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The Bodhisattva and the Sravaka in the Aksobhya Buddha-Field Naomi

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The Bodhisattva and the Sravaka in the Aksobhya Buddha-Field Naomi ( 56 ) Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies, Vol. 51, No. 1, December 2002 The Bodhisattva and the Sravaka in the Aksobhya Buddha-field Naomi SATO 1 Introduction : The Aksobhyavviiha (=AV), 1) one of the oldest Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, is devoted to the Buddha Aksobhya's careers and the superiorities of his Buddha-field, Abhirati. Aksobhya and Abhirati are referred to in many other Mah- ayana scriptures, especially in the early Prajnaparamita (e. g. Astasahasrika Prajnapa- ramita), the Vimalakirtinirdesa, and the Karunapundarika 2). Since A V has not been studied careully so far, I would like to examine in this paper the superiorities of Sravakas and Bodhisattvas in Abhirati compared to those in our world, and then define AV's position concerning their progress. I mainly used the Tibetan translation refering to the Chinese when necessary. 2.1 Sravaka's progress in our world and in Abhirati : In the early Agamas, the levels of attainment of Buddha's disciples (Sravaka) are judged according to a fourfold hi- erarchy: 1) stream-entrant (srotapanna), 2) once-returner (sakrdgamin),3) nonreturner (anagamin), and 4) arhat. Each of these stages is divided further into two parts : the stage of the candidate and the stage of the fruit [SN V : 356-357, T. 2 : 13a, 34c, etc. (*)]. 3) Subsequently, this hierarchy becomes more detailed in the later A- gamas and systematized in the Abhidharma literatures. For example, in Fo-tian- jing •Ÿ“cŒoFM[T. 1 (127) : 616a], eighteen stages of training (saiksa) and nine stages beyond training (asaiksa) are mentioned. 4) AV also describes this fourfold hierarchy and saiksalasaiksa system in chap. 3 [P35a4-5, D30a3, J33b1, S44b5-6, cf. AV1 757a2-4, AV2 106b5-61. Here I will examine the explanations of each stage in AV and see how Abhirati is superior to our world. the indolent man A V says that in our Sakyamuni's world, an indolent man is a srotapanna who is sure to be reborn seven times before attaining the furit of the arhat (arhatphala) [P35a6, D30a3, AV1 757a4, AV2 106b8]. In Abhirati, "a son of the noble family (kulaputra) who does not obtain the fruit of the arhat while -469- The Bodhisattva and the Sravaka in the Aksobhya Buddha-field (N. SATO) ( 57 ) sitting on one seat but who obtains the furit of the srotapanna by the first preaching of the Law (dharma), the fruit of the sakrdagamin by the second, the fruit of the anagamin by the third, and the furit of the arhat by the fourth is said to be an indolent man." 5) Srotapanna The standard explanation of the sotapanna in the Agamas is that he is destined to attain enlightenment and will do so within seven rebirths in this world. However, the srotapanna in Abhirati "will not be reborn seven times and he manifests the nature of the at-hat (arhattva) in this very body. Namely, the concept of the fruit of the srotapanna is nothing but an appellation." 6) sakrdagamin The Agamas say that the sakrdagamin has weakened the hold of the three poisons (tridosapaha : craving, hatred, and delusion). He will return to this world one more time and then attain arhatship [see *]. However, AV says as follows : in Abhirati, the sakrdagamin, without cutting off the fetters after returning once again to Aksobhya's world, manifests the nature of the at-hat in this very body. Namely, the concept of the fruit of the sakrdagamin is nothing but an appellation7). anagamin In the Agamas, the anagamin is said to be a person who never returns to this world but is born and dies repeatedly in heaven until he enters nirvana. He has cut off the five lower fetters that tie him to existence in the desire realm (kamadhatu) [see *]. However, AV says that in Abhirati, the anagamin, without entering nirvana after returning once again to Aksobhya's world, manifests the nature of the arhat in this very body. Namely, the concept of the fruit of the anagamin is nothing but an appellation 8). arhat The fourth and final stage is the arhat, a person who has cut off all his defi- lements and obtained the perfect wisdom 9). aiksa The Abhidharma literatures definess the saiksa as a person who is still learning, namely a person from the stage of srotapanna-candidate up to that of at-hat-candidate [AKBh : 365.15-366.6]. The definition of saiksa in Abhirati differs from that of our world : the saiksa in Abhirati perceives the Law and will not be spoiled. This stage, saiksabhumi, is a synonym for the path of impure passion (kasava) 10).In other words, the saiksa in Abhirati is very pure and knowledgeable ; nevertheless he is considered to be on an inferior level. agaiksa The asaiksa in our world, as explained in Abhidharmas, is at the stage of -468- (58) The Bodhisattva and the Sravaka in the Aksobhya Buddha-field (N. SATO) the fruit of the arhat and has finished all learning [AKBh : 365.9-15], while the asaiksa in Abhirati enters nirvana after depending on and staying at asaiksabhumi. This path is a synonym for the nature of the arhat 11) 2.2 Conclusion : Concerning the saiksa and the asaiksa, we do not see a large dif- ference between our world and Abhirati; however, we can summarize the superiority of Abhirati as follows : the Sravaka in every stage will directly attain Arhatship without proceeding step by step. That is to say, A V emphasises that the Sravakas who attain the final goal step by step are inferior to those who acquire it at once. 3.1 Bodhisattva's progress in our world and in Abhirati : Chap. 4 describes the merits of the Bodhisattvas in Abhirati. The great majority of them are not lay but monastic people [P39b7, D34a5, J37b7, S50b3, AV1 758a26, AV2 107al] and are in the state of nonretrogression (avaivartika) [P41 b6, 43b 1, D35b7, 37a7, J39b3, 41a4, S52b7, 55a3, AVl 758b21, c24, AV2 107b8, c7]. They are also compared to both the Bodhisattva and the Sravaka in our world. comparison to the Sravaka The Bodhisattva in Abhirati "is equivalent to the stota- apanna who stays at the fruit of the srotapanna because they both cut off the stream of falling down into an evil destiny (durgati) [P49b2-3, D42b6-7, J47a2-3, S62b3-4, AV1 om. AV2 om.] and never regress to the stage of Sravaka or Pratyekabuddha" [P49b3-7, D42b7-43a3, J47a4-8, S62b4-63a1, AV1 760a14, AV2 108c07]. "On the other hand, he is not the same as the rest of the upper levels, the fruit of the sa- krdagamin, the anagamin, and the ai-hat, for he is equivalent to the Bodhisattva in our world, who is predicted to attain the supreme enlightenment (anuttarasamvaksam- bodhi) and who has acquired the knowledge of the truth that dharmas have no orig- ination (anutpattikadharmaksanti)" [P50b 1-7, D43b5-44a3, AV1 760a24-b3, AV2 108c6-20]. The "Predicted Bodhisattva" and the "Bodhisattva who has acquired an- utpattikadharmaksanti" are certain to attain the supreme enlightenment which is su- perior to the stage of the sakrdagamin, the anagamin, and the arhat, so these ideas do not suggest that the Bodhisattva in Abhirati is inferior to those three in our world. Then why is the Bodhisattva in Abhirati equivalent to the srotapanna, the lowest? It is because neither ever falls down to an evil destiny 12).These expressions might imply that the Bodhisattva's progress in Abhirati has nothing to do with the hierarchy -467- The Bodhisattva and the Sravaka in the Aksobhya Buddha-field (N. SATO) (59) of the Sravaka. That is to say the Bodhisattva in Abhirati has no need to proceed step by step. comparison to the Bodhisattva The Bodhisattva in Abhirati is equivalent to the Bodhisattva who sits on the seat of wisdom (bodhimanda) because he relys on the Tathagata and is never defeated by the Evil One (mara) 13) Although I do not understand the significance of sitting on the bodhimanda, it is clear that AV emphasizes the superiority of the Bodhisattva in Abhirati. 3.2 Conclusion : The superiority of the Bodhisattva in Abhirati is that he definitely attains supreme enlightenment without progressing successively like the Sravaka in our world. Though many other early Mahayana scriptures refer to several ways on which the Bodhisattva progresses 14),AV never does. This might suggest that AV was not familiar with such ideas of progress, but this point needs further examin- ations. 4 Conclusion : Thus we have seen that all the followers in Abhirati, both Sra- vakas and Bodhisattvas, can attain their goal in a single leap without proceeding step by step. Since Abhirati is a world superior to our world, we can conclude that AV takes the position that immediate attainment surpasses gradual attainment. * I would like to give my gratitude to Prof . Robert Kritzer for correcting my English. Any errors that remain are my own. [Abbreviations] AKBh = Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakosabhasyam, ed. U. WOGIHARA (1932-35), Tokyo, A V = Aksobhyavyuha, A VI = ˆ¢‘M•§•‘Œo, AV2 = •s“®”@—ˆ‰ï , D = Derge ed., F =Phu-drag MS, J = Jansatham / Lithang ed., L = London MS, om. = omission, P = Peking ed., S = Stog Palace MS, SN = Samyuttanikaya, T = Tokyo MS, T. = Taisho Tripitakas. 1) Since no Sanskrit nor Prakrit version has survived, the Sanskrit title can only be assumed from the transcription in its Tibetan trans., namely arya-aksobhya (sya)-tathagatasya vyuha nama niahayana-sutra. The spelling differs slightly in its editions and MSS. More detailed in- formations for its sources are as follows. •sChinese trans.•t : (•§•àˆ¢‘M•§•‘Œo[T. 11 (310) : 751 b24-764a 1 ] tr.
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