyanas. Even more so the "absorption of the destruction of ideas and sensations" (samjndveditanirodhasamdo patti) (ii. 43,iv. 54,56,vi. 43,63,64,viii. 27c,33a)isnotindispensa- ble. However, it possesses great advantages, as do all the Dhyanas. The "qualities" {guna) consisting of knowledge (jndnamaya) and of absorption (samddhimaya), such as arand, pranidhijndna, the vimoksas, sunyatdsamddhi, sunyatdsunyatdsamddhi, etc. (Chapter VII and VIII), are accessories of the path.
13. Vasubandhu does not forget to refer his model of the path to the old mystical chart of Buddhism: the bodhipdksikas, the mdrgdngas, the bodhyangas, the three skandhas, etc. (vi. 67).
***
note 1. The first two results are obtained only by an andgamya. The third can be obtained in the six spheres (vi. English translation note 397).
? CHAPTER FIVE
The Latent Defilements
o m. Homage to the Buddha.
We said that the world, in all its variety, arises from action
(iv. l). Now it is by reason of the anusayas} or latent defilements, that 2
actions accumulate: in the absence of the anusayas, actions are not capable of producing a new existence. Consequently
la. The roots of existence, that is, of rebirth or of action, are the
1 anusayas
When a klesa* or defilement enters into action, it accomplishes ten operations: 1. it makes solid its root, its prdpti--the possession that a certain person already had of the kief a (ii. 36,38a)--preventing it from being broken; 2. it places itself in a series (that is, it continues to reproduce itself); 3. it accommodates its field, rendering the person (dsrava, ii. 5, 6,44d) fit for the arising of the klesa; 4. it engenders its offspring, that is, the upaklesas (v. 46): hatred engenders anger, etc. ; 5. it leads to action; 6. it aggregates its causes, namely, incorrect judgment; 7. it causes one to be mistaken with regard to the objea of consciousness; 8. it bends the mental series towards the object or towards rebirth (iii.
4. How Many Perfect Knowledges
Gin One Possess? 866
5. The Anagamin and the Arhat 867 869
Chapter Six: The Path and the Saints
The Nature of the Path 895 The Four Noble Truths 896
Footnotes
I. II.
III.
The Truth of Suffering 899 1. The Three Types of Suffering 899 a. Discussion: Is the Path Suffering? 901 b. Discussion: Is there any Agreeable Sensation? 901 Argument from Scripture 903 Argument from Reason 907 The Truth of Origin 908 The Two Truths 910 The Path of Seeing: Preliminary Practices 911 A. The Three Wisdoms 912 a. Discussion: The Meaning of the Suffix -maya 913
D. E.
A.
B.
C D.
Their Order 897
1. The Meaning of abhisamaya 897
2. The Meaning of aryasatya 898
? IV. The A. B.
C. D.
E. F. G. H.
The Two Separations 913 The Four Aryavarhsas 915 Visualization of the Loathsome 916 Mindfulness of Breathing 921 The Foundations of Mindfulness 925 Heat ( Usmagata) 930 The Summits (Miirdhan) 930
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
F.
H.
I. Patience (Ksdnti) 931
The Supreme Worldly Dharmas 933 The Four Roots of Good 933 1. Their Acquisition 934 The Four Nirvedhabhagiyas 935 Loss versus Falling Away 938 The Three Gotras 940 The Moksabhagiyas 942 The Arising of the Patience of Dharma Knowledge 943 1. The Definition of niyama, niyama, and samyaktva944 The Consecutive Knowledge of Suffering 945
Path of Seeing 945 The Sixteen Mental States 946 The Three Comprehensions 947 1. Discussion: Is Comprehension Single or Gradual? 947 The Irresistible Path 949 1. Disconnection 950 The Saints: Sraddhanusarin and Dharmanusarin 952 1. Discussion: The Meaning of sraddhanusarin 952 2. Discussion: The Meaning of dharmanusarin 952 The Srotaapanna 953 Sraddhadhimukta and Drstiprapta 954 The Nine Categories of Defilements 958 The Saptakrtparamah 958 1. The Vaibhasika Objection 959 2. Response 959 Why the Srotaapanna is Incapable of Falling 961 J. AKulamkula 962 K. The Sakrdagamin 964
J. K.
L. M. N. 0. P.
Q.
I.
? L.
1. TheEkavIcika 964 The Anagamin 965 1. The Five Types of Anagamin in Rupadhatu 966 2. The Three types of Akanisthaga 968 3. The Bhavagraga 969 4. The Four Types of Anagamin in Artipyadhatu 969 5. The Seven Types of Anagamin 970 6. The Nine Types of Anagamin 970 The Seven Realms of Rebirth for Good Persons 971
M.
1. Discussion: Do the Five Types of Anagamin
Exist in Kamadhatu? 973 2. The Saint and His Repeated Births 973 Combining the Dhyanas 975 1. Why are the Dhyanas Combined? 976 The Suddhavasas 977 P. Kayasaksins 977 1. The Three Learnings 978 Q. The Antaraparinirvayin 979
VI. The Asaiksa Path 980 A. Vajropamasamadhi 981
N. O.
B. C. D. E.
F. G.
The Knowledge of Destruction 983 Definition of the Word saiksa 983 The Eight Saints 985 Detachment and the Path 985 1. The Spheres of Detachment 988 The Consciousness of Non-Arising 991 Sramanya and the Four Sramanyaphalas 992 1. The Eighty-nine Sramanyaphalas 992 2. The Five Stages of the Path of Abandoning 993 Discussion: Sramanya and the Two Results 994 1. Synonyms of Sramanya 995 a. The Wheel of the Dharma 995
Discussion: Why is the Path of Seeing a Wheel? 995 b. Threefold Revolution and the Twelve Aspects 996 2. Sramanyaphala and the Spheres 998
? A.
B. C
D. E.
F. Footnotes
H.
The Six Types of Arhats 999 1. Occasional Deliverance 1000 2. Can Arhat Fall Away? 1003 Discussion: Do Defilements Have Non-Existent Things for Their Objects? 1004 3. The Sautrantika Argument: Arhats
Cannot Fall Away 1006 a. Arguments from Scripture 1006 b. Arguments from Reason 1009 c. The Vaibhasika Position 1010
I. J.
K. L.
mi. The Various Paths 1020
The Six Gotras of Saiksas and Prthagjanas 1010 The Three Types of Falling Away 1011 Perfecting the Moral Faculties 1013 The Seven Aryans 1016 M. The Ubhayatobhagavimukta and the Prajnavimukta 1018 N. The Perfect or Complete Saiksa and Asaiksa 1019
The Four Paths 1020 1. The Meaning of the Word marga 1020 2. The Meaning of the Word pratipad 1021 The Four Routes 1021 The Thirty-seven Adjutants of Bodhi 1022 1. Their Natures 1023 2. Energy versus Exertion 1025 3. Their Order 1026
4. Their Purity or Impurity
5. Their Spheres 1029
The Four Avetyaprasadas 1031 1. Definition of the Term avetyaprasadas 1033
Perfect Deliverance and the
Knowledge of Perfect Deliverance 1034 1. Right Knowledge versus Right Views 1036
The Relationship between Disgust
and Detachment 1038
1041
1029
? Foreword
1. 1 am grateful for the generosity of the Foundation Universitaire which continues its indispensable goodwill towards Vasubandhu and his unworthy interpreter. My friend J. -B. Istas also deserves my thanks. Owing to his asammusta attention the errors of orthography are, I hope, very few.
2. With this volume, I have finished the translation of two-thirds of the Kosa. There remain Chapters VII and VIII {the jndnas and the "qualities" which consist of jndnas, and the absorptions and the "qualities" which consist of absorption), and the short "Treatise on the Refutation of the Pudgala" which is customarily regarded as the Ninth Chapter: this will be the contents of a volume which will appear in 1925. Finally we must take up again the Third Chapter whose translation in "Cosmologie bouddhique" (Kegan Paul, Trench, etc. , 1918) leaves much to be desired. And finally I shall have to fill this long work with introductions, notes, and indices which will facilitate their use.
3. In 1913-1914 I translated the Fifth Chapter from the Tibetan and J. -B. Istas has partially printed my translation. Here it is taken up again and improved
The Sixth Chapter has benefited from favorable circumstances. I made use of the Cambridge MSS--which Miss Ridding and myself copied in 1915--and from the xylograph in the India Office. Close collaboration with Miss Ridding and with E. J. Thomas led to the appearance of an English version very carefully researched from the point of view of English equivalents. A study of Paramartha, Hsiian-tsang, and the notes by Kyokuga Saeki, much though it may have enriched the commentary, has not notably changed the work that we did in Cambridge.
I considered that, without the aid of an outline which would elucidate uncertain points, the Sixth Chapter would be truly awkward
? . xiv Foreword
to read. A note on the Path will therefore be found here. ***
A Summary Note on the Path.
1. There is acquisition of the "roots of good which produce deliverance" (moksabhdgtya kusalamula, iii. 44c, iv. 124, vi. 24c, vii. 30, 34)--which are thoughts or actions inspired by the desire for deliverance (Nirvana)--in an existence preceding the immediate preparation of the Path (vi. 24d).
2. There is acquisition of the dryavamsas, vi. 5-8), moral qualities which make a perfect monk. In principle, it is considered that entry to the Path presupposes the quality of a monk, certainly the Pratimoksasamvara, the quality of Upasaka (iv, English translation p. 598, 680).
3. There is then the cultivation of the contemplation or visualization of loathsome things (asubhdbhdvand) and the application of the mindfulness of breathing (dndpdnasmrti)
(vi. 9-13), through which one triumphs over desire and distraction, and through which one becomes capable of entering into bhdvand or samddhiy absorption.
4. There is "application of mindfulness" or "application of the prajnd, the speculative consciousness, due to mindfulness" (smrtyupasthdna, vi. 14-16). The ascetic understands, in a still imperfect manner, the specific and general characteristics of the
body, of sensation, of the mind, and of dharmas in general.
5. Then there takes place the acquisition of the four "roots of good" {kusalamula) which are called "leading to penetration," nirvedhabhdgiya (vi. 17-25). These are smrtyupasthdnas of a higher nature, the highest of which, the laukikdgradharmas, "the Supreme Worldly Dharmas/' or meditation, leads directly to the pure seeing of the truths, to abhisamaya.
The nirvedhabhdgiyas are the preparatory path (prayogamdrga)
? par excellence; all of the exercises which precede it are the distant preparatory path. There now comes the Path properly so-called, the path of the abandoning of the klesas or defilements (the prahdnamdrga).
6. There is abhisamaya (vi. English translation p. 897, 946) or satyabhisamaya, "comprehension of the Truths. " This is a pure or andsrava prajnd, that is to say a prajfld free from any error (viparydsa, v. 9) and any defilement (rdga, etc. ), which grasps the general characteristics (sdmdnyalaksana, ii, English translation p. 240) of the Truths. The Truths are defined, vi. 2, 3; each one is made up of four "aspects" (dkdras) vii. 13; "comprehension" is therefore gradual (anupurva), vi. 27.
Abhisamaya is made up of sixteen thoughts, or sixteen moments of thought.
The ascetic first sees the Truth of Suffering relating to Kamadhatu. This seeing consists of two moments. In the first, duhkhe dharmajndnaksdnti (vi. 26a), the ascetic destroys any doubt that may remain relating to the suffering of Kamadhatu: this first moment is a "patience" (ksdnti), which expels a certain category of klesa; this is a path of abandoning (prahdnamdrga) or an "irresistible" path (dnantaryamdrga), v. 6l, vi. 28,65.
This first moment is samayktvaniyamdvakranti (vi. English translation p. 896) and makes the ascetic an Aryan, a candidate for the first result.
The second moment, all doubt having disappeared relating to suffering of Kamadhatu, is called duhkhe dharmajndna: this is a perfect "knowledge/' The difference between a "patience", ksanti, and "knowledge," jndna, is explained vii. l. In the second moment, the ascetic who, in the first moment, cut off the "possession" (prdpti, ii. 36c) of a certain category or group of klesas, takes possession of the "destruction" relating to these kiefas (destruc- tion = nirodha, pratisamkhyanirodha, nirvana, ii. English transla- tion p. 207, 280). The ascetic is therefore delivered from these klesas: the second moment is thus a path of deliverance (vimukti- mdrga) (vi. 28, 61, 65).
foreword xv
? xvi Foreword
In the third and fourth moments, the ascetic sees the Truth of Suffering relating to the suffering of the two higher spheres. There are the same four moments for each Truth: in all sixteen moments, eight moments of ksdnti, eight moments oijndna. The four moments of jfidna relating to Kamadhatu are dharmajnana; the four moments relating to the higher spheres are anvayajndna (vii. 3,6,8).
7. The first fifteen moments of abhisamaya make: up the "path of seeing," satyadarsanamdrga or darsanamarga, because they are the first (pure) seeing of the Truths (vi. 28c). This is the dharmacakra (vi. 54), very rapid, of such a type that it is difficult for a saint capable of reading the thoughts of others to follow the progress of an ascetic who has entered darsanamarga (vii. 6b).
The eight ksdntis or "paths of abandoning'* (prahdnamarga) which are found here bring about the abandoning (v. English translation p. 775, 854, 861), in a definitive manner, of a certain category of klesa-the klesa which is "wrong seeing" (drsti) by its nature (satkdyadrsti, etc. , i. 40c, iv. ll, v. 4, vi. 58, vii. 36), the so-called avastuka klesa--\Ax3& a certain attachment, rdgaf the rdga which is in direct relationship with the drsti (v. 33).
In the sixteenth moment, which is the first moment of the path of meditation (bhdvandmdrga), the ascetic acquires the first result, the result of Srotaapanna (on the results or "fruits," see v. 70, vi. 51),andof the sixth parijnd (v. 54). His deliverance is assured and rapid: he will obtain Nirvana after seven (or after fourteen) rebirths at the most, vi. 34a. Nevertheless, if the ascetic, before having entered the path of darfana, has not got rid of, through a worldly path of meditation {laukika bhavanamdrga) (see Para. 8 below), the klesas which can only be abandoned by the path of meditation (bhavanamdrga), he will remain, upon leaving the path of seeing, bound by innumerable klesas: the path of darsana, in sum, cuts off only the drstis, the idea of self, etc. ; it does not cut off the rdga or attachment which one experiences through agreeable sensations, which, as opposed to the idea of self, are real; it also leaves intact hatred (dvesa), etc. (v. 5a, i. 40), which only the
? path of meditation can cut off.
8. The path of meditation, bhdvand, is by nature punah punardmukhtkarana, abhydsa, repeated contemplation, or "medita- tion" (On the different definitions of bhdvand, bhdvayati, see ii. 59, iv. l23c, v. 29, 60d, vi. 5a, 70, vii. ll, 20, 27).
This path is pure or impure; as pure, it can only be cultivate by an ascetic who has trodden the path of darsana.
Let us now consider the ascetic who, although bound by all of the bonds to be abandoned through meditation {bhdvandheyak- lesa), leaves the path of seeing and enters the pure path of meditation.
This path consists of the repeated contemplation of the Truths. Through this contemplation, the ascetic will abandon, in sequence, the nine categories (strong-strong, strong-medium, strong-weak, medium-strong . . . vi. 33) of the klesas relating to Kamadhatu, relating to each of the Four Dhyanas (stages or heavens of Rupadhatu), and relating to each of the four states or four existences {upapatti) of the so-called "formless" or nonmaterial absorptions which make up Arupyadhatu (on the distinction between samapattidhyana and upapattidhyana, see viii. l); for example, he abandons all rdga (attachment or craving) first with respect to the sense pleasures, and then with respect to the delight or satisfaction that he experiences in the First Dhyana.
The abandoning of each of these categories (nine for each of the nine spheres) makes up a "moment" of abandoning or of relinquishment (prahdna or dnantaryamdrga) and a moment of deliverance (vimuktimdrga): in which moment the ascetic takes possession of the destruction of this category. In distinction to the path of seeing, these two moments are moments of "knowledge,"
jndna; there are no "patiences," ksdnti, in the path of meditation (v. 65d).
The ascetic who obtains the abandoning of the sixteenth category of the klesas of Kamadhatu (avarabhdgiya, v. 43) becomes a Sakrdagamin (vii. 35c); he will be reborn no more than once in
Foreword xvii
? xviii Foreword
Kamadhatu; he who has obtained the abandoning of the nine categories of the same defilements becomes an Anagamin (vi. 34); he will not be reborn again in Kamadhatu.
The path of abandoning through which the ascetic abandons the ninth category (weak-weak) of the klesas which are attached to the highest sphere of existence--the fourth Arupya, naivasamjndnd- samjndyatana, or simply Bhavagra-bears the name of Vajropama- samadhi (vi. 44d). It is followed by a "path of deliverance" in which the ascetic takes possession of the destruction of all the klesas or dsravas. The ascetic, endowed with the highest of the parijnds (v. 69c), is henceforth an Arhat, an Asaiksa. He possesses ksayajndna (vi. 44d) and, since he is "immovable," anutpddajndna (vi. 50) [On the different types of Arhat, the falling away of an Arhat, see vi. 56-60].
9. The name visesamdrga, the path of excellence or the excellent path, or the path of the progress, is given to the "paths" (that is to say to the moments of thought) which are better (visispa) than the result already obtained (v. 6l, vi. 32, 65).
The theory of the four paths, prayoga, dnantarya, vimukti, and visesa, is applied to many spiritual processes, for example to the acquisition of the visesas (that is to say of the spiritual qualities, guna, whose acquisition depends on the Dhyanas): acquisition of the divine eye and of the abhijnas (vii. 42), acquisition of the abhibhvdyatanas (viii. 35), etc. One process particularly worthy of notice is indriyasamcdra (vi. 4lc, 57c, 58b, 60), through which the ascetic "transforms" or "perfects" the moral faculties (indriya) of faith, etc. , making them sharp {tiksna). The classification of the Saints (Sraddhanusarin, etc. , vi. 29, 63) rests on the distinction between sharp and blunt or weak (mrdu) faculties.
10. Nevertheless, without having "seen" the Truths through a pure prajnd, without having "uprooted" the "wrong views" (satkdyadrspi, the idea of a self, etc. ), in other words, by completely remaining a Prthagjana (vi. 26a, p. 944), an ascetic can become detached (vairagya) from Kamadhatu, from Rupadhatu, and from the first three stages of Arupyadhatu.
? In addition to the pure (anasrava) or transworldly (lokottara) or Aryan path-which is "seeing the Truths/' darsanamdrga, or "repeated seeing, meditating on the Truths," bhdvandmdrga--there is an impure (sdsrava, samala) or worldly (laukika) path which is called a "worldly path of meditation," laukika bhdvandmdrga. In this path the ascetic does not progress through "attention bearing on the true nature of things" (tattvamanasikdra) or by grasping their common characteristics (sdmdnyalaksana, impermanence, etc. ); he will not think of "suffering" in and of itself, an abstraction created from the "self" or of "another" who suffers; etc. The ascetic becomes disgusted with Kamadhatu, he "detests" (vidu- sana) Kamadhatu, which is coarse, painful, an obstacle; he considers the First Dhyana as excellent, etc. (vi. 49,61). In this way he obtains, in two successive moments (a moment of abandoning and a moment of deliverance), the abandoning of each of the nine categories of klesa which attach themselves to Kamadhatu. And the same for the successive stages.
a. It is evident that a person born in Kamadhatu, and consequently defiled through birth by all the klesas proper to this sphere of existence, cannot uproot these same klesas by means of thoughts pertaining to the sphere of Kamadhatu. The ascetic should therefore raise himself above his natural state (firakrtyavas- tha) in order to become disgusted (vairagya) with Kamadhatu. As long as he is not disgusted with it, he cannot enter into the First Dhyana, since it is this very same disgust which causes him to enter the First Dhyana. The ascetic should therefore enter a state of absorption which is called andgamya (v. 66, vi. 44d, 61c, viii. 22c) and which is the "threshold", the frontier {sdmantaka) of the First Dhyana: it is in this state that he is delivered from the klesas of Kamadhatu. He rises above the First Dhyana in order to free himself from the klesas of the First Dhyana, and into the "threshold" of the Second Dhyana and so on (viii. 21d). In order to deliver himself, by means of the worldly path of meditation, from the klesas of a certain sphere, he should, on the one hand, aspire to a higher sphere, and on the other hand, enter into the threshold of the higher sphere. Consequently the ascetic cannot, by means of
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? xx Foreword
the worldly path, free himself from the highest stage of existence, or Bhavagra.
b. The worldly path, if it puts the ascetic in possession of the destruction (nirodha) of the klesas, or of "disconnection from the klesas" (visamyoga), only gives him a worldly possession (laukikt prdpti) of this "disconnection" (vi. 46a). This possession is not definitive. The gods of the world of Brahma are Prthagjanas who are provisionally liberated from the activation of the klesas of Kamadhatu.
It is normal for an ascetic to have cultivated the worldly path of meditation before entering the path of the pure seeing of the Truths. Who of us, in the course of the infinite number of rebirths, has not obtained the Dhyanas by the worldly path? All beings, in certain periods of chaos, are reborn in the heavens of the Dhyanas (viii. 38).
One should therefore distinguish, on the one nand, the ascetic who obtains all the results in the sequence in which they nave been explained above (Para. 8), Srotaapanna, Sakrdagamin, Anagamin; and on the other hand, the ascetic who, before entering the path of seeing, is already liberated by the worldly path from the lower categories of the klesas of Kamadhatu or of all of the categories of klesas of Kamadhatu (bhuyovttaraga, vitaraga or kamavitaraga). Such an ascetic, when he has trodden the Path of Seeing, does not become a Srotaapanna; he becomes a Sakrdagamin or an Ana- gamin according to the case. And he possesses, thanks to the Path of Seeing, the transworldly and worldly possession of the destruction of the klesas previously abandoned by the worldly path (vi. 29c, 55).
The Buddha gave a memorable example of this method: he was a Prthagjana when he came to the Bodhi Tree (iii. 41a), but a Prthagjana who had cultivated the worldly path to its extreme limit, who had no more attachment except to Bhavagra, the fourth state of Arupyadhatu. He thus obtained the quality of Arhat-- which for him was the quality of Samyaksambuddha-in thirty-two moments of thought (ii. 44a, vi. 24a): sixteen moments of "com-
? prehension of the Truths" {abhisamaya, see above Para. 6), which made him an Anagamin freed from all existence with the exception of Bhavagra; and eighteen moments (nine paths of abandoning, and nine of deliverance) of the path of meditation on the Truths, which destroy the klesas relating to Bhavagra.
11. It is normal for the ascetic, after having achieved the path of the Seeing of the Truths, to cultivate the worldly path of meditation.
Once he is a Srotaapanna, he frees himself from Kamadhatu through the worldly path: nevertheless his possession of the destruction of the klesas of Kamadhatu is a transworldly posses- sion (vi. 46, 53c). The worldly path immediately places him in possession of results superior to those of a Srotaapanna.
a. The ascetic who is detached from Kamadhatu through the worldly path can cultivate the "Path of Seeing" by entering into Dhyana; nothing is easier for him, since he "possesses" the Dhyanas and can "manifest" or actualize them (sammukhikartum) at will.
b. The ascetic who is not detached from Kamadhatu through
Path of Seeing. And he will be able, in this same anagamya, to cultivate to the end, as far as the acquisition of the result of Arhat, the pure path of the meditation of the Truths [Whereas the impure path of meditation is made up of the successive acquisition of the Dhyanas and Arupyas]. Nevertheless, it is in the Dhyanas, and notably in the Fourth Dhyana, that the path is most easily cultivated (v. 66a, vi. 24a, 47c).
c. The pure path is absent from Kamadhatu (ii. 12, viii. 5).
d. Every pure path of meditation is also absent from the Fourth Arupya; it is therefore in a lower sphere (notably, the Third Arupya) that the ascetic--when the ascetic is a god of a certain class--will be delivered from the klesas of the Fourth Arupya (viii. 20a).
the worldly path, will enter anagamya in order to cultivate the 1
Foreword xxi
? xxii Foreword
e. The types of beings who are capable of cultivating the path (vi. 55).
12. One can obtain the quality of Arhat without having cultivated the Dhyanas. Even more so the "absorption of the destruction of ideas and sensations" (samjndveditanirodhasamdo patti) (ii. 43,iv. 54,56,vi. 43,63,64,viii. 27c,33a)isnotindispensa- ble. However, it possesses great advantages, as do all the Dhyanas. The "qualities" {guna) consisting of knowledge (jndnamaya) and of absorption (samddhimaya), such as arand, pranidhijndna, the vimoksas, sunyatdsamddhi, sunyatdsunyatdsamddhi, etc. (Chapter VII and VIII), are accessories of the path.
13. Vasubandhu does not forget to refer his model of the path to the old mystical chart of Buddhism: the bodhipdksikas, the mdrgdngas, the bodhyangas, the three skandhas, etc. (vi. 67).
***
note 1. The first two results are obtained only by an andgamya. The third can be obtained in the six spheres (vi. English translation note 397).
? CHAPTER FIVE
The Latent Defilements
o m. Homage to the Buddha.
We said that the world, in all its variety, arises from action
(iv. l). Now it is by reason of the anusayas} or latent defilements, that 2
actions accumulate: in the absence of the anusayas, actions are not capable of producing a new existence. Consequently
la. The roots of existence, that is, of rebirth or of action, are the
1 anusayas
When a klesa* or defilement enters into action, it accomplishes ten operations: 1. it makes solid its root, its prdpti--the possession that a certain person already had of the kief a (ii. 36,38a)--preventing it from being broken; 2. it places itself in a series (that is, it continues to reproduce itself); 3. it accommodates its field, rendering the person (dsrava, ii. 5, 6,44d) fit for the arising of the klesa; 4. it engenders its offspring, that is, the upaklesas (v. 46): hatred engenders anger, etc. ; 5. it leads to action; 6. it aggregates its causes, namely, incorrect judgment; 7. it causes one to be mistaken with regard to the objea of consciousness; 8. it bends the mental series towards the object or towards rebirth (iii.
