Abhidharmakosabhasyam, Volume IV

Abhidharmakosabhasyam Volume IV Abhidharmakosabhasyam of Vasubandhu Volume IV Translated into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin English Version by Leo M. Pruden ASIAN HUMANITIES PRESS [An imprint of Jain Publishing Company] Web Site — www.jainpub.com ASIAN HUMANITIES PRESS Asian Humanities Press offers to the specialist and the general reader alike the best in new translations of major works and significant original contributions to enhance our understanding of Asian religions, cultures and thought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vasubandhu. [Abhidharmako&bhdsya. English] Abhidharmakogabhasyam / [translated] by Louis de La Vallee Poussin; English translation by Leo M. Pruden. — Berkeley, Calif.: Asian Humanities Press, 1988- 1990. 4 v.; 23 cm. Translation of: Abhidharmako£abh£sya. Includes bibliographies. ISBN 0-89581-913-9 (set). 1. Vasubandhu. Abhidharmakoga. 2. Abhidharma. I. La Vallee Poussin, Louis de, 1869-1938. II. Title. BQ2682.E5P78 1988 294.3'824—dcl9 87-71231 AACR 2 MARC Copyright © 1991 by Asian Humanities Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of Asian Humanities Press except for brief passages quoted in a review. Translator's Introduction A his volume is the fourth and the last volume of an English translation of Louis de La Valle'e Poussin's French translation of Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosabhdsyam. This volume contains translations of Chapter VII ("The Knowledges \jndna~nirdesa), Chapter VIII ("The Absorptions", samdpatti-nirdefa), and Chapter IX ("Refutation of the Pudgala\ pudgala-pratisedha). This volume also contains a full Index to the text of the Kosabhdsyam, as well as to significant entries in the Footnotes to the various Chapters. Chapter VII deals with the type and nature of the Knowledges, and how they differ from the Patiences and from Seeing; with the characteristics and aspects of the Ten Knowledges; how the knowledge of the mind of another takes place; the differences between a defiled mind and a good or concentrated mind; the role of emptiness and non-self in the Knowledges; the Path of Meditation; the qualities and powers that accompany the Knowledge of Destruction, and related to this, the powers and assurances of a Buddha; the difference between (ordinary) compassion and the great compassion of a Buddha; the nature of the Buddha's knowledge, his methods of conversion, and his supernormal powers (rddhi). Chapter VIII is concerned with dhydna both as a state of absorption, and as states of existence in the realms of Rupadhatu and Arupyadhatu. This Chapter discusses dhydna versus samddhi; whether mpa or physical matter exists in Arupyadhatu; the origin of physical matter from the mind; the component parts of each dhydna; the role of happiness in the Third Dhyana; the role and nature of faith; which absorption can arise after which absorption; the mental object of the absorptions; the prefatory or threshhold absorptions (sdmantakas), and the prefatory absorptions as contrasted with dhydndntara. The nature of samddhi is discussed with reference to its containing vitarka and/or vicara; discussed also are the absorptions of emptiness, the absorption of the absence of characteristics, and the absorption of the absence of intention; the types of samddhi; the Four Immeasurables (called in other traditions the Four Brahmavihuras); and details how a beginner should cultivate the visualization of goodwill. This Chapter concludes with a short discussion on how long the Saddharma will last, and the definition of the Saddharma as consisting of agama (the teaching) and adhigama (its cultivation and realization). Three Karikas then conclude the basic text of the A bhidharmakoiabhdsyam. Chapter IX has long been regarded as an appendix to the Abhidharmakosabhdsyam9 since the text of the Ninth Chapter contains no Karikas, and its presentation is devoted to a single theme, that of refuting the idea of a pudgala or soul. Since this Chapter is quoted or referred to twice (pages 650, 818) in th£ text of the KoSabhdsyam, this work was evidently known to the author of the Kos'abhdsyam, and so was perhaps composed prior to Vasubandhu's composition of the Kosabhdsyam (as was perhaps his Karmasiddhi-prakarana) to answer objections to the non-soul teaching of the Buddhists. This Chapter is concerned with refuting the soul (here pudgala) theories of one sect of Hinayana Buddhism, the Vatsiputriyas (also identified with Sammatiyas); later in the Chapter the author refutes the theories of the Vai£esikas, one of the orthodox schools of Hindu Philosophy. In this Chapter, Vasubandhu concerns himself with explaining memory and recognition: how does one account for memory and recognition in the absence of an unchanging substratum to human experience? The existence of such a substratum becomes the concern of the Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism. I should like to thank Mr. Ken Johnson for his unstinting work on the Index of the Abhidharmako/abhdsyam; he has done a fine job of serving on numerous occasions as my editor and advisor. Much remains to be done in Kosabhdsyam studies. At present the Bangladeshi Bhikkhu, Ven. Lokananda, and I are working on publishing a Romanized edition of the text of the Kosabhdsyam, and in the compilation of a dictionary to the Sanskrit text of the work. It would be a great source of joy to see an eventual translation of YaSomitra's commentary on the Kosabhdsyam, his Sphutdrtha-abhidharmakofa-vydkhyd, a work quoted liberally in de La Valine Poussin's Footnotes. It will also be necessary someday to investigate the filiation of Vasubandhu's thought into that of the Mahayuna, a task already carried out in many of Kyokuga Saeki's Footnotes to his edition of the Kusharon, his Kando-bon Kusharon. Leo M. Pruden. CONTENTS Chapter Seven: The Knowledges I. The Relationship Between the Patiences, the Knowledges, and Seeing 1087 П. The Characteristics of the Ten Knowledges 1088 A. The Ten Knowledges 1088 1. Pure and Impure Knowledge 1089 2. Conventional Knowledge 1089 3. The Knowledge of the Mind of Another 1091 B. The Knowledge of Destruction and the Knowledge of Non-Arising 1093 1. How Are They Obtained 1094 2. How Are They Views 1095 С How Are There Ten Knowledges? 1095 D. A Knowledge of the Dharmas and Inferential Knowledge: Their Influence on Various Spheres. 1097 Ш. The Aspeas of Ten Knowledges 1098 A. The Different Aspeas of the Ten Knowledges 1098 B. Pure Knowledge and the Sixteen Aspeas 1099 1. Discussion: What is Saraga Mind? 1100 С The Sixteen Aspeas 1108 IV. The Ten Knowledges: An Analysis 1117 A. Their Natures, Spheres; the Persons 1117 B. The Ten Knowledgfes and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness 1119 С The Spheres of the Ten Knowledges 1120 1. The Ten Knowledges Are Conditioned by Which Knowledge? 1120 2. The Spheres of the Ten Knowledges 1121 3. The Sphere of Conventional Knowledge 1121 D. The Ten Knowledges and the Ascetics Cultivation 1122 E. The Ten Knowledges as Innate or Cultivated Knowledge 1124 1. The Ten Knowledges on the Path of Seeing 1124 2. The Ten Knowledges on the Path of Meditation 1128 3. The Ten Knowledges in the Stage oftheA&uksa 1133 4. The Ten Knowledges in Other Stages 1134 a. Qualities of the Ten Knowledges 1134 5. Innate and Cultivated Pure and Impure Dharmas; the Meaning of Cultivation 1135 6. The Four Types of Cultivation 1135 a. Six Types of Cultivation: the Vaibhasikas of the West 1136 b. Refutation: the Vaibhasikas of KaSmlr 1136 The Eighteen Qualities Unique to a Buddha 1136 A. What are the Eighteen Qualities? 1136 B. The Ten Powers 1137 1. The Power of the Buddha s Mind 1137 2. The Power of the Buddhas Body 1139 a. Definition of Terms 1140 С The Four Absence of Fear 1141 D. The Three Foundations of Mindfulness 1142 E. Great Compassion 1143 F. Do the Buddhas Resemble One Another 1145 G. The Threefold Perfection of the Tathagatas 1146 Qualities the Buddhas Have in Common with Ordinary Persons and with Saints 1148 A. General Remarks 1148 B. Qualities the Buddhas Have in Common with Saints 1148 1. The Samadhi Absence of Contention 1150 2. The Knowledge Resulting from Resolution 1150 a. Does this Knowledge Exist in Ampyadhatu?: Opinion of the Vaibhasikas 1151 3. The Four Unhindered Knowledges 1151 a. A Variant Order 1154 b. Various Opinions 1154 4. The Fourth Dhyana as Pruntakotika Dhyana 1155 Qualities the Buddhas, Saints, and Ordinary Persons Have in Common 1157 1. The Six Supernormal Knowledges 1157 a. Discussion: Do These Six Supernormal Knowledges Exist in Nonmaterial Spheres 1159 b. How Are the Supernormal Knowledges Obtained? 1161 с Moral Quality of the Supernormal Knowledges 1163 2. The Three Asaiksa Wisdom 1164 3. The Three Methods of Conversion 1166 4. The Meaning of Rddhi 1168 5. The Results of Rddhi 1168 a. Displacement 1168 b. Creation: The Mind Capable of Creating Fictive Beings 1170 6. Empowerment 1173 7. A Variant List of Rddhi 1176 8. Divine Sight and Divine Hearing 1176 9. Is Rddhi Innate 1178 Footnotes 1181 Chapter Eight: The Absorptions General Introduction 1215 A. The Four Dhyanas 1215 1. Application of the Mind on a Single Objea 1216 2. Definition of Dhyuna 1217 3. The Moral Value of Dhyana 1218 4. Characteristics of the Four Dhyanas 1218 B. The Four Arupyas 1219 Discussion: Is there mpa in Arupyadhatu? 1220 1. The Names of the Four Arupyas 1226 2. The Parts of the Pure Dhyanas 1227 a. Happiness 1231 b. Faith 1236 с Joy 1237 3. The Parts of Defiled Dhyana 1238 a. Disturbed Dhyuna 1239 b. Vedana in the Dhyanas 1239 с Eye Consciousness in the Dhyanas 1240 4. Acquisition of the Absorptions 1241 5.

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