CHAPTER V

Sarvastivada Philosophy

The Sarvastivada school was one of the most popular

schools of Theravada. Different writers stated the origin

of Sarvastivada differently. According to the Pali

tradition, the Mahisasakas were the earliest to secede from

the Theravada among its subsects. Out of the Mahisasakas,

the Sarvastivadins developed and gradually the other

schools emerged. While according to Vasumitra, the

Sarvastivada branched off first from the Theravada and from

the Sarvastivadins the Mahisasakas and other schools

appeared. Out of the Mahisasakas the Dharmagupt ikas

developed. It is said that there were two Mahisasaka

schools— one was earlier than the other. Vasumitra missed

the earlier Mahisasakas while he was enumerating the sub­

sects. He, however, points out that earlier Mahisasakas

agreed more with the Theravadins while the later with the

Sarvastivadins. There is no doubt that the Theravadins were

first divided into two sects, Mahisasakas and

Vatsiputriyas. Then from the former branched off the

Sarvastivadins and not from the Theravadins directly as

stated by Vasumitra and other writers.

The doctrinal controversy among the Buddhist monks

continued until the time of Asoka. They founded two

 133
I
centres-one in Kashmir under the leadership of Venerable
.‘ Madhyantika and the other at Mathura under the Venerable

Upagupta. Hence the king summoned the third council to

discuss the controversy between the two groups.

Consequently, the king adhered to the Theravada or the

original doctrine of the Buddha and fixed the order to

accept it. Henceforward, those monks who did not accept the

doctrine of Theravada had to leave Magadha. They went to

Kashmir. They occupied a prominent place there and came to

be known as Sarvastivadins. Kashmir became the centre of

Buddhistic faith in northern India. Then the school of

Sarvastivada flourished during the reign of king Kaniska,

the emperor of Kushana dynasty. It was during the f i r st

y
century (78-103 A.D.). The conversion of Kaniska into

Sarvastivada in the first century A. D. was brought up

Sarvastivadins as the powerful and predominant school over

the whole of India. That the school was widespread to

Central Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Kashmir and Nepal.

f * _ 9
The word Sarvastivadin is derived from the Sanskrit

terms sarvam 'ail things' and asti 'exist'. The word

t
Sarvastivadins in Sanskrit denotes "those who believe that

all things exist". Hence in Sanskrit it is known as

Nr"*

'S a r v a s t i v a d i n s ' or in Pali 'S a b b a t h a v a d a '. The term

Sarvastivadin implies that the essence of all things,

whether empirical or absolute, worldly or unworldly did

 134
exist do exist, and will exist. According to Vasubandhu,

those who accept the e x i s t e n c e of e l e m e n t s (dhammas) in all

/ the three p e r i o d s i.e. past, present and f u ture a r e c a l l e d

S a r v a s t i v a d i n s . It is g e n e r a l l y accepted that according to

the S a r v a s t i v a d i n s ev e r y t h i n g , internal as well as e xternal

exists. A c c o r d i n g to this school the ext e r n a l w o r l d and its

constituent e lements, have a real existence. Theref o r e ,

this school believes that all things exist continuously in

all the three p h a s e s of time.

Like the Sthaviravada, the Sarvastivada school

translated the Pali P i t a k a s viz., the Sutta, the V i n a y a and

the Abhidhamma into Sa n s k r i t and wrote elaborate

commentaries on all the three Pitakas clarifying their

psychological p r ocess. Even though there is some

differences in the arrangements and classification of

t r eatment there is s u b s t a n t i a l similarity between the Pali

and the S a n s k r i t Vinaya and the Sutta l i t e r ature. How e v e r ,

the difference between the two schools is to be fou n d in

Abhidhamma Pitaka, which rais e s an important historical

question regarding the relationship between the two

t raditions. Moreover, it is quite probable that the two

traditions developed their A b h i d h a m m a i n d e p e n d e n t l y. It m a y

be added that the order of the suttas is very different

fr o m that of the Theravada. And i n spite of taking the rules

of disciplines or Vinaya, they were interested in the

 135
philosophical or m e t a p h y s i c a l views, \lhus the Sarvastivada

school neglected the Vinaya Pitaka and adopted the Sut t a

and the A b h i d h a m m a . / But they ha v e their own Sutta and

A b h i d h a m m a P i taka. Li k e the T h e r a v a d i n s , the S a r v a s t i v a d i n s

divided their^canon into t h ree Pitakas. They replaced the

term N i k a y a as A g a m a .

Vinayapitaka :

CD V i n a y a - V i b h a n g a ,
(ii) V i n a y a - Vastu,

(iii) V i n a y a - K s u d r a k a - V a s t u and

(iv) V i n a y a - Ut t a r a - g r a n t h a .

Abhidhammapitaka :

(i) Jnana - p r a s t h a n a - s a s t r a ,

(ii) Dharma - skandha p a d a ,

(iii) Sangititi - p a r y a y a pada,

( iv) Prajnapti - pada,

(v) V i j n a n a - kaya-pada,

(v i ) P r a k a r a n a - pada and

(vii) D h a t u - kaya pada.

Sutta P it a k a :

(i) Dirgha Agama (Digha Nikaya),

(ii) Madhyama Agama (Maj j h i m a Nikaya),

(iii) Samyukta Agama ( S a m y u t t a Nikaya),

(iv) Ekottara Agama ( A n g u t t a r a Nikaya).

 136

It is ev i d e n t that the Jnana - prasthana-sastra wa s

the fore mo st authoritative text of the A b h i d h a m m a and the

o t h e r si x a r e s u p p l e m e n t to it. T h e r e is no doubt that this

is the oldest and m o st authoritative text of the seven

Abhidhamma texts. Whereas, in Pali Sutta and Vinaya

literature th er e is no reference to A b h i d h a m m a p i t a k a , but

the Sarvastivadins give much importance to

Ab h i d h a m m a p i t a k a . Takakusu analyses the two traditions of

Abhidhammapitaka and come to the c o n c l u s i o n that "t h e r e is

no real connection between the Pali and the Sarvastivadin

Abhidharma" .1 "N.Dutta too a r r i v e d at similar conclusions

and suggested that the two schoolsworked out their

2
Abhidharma texts independently". Though the Sarvastivada

followers were interested in the S u t t a a n d the A b h i d h a m m a ,

they followed the a u t h o r i t y of the A b h i d h a m m a texts. Like

the Sthaviravadins, they b e l i e v e d in the plurality of

el e m e n t s . They stressed that the universe is made of

different elements. The S a r v a s t i v a d i n philosophy is an

atomic doctrine of matter combined with a theory of

perception. They held that th er e are entities, dhammas

which in their ultimate nature exist in all the three

p e r i o d s of time viz. past, p r es en t an d future. A c c o r d i n g to

this system the e x i s t e n c e of objects as the m e e t i n g point

of past, pr e s e n t and fu tu re st ates, sought th rough the

following interpretation :
 137

(i) Bhavanyathatvavada - Nature changed bu t not th e

thing,

(ii) Laksananyathatvavada - Character changed bu t no t the

thing,

(iii) A v a s t h a n y a t h a t v a v a d a - Mode changed bu t not th e

thing,

(iv) Anyathanyathakatvavada- Relative changes.

The Sarvastivadins defined that the universe is m a d e

of different elements. They believed that there were

seventy five different kinds of existence of these basic

elements. The following are th e s e v e n t y - f i v e e l e m e n t s

(i) Rupa (matter) eleven (11),

(ii) Citta(mind) fourty si x (46)

(iii) Caittasikas (derivation of m i n d ) - fourteen (14),

(iv) Cittaviprayuktas (dissociated from th e m i n d ) ,

(v) Three Asamskrtas (unconstituted) or u n c o m p o u n d e d .

Above the five categories the first four categories

are known as ’S a m s k r t a ' (compounded) and the last category

is known as 'Asamskrta' (uncompounded). Out of these

seventy five elements seventy tw o (72) were formed into

five skandhas v i z. (i) body (matter), (ii) sensation

(vedana), (iii) perception (samjna), (iv) the mental

constituents and finally (v) consciousness (vijnana).

 138

The Asamskrta (unconstituted) dhamma divided into the

following three categories :

(i) Pratisankhya - nirodha or p r a j n a (intuitive wisdom),

(i i ) Apratisankhya - nirodha-nisvana (liberation and

(iii) Akasa (space).

The seventy two dhammas formed the chain of causes,

which is known as 'Samskrta' (full of forces). They produce

karmic residues (samskaras) and transmitted from one life

to another which continue the karmic effects into the

future. The self is a chain of such forces.

On the other hand, the Asamsk rt a- dh amm a (things

incomposite) are not produced by other things. They are

self existent and exempt from change. Being free from

production, indestructible, they are permanent or eternal.

Thus, the major effects of the Sarvastivada school

were to explain the essential characteristics of the

seventy five theory of dependent causation. This theory

states that the cycles of our existence can be explained by

means of mental impurity (the outcome of ignorance);

clinging to existence and suffering. They regard the Twelve

Links of the Chain of Ca us at io n as simply de sc ri bi ng the

incessant flux of impurity clinging, and suffering.

 139

According to Sarvastivadins the pratisandhi citta

(intermediary mind, seeking rebirth), gradually becomes

attached to the various other complex mental functions both

during the pre-natal and post-natal stages. Then the 'birth

to death' and 'death to birth' cycles are inherent in some

form of impressions (samskara) which are mental in nature.

Thus the Sarvastivadins regard four characteristics viz.,

origination, staying, growth, and decay, and destruction as

the only appearance or existence of a thing throughout the

three divisions of time, the past, the present and the

future. These four characteristics are known as 'Chatur-

Laksana' in Buddhist philosophy. But on the opposite of

this doctrine the Theravada accept only the present state

and reject the past and future state. According to this

system only the present state is real and others are

unreal. The Sarvastivadins held that though worldly things

existed, they were impermanent subject to decay and

necessarily involved suffering and should not be considered

desirable.

The school of Sarvastivada used two methods in their

classifications of things viz;

(i) the subjective method and

(ii) the objective method.

 140

According to the subjective method things are divided

into three departments:

(i) the five skandhas or constituents of being,

(ii) the twelve ayatanas or locations and

(iii) the eighteen dhatus or "bases'.

On the other hand, according to the objective m e thod

all things are classified into two such as :

(i) Samskrta (compounded) and

(ii) Asamskrta (uncompounded).

According to this school the four classes of

composite things viz, matter, mind, mental and the non­

mental, together the incomposites constitute the five fold

objective divisions of things. And the subjective

classification together with the two forms of truth i.e.

the transcendental and the conventional lead to the

attainment of Nirvana. This school supported many doctrines

of the early Buddhism, among them the most important are

the doctrine of dhammas, the doctrine of body-mind dualism,

and finally the doctrine of perception or direct-real ism.

The term "Pharma" (dhamma) means in Sanskrit, law,

rule, faith, religion, word, phenomena, thing, state etc.

 141

On the other hand, the Theravada states that dhamma is only

momentary. Unlike the Theravada, the Sarvastivadins

ma in ta in that dhamma can be considered either in their

actual being as phenomena or in their ideal being as

noumena. They held that 'dhammas' have existence in the

present which is the meeting point of the past and future

phases of time.

They held that object or process exists outside the

m i nd and independently of that mind. They also admit that

the world must be constituted body on the one hand and mind

on the other. To the Sarvastivada matter is not only

independent of mind but also the basis of consciousness or

mind. The mind or citta includes all the associations

(smrti), sensations (vijnana), impressions (samskaras) and

perception (samjna).

Ac co rd in g to this system, there are three necessary

conditions for direct perception or direct knowledge of an

o b j e c t . They are :

(i) a seer or sense organ (which sees when condition are

right),

(ii) ey e-consciousness (the knowledge that consciousness

has when the eye s e e s ) ,

(iii) the object that the eye sees and that the m i n d is
conscious of.
 Thus from the theory of direct perception th e

Sarvastivada gets three points viz.

(i) the ex t e r n a 1 w o r l d and mind are both real.

(ii) the external world of body is 'real* in a secondary

sense.

(iii) that independent external world of 'real' physical

objects can be known directly by minds in the sense

that what appears to mind is precisely and exactly

what exists in the world. Thus the Sarvastivadin

philosophy is an atomic doctrine of matter combined

with a theory of direct perception.

This school maintains that an individual is capable

of at ta i n i n g Arhathood. Further, a cont inuous f 1o w of mind

might amount to concentration of mind. But this school

denies the transcendental powers ascribed to the B u d d h a and

the Bodhisattva by the M a h a s a n g h i k a s .

The Sarvastivada school was finally developed by

Vasubandhu (between 420 and 500 A.D.) and Sanghabhadra

(approx. 420 and 500 A . D . ) . Moreover, the fina I d e v e l o p m e n t

of this philosophy is represented by these two

philosophers. Hence, they may be said to be the highest

representatives of this school. After the conversion of

Vasubandhu from Hinayana (S a u t r a n t i k a ) into Mahayanism

(yogacara) Ihe Sarvastivada and all other branches o

Hinayana school declined. Gradually, in any case the

Sarvastivada school disappeared from India along with all

other forms of Buddhism. Moreover, there ar e other

philosophers of this school s u ch as, Asvaghosa (approx.

78 - 1 0 3 A.D.) and Katyayaniputra (7 8-103 A.D.) etc. Ihey are

a l s o great thin ke rs of the S a r v a s t i v a d i n school.

Thus the special manuals of the Sarvastivadin

philosophy can be discussed under the following three

impo rt an t w o r k s

(i) Ihe A b h i d h a r m a K o sa of V a s u b a n d h u .

(ii) N y a y a n u s a r a by S a n g h a b h a d r a - Ihis is a c o m m e n t a r y on

the Abhidharma Kosa, and the refutation of those

po i n t s which Vasubandhu ha s departed from orthodox

Sarvastivadin philosophy.

(iii) A b h i d h a r m a Prakarana - This is a resume of the

preceding work and also composed by S a n g h a b h a d r a . In

this case, Sanghabhadra ha s omitted much of hi s

polemic an d contended himself-with the mere

e l u c i d a t i o n of the S a r v a s t i v a d i n p h i l o s o p h y .

Vasubandhu :

Vasubandhu the y o u n g e r brother of A s a n g a w a s b o r n in

✓

the fourth century C.E. in G a n d h a r a in North West India.

 144
Takakusu the famous Japanese scholar, considering all the

possible sources from India and China, maintains that

Vasubandhu was born between 420 and 500 A.D. He died at the

age of eighty. The development of Va subandhu's philosophy

can be discussed in three distinct phases :

(i) The first phase he subscribes to the Sarvastivada

thought

(ii) The second phase is a transitional phase when, still

Sautrantika, he displays Yogacara leanings. His

Kc^rmasidhi Prakarana belongs to this phase.

(iii) The final phase belongs to the Vimsika and the

Trimsika, where the Ma hayana influence is present in

its full blown form.

"The Ch inese sources described that there are thirty

six authoritative texts of Vasubandhu. The list includes

the excellent texts of Vasubandhu. The list includes the

excellent Hinayani text of Abhidhar ma -k osa and its Bhasya

Mahayani like Vimsika, Trimsika, V i .inapt ima tra ta and so

forth".3

In about the fifth century A.D. Vasubandhu wrote his

famous text Abhidharma-kosa karika and its B h a s y a . It was

the combination of the different Abhidhamma texts of the

Kashmir Vibhasa school of Sarvastivada. Because, the

 145
Abhidhanma karika was written mostly from the point of view

of the Vaibhasika school of Kashmir. "According to

Yasomitra the text is primarily based on the earlier works

of S a r v a s t i v a d a , the Jnanaprasthana etc. which provided the

scriptural basis for its au thenticity as a Vaibhasika

4
text". The Abhidharmakosa is an encyclopaedia of Buddhist

philosophy. It is the most important text where the basic

doctrinal position of Sarvastivada is clearly brought out.

Vasubandhu maintains that Abhidhamma is an analytical study

of the nature of the Dhamma (Real) of the different me an s

for attaining (Real knowledge) e.g. purified mind, perfect

knowledge etc. The title *A b h i d h a r m a k o s a ' is a significant

word. The term 'Kosa' indicates a 'holder' or a 'case' that

consisting something carefully placed in it. The wo rd

'Kosa' contains the valuable writings and essential points

of Abhidhamma. The Abhidhamma is an elaboration or

exposition of the Suttas. Essentially the psychological and

philosophical literature of Buddhist doctrine is arranged

in Abhidhamma. In a wider sense, Abhidhamma is that which

interpretes the Suttas from a particular standpoint of

philosophy. In a more limited sense, Abhidhamma consists of

cosmology, Biology, Physics, Metaphysics, Ethics and

practical religion.

The topics of the Ab hi dharmakosa are di sc us se d from

both the subjective and objective point of view. The

 146

objective pattern of the physical and metaphysical entities

are discussed and classified in the first two chapters.

The subjective analysis of the cosmological process

is found in chapter III.

The psychological analysis of the actions

dispositions and the so-called phenomena of personality

(pudgala) appears in chapter IV, V and VI respectively.

Finally, the deeper states of introspect ion into the

psycho-dynamic state of existence can be found in

chapter VII and VIII.

The Abhidharmakosa of Vasubandhu deals with the

elements, the powers and faculties, cosmology i.e. the

origin, arrangement and de struction of the universe with

Karma, the passions, the various kinds of saints and paths

which lead to salvation, and concludes with a survey of

sacred cognition and meditational attainments. The text

consisting of six hundred karikas or slokas and has eight

chapters :

(i) Dhatu-Nirdes'a - deals with the nature of the

faculties of a being.
(ii) Indriya-Nirdesa - deals with the nature of

universe.
(iii) Loka-Nirdes'a deals with the nature of deeds

and their fruits.

(iv) Karma-Nirdes'a - deals with the nature of latent

impur i t i e s .

(v) Sanusaya-Nirdesa - deals with the nature of

constituents of a being

(vi) Aryapudgala-Nirdes'a - deals with the nature of person

who is established in the four

stages of sanctification.

(vii) Samadh i-Ni rdes'a - deals with the nature of

m editation or spiritual

realisat ion.

Later on one chapter is added as appendix that

discusses pudgala containing a refutation of atmavada.

Vasubandhu also wrote two treatises on logic, namely,

the Tarkasastra and the Vada-Vidhi. As a Mahayanist he

wrote commentaries on the S a d h a r m a - p u n d a r i k a . In addition

to these, he expounded the V i j n a p t i - M a t r a t a - S i d d h i . It is

found in Vimsika and Trimsika which contain twenty and

thirty karikas respectively.

After his brother's death he wrote the two treatises

on idealism, Vimsika and Trimsika. In the two compositions

Vasubandhu succeeds in denying the reality of the external

 148

w o r l d a n d at the s a me time d e f e n d s the u l t i m a t e reality of

pure consciousness Vijnaptimatrata. In his Vijnapti-

Matrata-Siddhi Vimsika Vasubandhu proves that Reality is

pure consciousness and that ex t e r n a l objects do not exist

outside of thought. Vasubandhu says that consciousness is

the o n ly reality. Because consciousness manifests itself

into su bj ec t a n d ob je ct . It a r i s e s out of its ow n s e e d an d

then it m a n i f e s t s itself as a n e x te rn al object.

Sanghabhadra :

Sanghabhadra wa s a contemporary of Vasubandhu. He

disagreed with Vasubandhu on some important points in the

interpretation of Sarvastivada. Though he agreed w i th

Vasubandhu's formation of Sarvastivada in the

Abhidharmakosa k a r i k a , he diferred to V a s u b a n d h u ’s B h a s y a

on it. He tried to show Vasubandhu's weakness in the

Sautrantika l e an in gs a n d a t t e m p t e d to of fe r a c o r r e c t i v e to

Vasubandhu. According to Sanghabhadra, Vasubandhu ha d

partisan in the S a r v a s t i v a d a - S a u t r a n t i k a debated on issues

of fu nd am en ta l questions. The A b h idharma Nyayanusara of

Sanghabhadra is a n im portant w o r k w h e r e the ba si c d o c t r i n e s

of Vasubandhu have been declared. The text contains

references to m a n y o l d s c h o o l s a n d w o r k s of e a r l y B u d d h i s m

and is a us ef ul source book for the st ud y of doctrinal

development of Buddhism. In this text he refutes

Vasumitra's Abhidharmakosasastra referring particularly to

 149
those views put forward in justification of the

Sautrantikas. In this work he quotes the names of many

works and schools viz. Jnanapras thana , V i jnanakaya ,

Sautrant ikas , Vi jnanavadins and such others. It contains

10,000 slokas explaining the doctrine of Vibhasa.

The Ab hidharmasamayapradipika is another work of

S a n g h a b h a d r a . It is a compilation of the Ny ayanusarasastra

with only an introductory chapter added to it. It contains,

1,20,000 slokas adhering to the Vibhasa and refuting the

Kosa.

Sanghabhadra expounded his theory from two aspects of

time which is interpretation of the systematic view of

human life. His theory is based on the Dependent

Originat i o n , and the concept of the relativity of

phenomena. But in early B u d d hi sm the theory of Dependent

Or igination applied to the human structure and was not

included the relativity of phenomena. Ac co rd in g to

Sanghabhadra the former is confined merely to the

transmigrat ion of body. It does refer to the uni­

directional relationship. The latter is represented by the

Six-Causes and-Four Co nd it io ns Theory, which is based upon

the concept of karitra (actuality). It refers to the

reciprocal relationship.
 150

Sanghabhadra expounded the Theory of Dependent

Origination from the viewpoint of time. His exposition the

psycho-physical interpretation of the Dependent Origination

is based upon the causality of time. In addition to this,

he proposed a new interpretation, based on the actuality of

time. The actuality of time refers to a simultaneous

relat ionship among the time divisions, and concerns the

activity of living things in mutual relat ionsh ip.

Sanghabhadra also accepted the early interpretat ion of

Dependent Origination into three time divisions, viz. past,

present and future. This doctrine is described by the

traditional Buddhists as the 'three lives d i v i s i o n s ':

According to the reality of time he divided the

a phor ism into three aspects for analysis. First he defines

the meaning of 'exist' and secondly the m e aning of

'occurs'. According to Sanghabhadra, the term 'exist' has a

dual connotation which is applicable to the past and the

present. In this way, the present and the past are

connected by chronological time or causality. Hence the

chronological time or causality belongs to the domain of

Conventional Truth (s a m v r t i - s a t y a ).

Secondly, the term 'occurs' denotes the relationship

between the present and the future. This relationship

implies that, if there is a present potentiality there will

be future occurrence. This e x p l a n a t i o n c a n be d e s c r i b e d as

Absolute Truth ( p a r a m a r t h a - s a t y a ). Therefore, it ca n be

s a id that the first partisan of the aphorism 'when this

exist' relates to the Conventional Iruth which does not

in cl ud e potentiality. While the s e c o n d a p h o r i s m 'when this

occurs' represents Absolute T r ut h because potentiality is

p r es en t. Thus e x i s t e n t s in t e rm s of C o n v e n t i o n a l Tr uth ar e

.the o p p o s i t e of a c t u a l i t y (karitra) a n d all e x i s t e n t s exist

wi t h o u t conditions (praty ay a) . O n the ot her hand, existents

in terms of Absolute Truth are the a c t u a l i t y which occurs

from c o n d i t i o n s . Sanghabhadra te rm ed the C o n v e n t i o n a l Truth

as 'a c c e p t a b l e a g r e e m e n t ' (dharmasanketa) to d i s t i n g u i s h it

f r om A b s o l u t e Truth. In the N y a y a n u s a r a s a s t r a , h e s a ys "it

is said in the P a r a m a r thasunya tasas t r a , of Iwelve Li n k s

namely samskara originates from a v i d h y a ...jaramarana from

jati. In other words, dharmasanketa denotes the causal

r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n c a u s e a n d ef fe ct (hetu-phala-anubandhu
5
Ny T.29.42&c)". This causal relationship Sanghabhadra

termed 'i nt im at io n' , since it relates to the domain of

Conventional Truth. He m a i n t a i n s that the b e g i n n i n g of the

psycho-physical process (pratityasamutpada) is merely

dharmasanketa in lieu of the Absolute Truth. He fu rt he r

suggested that actuality is the conditions through which

ail things should be observed for no existent ca n exist

without c o n d i t io ns .
 152

According to early Budd hi sm the things arise by means

of P r a t i t y a s a m u t p a d a , depending upon conditions. To them

there is no beginning and no end. While according to

Sanghabhadra, the mutuality and conditionality of things

are based upon the actuality of time. Fr om this standpoint

there can be no beginning and no end. He suggested that the

Twelve Links had a beginning and were also beg inning l e s s .

The former is due to the time aspect of causality which is

termed dharmasanketa while the later is due to actuality,

which is termed paramartha.

Sanghabhadra tried to relate karitra with pratyaya.

Thus, he applied the relationship of karitra and pratyaya

in his explanation of the relativity of the phenomenal

world. Karitra comes into existence depending upon

conditions, therefore conditions are the basis of the

arising of karitra. Even if there are many conditions

present, karitra does not necessarily come into existence.

Pratyaya as such is not equivalent to karitra but rather a

requirement for the arising of karitra. Pratyaya can be

called karitra only when it has an efficient function.

Sanghabhadra says, "where karitra exists, pratyaya

exists". He admits that pratyaya is related to karitra

but not equivalent. He added that both terms have a

separate reality. Sanghabhadra considers pratyaya and

karitra is related in the sense that pratyaya is the basis

 153
of karitra. The former does not have actuality but when the

former (pratyaya) functions, then at that moment the later

(karitra) comes into existence. Karitra cannot come into

existence merely through the grouping of conditions alone.

S a n g h a b h a d r a 's psycho-physical interpretation of

pr atityasamutpada gave predominance to pratyaya. This

direction was assimilated and extended by Abhidh ar mi ka in

the Si x-Causes-and-Four-Conditions Theory. Principally,

this theory dealt with the predominance of pratyaya. It can

be said that the idea of pratyaya in Buddhist sense is much

more important than the idea of hetu.

The Sarvastivada Karma theory is different from the

Theravada. The former is interpreted the Karma theory from

the point of view of epistemology. Whereas the Theravada

Buddhist school put from the viewpoint of psychology.

Epistemologically the Sarvastivadins analysed the Karma

theory from the viewpoint of the relation of cause and

effect.

Ac co rd in g to Sanghabhadra, Karma consists of three

types i.e. kaya (bodily action) vaca (vocal action) and

manasa (mental action). He stresses the importance of

outward appearance (vijnapti) in order to complete a Karma.

He says that Karma should be as so ci at ed with outward

 I

appearance. Even if mental karma; if s i nc er e, will bring

with it outward appearance s u ch as bodily and vocal

actions. According to him, w h e n K a r m a ha s t a ke n p l a c e there

is no link between the cause and the ef f e c t . T h en the

ef fe ct a r i s e s . He e x p l a i n s the p r o c e s s of c a u s i n g ef f e c t as

follows: "A m e n t a l action (manasa karma) which has arisen

in the past will become a cause to induce the wholesome

ef fe ct ( p ha la ks ep a) and c o m p le te , r e al iz e, make it up, and

7
bring it fi nally into c o m p l e t i o n " .

Asvaghosa :

Asvaghosa (approximately 78-103 A.D.) was a great

Buddhist poet and philosopher. He was the contemporary of

k i ng Kaniska and belonged to the Sarvastivada school. He

>/
was born at Ayodhya and his m o t h e r ' s name was Suvarnaksi.
/
Asvaghosa h a d at first been a Vedantin and later c o n v e r t e d

into Buddhism. He might have brought Vedantic ideas into

Buddhism ar>d d e v e l o p e d its philosophy. He was at first a

S a r v a s t i v a d i n , but fi n a l l y c o n v e r t e d into M a h a y a n a .

All the Mahayana schools accept the ultimate truth

< and the e m p i r i c a l truth a n d a l s o d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n these

two truths. ^ B u t Asvaghosa accepts only the empirical

reality of the five aggregates, the twelve bases, and the

e i g h t e e n e l e m e n t s .) A c c o r d i n g to M a h a y a n a the o n l y U l t i m a t e

re a l i t y is the such-ness of things which is the very

 155

essence of things. It is indescribable and is the only

reality. To them, Such-ness is the same as nirvana and

enlightenment is the essential body of Buddha. It is the

perfection of everything that is good. It is the source of

Buddha and Buddha himself is the one who has become the

Such (Tathagata). It is the truth of inward being, peace

and equanimity. They believe that Such-ness is the

conscious conservator of everything and the conscious

conservator that happens everything is its own source.

\^Asvaghosa, on the other hand, does not agree that

Such-ness is the Ulti ma te reality. He defines Ab so lu te is

the only Ul ti ma te R e a l i t y . He w a nt ed to sh ow h o w the wo rl d

of plurality can come out of ity/The Absolute projects

itself though ignorance as world of phenomena. And all

phenomena are related and produced by ignorance. Hence

relativity (pratityasamutpada) is the work of ignorance. As

ignorance does not have its own existence, relational

intellect cannot provide Reality. Absolute Such-ness

transcends everything. But when it is infected with

ignorance it manifests itself as Conditional Suchness. Thus

phenomenal world is the result of this Conditional

Suchness. Here Asvaghosa utilizes the traditional Twelve

Links Chain of Causation. According to him, plurality

arises out of the Absolute co nditioned by ignorance

containing the formative forces including those generated

 156
by our past actions. Then the conserving consciousness

( a la ya vi jn an a) is the same as Such-ness (Tathata). Then the

original consciousness becomes the action-con sc iou sn es s and

next activity consciousness. That is, to say the same

original consciousness first becomes the potencies and then

the activities resulting from the potencies. Then produces

mind, its particularity, the succession of mental

phenomena, senses, objects, craving, birth, death and so

forth.

Asvaghosa admits the conserving consciousness

( a la ya vi jn an a) as the highest reality and he calls it the

such-ness of things. He believes that it is the positive

essence of the elements of the world, and the essence of

things as processions of events. Asvaghosa ident i f ied

Tathata or Such-ness with bodhi or alayavijnana or prajna.

From the point of view of infinite it is called tathagata-

garbha and from the empirical standpoint it is samsara or

the cycle of birth and death, and finally from the U l t i m a t e

standpoint, it is Nirvana or positive bliss. The most

important point to be considered in Asva gh os a' s view is

that Reality is indescribable and cannot be grasped by

intellect. It is neither ex is te nc e nor non- ex is te nc e nor

plurality nor both nor neither affirm at io n nor negation nor

both neither. The view that Reality can be called neither

sunya asunya nor both nor neither, was developed by

Sunyavada and the point that Reality is consciousness was

developed by Vijnanavada.

The following are the important works of Asvaghosa :

Buddhacharita :

The first work of Asvaghosa is Buddhacharita. It is a

Mahakavya. The Buddhacharita describes not only the life

and teachings of Buddha, but also explains the evidence of

his encyclopaedic knowledge of India's mythological

traditions and pre-Buddhistic philosophical systems

particularly the Sankhya. It contains seventeen chapters.

Saundarananda-kavya :

This is the second poem of Asvaghosa. It is also

connected with the life story of the Buddha, but it

amplifies those scenes and episodes in particular which

receive scanty attention in the Buddhacharita. The actual

theme of this poem describes the love story of Sundari and

Nanda, the half brother of the Buddha. Nanda who was

ordained as a monk against his will by the Buddha. Here the

poet describes, Nanda is filled with the 'great pity' which

makes him search his heart in deep commiseration for means

whereby he may release the beings from suffering. Nanda

attains to the realisation that everything is "transitory,

empty, without self, and full of sufferings". At last Nanda

 158
practices the four great m e di ta ti on s and becomes an Arhat.

Asvaghosa deciares that this poem intends to teach

philosophy, which is liberation, the perfect peace in order

to accept the Buddha's doctrine.

Sariputraprakarana :

This is the most important drama of the poet, It

shows that he was a dramatist also. The subject-matter of

the drama is a dialogue between Sariputra and his fri end

Maudgalyana. This drama treats of the conversion of

Sariputra and his friend Maudgalyana. It is related in one

of the most beautiful stories in the Ma ha va gg a of the

V inayapi t a k a .

Gandhist ot ra gat ha :

Besides these he also wrote Gandhi st ot ra gat ha a poem

which contains twenty nine stanzas in the sragdhara metre.

It is a beautiful poem, worthy of Asvaghosa both in form

and contents.

Ka ty ayaniputra :

The Venerable Katyayaniputra (approximately 78-103

A.D.) was the contemporary of king Kaniska the emperor of

Kushana dynasty. He wrote Jnanaprasthana Sastra. It is the

foremost and most important of the seven Ab hi dh am ma texts.

This is the first authoritative work of the S a r v a s t i v a d i n s .

 159

It w a s c o m p i l e d d u r i n g the r e i g n of e m p e r o r K a n i s k a in the

fourth c o uncil. A c c o r d i n g to p a r a m a r t h a ( 499-569 A.D.) five

hundred years after the death of the Buddha Arh a t

K a t y a y a n l p u t r a went to K a s h m i r to c o l l e c t the A b h i d h a m m a of

the S a r v a s t i v a d i n s . T h e r e he collected the A b h i d h a m m a w i t h

the help of five hundred Arhats and five hundred

Bodhisattvas, and arranged it in e i ght books. This

compilation was called 1J n a n a p r a s t h a n a ' a n d also known as

'Grantha' (Sanskrit) or Gantho (PSli). Many scholars

participated in the Council and decided to acce p t the

Suttas and the Vinaya. The selected pieces were compiled

according to their subject-matter. Those about wisdom form

the Prajna Gra n t h a , and tho s e about meditation the Dhyana

Grantha and so on. Thus a f t e r finishing the c o m p i l a t i o n of

the eight boo k s they kept it in a literary form. It

c o n s i s t e d of 1,000,000 verses. The t r a d i t i o n c o n s i d e r s that

Jnanaprasthana is the first and the principal text, while

the other six are regarded as supplementary to this. The

original S anskrit of this work, consisted of 15072 slokas

is lost, but two C h i n e s e translations of it are produced.

According to the C h i n e s e tradition it w a s first translated

into C h i n e s e by Sanghabhadra and Dharmapriya. Th e y b r o u g h t

it to China from Kashmir during fourth century A.D. The

text is d i v i d e d into eight s e c t i o n s of the f o l l o w i n g :

The first section consists of e x p o s i t i o n of the best

mundane topics: knowledge, in d i v i d u a l i t y , faith and
 160

reverence, lack of modesty, material constituents of the

body a n d their c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a n d m e n t a l states.

The second one considers defilements, which hinder

the spiritual progress of an adept, and the causes of

def ilement s .

The third section is devoted to the acquisition of

knowledge :

(i) the doctrinal matters by which a s e kha becomes an

asekha ,

(ii) of right a n d w r o n g views,

(iii) of the m e a n s of a t t a i n i n g six abhi j n a s ,

(iv) of the four truths and of the a c q u i s i t i o n s to be m a d e

in the four s t a g e s of s a n c t i f i c a t i o n .

The f o urth section discusses the evil w o r k s a n d acts

with their consequences and also explains vijnapti and

av i jnapt i .

The fifth gives an exposition of the four

constituents, and of those originating out of them, both

internal a n d e xternal.

The sixth section analyses the twenty two i n driyas

( p r e dominant faculties) and the three spheres of e x i s t e n c e

 161
viz., kama, rupa, and arupa and explains in detail the

s p a r s e n d r i y a , m u l a - c i t t a etc.

The seventh is d e v o t e d to the m e n t a l states developed

by an adept w h i l e he is in samadhi; and gradually advances

from Sakadagami to A n a g a m i stage.

The last and the eight section explains the four

s m r t y u p a s t h a n a , the various wrong views, and smilar other

matters.

Another name of the Jnana-prasthana-sutra is

A s t a g r a n t h a as it c o n s i s t s of e i ght c h a p t e r s . It is r e l a t e d

to L a u k i k a g r a d h a r m a (mind a n d m e n t a l states) consisting of

eight chap t e r s . Dr. Barua also says that, the

Jnanaprasthana-sutra may be pa r a l l e l to the pali text

8
patisambhidamagga. Thou g h it seems a verbal resemblance

between the two texts, the Jnanaprasthana is w r i t t e n more

on the lines of Dhammasangani than tho s e of

Pat isambh i d a m a g g a .

Both Sanghabhadra and Vasubandhu, being critical of

ea c h other, followed the early Buddhist thought. The only

difference was their approach. Vasubandhu had approach to

the M a h a y a n a B u d d h i s m (the u n i v e r s a l emptiness doctrine) by

emphasizing the bija (sakt iv i s e s a ) , idea. The bija is the

 162
inherent power to link with effect containing from

existence xo e x i s t e n c e . The m a i n concern of Vasubandhu is

the p s y c h o l o g i c a l analysis and introspection. According to

him the two steps are the two instruments for getting

liberation of an individual. On the other hand,

S a n g h a b h a d r a 's theory is arrived at fr o m two aspects i.e.

the causality a n d a c t u a l i t y of time. He m a i n t a i n s that the

two aspects of time are the necessary interpretations of

human life. S a n g h a b h a d r a 's interpretation is r e a l i s t i c and

epistemological. ^T h e philosophy of Asvaghosa is also

realistic and epistemological. His philosophy is based on

the theory of re a l i t y and proved only by the conventional

truth. He supports the Mahayana doctrine of empirical or

conventional truth, and denies the concept of Ultimate

R e a l i t y / He utilises the traditional T w e l v e Lin k s C h a i n of

Causation to show the empirical truth. His Philosophy is

separated from Vasubandhu and Sanghabhadra. Be s i d e s , he is

not only a dramatist but also a poet philosopher. Like

Asvaghosa Katyayaniputra also describes the distinction

b e t w e e n real a n d unreal, absolute and conventional.

 163

References :

1. Braj.M.Sinha : Time and Temporality in Samkhya-Yoga

and Abhidharma Buddhism, M u n s h i r a m M a n o h a r i a l , 1983,

( p p . 190-191).

2. Ibid.

3. Aruna Haidar : Abhidharmakosa of Vasubandhu, General

Secretary the A s i a t i c Society, 1984, p.13.

4. Ibid.

5. Genjun H.Sasaki : Buddhist T h ought, Motilal

Banarsidass, Delhi, 1986, p.111.

6. Ibid, p.113.

7. Ibid, p.131.

8. Nalinaksa Dutta :B u d d h i s t Sects In India, Motilai

Banarsidass, Delhi, 1987, p.145.