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On the Authority (Pramanya) of the Buddhist Agamas(1)
By Louis DE LA Vall`ee PoussinThe Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Great Britain andIreland1902
Louis De La Vallée Poussin “On theauthority ( pr maā ṇ ya) of the Buddhist
gamas (1).”Ā JRAS, 1902, pp. 363–376.
pp.363-376
.
font FACE="System" LANG="ZH-TW">
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p.363
THE well-known history of Buddhism by
Taaranaatha-not to mention
here the book of I-tsing-is filled with tales of
the controversiesbetween Buddhists and
'orthodox' teachers of the
Miimaa^msaa, Nyaaya, orVedaanta schools.The Tibetan chronicler affirms,
to say the truth,that the noble (aarya) AAcaaryas
were armed with all
the weapons magical artcould afford; their
adversaries used the sameweapons, and it was by the
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striking effects of miracles thatthe Raajas mere
made generous or favourable, orwere converted. Thosetales are confirmed by
legends of which the'Sa^nkaras and Udayanas are
the heroes.(2) I do not
───────────
(1) A lecture given at themeeting of the R.A.Society, 11th June, 1901.
(2) See, for instance, theSa^mk.sepa'sa^mkaravijaya
(Cat. Aufrecht, Oxford, fol.254a), where is
narrated, with variants, thelegend elsewhere
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attributed to Udayana: ".....ya.h patitvaa gireh
'srr^ngaad avyayah,tanmata^m dhruvam.....yadivedaah pramaa.na^m syur,
bhuuyaat kaa cin na mek.sati.h." The Buddhists do
not accept this
ordeal: " saugataas tvabruvann: ida^m na
pramaana^m matanirnayema.nimantrau.sadhair eva^m
deharak.saa bhaved iti." The
king does not yieldto this (rather conclusive)argument, but he
manages a new experience,asking: " What is
hidden in this basket?" The
Buddhists do, of course, know that there is a
serpent. But a
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divine voice is heard: "Thisserpent is not a
serpent, but Vi.s.nu." Therefore the king givesorders for the slaughter of
the heretics(vadhaaya 'srutividvi.saam).The story of the serpent in
the basket is wellknown from Taaranaatha.The legend of Udayana-
Brahmin and Buddhistfalling from the top of a
mountain-isinteresting from itsconclusion. The Naiyaayika
conqueror, being a murdererfor the benefit of
the creed-is not approved of
by the priests of Jagannaath, and he does not
conceal his anger. "
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The following couplet, whichhas not been traced
beyond oral tradition, at onceillustrates theirreverence of the Hindu mind
and shows that theNyaaya is prized as the
stronghold of theism. The
verses are reported-falsely,it is hoped-to
have been uttered byUdayana AAcaarya:
ai'svaryamadamatto 'si, maam
avaj~naaya vartase:upasthite.su bauddhe.sumadadhiinaa tava
sthiti.h.... but let theBauddhas show
themselves, and upon me
will depend thy veryexistence.".(N. Niilaka.n.tha
Gore: "A rational
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Refutation of the HinduPhilosophical Systems, p.
6, note. Mr. C. II. Tawneyhas given me thiscurious reference. See also
Barth, Bulletin,1899-1900, 2, 32, n. 4; J.B.T.S.,
iv, 1, p.21.)
p.364
believe them to be only a fiction,
but they must belooked upon as of little historicalimportance. The
war is really elsewhere; it isbetween the
philosophical systems
(dar'sana), not between themagicians (mantra-vid).
The doctrinal debate isessentially a
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philosophical one: the magisterdixit argumentation
cannot be used, and itappears that Dignaaga'sadversaries have been obliged
to submit to hiscontroversial axiom, that is to
say, "a doctor cannot
be beaten, except by such wayof reasoning as is in
accordance with his own point of view."(1)
We do not fully trust the
legends on the IndianSt. Barthelemies, ruled over by'Sa^nkara and his
fellowworkers; but we knowthat the prize of the
fight was an important one. The
defeated doctor hadto accept his winner for a guru
(master).(2) The
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conversion or apostasy, it mustbe added, was not
very hard. Brahmins andBuddhists, those freresennemis, are the products of
parallel intellectualevolutions; they had many
points of agreement; and
the Dubious Truth's kingdom,that is, the sphere of
the sa^mvrrtisatya(vyavahaara。), is large enough to
allow easy metaphysical
concessions.However, the importance of those logical and
oratorical contests is beyondany doubt. The
prosperity of Buddhism in India
seems to have variedwith its doctors' fortune-
luxuriant with its
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hundreds of scholar-monks inthe large universities
of the catholic Sa^mgha,when the Dignaagas,Candrakiirtis, Candragomins,
were giving the Good Lawa high degree of authority; falling
almost into decay
under their anmic successors,mean magicians, and
of a poor dialectical training. Therefore, one must
insist on the special interest
those disputes wouldoffer to the Indianist, were itpossible to know them
with some details. The twoschools, then in the full
strength of their maturity, were
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(1) The law of controversyaccording to Dignaaga, see
Madhyamakavrrtti, fol. 9b,ed. Calcutta, p. 9init.; 'Slokavaartika, p. 250,
cf. p. 372;Sadagiro Sugiura, "Hindu
Logic as preserved in
China and Japan," p. 34 (Un.of Pennsylvania,
Series No. 4).
(2) Cf. the history of Sabhika,
Mahaavastu, iii.389foll.
p.365
fighting each other;philosophical questions of
capital consequence werebeing discussed. The
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Buddhists, so to speak,champions of the "free
examination" (libre examen),are distinguished fromthe other sects by the indelible
character of adefinite creed, and by the
somewhat revolutionary
appearance of some of theiressential dogmas. But, up
to the present time, we havehad nothing to base our
conclusions upon except
hypotheses. Taaranaatha, likemany a chronicler, prefers themarvellous stories to
the doctrinal expositions. On theBuddhist dar'sanas
we knew almost nothing but
what Colebrooke, the firstand no doubt the greatest of
Indianists, taught us
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some sixty years ago. TheSarvadar'sana and the
famous commentary on theBrahmasuutras were the onlyauthorities to draw from. On the
Buddhist side theSanskrit documents are very
few; they were left a
long time untouched orunknown. The courageous
explorations of Schiefner,Wassilieff, and others,
interesting as they are, throw
little light on themomentous matter.But things are going now
another way. Not tospeak of several collections, the
Bibliotheca Indica,
the Vizianagaram S.S., theChawkhamba S.S., give us
in a handy form the works of thehigh masters and the
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commentaries of their pupils-honest, eloquent, and
learned men-the 'Sriidharas,Paarthasaarathimi'sras,Vaacaspatimi'sras.
We find in the Bhaamatii thewhole of a quotation
from the 'Saalistambasuutra; in
the Nyaayavaarttikawe find a precise reference to
some old canonicaldefinition of the pudgalavaada.
(1) 'Sa^nkara mentions
the famous text, "What does theEarth rest upon?....What does the Wind? "(2) In a
chapter of theNyaayaratnaakara are twenty
quotations ascribed to
the 'Bhik.su,' fourteen of which,at least, are to be
read in the fifth chapter of thePramaa.nasamuccaya
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by Dignaaga. The Taatparaya.tiikaa and the Maadhava's
well-known compilation showtheir high value bynumerous passages extracted
from
───────────
(1) Bouddhisme, Notes et Bibl., p.43, n. 1 (from the
Museon); J.R.A.S., 1901, p.308.
(2) 'Sa^nkara, 2,2, 24;Abhidharmako'sav., 13a
(Burn., Introd., 449);Madhyamakavrrtti, ad vii,
25. Cf. Aitaraya Br. 11, 6, 4.
p.366
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Pramaa.navini'scaya of Dharmakiirti. And lastly,
Dharmottara and hisNyaayabindu were both known toVaacaspatimi'sra.(1)
How could we doubt it? Those books are
circumstantial books, books of
polemic. So saysVaacaspatimi'sra: "Vatsyaayana
has written acommentary on the
Nyaayasuutras; but that commentary
(bhaa.sya) has been discussedby Dignaaga; and it wasto answer that powerful
antagonist that Uddyotakaramade his new commentary
on the same Suutras
(vaarttikas)."Not less rich, indeed, in
precious references is
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the Jaina literature, as thelearned pandit k. B.
Pathak has conscientiouslyestablished.It seems unquestionable,
if we trustTaaranaatha-and a short
examination of Tandjur
confirms the Tibetan chronicler-that Dignaaga and
Dharmakiirti were fortunateenough to endow their
co-religionists with a complete
new set of philosophical principles. Thanksto those doctors,
the canonical dogmas of "universal momentariness" and
of "no existence of a soul"
(k.sa.nikatva,nairaatmya) were provided
with a logic, with a
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psychology, with a theory of theunderstanding. Since
Brahmins and Buddhists startfrom directly oppositetenets, no wonder is it to find
them in manifestconflict concerning the definition
of perception, the
essence of individual anduniversal, the normal use
of reasoning, the finalemancipation. But not to
speak of the historical
meaning of those strongthough subtle conceptions, weshall find abundant
food for our curiosity in thevaried turns of a war
in which every blow is warded
off, in which eachparty, if uncertain to win, is, at
least, sure not tobe irremediably conquered.
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The above prolegomena seem
necessary, firstly, toshow with a full light howmuch needed are the
researches to which weventure to call attention
(those researches, it must
───────────
(1) See the transl. of theSarvadar`s.s., Museon,
1901. Taatp..t. 339;'Slokavaart. 397;Nyayaab..t. 16. 4. Professor
Harapra'sad 'Sastri,in his last report (1895-
1901), has given a
short but interesting noticeof two little
treatises by Ratnakirti,Apohasiddhi,
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K.sa.nabha^ngasiddhi.
p.367
be admitted, will not get their fullvalue before the
Tibetan translations of 'Saastras
and Vrrttis havebeen duly studied); secondly,
to make any mistakeimpossible: for the question I
shall endeavour to
develop is certainly not to beneglected, but it isonly one of the many doctrinal
topics the AAcaaryasof both parties have explained.
The question bears on the
authority of the Vedasand of the Buddhist AAgamas, or,
to use the technical
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word, on the 'authority of theVerbum, ' the
'Sabdapraamaa.nya.The problem is a difficultone, for it implies
the investigating of a moregeneral question, namely,
the question of the
praamaa.nya, or the validity of the means of proof(1)-the very
nucleus of Kant's orof Descartes' philosophical
systems. We shall not
investigate here this lastquestion, which wouldcarry us too far.
As far as the 'Sabda isconcerned, Sir John Muir,
in the third volume of his
"Original Sanskrit Texts,"has given a complete survey
of all the texts
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published up to 1873(2) ;Professor Cowell just
touches it, but throws a greatdeal of light upon itin his translation of the
Jaiminii-dar'sana (3);Dr.G.Thibaut, in the
introduction of his
Arthasa^mgraha, led us tohope he would some day
examine the opinion of theMiimaa^msakas on the
matter; Mahaadev Raajaaram
Bodas treats it in a fewwords in his amplecommentary on the
Tarkasa^mgraha.(4)I can only point out the final
result of a long
scholastic elaboration. Thereare two orthodox
systems, not to dwell on theminute divergences, that
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of the Vedaantists andMiimaa^msists on one side,
that of the Naiyaayikas on theother.(5)
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(1) See 'Sa^nkaradigvijaya,
AAnand. S.S., Comm. adviii, 81. 'Sa^nkara was
paying a visit to theMiimaa^msaka Mandana;
as he asks some
washing-women the way tothe aa'srama, they givethe following answer: "Where
you should hear thebirds singing: svata.h
pramaa.na^m, parata.h
pramaa.nam....there is thehouse."
On the philosophicalproblem,Advaitabrahmasiddhi,
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p. 185, is interesting.
(2) Sanskrit Texts, secondedition, 1873.
(3) Sarvadar'sanasa^mgraha,transl. 1882. The
so-called "second edition"
(1894) is only areprint.
(4) Bombay S.S. Iv.
(5) On the Saa^mkhyas,Garbe, Saa^mkhya, 115;Deussen, Vedaanta, 94.
p.368
The latter, champions of theism, establish by
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reasoning the existence of God(ii'svara), maker and
ruler, good, and by his owngoodness obliged toreveal to the creatures the way
of salvation. ThatGod, "who never can mislead
or be misled," has
revealed the truth. And where isthat revelation to
be found if not in the Veda,mould and pattern of the
sacrifices, of the castes, of the
social andcenobitic life?For the former
(Miimaa^msists and Vedaantists)the Vedas are eternal; they have
no personal author
(apauru.soyatva).The 'Sabda, that is, the
Verbum or Veda, is a
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means of proof quite differentfrom that our senses,
or reason, can furnish us. Itsobject-be it eitherthe Brahmnn, the endless and
boundless substance, asthe Vedaantists believe, be it
the Dharma, or the
sacrificial law, as theMiimaa^msists contend-is
above any common or worldlypramaa.na.
The Vedaantists call the
smrrti, or tradition,inference (anumaana) , and forthem the word
perception (pratyak.sa) has thesame meaning as
'sruti (revelation),2 which has a
selfauthority, thisauthority being recognized by an
internal intuition.
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The Vedas are eternal andthe origin of
knowledge.Against the opinion of all theVeda-followers
(vedavid) , Miimaa^msists orNaiyaayikas, the
Buddhists maintain that the
'sabda or aaptopade'sa(the word of a truthful witness)
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(1) Vaacaspatimi'sra,Nyaaya vaartikataatparya.tiikaa, p. 300: ''It
shall beestablished, in the fourth book
of the suutras,
that from the existence of created things
(kaarya), viz. the body andthe world, can be
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logically demonstrated theexistence of a creator
of these creatures, able tocreate them, knowingthe essence of everything,
unpolluted by theimpression of the matured
passional action, and
endowed with a supremepity. But, when this
compassionate Being seesthat the creatures are
ignorant of the method to
realize their ownwelfare and to avoid baddestiny, that they are
consumed by the fire of numerous sufferings, he
must be grieved by the
sufferings of thecreatures. Being so grieved,
knowing the way of
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salvation, is it possible thathe did not teach
this way, or that he didteach this wayerroneously? Therefore, this
compassionate Being,after having created the
earth and the four
classes of human beings, didcertainly teach them
the way to attain happinessand to avoid the
reverse: he cannot stay
without teaching it (nahy anupadi'sya sthaatumarhati). And the teaching
of this father-likecompassionate Being is
accessible to the Devas, to
the RRsis, to themen; it must be accepted by
the four classes..."
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(2) Deusson, p. 96: "DusOffenbarto ist ihm
('Saukara) das Offenbaro." Cf.'Sa^nkara, 1, 1, 2(AAn. S.S., p. 34); Bhaam.
Objection of theMiimaasakas, 1, 1, 3.
p.369
cannot be distinguished fromthe vulgar pramaa.nas.
Udayana and Vaacaspatimi'srabring forth Dignaaga'sdilemma:-
"Where is the aaptopade'sa'sstrength to be
found? In the witness's
undoubting trustfulness, orin the specific truth of his
learning? In the first
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instance, it is a case of inference.(1) (Witness is
to be relied upon, for he knowsthe facts and he doesnot lie.) In the second, the
evidence comes from anactual perception. (The truth of
the teaching is made
obvious by its accordance withthe facts.)"(2)
Let us see, however, if thedissidence is as deep
as it seems to be. On the one
hand-the Brahmins donot deny it-the eternity of the Vedas or the
existence of God, theVedainspirer, has to be
established by proofs.(3) On
the other hand, theBuddhists consider their own
suutras as eternal, and
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one of the most commonly usednames for Buddha is the
Omniscient. Both make an equaluse of "Faith restingon Reason," and the polemic,
apart from the logicaldispute, grows up unchecked on
the solid ground of
fact."The Buddhists," says
Kumaarila, "give the Veda ahuman origin; on account of
the principle of the
universal momentariness theydeny its eternity; but,strange to say, they claim
eternity for their ownbooks (aagamas)!" such
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(1)AAptavaakyaavisa^mvaadasaamaany
aad anumaanataa =Pramaa.nasamuccaya, ii, 5,fol. 5a, 4 (Tandjur,
Mdo, xcv):
yid-ches thsig ni mi-bslu-ba
spyi-las rjes-su-dpag-pa-~nid.
Cf. iii, 2 (fol. 7a, 2) ; Taatp,138. 2;
Vaarttika, 61. 13; Nyaayas. i,
1, 17.
(2) "As it has not a specificobject, the 'sabda is
not a specificpramaa.na.Things are perceptible
or imperceptible: the firstones can be known by
perception (pratyak.sa), thesecond ones by means
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of the li^nga....." Nyaayas.ii,1,46;Vaart. 260;
Taatp. 286. 3. See'Slokavaart., pp. 51-53, thecharacteristics of the 'sabda.
(3) 'Sa^nkara, of course,establishles by purely
rational arguments theprinciples of his system;
but, as well said byAAnandagiri, " If it is
possible to show by logical
process that there isa cause of the world, we arealtogether unable to
ascertain by commonpramaa.nas the nature of this
cause, the unity and the other
characteristics of Brahman." 'Sa^nkara says:
"The true nature of the
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cause of the world, on whichfinal emancipation
depends, cannot, on accountof its excessiveabstruseness, even be thought
of without the helpof the holy texts; for it
cannot become the
object of perception..., and asit is devoid of
characteristic signs, it doesnot lend itself to
inference..."(Thibaut, i, p.
316.) 'Sa^nkara, 2,1, 11; see 1, 1, 4 (p. 47. 2);Bhaam. 294. 11;
and Vedaantakalpataru.
p.370
assertion of Kumaarila beingsupported by quotations
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from old AAgamas. "Throughhatred of the Vedas,
admitting the eternity to be aproof of veracity,jealous of any superiority in the
Veda, they insiston the eternity of their aagamas;
at the same time,
to exalt their master, theyglorify him for having
discovered the doctrine of theahi^msaa (respect for
living beings)."(1) "The Buddhist
AAgamas, they say,are eternal! But in whatlanguage are those books
written? In Prakrit, a barbarousdialect; worse, if
possible, than the
Apabhram'sa!"(2) and Kumaariladoes triumph; for the
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1 Tantravaartika, 169. 11:
yathaamiimaa^msakatrastaa.h'saakyavai'se-
.sikaadaya.hnitya evaagamo
'smaakam ity aahu.h'suunyacetanam,pradve.saad,
vedapuurvatvam anicchanta.hkatha^m cana,
tanmaatre 'pi cabhuuyi.s.thaam icchanta.hsatyavaaditaam....ahi^msaady atatpuurvam
ity aahustarkamaanina.h.
170.2:
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aahu.h svaagamanityatva^mparavaakyaanukaari.na.h....
tatra 'saakyai.h prasiddhaapisarvak.sa.nikavaaditaatyajyate, vedasiddhaantaaj
Jalpadbhir nityamaagamam.dharmas tenopadi.s.to 'yam
"anitya^m sarvasa^mskrrtam,k.sa.nikaah
sarvasa^mskaaraa asthiraa.naa^mkuta.h kriyaa,
buddhibodhyam trayaad
anyat sa^mskrrta^m k.sanika^m catat."
171.2:
'sabdaadi.su vina'syatsu
vyavahaara.h kva vartataam?" sthitai.saa dharmatety"
etad artha'suunyam ato vaca.h.
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e.sety api na nirde.s.tu^m'sakyaa k.sa.navinaa'sinii,
kim uta sthitayaa saakame.sety asyaikavaakyataa.tenaanitya'sabdavaadinaam
aagamanityatvaanupapatte.h..
163. 2:
'saakyaadayo 'pi hy eva^mvadanty eva:
"yathotpaadaad vaatathaagataanaam anutpaadaad vaa
sthitaiveya^m dharmanityateti."
The line: K.sa.nikaa.hsarvasa^mskaaraa.... is
quoted, Bodhicaryaavat.t. 251,27. Cf. Bhaamatii,
361. 3, and theNyaayabindupuurvapak.sa, a very
interesting little tract byKamala'siila, Tandjur,
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Mdo, cxi, fol.118(b). Thefollowing one is to be
found, 'Sa^nkara, 540, Comm.'Slokavaart. p. 735. Thethree 'asa^msk.rta' are well
known.See for the quotation 163. 2
the Sarvadar's.s.,
p. 21, 1. 8, and notes to thetranslation (Museon,
1901-2).As concerns the ahi^msaa,
see Atmatattvaviveka
(ed. 1873), p,. 121 in fine. Thereare some curiousobservations on the matter
in Rhys Davids'"Dialogues," p 165.
2 Mimaa^msaatantravaart. (Ben.S.S.), p. 171. 9:
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Asaadhu'sabdabhuuyi.s.thaa.h 'saakyajai-
naagamaadaya.hasannibandhanatvaac ca'saastratva^m na
praliiyate.
Maagadhadaak.si.naatyatadapab
hra^m'sapraayaasaadhu's-abdanibandhanaa hi te |
mama vihi bhikkhavekammavacca isii save | tathaa
ukkhitte lo.dammi
ukkheve atthi kaara.na^m
p.371
Prakrits were, at his time,
considered as recentdegenerations of the Sanskrit.
That philological argumentis capital; but
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Kumaarila goes on, for it is of interest to overthrow
Buddhism in the very core of the Good Law, in thedogmatic conception of the
Teacher. "This word of Buddha," so he says, "is well
known: 'May all sins
done in the world during this ironage fall down upon
my head; but may the world besaved!'" In that saying
we find the whole of the Great
Vehicle's glory. ButKumaarila shows how absurd isthat
───────────
(5) pa.dane.natthi kaara.nam
| atthy ubbhave
kaara.nam ime sakka.daadhammaa sa^mbhavanti
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sakaara.naa, akaara.naavi.nasanti
a.nupyattikaara.nam ity evamaadaya.h.Tata's caasatya'sabde.su
kutas te.svarthasatyataad.r.s.taapabhra.s.taruupe.su
katha^m vaasyaad anaaditaa.
173. 19: 'Saakyaadigranthe.supunar yad api ki^m
citsaadhu'sabdhaabhipraye.naa-(10) vina.s.tabuddhyaa
prayukta^m, tatraapi praj~nap-tivij~naptipa'syataati.s.thataa
dipraayapra-yogaat
ki^m cid evaavipluta^mlabhyate.
Kim uta yaaniprasiddhaapabhra.s.tade'sabhaa.s-
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aabhyo'piapabhra.s.tataraani bhikkhave ity
evamaadiim,dvitiiyaabahuvacannasthaane hyekaaraanta^m praak.rta^m
pada^m d.r.s.ta^m, naprathamaabahuvaeane
sa^mbodhane 'pi;
sa^msk.rta'sabdasthaane cakakaaradvaya-
(15)sa^myogo,'nusvaaralopah,.rvar.naakaaraapattim-
aatram evapraak.rtaapabhra^m'se.su d.r.s.ta^mna ukaraapattir api | so
'ya^m sa^msk.rtaadharmaa ity asya
sarvakaala^m svayam eva
prati.siddho 'pi vinaa'sa.hk.rta iti
asaadhu'sabdanibandhanatvaad ityantena hetunaa
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vedatvaakrrtaka'saastraantarn'sa^nkaanivrrtti.h....
I am indebted to Mr. F. W. Thomas for The readingsof the India Office MS., to Mr. A.
C. Woolner for thereadings of the Oxford MS.
Line 3, Oxford has mamaa.
Line 4, Oxford,kammavacasii, ukhittai, ukheve;
printed text, lodasmiuvve; F. W. Thomas, no doubt
rightly, ukkheve, sic
for ubbhave via ubjave. Line5, I.O., padune (=patane, du might be ddu), acchi
uttave (=uhbhave);Oxford, ajjhadbhave (jjha can
be tthyu); printed
text,.nubhave, asa^mkadaa;Oxford, sakka.daa; I.O.,
sakvadaa. Line 6, Oxfordanupattikaara.naad; I.O.
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agrees with printed text; F. W. Thomas's suggestion
auupraapti and the readingkara.naad might be right;Oxford, evamaadiruupaa.h.
Line 12, Oxford, ki^m punar.Line 13, Oxford after
bhikkave has sakka.daa
dhammaa ity evam. Line 14,Oxford, sa^msk.rtapadasthaane.
Line 16, Oxford, na hyu.
This tenet of Buddhist schools
alluded to in thePraakrit quotation by Kumaarila,viz. that vinaa'sa
is ahetuka, is known from variousauthorities. See,
for instance, 'Slokavaartika,
736. 1: "aahu.hsvabhaavasiddha^m hi te
vinaa'sam ahetukam," and
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Comm.: "svaabhaavikogha.taadiinaa^m vinaa'sa.h: te
hi svahetubhyo vina'svaraa eva jaataa.h: janitvaivapradhva^msyante, kim atra
kaara.neneti." Bhaamatii(1891), 360. 18: "vainaa'sikair
akaara.na^m vinaa'sam
abhyupagacchadbhi.h."Abhidharmako'sav., Paris MS.,
fol. 269(b) 6: "utpattyanantaravinaa'siruupa^m
cittacaittavat: aakasmiko hi
bhaavaanaa^m vinaa'saiti; akasmaadbhava aakasmika.h,ahetuka ity artha.h."
Madhyamakav.rtti, 7. 16 (Buddh. T.S.); Nyaayabindu,
106. 3; Nyaayakandalii, 78. 8.
We have, therefore, to read:Udbhave asti kaara.na^m
patane naasti kaaranam. Astiudbhave kaara.nam:
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Ime sa^msk.rtaadharmaa.h sa^mbhavanti
sakaara.naa.hakaara.naa vina'syanti[svayam?] utpattikaara-
.naat.
p.372
incomprehensible pity(karu.naa): "Can me for a
moment believe that a
K.satriya, a member of theroyal caste, after deserting theduties of his own
caste to make himself a teacherand a boon-receiver,
thereby intruding on the rights
peculiar to theBrahmins alone, can we believe
that such a man could
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teach the true teaching? Heboasts in putting aside
his own duty (svadharma); heis praised for hisaltruism; but how could he be
both the loser of himself and the saviour of
others? Indeed, Buddha's
disciples, despising revealed aswell as traditional
precepts, are conspicuous bythe unlawfulness of
their life."(1)
But to go further, Buddha isomniscient.(2) Whereare, then, in Buddhism all those
treatises, thoselaws, metric, grammar,
astronomy, those Vedaa^ngas
(members of the Veda) whichare the hereditary
possessions of the Brahmins?
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The Buddhists answer, notwithout some wit: "Be
it so; Buddha is not omniscient,but he knows theDharma (Religious Law). It has
been said: 'What useis it for us that Buddha knows
or knows not the
number of the insects, that he befar-sighted or not,
since he knows the truth
───────────
(1) Tantravaart. 116. 13:svadharmaatikrame.na ca:
yena k.satriye.na sataapravakt.rtvapratigrahau
pratipannau, sa dharmam
aviplutam upadek.syatiiti ka.h samaa'svaasa.h?
Ukta^m ca
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Paralokaviruddhaanikurvaa.na^m duuratas tyajet
aatmaana^m yo'tisa^mdhatte 'nyasmai syaatkatha^m hita? iti.
Buddhaade.h punar ayameva vyatikramo
'la^mkaarabuddhau sthita.h;yenaivam aaha:
Kalikalu.sak.rtaani yaani lokemayi nipatantu,
vimucyataa^m tu loka ! iti.
Sa kila lokahitaartha^mk.satriyadharmam atikramya,
braahma.nav.rtta^mpravakt.rtva^m pratipadya,
prati.sedhaatikramaasamarthairbraahma.nair
ananuanu'saasan'sista^mdharma^m baahyajanaan
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anu'saasan dharmapiidaam apyaatmano '^ngiik.rtya,
paraanugraha^m k.rtavaan iti;eva gu.nai.h stuuyate;tadanu'si.s.taanusaari.na's ca
sarva eva'srutism.rtvihitadharmaatikrame.
na vyavaharanto
viruddhaacaaratvena j~naayante.
(2) On the sarvaj~natva of Jinaand of Buddha, see
the very interesting lecture of K. B. Pathak, ThePosition of Kumaarila in
Digambara JainaLiterature (Trans..Congr.
London, pp. 186-214);
also Sarvadar's,s., Jainachapter; and
Nyaayabindu.t (112, 17, 114.3, 116. 15, 117. 2
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foll.), a handful of syllogismson sarvaj~natva,
vakt.rtva, raagaadimattva.Cf. Kandalii, 397fine; Bhaamatii, 322. 4.
p.373
that we want?(1) And we shallprove that Buddha knows
the Dharma. This Buddha'ssaying, 'All compound is
momentary, ' and any othertexts dealing withascertainable mattters, are easily
shown to be exact;therefore, the dogmatic
principles, or verites de
foi, those, for instance, thatbear on the
worshipping of relics orcaityas, must needs be
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exact, since they have been saidby Buddha himself."
Kumaarila answers: "The wayyou reason does notmake the authority of Buddha
certain; on thecontrary. That Buddha, in
matters of common
experience, might have said thetruth, no wonder; but
as soon as his teachings passthose limits, where
does his authority come from?
Since you appeal for acertainty to your ownexamination; you make Buddha's
authority useless. Shall I showyou with a more
striking instance how irrelevant is
your reasoning? Ishall use your own syllogism:
'Buddha is not
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omniscient, since I say he is not;for the fire burns
when I say it does.' To affirmsafely that Buddha isomniscient, one must needs be
oneself omniscient."Then Kumaarila: "Buddha,
you say, has made
himself a teacher. What for?For his own, or for
other people's advantage? Inboth cases he is led by
raaga, by desire, or some ;
and an omniscientbeing cannot be
(raagaraan).Do you not alsoaffirm that Buddha is completely
devoid of any vikalpa?
(2)He must, therefore, keephimself absolutely motionless;
he gave no teaching, and hisDharma was taught by
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some one else. Will you say [inaccordance with one
of your suutras] that Buddhastays motionless, asdoes the Miraculous Jewel, (3)
but that by hispresence alone he gives all
things around him, and
even the walls, the teachingpower? You will not make
────────────
(1) Cited byPaarthasaarathimi'sra ad 'Slokavaart.,p. 83:
Kii.tasa^mkhyaaparij~naana^m tasya na.h
kvopayujyate
duura^m pa'syatu maavaasau tattvam i.s.ta^m tu
pa'syati.
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(2) This word is difficult totranslate. It would be
rather dangerous tounderstand "anydiscriminative operation."
The paramaarthasatya(true Truth) is, of course,
above expression and
thought; there is not thoughtwithout vikalpa, "
falsche Vorstellung" (P.W.).
(3) Cf. Bodhicaaryaav. ix. 37, 38.
p.374
us believe in whateverteachings walls can give!
Those are devilish games!(pi'saaca). Go and tell
such tales to anyone you willfind ready to believe
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them." (1)Besides, to study the
question closely, theBuddhist AAgamas must havebeen derived from the
Vedas. Kumaarila does notmention the Puraanic
hypothesis of the Buddha avatar
of Vi.s.nu, that is,avatar of malevolence(2) or of
pity, according to theway it is looked at. More clever
still, and with a
sort of anticipation of ProfessorHermnn Oldenberg'stheory, he thinks that the
Vedas, misunderstood,contain the germs of all
heretic systems: " The
doctrine of the non-existence of the external world,
that of the universalmomentariness, and that of the
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non-existence of a soul, arederived, he says, from
the Upani.sads."(3) Thereforewe have to recognizethe authority of those nihilistic
doctrines only sofar as they lead us to dislike the
sensible world.
But, "That indebtedness tothe Veda is fruitless
for those heretic leaders(tiirtha^mkaras): they give
the Veda up since they are
rationalists." "'Saakyadoes not teach the Dharma
────────────
(1) 'Slokavaart. 86. 10
(Comm.) : "... tasminnirvyaapaare 'pi
tatsa^mmdhimaatre.naiva
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ku.dyaadibhyo 'pi de'sanaani.hsarantiiti cet...."See
the suutras quotedBodhicaaryaav..t. 276: "tasmindhyaanasamaapanne
cintaaratnavad aasthite |ni'scaranti yathaakaama^m
ku.dyaadibhyo' pi'
de'sanaa.h taabhir jij~naasitaanarthaan sarvaan
jaananti maanavaa.h |....."And: "te
tathaagatamukhaad
ur.naako'saad u.s.nii.saadgh.r.ni^m 's.r.nvanti..." Cf.Sik.saasamuccaya, 284.
9: "... yadi buddhaa nabhavanti gaganatalaad
dharma'sabdo ni'scarati
ku.dyav.rk.sebhya's ca."
It is well known that Buddha didnot speak after he
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had attained theSa^mbodhi (the silence
(tuus.nii^mbhaava) is thehighest Truth(paramaarthasatya), cf.
Madhyamakav.rtti, 15a (B.T.S.15. 11), and La^nkaavataara,
17. 15: maunaas ...
tathaagataa.h); but it is worthwhile to contrast the
AAryatathaagataguhyasuutraand the Paali books. We
read in the Northern Suutra
(Madh. v.rtti, fol. 109b,p.130.15) : "yaa^m ca....raatri^m tathaagato
'nuttaraa^msamyaksa^mbodhimabhisa^mbuddho, yaa^m ca
raatrim upaadaayaparinirvaasyati, asminn antare
tathaagatenaikaak.saram apinodaahrrtam...." The same
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phraseology Itivuttaka, p.121, 20;
Suma^ngalavilaasinii, Intr., §44, and no doubtelsewhere, but with an
altogether differentconclusion.
(2) Maayaamohaavataara(Vi.s.nupur.).
(3) Tantravaart. 81. 20 :sarvatra hi tadbalena
pravartate taduparamecoparamatiiti vij~naanamaat aamapy upani.satprabhavatva^m
vi.saye.sv aatyantika^mraaga^m nivartayitum ity
upapanna^m sarve.saa^m
pramaa.nyam. sarvatra ca yatrakaalaantaraphalatvaad
idaaniim anubhavaasa^mbhavastatra vedamuulataa.
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I am unable to identify thequotation from the
Upani.sads.-Similarly theSautraantikas maintain thatBuddha, when teaching the
'suunyataa, was directed byprinciples of policy
(upaayakau'salya).
Cf. Nyayavaart. taatp..t. 415.21.
p.375
without surrounding it with acomplete net of
proofs"(1);-and all thoseVedabaahyas, or strangers
to the Veda, as Manu has said,
despise the tradition.They approve the teaching of
the outcasts ('suudra),
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the building up and theworshipping of the caityas,
things unheard of and againstthe Sm.rti.This last is the main objection,
the only one, itseems, that proved to be of any
historical moment. On
the side of the Brahmins wefind the perennial
constitution of castes andrites, and the
universality of honest people.
In vain does Dignaaga claimfor his own side the'mahaajanaparigraha'(2);
Vaacaspatimi'sra, (3) afterhaving, in beautiful words,
possibly inspired by
Buddhist theism,
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(1) Tantravaart. 117. 13:"Saakyaadaya's ca
sarvatra kurvaa.naadharmade'sanaam |hetujaalavinirmuktaa^m na
kadaa cana kurvate.'' Thisrationalistic side of Buddhism is
illustrated by the
formula: " yat ki^m citsubhaa.sita^m tad buddha
vacanam" (A^nguttara N. iv,164. 7; Bodhic..t. 284.
1;'Sik.saas. 15.19) Minayeff
(Recherches, 85) givesreference to the Bhabra Edict:"... e kechi bha^mte
bhagavataa budhena bhaasitesave se subhaasite
vaa..." 'The meaning is quite
different; the newsentence can be a tendencious
recast of the old one?
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Cf. Majjhima N. i, 71. 20: " Yo... eva^m vadeyya
...takkpaariyaahata^m sama.noGotamo dhamma^m desetiviimaa^msaanucaritam
saya^mpa.tibhaanan ti, ...nikkhitto eva^m niraye."
(2) See the curious stanza(Subhaa.sitaavali, 3437)
ascribed by Vallabhadeva toDignaaga (three of the
four MSS. mention Dignaaga).
As observed by P.Peterson, the stanza occurs inMahaabhaarata, iii,
312, 115 (ed. Protap)=Bohtlingk,Spruche, 2505 = Mbh.
iii, 17,402 = Subhaa.sitaar.nava,
163. I cannot agreewith P. Peterson; "It is
impossible to contend that
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its attribution here to the well-known Buddhist
writer.... may not be a copyist'serror." Our stanzain the Mbh. episode occurs in
an answer of Yudhi.s.thira to some Yak.sa.
Cf. the closely
connected story (of Bahubha.n.daka) in the Comm. to
Dhammapada, 141, and theDevadhammajaataka (Jaataka
1, 1, 6 (p. 126)).
The stanza runs as follows:
tarko 'prati.s.tha.h 'srutayovibhinnaa
naasaau munir yasya vaco(sic) pramaa.nam
dharmasya muula^mnihita^m guhaayaa^m
mahaajano yena gata.h sapanthaa.
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In the Mbh.: naiko r.sir yasya
mata^m pramaa.na^m,dharmasya tattvam.....Tarko 'prati.s.tha.h: cf.
'Sa^nkara, ad ii, 1, 11(Deussen, Vedaanta, 97) ;
Mahaajana = dharmaparo loko
braahma.naadi.h =Manvaadi.h.Cf. 'Slokavaart. 75;
Taatparya.t. 301; AAtmatattvav.121.
(3) Taatp..t., pp. 300 ff.; see
supra, p. 368, n.1. - There are many strongarguments against the
authority of the Vedas. See, forinstance, Comm.to
Nyaayasuutras, ii, 1, 56 (or 57).
"When it is said'svargakaamo yajeta' we
cannot ascertain the
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truthfulness of the precept; butwe see that the
putre.s.ti's, the kaariirya's, ritesfor promovingmundane fruits, do not realize
the expected fruits;therefore..."
p.376
defined the personal God anddefended revelation,
breaks down, stone by stone,the whole of theBuddhist edifice. "None of
those saviours(sa^msaaramocaka(1)), Buddha
or Jina, is omniscient;
'Suddhodana's son is evidentlyneither the creator of
the world nor the maker of thehuman body. The
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Buddhist aagamas did notregulate the laws of caste
and of the Brahmanic life; theyknow nothing of therites of life from the cradle to
the grave. Thoseaagamas, of which the authority
is vainly supported,
depend for all that concerns thepractical life upon
the 'Sruti, the Smrrti, theItihaasas, the Puraa.nas.
Buddhists themselves do not
fear to say, 'It is thecustom (saa^mv.rtam etat), 'and they follow, in
practical life, Revelation and Tradition. The Vedas,
and the Vedas only, are observed
by the three castes.In order to keep their meaning
unaltered, the .R.sis,
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one after the other, have writtenthe several limbs
of the Vedas and the Treatises('Saastras), Buddha'swords do not, in fact, interfere
with the every-daylife of men. They are heard and
obeyed by nameless
people only(manu.syaapasada), by foreigners,by
tribes who live like beasts(pa'supraaya). They can
have no authority."
────────────
(1) Cf. Petavatthu, ii, 1.
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