According to the Madhyamakdvatdra, the Bodhisattva, from the first stage on, abandons
erroneous
views (satkdyadrspi, sTlavrata, and vicikitsd).
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-2-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
Are the actions which mature in the marks irutamaya, cintdmaya, or bhdvandmaya, i.
e.
, do they come from out of the teaching, out of reflection, or out of absorption?
They are solely cintdmaya.
Why?
By reason of the special importance (prddhdnya) of this type of action (of action arisen from reflection): the action that issues from out of the teaching exists only in Kamadhatu .
.
.
Some say that the action that matures in the marks issues from out of both the teaching and reflection, but not from absorption.
In what place is there produced an action which matures in marks?
Only in Kamadhatu, only in the human realm of rebirth, only in Jambudvlpa, only with a male and not a female body, etc In what time period?
In the period when the Buddhas appear (utpdda); and not in a period empty of Buddhas, for the special volition (cetana) and resolution-vow (pranidhdna) [which create this action] do not bear on any other object.
490. Astasdhasrikd, p. 336: the Bodhisattva is reborn inJambudvlpa and generally in Madhyade? a.
? 491. This refers to the kalpas (great kalpas, mahakalpas, Koia, iii. 84a) which a Bodhisattva should normally endure beyond the three kalpdsamkhyeyas which form the bulk of his career: in the course of these one hundred kalpas, he truly merits the name of Bodhisattva and realizes Bodhi (Mahdvastu, iii. 249: te bodhirh kalpafatena samuddnenti narottama). Often these hundred kalpas are neglected and it is said Buddhahood is obtained in three kalpdsarhkhyeyas (iii. 94b-c), that is to say, in the course of three asamkbyeyas (or asamkhyas) of mahakalpas. Asamkhyeya, "incalculable," is a set number, calculable, but enormous, the value of which varies according to the mode of computation (the fifty-ninth value of a series 1,10,100. . . or of a series: 1,10,100,10,000,10,000x 10,000,. . . Ko/a, iii. 94).
It is believed that this theory replaced that of the asamkhyeyakalpas, incalculable kalpas, an expression that remains along with the new computation kalpdsamkhyeya, Religieux Eminents, p. 150, etc. Any kalpa is without measure (aparimita) and yet the kalpas are numerous (Mahdvastu, i. 78, compare Sarhyutta, ii. 181 and following). In the Abhidharma, asamkhyeyakalpa signifies one quarter of a "great kalpa," the period of creation, duration, destruction, and chaos.
In the Pali sources, thecareer of the Bodhisattva is four asarhkbeyeas and one hundred thousand kalpas long (ChiMers, sub voc. asamkhyeya; Cartyapitaka, iljdtaka, i p. 2; Anguttara, commentary in PTS. 1883, p. 98; Nettippakarana, p. 161; Visuddhimagga, 302). The Sdrasamgaha (first chapter, ed Neumann, 1891, p. 12) distinguishes Bodhisattvas in which wisdom, faith, or energy predominate: their careers are of four, and sixteen asamkbyeyas (plus 100,000 kalpas) respectively.
To the classical references given in Cosmologie bouddhique, p. 264, we should add that of the Abhisamaydlamkdrdloka, viii, where two theories are presented; the second, according to this work, is the theory of Vasubandhu: 1. The career of the Bodhisattva lasts three asamkbyeyas of kalpas (kalpdsamkhyeya, not asamkhyeyakalpa). The first includes the career of the Bodhisattva from the preparatory stage (samskdrabhumi) up to the first stage properly so-called; the second, from the second stage up to the seventh; the third, from the eighth stage up to entry into the stage of the Buddhas (buddhabhUmi - samantaprabhd). 2. But, in fact, we have a kalpdsamkhyeya for the samskdrabhumi; two for the abhimukticarydbbumi, three for the first stage properly so-called (pramuditd) and three for each of the ten stages. Having carried out his career for thirty-three kalpdsarhkhyeyas, the Bodhisattva arrives at the stage of the Buddhas: . . . samantaprabhdm buddhabhumim dsddayatity evarh trayastrimlatd kalpdsamkhyeyatr buddhatvarh prdptyata ity dryavasubandbupdddh.
492. The future Sakyamuni, by purifying his energy as explained in iv. H2a, in other words, by a great effort of energy (viryardmbha), obtained the completion of his perfeason (pdramita) of energy and of his other perfections in ninety-one kalpas.
The Mahdvastu (iii. 249) is in agreement: viryakdyena sampanno . . . nava kalpdni stbdyesi viryenapurusottamah / The same for TD15, number 643 translated by Przyluski,/. /l. r. 1914, ii. p. 566 (very interesting).
According to certain Mahayana authorities (quoted by Saeki and which should be studied), the future Sakyamuni skipped over forty kalpas: eleven by feeding the tigress, eight by extending his hair into filth (Divya, p. 252), nine by praising Pusya, and twelve by searching out a half stanza in peril of his life.
493. Compare Sarhyutta iv. 324. The Vydkhyd summarizes the Sutra: Aiibandhakena grdmanyd nirgranthahdvakena bbagavdn uktab / khn anartbdydsi bho Gautama kuldndm pratipanno yas tvam tdfie durbhiksa iyatd bbiksusarhgbena sardham as'anivad utsddayan bhiksdm atasi / sa bhagavatabhihitab / ito'ham grdmani ekanavatarh kalpam updddya samanusmardmi. . .
One should explain: ekanavateh puranam kalpa ekanavatah.
There are numerous passages where the Blessed One appears to limit his experience in the world to ninety-one kalpas, for example Majjhima 1483; in this period VipaSyin reigned, Digha, ii. 2, Divya, 282, whose advent marked the end of the third asamkhyeya in the career of Sakyamuni (above iv. HOb-c).
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? 756 Chapter four
494. The former Masters, pHrvdcdryas. According to Saeki, add: "among the Sautrantikas. " The four defects (dosa) are: a bad realm of rebirth (durgatidosa), mediocrity of family
(akuUhatddosd), incomplete organs (vikalendriyatddosd), female sex (stribhdvadosa). The two qualities (guna) are: remembrance of past existences (jdtismaratdguna), and the quality of not regressing or of ceasing (anwartakatdguna).
Paramartha and Hsiian-tsang specify that the first cosmic age (kalpa) signifies the first asamkhyeya.
On the animal rebirths of the Bodhisattvas and his transgressions, see vL23.
495. How should one understand these one hundred merits? The Vydkhyd furnishes three explanations.
a. Fifty volitions (cetana) are produced when the Bodhisattva produces an act of attention having the Buddha for its object (buddhdlambana); fifty other volitions when the Bodhisattva thinks: "May I too become a Buddha! (abam apittham sydm). "
b. The Bodhisattva has thoughts of compassion (karvndcitta) with regard to the forty-eight parts of the world (twenty places in Kamadhatu, sixteen in Rupadhatu, four in Arupyadhatu, plus the eight cold hells): the same number of volitions are associated with these thoughts: plus a forty-ninth volition which has the Buddha for its object: "In the manner in which he liberates beings"; plus a fiftieth thought: "May I liberate them in the same way! " By repeating these fifty volitions, the Bodhisattva has one hundred merits.
c Therenouncingofkillingisundertakeninafivefoldmode(seebelowiv. 123a-b):purification of the principal action; purification of the preparatory and the consecutive actions (sdmantaka, iv. 68a); vitarkanupaghdta, the renouncing is not troubled by the [three bad] vitarkas; smrtyanu- parigfhatatva, the renouncing is maintained by the memory of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha; and nkvanaparmarmtatra, the merit of the renouncing is applied to the obtaining of Nirvana. These make five volitions when the Bodhisattva renounces killing, fifty volitions for all of the tenrenouncings,and one hundred volitions by repeating the first fifty volitions (Vyakhya).
Saihghabhadra (TD 29, p. 591a6): One hundred merits, that is to say, one hundred volitions (cetana). At the moment when he is going to produce an action producing a mark, the Bodhisattva first produces fifty volitions which purify the receptacle of the body; then he produces the action which brings forth the mark; later, he produces fifty good volitions which strengthen and perfect
the action so that it obtains fullness (parip&t). The fifty volitions have the ten pathways of action
for their object: there are five volitions for each one of them: 1. prdndtipdtaviratketand; 2. samddapanacetand (Mahayyutpatti, 245,428); 3. samttttejanacetand {tsan-mei HtH , compare 245,429); 4. anumodandcetand; and 5. parindmandcetand: the volition to renounce killing, to make others undertake this renouncing, to praise them and to preach to them, to rejoice that this is accepted, and to apply the merit acquired to the acquisition of Nirvana. According to other masters, there are, for each pathway of this action, five good volitions, weak, etc, corresponding to the five dhydnas (? ). According to other masters, each of the pathways of this action has: 1.
prayogaparifuddhi, 2. matdakarmapathapariSuddhi, 3. prffhaparifuddbi, 4. vharkdnupaghdta, and 5. smrtyanuparigfhftatva. According to still other masters, all the actions which mature in marks arefromnew,extraordinary(wei-ts'eng-hsi^# H) volitions,havingtheBuddhafortheirobject:
when one hundred such volitions are realized together, the Bodhisattva is adorned [with the mark] (upalobhital).
496. See ii. 56b. Paramartha attributes this second opinion to the Vaibhasikas. Saihghabhadra (TD 29, p. 591al8) presents five opinions; the Vsbhdsd, (TD 27, p. 889c25) presents eleven.
497. These are the numbers in the Vibhdfd, TD 27, p. 892c5. In the Mahdvastu, "fekyamuni remembered having honored and served eight thousand Buddhas by the name of Dlpamkara. . . three hundred thousand SaKvamunis, and thus following throughout these pages (1. 57 and following). " Barth, Journal des Savants, August 1899.
? 498. Paramartha: mo-sbib-sbihM&^f=hkdntakdle;Hsimn-tsang: mo-chieh%$l= kalpdnte, that is, apakarsaJkalpa: in a period when lifespan diminishes in length (iii. 92).
At this period, the future Sakyamuni was a kumhhakdrakakumdra by the name of Prabhasa (Vydkhyd).
The Mahavastu knows of a Sakyamuni who lived an infinite number of incalculable (asamkhyeya) kdpas (L47), also from Kapilavastu, and who received alms from our Sakyamuni, then a merchant (prathamdpranidhi tadd dsi).
499. Example: Sibi
500. Example: the BhiksuKsanti who was tortured by King Kali [=Kalabu] (Ta-chih-tu km, TD 25, p. 89bl3);tliisisme]&iKsaWi[Ksantiv^
Jdtaka, 313 (Visuddhimagga, 302), Jdtakamdld, 28, Avaddnakalpalatd 38, Chavannes, Cinq cen contesf L161,Pnyluski,Afoka,358,Watters,1227.
According to Mahavastu, LI70, the future Sakyamuni was free from desire (vttardga) after the time of Dlpamkara.
501. This story is related in Avaddnaiataka, 97 (it 176) and m Romatic Legend, p. 14 (with some variants), where the Buddha was named Pusya. Paramartha and Hsuuan-tsang give Tisya in transcription; our Tibetan version has skar rgyal which Dr. P. Cordier, (accordiogtoAsfdngahftiaya 2. 1. 38) translates as Pusya. In Mahdvyutpatti we have rgyal- Pusya (the Naksatra) (165. 6) = Tisya (the Gikravartin), (180. 54); 47. 17, Tisya (the Sravaka) = 'od Idan with the gloss pu fa (sus) dan (ma) 'dom na skar rgyaldu gdags: "being exhorted by Pusya (? ), he is called skar-rgyat* (? ). In the Mahavastu, iii. 240. 6, Pusya received a prophesy from Tisya. According to Romantic Legend, Tisya came four kdpas before Pusya, ninety-five kalpas before Sakyamuni
502. Paramartha and Hsiian-tsang translate: "Having entered into the absorption of tejodhdtu"
(huo-chieh-tmgi'X^^. : this is the expression from which Eitel derives agnidhdtusamddhi). The l
Chinese interpreters most often employ the formula huo kuang tmg X^t%t "fire light samddhi' (Chavannes, Cinq cents contes, iii. 155,264), which would correspond to jyotisprabhasamadbi. This refers to that manifestation of rddbi by which a saint makes his body incandescent,
emitting flames and smoke, Mahdvyutpatti, 15. 14: dh&mayati prajvalayaty apt adyathdpi noma mahdn agniskandbah (See Digba, iii. 27; Koia, vii. 48 and foUowing on fddhf). The power of the ascetic over the elements, the water element and the fire element, is acquired by a meditation in which he considers this element. This is how the explanation of Childers (sub voc. tejo) explains tejodhdtum samapajjitva = "having entered into jbdna by tejokasina" (on the kftsndyatanas, Koia, viii. 36) which Senart (Mahavastu, i. 556) compares to that of Beal: "causing their bodies to ascend into space and emit all sorts of brilliant appearances. " This person, having entered into dhydna throughthecontemplationoffire(t^okasitki)/is3bie/mthecourseo(thedbydna, tocreate flames, etc In Dwya, p. 186, we have the fight of Svagata--proclaimed by the Buddha as "the best in the practice of the fire absorption," tejodhdtum samdpadyamdndndm agrah (Anguttara, 125)--with a Naga "enflamed" by anger. In a great number of sources the "samddhi of fire" or tejojjhana accompanies Nirvana (Udana, viii. 9; Przyluski, Ugende d'Afoka, p. 26, Mahavamsa, v. 200, Mahavastu, I 556, etc).
503. Paramartha: "in the Ratnagiri cave"; Avadanaiataka: himavantam parvatam abbirubya ratnaguhdm praviia. . .
504. The MSS of the Avaddnaiataka gives: Purusavfsabha stutuh nyo mahdiamanah kutuvih // which Speyer corrects to: purusavfsabhdsty anyas tulyo mahdiramanas tava.
Paramartha: ho jen teng tsun yu san (erh) teh f5J A ^ # H (H) Hi. The Tibetan version finishes with ga la yod, which gives kutafc.
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finishes with ga layod, which gives kutah.
Vydkhyd: Na divi bhuviceti vistarah / divi bhuvicety uddeiapadanydyenoktam // ndsmm loke
na vaifravandlaye na marubhavane dwye sthdna iti tadvyaktyartham nirdefapadhani / asmm loka iti manusyaloke / vaifravandlaya iti cdturmahdrdjikasthdne / marubhavana iti marudbhavane trdyastrimiabhavana ityarthah / divye sthdneydmddhisthdne // lokadhdtvantaresv apt tatsadria- sydbhava-jfidpandrthamahanadiksuvidiksuceti// athanafraddhtyate/ caratukaicidvasudham imam krtsndm sphitdm bahusattvddhydsitdm. . . wayam pratyaveksatdm ity abhiprdyah /
505. It is through samddhi and prajftftd (=dht) that the results or fruits are acquired In the Abhidharma, the Bodhisattva remains a Prthagjana up to the moment when he sits down under the Tree (iii. 41). The various schools are not in agreement with respect to this as one can see in the treatises of Vasumitra and Bhavya.
According to the Madhyamakdvatdra, the Bodhisattva, from the first stage on, abandons erroneous views (satkdyadrspi, sTlavrata, and vicikitsd).
506. Vajropamasamddhi (vi. 44d) is an absorption through which the candidate for the state of Arhat breaks his last bonds and obtains Bodhi, which consists of ksayajffdna and anutpddajndna (the knowledge that the defilements are destroyed, and the knowledge that they will not arise again). Vajropamasamddhi confers the quality of Buddhahood on a Bodhisattva: for a Bodhisattva only acquires the state of Arhat after having fulfilled tbepdramitds (see vL24 and ii. 44a-b, trans, p. 227).
Hsiian-tsang adds: "taking place on the vajrdsana," or bodhimanda (Minayev, Recherches, 177), as described in Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 156a3. The Koia speaks of it iii. 53b.
507. On the Chinese traslations of the word paramitd, see Chavannes, Cinq cents contes, I p. 2. Etymology, Candrakirti in Madhyamakdvatdra, i. l6a-b (trans. Museon, 1907, p. 29), F. W. Thomas JRAS, 1904,546.
508. Madhyama, TD 1, p. 496c26; Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 656c20, p. 581c5; Mahdvyutpatti, 93. Digha, iii. 218; Anguttara, iv. 241: ddnamdyam pufifiakmyavatthu, sUamayam, bhavandmayam.
Rhys Davids, in Dialogues, ii. 347-348, examines the place of ddna in Scripture; the Anguttara, "which contains a good deal more of the milk for babes that the other three of the great Nikdyas," devotesaVaggatocharity,whichdoesnotfigureamongthe"wingsofBodhi,"andwhichisignored in Dhammapada. But the teaching of ddna, by definition, is addressed to the Upasakas; see above p. 598 and p. 697; nevertheless ddna is useful for Nirvana, iv. H7d.
Praise of a gift of rice, Mahavagga, vL24. 5, of a gift of a vihdra, Cullavagga, vi. 1. 5.
509. Hsiian-tsang: Or rather punyakrtyd signifies "to make punya," that is, "the preparatory action of punya" (punyaprayoga). The word vastu signifies support (afiraya, adhisthdna): giving, the precepts, and meditation are the vastu, the support of the preparatory action of punya with a view to the realization of giving, the precepts and meditation.
510. In Kathdvatthu, vii. 4, the Theravadins maintain that ddna is solely that which is givea 511. By giving one renders homage to the Caityas, and to beings in Nirvana (parmirvrta).
512. The Chinese translators have: "the good skandhas of this moment g i v e . . . " The bodily and vocal action of giving is rupa; the mind and mental states are the four non-material skandhas.
513. Mahdbhoga and elsewhere uddrabhoga: "great joy from food, from clothing, etc," or "joy from great objects of joy (kdmaguna). " See Anguttara, iv. 393.
514. The house is only non-modified (nirvikdra) grasses; it is not a transformation of the grasses. Maya has a different value in frutamayi prajfid (vL5c).
? 515. Kathdvattbu, xvii. ll, the Uttarapathakas maintain that the giver (dayoka), not the field, "purifies" the gift.
Karmaprajfidpti (Mdo 62, foL 246b): "There are four gifts: that which is pure from the fact of the giver, impure from the fact of the recipient, and the rest as in the Samgitipraydya. " This is the text quoted by the author of the Kathdvattbu {Digha, iii. 231; Anguttara, ii80; Majjhima, iii. 256 [dakkhindvibhangasutta]).
See iv. l21c-d
516. Digha, ii. 357: sakkaccam ddnam, sahatthd, cittikatam, anapaviddham ddnam.
On the "treatises on giving, on the precepts and on heaven," see above p. 598. An example of
ddnakathd, Anguttara, iv. 393; the Vimdnavatthu belongs to this literature (Minayev, Recherches, 165). Divydvaddna xxxiv is Mahayana (thirty-seven qualities of the gift: kale. . . satkrtya . . . ) .
517. That it is the intention that is important, and not the object given, see for example Huber, Sutrdiamkdra, p. 122, Minayev, p. 167 at the bottom: "The poor, who have faith . . . "
518. Anguttara, iii. 50: mandpaddyi labhate mandpam.
519. This is the Sutra quoted in Ko/a iii. 41 at the end. Compare Majjhima, iii. 255: tiracchdnagate
ddnam dattvd satagund dakkhmd pdtikankitabbd, puthujjanadusstle . . . sahassagund. . .
520. Here Vasubandhu mentions the sixth and the seventh "material meritorious work" (see above
p. 561 ). Wehave:5. dgantukdyagamikdyavdddnamdaddti/ idampancamam. . . 6. . . . gldndya gldnopasthdpakdya vd ddnam daddti. . . 7 . . . . yds td bhavanti fitakild vd vdtaUkd vd varsalikd vd tadrupdsu fUakUdsu ydvad varsalikdsu bhaktdni vd tarpydni (tarpandni) vd yavdgupdndni vdtdn samghdydbhinirhrtya anuprayacchat anuprayacchati / idam dryd asmdkam andrdyagdtrd ana bhivfspacivardh paribhujya sukham spariam viharantu / idam Cunda saptamam aupadhikam punyakrtydvastu. According to Saeki, Madhyama, TD 1, p. 428al differs slightly.
Hsuan-tsang has: "In the seven aupadhikapunyakftydvastus, it says that one should give to the dgantuka, the gamtka, the gldna, the gldnopasthdyaka, and to the upadhivdrika iyuan-lin-ch'an
[ 1 W # )l that he should warm him who is cold. " Hsiian-tsang thus enumerates the five beneficiaries of the dtyayikapmdapdtas (Divya, 50, Burnouf, 269; Sixth Edict, Buhler, Beitrage 269): the monk who arrives, who departs, who is sick and the infirmary attendant (list of the Mahdvagga, viil. 15. 7, compare Anguttara, iii. 4l) and the upadhivdrika, the "verger, the guardian of the Vihara," concerning which we have insufficient information. {Mahdvyutpatti, 273,12, ch'ang-t'ang-shih ^? 1? M); Divya, 54,542; Sarad Chandra D^s,dge skyos;S. Levi, "Quelques titresenigmatiques
JAs. 1915, U. 193).
Our texts concern themselves very little with the poor. We can mention the Avaddna of the Nirvana of Mahakaiyapa: " . . . In the streets of the village, the unfortunate were afflicted and enfeebled. He always had compassion on the poor and helped them. Now this multitude of miserable ones have lost their protector . . . " (Przyluski, Ugende d'Afoka, p. 232).
521. An allusion is made to the bear, Huber, Sutrdiamkdra, p. 383. The Vydkhyd explains that the bear saved a person guhampraviiya gdtrosmasitdpanayena; according to the Vibhdsd (TD 27, p. 592b3): "It is told that a person searching the woods became lost in the snow . . . " Mrga is the animal who had a person who was annoying him cross a river, uhyamdnanadyuttdranena . . . upakdrin.
522. Majjhima, iii. 253, or GautamisuMra (Sarhghahhadra, xxiii. 4, foL 86), is difficult to interpret. Mahaprajapati offers a set of robes to the Buddha who refuses: "Gautami, give to the Sangha; by giving to the Sangha you will honor me and you will honor the Sangha. " From this text and the passage where the Sangha (the four pairs of eight "persons," Arhat . . . Srotaapanna-
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phalapratipannaka) is defined as the field of merit par excellence (Dtgha, iii. 255, Suttanipdta, 569, etc), certain masters conclude that a gift to the Sangha is meritorious, but not a gift to the Buddha. Samghabhadra refutes this theory. [The Buddha is the best field, Majjhima, iii. 254; Kola, vii. 34; Divya, 71, Chavannes, Cinq cents contes, i. 394. But see in Vasumitra-Bhavya-Vinitadeva (Wassilieff, 251,283) the opinion of the Mahl&kas (a gift to the Sangha is very fruitful, but not a gift to the Buddha; the cult of Stupas is only a little fruitful), and the opinion of the Dharmaguptakas (a gift to the Buddha is very fruitful, but not a gift to the Sangha). A related problem: does the Buddha form part of the Sangha? ]
When one takes Refuge in the Buddha and the Sangha one takes Refuge in the faiksa and aiaiksadharmaswhichformtheBuddhaandtheSangha(seeKo/a,iv. 32). Nowonecannotgiveto iaiksa and aiaiksa dharmas, but only to "persons" (pudgala): thus a gift to the Buddhas and the Sangha do not bear any results. A thesis discussed in Katbdvatthu, xvii. 6-10, and Samahabhadra he. cit. [The Sangha in the proper sense of the word, paramdrthasamgha, is the dharmas of the Saints and the eight persons which serve as their receptacle: one takes Refuge in the dharmas, but one gives to "persons". ]
523. According to Madhyama, TD 1, p. 723a4. See the meager presents that makes novices Arhats in Divya.
Majjhima, iii. 257: yo vUardgo vitardgesu dadMi . . . tarn ve danam dmisaddnam viptdam ti bru&mi.
524. A Bodhisattvas gift has perfect Bodhi and the good of all beings for its purpose.
525. Digha, iii. 268, eightddnavatthus: 1-4 are formulated as in our text: 5 and 6 differ (sdhuddnam ti danam deti / aham pacami ime na pacanti. . . ); 7. idarh me danam dadato kalyano kittisaddo abbhuggacchati; 8. cittdlamkdracittaparikkhdrattham danam deti.
The list of the ddnavatthus of Anguttara, iv. 236, gives us numbers 5 and 6 of our list: dmnapubbam kafapubbampitupitdmahebi na arahdmipordnam kulavamsam hdpetum ti danam deti /. . .
490. Astasdhasrikd, p. 336: the Bodhisattva is reborn inJambudvlpa and generally in Madhyade? a.
? 491. This refers to the kalpas (great kalpas, mahakalpas, Koia, iii. 84a) which a Bodhisattva should normally endure beyond the three kalpdsamkhyeyas which form the bulk of his career: in the course of these one hundred kalpas, he truly merits the name of Bodhisattva and realizes Bodhi (Mahdvastu, iii. 249: te bodhirh kalpafatena samuddnenti narottama). Often these hundred kalpas are neglected and it is said Buddhahood is obtained in three kalpdsarhkhyeyas (iii. 94b-c), that is to say, in the course of three asamkbyeyas (or asamkhyas) of mahakalpas. Asamkhyeya, "incalculable," is a set number, calculable, but enormous, the value of which varies according to the mode of computation (the fifty-ninth value of a series 1,10,100. . . or of a series: 1,10,100,10,000,10,000x 10,000,. . . Ko/a, iii. 94).
It is believed that this theory replaced that of the asamkhyeyakalpas, incalculable kalpas, an expression that remains along with the new computation kalpdsamkhyeya, Religieux Eminents, p. 150, etc. Any kalpa is without measure (aparimita) and yet the kalpas are numerous (Mahdvastu, i. 78, compare Sarhyutta, ii. 181 and following). In the Abhidharma, asamkhyeyakalpa signifies one quarter of a "great kalpa," the period of creation, duration, destruction, and chaos.
In the Pali sources, thecareer of the Bodhisattva is four asarhkbeyeas and one hundred thousand kalpas long (ChiMers, sub voc. asamkhyeya; Cartyapitaka, iljdtaka, i p. 2; Anguttara, commentary in PTS. 1883, p. 98; Nettippakarana, p. 161; Visuddhimagga, 302). The Sdrasamgaha (first chapter, ed Neumann, 1891, p. 12) distinguishes Bodhisattvas in which wisdom, faith, or energy predominate: their careers are of four, and sixteen asamkbyeyas (plus 100,000 kalpas) respectively.
To the classical references given in Cosmologie bouddhique, p. 264, we should add that of the Abhisamaydlamkdrdloka, viii, where two theories are presented; the second, according to this work, is the theory of Vasubandhu: 1. The career of the Bodhisattva lasts three asamkbyeyas of kalpas (kalpdsamkhyeya, not asamkhyeyakalpa). The first includes the career of the Bodhisattva from the preparatory stage (samskdrabhumi) up to the first stage properly so-called; the second, from the second stage up to the seventh; the third, from the eighth stage up to entry into the stage of the Buddhas (buddhabhUmi - samantaprabhd). 2. But, in fact, we have a kalpdsamkhyeya for the samskdrabhumi; two for the abhimukticarydbbumi, three for the first stage properly so-called (pramuditd) and three for each of the ten stages. Having carried out his career for thirty-three kalpdsarhkhyeyas, the Bodhisattva arrives at the stage of the Buddhas: . . . samantaprabhdm buddhabhumim dsddayatity evarh trayastrimlatd kalpdsamkhyeyatr buddhatvarh prdptyata ity dryavasubandbupdddh.
492. The future Sakyamuni, by purifying his energy as explained in iv. H2a, in other words, by a great effort of energy (viryardmbha), obtained the completion of his perfeason (pdramita) of energy and of his other perfections in ninety-one kalpas.
The Mahdvastu (iii. 249) is in agreement: viryakdyena sampanno . . . nava kalpdni stbdyesi viryenapurusottamah / The same for TD15, number 643 translated by Przyluski,/. /l. r. 1914, ii. p. 566 (very interesting).
According to certain Mahayana authorities (quoted by Saeki and which should be studied), the future Sakyamuni skipped over forty kalpas: eleven by feeding the tigress, eight by extending his hair into filth (Divya, p. 252), nine by praising Pusya, and twelve by searching out a half stanza in peril of his life.
493. Compare Sarhyutta iv. 324. The Vydkhyd summarizes the Sutra: Aiibandhakena grdmanyd nirgranthahdvakena bbagavdn uktab / khn anartbdydsi bho Gautama kuldndm pratipanno yas tvam tdfie durbhiksa iyatd bbiksusarhgbena sardham as'anivad utsddayan bhiksdm atasi / sa bhagavatabhihitab / ito'ham grdmani ekanavatarh kalpam updddya samanusmardmi. . .
One should explain: ekanavateh puranam kalpa ekanavatah.
There are numerous passages where the Blessed One appears to limit his experience in the world to ninety-one kalpas, for example Majjhima 1483; in this period VipaSyin reigned, Digha, ii. 2, Divya, 282, whose advent marked the end of the third asamkhyeya in the career of Sakyamuni (above iv. HOb-c).
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494. The former Masters, pHrvdcdryas. According to Saeki, add: "among the Sautrantikas. " The four defects (dosa) are: a bad realm of rebirth (durgatidosa), mediocrity of family
(akuUhatddosd), incomplete organs (vikalendriyatddosd), female sex (stribhdvadosa). The two qualities (guna) are: remembrance of past existences (jdtismaratdguna), and the quality of not regressing or of ceasing (anwartakatdguna).
Paramartha and Hsiian-tsang specify that the first cosmic age (kalpa) signifies the first asamkhyeya.
On the animal rebirths of the Bodhisattvas and his transgressions, see vL23.
495. How should one understand these one hundred merits? The Vydkhyd furnishes three explanations.
a. Fifty volitions (cetana) are produced when the Bodhisattva produces an act of attention having the Buddha for its object (buddhdlambana); fifty other volitions when the Bodhisattva thinks: "May I too become a Buddha! (abam apittham sydm). "
b. The Bodhisattva has thoughts of compassion (karvndcitta) with regard to the forty-eight parts of the world (twenty places in Kamadhatu, sixteen in Rupadhatu, four in Arupyadhatu, plus the eight cold hells): the same number of volitions are associated with these thoughts: plus a forty-ninth volition which has the Buddha for its object: "In the manner in which he liberates beings"; plus a fiftieth thought: "May I liberate them in the same way! " By repeating these fifty volitions, the Bodhisattva has one hundred merits.
c Therenouncingofkillingisundertakeninafivefoldmode(seebelowiv. 123a-b):purification of the principal action; purification of the preparatory and the consecutive actions (sdmantaka, iv. 68a); vitarkanupaghdta, the renouncing is not troubled by the [three bad] vitarkas; smrtyanu- parigfhatatva, the renouncing is maintained by the memory of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha; and nkvanaparmarmtatra, the merit of the renouncing is applied to the obtaining of Nirvana. These make five volitions when the Bodhisattva renounces killing, fifty volitions for all of the tenrenouncings,and one hundred volitions by repeating the first fifty volitions (Vyakhya).
Saihghabhadra (TD 29, p. 591a6): One hundred merits, that is to say, one hundred volitions (cetana). At the moment when he is going to produce an action producing a mark, the Bodhisattva first produces fifty volitions which purify the receptacle of the body; then he produces the action which brings forth the mark; later, he produces fifty good volitions which strengthen and perfect
the action so that it obtains fullness (parip&t). The fifty volitions have the ten pathways of action
for their object: there are five volitions for each one of them: 1. prdndtipdtaviratketand; 2. samddapanacetand (Mahayyutpatti, 245,428); 3. samttttejanacetand {tsan-mei HtH , compare 245,429); 4. anumodandcetand; and 5. parindmandcetand: the volition to renounce killing, to make others undertake this renouncing, to praise them and to preach to them, to rejoice that this is accepted, and to apply the merit acquired to the acquisition of Nirvana. According to other masters, there are, for each pathway of this action, five good volitions, weak, etc, corresponding to the five dhydnas (? ). According to other masters, each of the pathways of this action has: 1.
prayogaparifuddhi, 2. matdakarmapathapariSuddhi, 3. prffhaparifuddbi, 4. vharkdnupaghdta, and 5. smrtyanuparigfhftatva. According to still other masters, all the actions which mature in marks arefromnew,extraordinary(wei-ts'eng-hsi^# H) volitions,havingtheBuddhafortheirobject:
when one hundred such volitions are realized together, the Bodhisattva is adorned [with the mark] (upalobhital).
496. See ii. 56b. Paramartha attributes this second opinion to the Vaibhasikas. Saihghabhadra (TD 29, p. 591al8) presents five opinions; the Vsbhdsd, (TD 27, p. 889c25) presents eleven.
497. These are the numbers in the Vibhdfd, TD 27, p. 892c5. In the Mahdvastu, "fekyamuni remembered having honored and served eight thousand Buddhas by the name of Dlpamkara. . . three hundred thousand SaKvamunis, and thus following throughout these pages (1. 57 and following). " Barth, Journal des Savants, August 1899.
? 498. Paramartha: mo-sbib-sbihM&^f=hkdntakdle;Hsimn-tsang: mo-chieh%$l= kalpdnte, that is, apakarsaJkalpa: in a period when lifespan diminishes in length (iii. 92).
At this period, the future Sakyamuni was a kumhhakdrakakumdra by the name of Prabhasa (Vydkhyd).
The Mahavastu knows of a Sakyamuni who lived an infinite number of incalculable (asamkhyeya) kdpas (L47), also from Kapilavastu, and who received alms from our Sakyamuni, then a merchant (prathamdpranidhi tadd dsi).
499. Example: Sibi
500. Example: the BhiksuKsanti who was tortured by King Kali [=Kalabu] (Ta-chih-tu km, TD 25, p. 89bl3);tliisisme]&iKsaWi[Ksantiv^
Jdtaka, 313 (Visuddhimagga, 302), Jdtakamdld, 28, Avaddnakalpalatd 38, Chavannes, Cinq cen contesf L161,Pnyluski,Afoka,358,Watters,1227.
According to Mahavastu, LI70, the future Sakyamuni was free from desire (vttardga) after the time of Dlpamkara.
501. This story is related in Avaddnaiataka, 97 (it 176) and m Romatic Legend, p. 14 (with some variants), where the Buddha was named Pusya. Paramartha and Hsuuan-tsang give Tisya in transcription; our Tibetan version has skar rgyal which Dr. P. Cordier, (accordiogtoAsfdngahftiaya 2. 1. 38) translates as Pusya. In Mahdvyutpatti we have rgyal- Pusya (the Naksatra) (165. 6) = Tisya (the Gikravartin), (180. 54); 47. 17, Tisya (the Sravaka) = 'od Idan with the gloss pu fa (sus) dan (ma) 'dom na skar rgyaldu gdags: "being exhorted by Pusya (? ), he is called skar-rgyat* (? ). In the Mahavastu, iii. 240. 6, Pusya received a prophesy from Tisya. According to Romantic Legend, Tisya came four kdpas before Pusya, ninety-five kalpas before Sakyamuni
502. Paramartha and Hsiian-tsang translate: "Having entered into the absorption of tejodhdtu"
(huo-chieh-tmgi'X^^. : this is the expression from which Eitel derives agnidhdtusamddhi). The l
Chinese interpreters most often employ the formula huo kuang tmg X^t%t "fire light samddhi' (Chavannes, Cinq cents contes, iii. 155,264), which would correspond to jyotisprabhasamadbi. This refers to that manifestation of rddbi by which a saint makes his body incandescent,
emitting flames and smoke, Mahdvyutpatti, 15. 14: dh&mayati prajvalayaty apt adyathdpi noma mahdn agniskandbah (See Digba, iii. 27; Koia, vii. 48 and foUowing on fddhf). The power of the ascetic over the elements, the water element and the fire element, is acquired by a meditation in which he considers this element. This is how the explanation of Childers (sub voc. tejo) explains tejodhdtum samapajjitva = "having entered into jbdna by tejokasina" (on the kftsndyatanas, Koia, viii. 36) which Senart (Mahavastu, i. 556) compares to that of Beal: "causing their bodies to ascend into space and emit all sorts of brilliant appearances. " This person, having entered into dhydna throughthecontemplationoffire(t^okasitki)/is3bie/mthecourseo(thedbydna, tocreate flames, etc In Dwya, p. 186, we have the fight of Svagata--proclaimed by the Buddha as "the best in the practice of the fire absorption," tejodhdtum samdpadyamdndndm agrah (Anguttara, 125)--with a Naga "enflamed" by anger. In a great number of sources the "samddhi of fire" or tejojjhana accompanies Nirvana (Udana, viii. 9; Przyluski, Ugende d'Afoka, p. 26, Mahavamsa, v. 200, Mahavastu, I 556, etc).
503. Paramartha: "in the Ratnagiri cave"; Avadanaiataka: himavantam parvatam abbirubya ratnaguhdm praviia. . .
504. The MSS of the Avaddnaiataka gives: Purusavfsabha stutuh nyo mahdiamanah kutuvih // which Speyer corrects to: purusavfsabhdsty anyas tulyo mahdiramanas tava.
Paramartha: ho jen teng tsun yu san (erh) teh f5J A ^ # H (H) Hi. The Tibetan version finishes with ga la yod, which gives kutafc.
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finishes with ga layod, which gives kutah.
Vydkhyd: Na divi bhuviceti vistarah / divi bhuvicety uddeiapadanydyenoktam // ndsmm loke
na vaifravandlaye na marubhavane dwye sthdna iti tadvyaktyartham nirdefapadhani / asmm loka iti manusyaloke / vaifravandlaya iti cdturmahdrdjikasthdne / marubhavana iti marudbhavane trdyastrimiabhavana ityarthah / divye sthdneydmddhisthdne // lokadhdtvantaresv apt tatsadria- sydbhava-jfidpandrthamahanadiksuvidiksuceti// athanafraddhtyate/ caratukaicidvasudham imam krtsndm sphitdm bahusattvddhydsitdm. . . wayam pratyaveksatdm ity abhiprdyah /
505. It is through samddhi and prajftftd (=dht) that the results or fruits are acquired In the Abhidharma, the Bodhisattva remains a Prthagjana up to the moment when he sits down under the Tree (iii. 41). The various schools are not in agreement with respect to this as one can see in the treatises of Vasumitra and Bhavya.
According to the Madhyamakdvatdra, the Bodhisattva, from the first stage on, abandons erroneous views (satkdyadrspi, sTlavrata, and vicikitsd).
506. Vajropamasamddhi (vi. 44d) is an absorption through which the candidate for the state of Arhat breaks his last bonds and obtains Bodhi, which consists of ksayajffdna and anutpddajndna (the knowledge that the defilements are destroyed, and the knowledge that they will not arise again). Vajropamasamddhi confers the quality of Buddhahood on a Bodhisattva: for a Bodhisattva only acquires the state of Arhat after having fulfilled tbepdramitds (see vL24 and ii. 44a-b, trans, p. 227).
Hsiian-tsang adds: "taking place on the vajrdsana," or bodhimanda (Minayev, Recherches, 177), as described in Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 156a3. The Koia speaks of it iii. 53b.
507. On the Chinese traslations of the word paramitd, see Chavannes, Cinq cents contes, I p. 2. Etymology, Candrakirti in Madhyamakdvatdra, i. l6a-b (trans. Museon, 1907, p. 29), F. W. Thomas JRAS, 1904,546.
508. Madhyama, TD 1, p. 496c26; Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 656c20, p. 581c5; Mahdvyutpatti, 93. Digha, iii. 218; Anguttara, iv. 241: ddnamdyam pufifiakmyavatthu, sUamayam, bhavandmayam.
Rhys Davids, in Dialogues, ii. 347-348, examines the place of ddna in Scripture; the Anguttara, "which contains a good deal more of the milk for babes that the other three of the great Nikdyas," devotesaVaggatocharity,whichdoesnotfigureamongthe"wingsofBodhi,"andwhichisignored in Dhammapada. But the teaching of ddna, by definition, is addressed to the Upasakas; see above p. 598 and p. 697; nevertheless ddna is useful for Nirvana, iv. H7d.
Praise of a gift of rice, Mahavagga, vL24. 5, of a gift of a vihdra, Cullavagga, vi. 1. 5.
509. Hsiian-tsang: Or rather punyakrtyd signifies "to make punya," that is, "the preparatory action of punya" (punyaprayoga). The word vastu signifies support (afiraya, adhisthdna): giving, the precepts, and meditation are the vastu, the support of the preparatory action of punya with a view to the realization of giving, the precepts and meditation.
510. In Kathdvatthu, vii. 4, the Theravadins maintain that ddna is solely that which is givea 511. By giving one renders homage to the Caityas, and to beings in Nirvana (parmirvrta).
512. The Chinese translators have: "the good skandhas of this moment g i v e . . . " The bodily and vocal action of giving is rupa; the mind and mental states are the four non-material skandhas.
513. Mahdbhoga and elsewhere uddrabhoga: "great joy from food, from clothing, etc," or "joy from great objects of joy (kdmaguna). " See Anguttara, iv. 393.
514. The house is only non-modified (nirvikdra) grasses; it is not a transformation of the grasses. Maya has a different value in frutamayi prajfid (vL5c).
? 515. Kathdvattbu, xvii. ll, the Uttarapathakas maintain that the giver (dayoka), not the field, "purifies" the gift.
Karmaprajfidpti (Mdo 62, foL 246b): "There are four gifts: that which is pure from the fact of the giver, impure from the fact of the recipient, and the rest as in the Samgitipraydya. " This is the text quoted by the author of the Kathdvattbu {Digha, iii. 231; Anguttara, ii80; Majjhima, iii. 256 [dakkhindvibhangasutta]).
See iv. l21c-d
516. Digha, ii. 357: sakkaccam ddnam, sahatthd, cittikatam, anapaviddham ddnam.
On the "treatises on giving, on the precepts and on heaven," see above p. 598. An example of
ddnakathd, Anguttara, iv. 393; the Vimdnavatthu belongs to this literature (Minayev, Recherches, 165). Divydvaddna xxxiv is Mahayana (thirty-seven qualities of the gift: kale. . . satkrtya . . . ) .
517. That it is the intention that is important, and not the object given, see for example Huber, Sutrdiamkdra, p. 122, Minayev, p. 167 at the bottom: "The poor, who have faith . . . "
518. Anguttara, iii. 50: mandpaddyi labhate mandpam.
519. This is the Sutra quoted in Ko/a iii. 41 at the end. Compare Majjhima, iii. 255: tiracchdnagate
ddnam dattvd satagund dakkhmd pdtikankitabbd, puthujjanadusstle . . . sahassagund. . .
520. Here Vasubandhu mentions the sixth and the seventh "material meritorious work" (see above
p. 561 ). Wehave:5. dgantukdyagamikdyavdddnamdaddti/ idampancamam. . . 6. . . . gldndya gldnopasthdpakdya vd ddnam daddti. . . 7 . . . . yds td bhavanti fitakild vd vdtaUkd vd varsalikd vd tadrupdsu fUakUdsu ydvad varsalikdsu bhaktdni vd tarpydni (tarpandni) vd yavdgupdndni vdtdn samghdydbhinirhrtya anuprayacchat anuprayacchati / idam dryd asmdkam andrdyagdtrd ana bhivfspacivardh paribhujya sukham spariam viharantu / idam Cunda saptamam aupadhikam punyakrtydvastu. According to Saeki, Madhyama, TD 1, p. 428al differs slightly.
Hsuan-tsang has: "In the seven aupadhikapunyakftydvastus, it says that one should give to the dgantuka, the gamtka, the gldna, the gldnopasthdyaka, and to the upadhivdrika iyuan-lin-ch'an
[ 1 W # )l that he should warm him who is cold. " Hsiian-tsang thus enumerates the five beneficiaries of the dtyayikapmdapdtas (Divya, 50, Burnouf, 269; Sixth Edict, Buhler, Beitrage 269): the monk who arrives, who departs, who is sick and the infirmary attendant (list of the Mahdvagga, viil. 15. 7, compare Anguttara, iii. 4l) and the upadhivdrika, the "verger, the guardian of the Vihara," concerning which we have insufficient information. {Mahdvyutpatti, 273,12, ch'ang-t'ang-shih ^? 1? M); Divya, 54,542; Sarad Chandra D^s,dge skyos;S. Levi, "Quelques titresenigmatiques
JAs. 1915, U. 193).
Our texts concern themselves very little with the poor. We can mention the Avaddna of the Nirvana of Mahakaiyapa: " . . . In the streets of the village, the unfortunate were afflicted and enfeebled. He always had compassion on the poor and helped them. Now this multitude of miserable ones have lost their protector . . . " (Przyluski, Ugende d'Afoka, p. 232).
521. An allusion is made to the bear, Huber, Sutrdiamkdra, p. 383. The Vydkhyd explains that the bear saved a person guhampraviiya gdtrosmasitdpanayena; according to the Vibhdsd (TD 27, p. 592b3): "It is told that a person searching the woods became lost in the snow . . . " Mrga is the animal who had a person who was annoying him cross a river, uhyamdnanadyuttdranena . . . upakdrin.
522. Majjhima, iii. 253, or GautamisuMra (Sarhghahhadra, xxiii. 4, foL 86), is difficult to interpret. Mahaprajapati offers a set of robes to the Buddha who refuses: "Gautami, give to the Sangha; by giving to the Sangha you will honor me and you will honor the Sangha. " From this text and the passage where the Sangha (the four pairs of eight "persons," Arhat . . . Srotaapanna-
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phalapratipannaka) is defined as the field of merit par excellence (Dtgha, iii. 255, Suttanipdta, 569, etc), certain masters conclude that a gift to the Sangha is meritorious, but not a gift to the Buddha. Samghabhadra refutes this theory. [The Buddha is the best field, Majjhima, iii. 254; Kola, vii. 34; Divya, 71, Chavannes, Cinq cents contes, i. 394. But see in Vasumitra-Bhavya-Vinitadeva (Wassilieff, 251,283) the opinion of the Mahl&kas (a gift to the Sangha is very fruitful, but not a gift to the Buddha; the cult of Stupas is only a little fruitful), and the opinion of the Dharmaguptakas (a gift to the Buddha is very fruitful, but not a gift to the Sangha). A related problem: does the Buddha form part of the Sangha? ]
When one takes Refuge in the Buddha and the Sangha one takes Refuge in the faiksa and aiaiksadharmaswhichformtheBuddhaandtheSangha(seeKo/a,iv. 32). Nowonecannotgiveto iaiksa and aiaiksa dharmas, but only to "persons" (pudgala): thus a gift to the Buddhas and the Sangha do not bear any results. A thesis discussed in Katbdvatthu, xvii. 6-10, and Samahabhadra he. cit. [The Sangha in the proper sense of the word, paramdrthasamgha, is the dharmas of the Saints and the eight persons which serve as their receptacle: one takes Refuge in the dharmas, but one gives to "persons". ]
523. According to Madhyama, TD 1, p. 723a4. See the meager presents that makes novices Arhats in Divya.
Majjhima, iii. 257: yo vUardgo vitardgesu dadMi . . . tarn ve danam dmisaddnam viptdam ti bru&mi.
524. A Bodhisattvas gift has perfect Bodhi and the good of all beings for its purpose.
525. Digha, iii. 268, eightddnavatthus: 1-4 are formulated as in our text: 5 and 6 differ (sdhuddnam ti danam deti / aham pacami ime na pacanti. . . ); 7. idarh me danam dadato kalyano kittisaddo abbhuggacchati; 8. cittdlamkdracittaparikkhdrattham danam deti.
The list of the ddnavatthus of Anguttara, iv. 236, gives us numbers 5 and 6 of our list: dmnapubbam kafapubbampitupitdmahebi na arahdmipordnam kulavamsam hdpetum ti danam deti /. . .
