BIBLIOTHECA BUDDHICA-:- XXX MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA DISCOURSE on DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN MIDDLE AND EXTREMES ascribed to BODHISATTVA MAITREYA and commented by Vasubandhu and Sthiramati TRANSLATED FROM THE SANSCRIT by Th, STCHERBATSKY Neudnick der Ausgabe 1936 BIBLIO VERLAG - OSNABRUCK - 1970PREFACE The Vijidnavada school of Buddhism represents the | n | final form of that religion, the form in which, after having transformed Indi 3 national philosophy and I it spread over almost the | whole of the Asiatic continent up to Japan in the East and Asia Minor in the] West where it amalgamated with roees (or stra) of Maitreya- Asatga with its commentaries, te bhasya of Vasubandhu and the tik of Sthiramati, belong to the most fundamental works of this Vijia~ navada (alias Yogicars, Vijiapti: ata) school of Northern Buddhism. The till now unique MS of its sanscrit original has had the curious fate of having been discovered twice. The. story of this double discovery and of the double text-edition which followed has been very pointedly narrated by the illustrious first discoverer, the much regretted late Prof. Sylvain Lévi. In his preface to the second (which really was the first) edition he inter alia writes: ,il est facheux que l'édition concurrente, publiée en 1932 ne fasse pas mention (de l'autre édition) dans sa préface“.)-It seems that | have not been the only victim of this strange reticence. It is only much Inter that owing to the kind attention of Prof. L. de La Vallée Poussin and Prof. E. Lamotte I became aware of the second edition. As soon as Prof. G, Tucci’s edition® reached me I started on the work of translating this important text for the Bibliotheca Buddhica serics whose publication was going to be resumed. Unfortunately I had no inkling of the existence of the other edition. My pupil, the late Dr E, Obermiller published a review of Prof. G. Tucci and V. Bhattacharya’s edition? in which he suggested some corrections of those parts of the published text which represented St (Nagoya, 1934), eee eee ee ace Vidhushekhara Bhattacharya and Giuseppe Tucei (Calcutta, 1932, Calcutta Oriental series Ne 24), 3) Indian Historical Quarterly, val. IX, Ne 4, p, 1019 ff. amatiMadhyintedibhigatibe, éiton pr Susum Yamaguchiiv retranslations from the Tibetan to fill up the lacunae of the sanscrit MS. Iso did not suspect the existence of the other edition which made some critical remarks superfluous, ~ My English version, besides the krika’s of Maitreya-Asanga, contains a translation of Vasubandhu’s bhasya in full as well as of the tiki of Sthira- mati, For Vasubandhu I have made use of a very correct block-print execu- ted in ‘the printing office of the Aga monastery in Transbaikalin, its folios aro marked in my translation by Tigres preceded by the letter Y, The olher figures in margin refer to the pages and lines in Prof, ‘Tucci and V. Bhattae charya’s edition. I am sorry | could consider Prof. S. vans’ text, as far as the first part is concerned, only in the notes. The division in chapters and sections, as well as their titles, are agided by me. 2 It is a great pleasure for me to express my gratitude to my young friend Prof. A. Vostrikov, PhD with whom I discussed several hard passages .of “the text and to whom I am indebted for many valuable suggestions. An analysis of the philosophy of this treatise and an appreciation of its value will be contained in a following volume of the Bibliotheca Buddhica series. Anticipatively I subjoin the following remarks. This translation aims at an intelligible rendering of Buddhist-ideas; it therefore, with rare exceptions, ‘avoids untranslated terminology, it tries lo.render Buddhist technical terms by morc or leas corresponding equiva lents borrowed from European philosophy. This method seems to’ me not hopeless, because, in my opinion, Indian philosophy has reached a very high |e of developinent and the princinple lines of this development run with.those which are familiar to the students of European philosophy. pa India possesses parallels to our rationalism and to our empiricism, it has a system of empirical idealisin and a system of spiritual monism, it has, first splay 2 leading part. From the Indian siandpoiat Buddhism ‘and what on lidian Sastra is Indologista well know from ‘the example of tho great grammatical 3asfra’s of Panini and Patanjali, Now it is a remarkable fact, which variously can be explained, but which is undisputable, that the Palieschool of Buddhologists entirely over looked that astra, the system of philosophy which however is’present on every page of the Pali kanon, An Indian Sastra first of all fra + for the concepts with which it operates and establishes clear-cut definitions of theso concepts, The Tibetans, being the pupils of Indian tradition, havo carried. this care of minutely precise definitions to an extreme, almost artistic, perfection. { Therefore the study of Tibetan. sources has greatly contributed to our under- standing of Buddhism. At the dawn of European Indology there has been a controversy between the great French scholar E, Burnouf and the great R Wassilieff on the question whether Buddhism could ood from Indian or also from Chinese and Tibetan sources,v Accérding to the first, only Indian sources provided evidence on genuine Buddhism, according to the second, Buddhism in the totality of its develop- ment could be understood only from Chinese and Tibetan sources in addition to the Indian ones. Wissilieff's standpoint enabled him to determine the exact meaning of the crucial term Sinyata in which he discovered under_a tical terminology an idea similar to the Absolute [dea of He ge transhition brings an eloquent confirmation of Waasiliclf’ a century since, whereax the Palisachool discovered in Mahayana nathing but degeneration and nihilism. Working in the traditions of the schoul of Professors W. Wassilieff and I. Minayeff, my much regretted pupil Prof. O. Rosenberg in his ,Problems of Buddhist Philosophy“ and myself in my ,Cen- tral Conception of Buddhism’ and Conception of Buddhist Nirvana” estab- (lished the exact meaning of the basic technical terms of the system: 1) the termi, dharma meaning Element of existence; 2) the term samskara (2 sam-bhiiya-| karin) meaning cooperating Element of existence and 3) the term pratifya-|, samnutpada (= samskrtatvam) meaning cooperation of the Elements of existence. ;, The three terms refer to one and the same system of pluralistic empiri i which is the core of carly Buddhism, Prof. O. Rosenberg has given to Buddhism the name. name of a dharma-theory and indeed Buddhism in the three main forms of its development is nothing but a theory of dharnuds, i. . n system of a plurality of ultimate Elements of Reality to which a monistic foundation has been added in the Mahnyana, ‘The recent capital work of Prof. do La Vallée Poussin ,,Vijiaptinatraté-siddhi* (here quoted LVP) which is a magnificent thesaurus of the most precious information on the ultimate phase of Buddhism contains among its 820 pages hardly a single one which would not be concerned with the elucidation and the profound implications of this or that dharma, ‘The tern Stnyata is an-innovation of the Mahiiyana, vation, made necessary by the course of philosophic development. Its germs are found iin. the Hinaying, but the Mahayana has given it a quite new interpretation, i jan interpretation in which the two main schooly of the Mahiyann radically \diverged. : "The whole chapter V of the first part of the treatise is devoted to the elucidation of the Yogacara conception of this teri as contrasted with the Madhyamika view of it. It is there most clearly and emphatically stated that, for the Yogacaras, it means 1) grahya-grahaka-abhava and 2) tasya ca svabhava, i. e. 1) the (ultimate) noneréality of the relation of subject to obicet | and 2) the (ultimate) reality of their (subjac words the denial of Pluralisin nnd the vindication of Monism, with the inp! cation that this Monism has a superstructure of phenomenal Relativity or} that the phenomenal Relativity has-a subjacent foundation of Absolute, non- relative, Reality. The Absolute is thus the ,Reality of U: lity“ or as Prof. W. Wassilieff has expressed it—to quote the German version of his celebrated translator Th, Benfey (p.121 --2),das mit dem Subject identische , monislic) Absolute: In other!vi Object, welches, so wie es in den Kreis unseres Denkens tritt, unmittelbar zu etwas subjectivem wird....... Affirmation und Negation werden identisch* (cp. below, p. 104). This Absolute represents the unique substance of the Universe (ekar dravyam). There is no other substance. | ces the totality lof everything relatively real, but is its 30 to speak, a reflex on the opposi Thing-in-Itself (svalaksana) which is a point-instant of spiritual Reality. There are thus two Absolutes, the absolute Particular and the absolute Universal, the extreme concrete and purticular and the extreme abstract and Universal, 30 to speak, from the bottom and the it_at the top. Bet- [air them we must locate the relative Reality of the phenomenal Universe. == All phenomenal objects are interrelated and Yelated to the two limits between which they must find their place. The one of them is the point-instant (ksana) of reality, the other represents its eternal (nitya) WI the one is particular (sva-laksana), the other Universal (simanya-laksanaj; the one is a single Element (dharma), the other represents their totality (dharmata); the one is nthe" Real (vasiu =: sai), the other is the Reality (sa/ya): the one is interdepen- \dent (paratantra), the other independent or Absolute (pasinipsanna); the lone is paraméartha-sat, the other — paramartha-satya. Applying Kantian terminology we could perhaps say that the one is transcendental (Suddha- laukika); the other transcendent (pariSuddha, lokottra).* How are these two Absolutes related between themselves? They are, says the Yogicara, neither different nor identical (p. 39—40), just as every other - Universal: although it cannot be separated from its respective particulars, it is not identical with them. Each of them represents the ,Reality of Unreality", the paratantra as abhiita-parikalpa, the Sinyaté as abhavasya svabhava. As such the dinyata can be characterized as being neither Affirmation nor. Negation (cp.-p. 78), or as Wassilieff puts it Affirmation and Negation Become identical", Now the Madhyamikas deny the ultimate reality of both these concepts. They neither admit the reality of the paratantra nor of the parinispanna= Sinyata. For-them these two Absolutes are as relative as all the rest. They admit no exception from their principle of Universal Relativity, no paramartha- sat, no Thing-in-Itself. They, of course, have a paramartha-satya, or Highest Principle, of their own, but it consists just in the denial of the Thing-in- Itself, the denial of every ultimately reat Element in existence. Tsofi-kha-pa, a good judge, says in his Legs-biad siiif-po that among all systems of philosophy, Buddhist as well as non-Buddhist, there is only a single one which denies every kind of an ultimately Real; and this is the system of the Madhyamikas. According to the German expression, it represents ,eine 1 We thus can establish two corresponding series of equivalents —dharma keane Saamakrtadharmaparatantrasavalakgapa=paramarthasat. On the other hand —dharmata--dinyaté=tatha Parinigpannndiminya-lakwaga paromerth amakptadharina + satya,vil be_no exceptions. Neither the Buddha, nor the nor Salvation and Nirvana are excepted. They are dialectical Ideas, not realities. As concepts J[they are constructions of our productive imagination, hence ultimately unreal, bden-par med as the Tibetan emphatically states. Highly instructive is from this point of view the division of Sinyata into 16 varieties. Of these 16 varieties fete eee des Relativen. From this univorsal Relativity there can _ there are 8 which refer to the mahayanistic Buddha and Bodhisattva. For the} Yogacara they represent Relativity also, inasmuch as they are objects of conceptual thought which distinguishes abject and subjeet, is Relativity has_n subjacent Absolute Reality: for the Madhyamikas it has none, for; em it is mere advaya without any cka-dravya at the bottom But this docs not at all mean that the Madhyamikas are nihilists. They were accused of nihilism by the polemical fervour of the Yogacaras who iinputed on them the principle sarvam sarvena nusti (B. bhami,p. 44), a8 well as by the European scholars of the Pali-school. They however cmphatically protested against that accusation. Relativism is not Nihilism. In Japan, vl Yogacara, traditio sa tendency screpancy of the two schools (Suzuki and others) or to necuse the Madhya- mikas of nihilism (Masuda and others). The Madhyamika philosophy however is the doctrine officially professed by the Tibetan church. it would sound excee- dingly strange if we would interpret the solemn and exuberant catholicism of that church as a disguised nihilism. This is the only point in which I would venture to diverge from the views expressed: by Prof. L. de La Vallée Poussin in his eapital work.on the Yogacira system. In accordance with some Japas nese scholars, he clined to underrate the difference between the two main were v waging, whereas the whole of the Vijnaptimatrata-Sastra, as the title shows, is written with the aim of vindicating the Yogacara views against the theories of the Madhyamikas. He says p. 757 , il y a Madhyamikas et Madhya- mikas, Yogacaras et Yogacaras“. This is quite right in this sense that Ive have intermediate schools and subschools, but it is wrong when it tends | Nto obliterate the difference between the main schools, It is also, in my opi- nion, not quite exact to say that Nagarjuna ,admet une réalité. vide". The dictum of the ,void vessel", the vessel which is void but real, is a characte~ ristic Yogacara dictum directed against the Madhyamikas, as is clearly slated _in the present treatise on p. 12.20 (transl., p. 22). True is however that the Madhyamikas have a paramartha-satya, and thnt this paramartha-satya consists in the negation of every paramurtha-sat. The Discourse on Discrimination between Middle and Extremes is written with the saine aim as the Vijiapti-matrata- siddhi, It repudiates the Universal Relativism of the Madhyamikns. It re- mm ivit pudiates also the Pluralism of Hinayaaa. By a stricter discrimination between Appearance and Reality it establishes its own system of a spiritu is ; [pe is a transcendent Absolute Reality subjacent to the Appearance of the phenomenal world, it is the reality of the Pure Spirit (vijiapti-matrata), Hegel's Absolute Idea. The Mahayanistic Nirvana (the so called apra- tisthita) is nothing but this Absolute Iden in which the totality of life is merged.PART I THE DOUBLE ESSENCE OF ULTIMATE REALITYcan can § 10. The Postulate of Buddhism... . ee ee ee ee ee ee CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART Chapter! INTRODUCTION 1, Vasubandhu's Salutation Stanza... 2 Every word of the salutation stanza 3. The aim of the treatise and the topica discussed init. . 6. 5 4. The seven topics ve ee ee eee eee eee nee ens 5. The consocution of the topics. oe ee eee ee Chapter ll ‘THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY 1, General Statement. . .. . - ae te ‘2. The first meaning of the stanza, ‘Repu 3. The wecond meaning of tho stanza. Repudiation of extreme realism... « 4, The third meaning of the stanza. The middle way between the two extremes of scepticism and realism... 1. ee ee vee 5. The fourth interpretation of the stanza, The contrast between Phenomensl and AbsoluteReality. ss. ee ee te eee ee 6. The two Absolutes: the extreme concrete and particular and the extreme falestrach aad nivariah i aeitiseitiscenitstsceaisennitrsr teiniesey ete tiers This ddl Paths nett tess nies ersten ne 8. The categories of ideas in which the Creator of the phenomenal worlds mar fests himself. Chapter Ill THE THREEFOLD ASPECT OF THE CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENA 1. Genoral statement... 6. + ee oer wet eine 2. The unreality of the external world... se ee ee eee 3, Repudiation of the Sautrantik 4. Repudiation of the Sarva 5. Cognition of the Monistic Absolute. 6. + se ee eee eee 6. The hells, the earth and the heavens are the phenomenal wor'ds cre the Constructor of Appearance... 2 oe ee eee 7. The other name of the Constructor of the phenomenal worlds 8. Controversy between the Pluralist and the Monist on the reolity of separate mental phenoments ss ee ee ee see eee 16 7 18 19 2 24 26 33 7 40 42 43 46 48 51Chapter lV THE DYNAMICS OF THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD-LLUSION § 1. The Subconscious Mind-Store or the Payche § 2.The dynamic aspect of the Creator of the World-Illusion. The 12 stages of the rotation of phenomenal life... ee ee et ee eee ee § 3. The root cause of phenomenal life. Transcendental Illusion... § 4, The second member of Dependent Origination. The prenatal Blotic Forces . § 5. Tho third stage. Intormediato existenco +. +. ater tsriite § 6. The fourth stage. The Embryo Setanta sean 7. Tho fifth stage, The Sense facultios. . . « « Siarinectais § 8. Tho sixth stage, Sensation»... + os eens § 9, The roveuth ntngo. Fooling. ee eee So sees $10. Tho cighth stage, Soxunl derive... ye + 411. "The ninth stage, Attachmont to cherished objects, 412, Tho teuth atugo. Tho full realization of a now li ‘ $13. Tho oleventh and twelfth tages. The sufferings of a now birth on which anew donth follows «0 es $14. The twelve mombers of Dependent Ori from different staudpoi § 15. The division of the twalve membora in three and in two groups. . + +. $16. Tho division in seven groups. « . se ee § 17, Other meaninga of the twolve moimberod formula of Dependent Origination. « § 18. Summary of the theory'of the Constructor of Appearance... + + + + intion united in groups and regarded Chapter V- ‘THE ABSOLUTE 1. The five topics to be considered in connection with the problem of the Absolute, oe eee eee eee eee 2. Another explanation of the five topics. 3. The definition of the Absolute. . . 4. Other names of the Absolute ind their meanings... « « 5. The varieties of the Absolute.» --.. + eee 6. The sixteen modes of Relativity-Reality, .... «+ 7. The Relativity of Relati §§ 8—14. Eight modes as manifestations of the Mahay ‘Their Relativity and subjacent Unique Absolute Reality. § & The seventh and eighth mode... eee eee ee (20 op wo nam § 9. The ninth mode... ee ee ee eee eee G10. Tho tenth mode, 6... ee eee ee ee GL. The clevonth mods. oe ee eee ee eee eee § 12, The twelfth mode oe ee ee eee G13. Tho thirteenth mode... - e ee ee $14. The fourteenth mode. 02... ane § 15. The last two modes of Relativity-Rea § 16. Review of the 16 mode § 17, Tho proof establi g the (9100 Sinniany estates tate tettiersste ecient 6 68 6 70 nCiepter I INTRODUCTION $1. Vasubandhn’s Soistorion Stanza IV. 1. b. 1) / fervently salute (Maitreya), That son of the Accomplished Buddha Who has revealed to us this treatise. And (Suint Asahga) I salute the teacher Who has explained to us its meaning. To analyse that meaning now J will (myself) attempt an effort. Sthiramati's Comment {3. 1.] It is a rule’ among educated men to salute their teacher and (to worship) their tutelary deity before beginning 2 work. Therefore this (our author Vasubandhu) wishing to intimate that he himself also follows this rule? begins his commentary upon the ,,Discourse on Discrimination between Middle and Extremes" (viz. the Extremes of Scepticism and of Realism") by an expression of devotion to its divine author‘ and to its (first) expositor® and then starts on the work of analysing its meaning. He says: [3. 5] Z fervently salute? (Maitreya), That son of the Accomplished* (Buddha) Who has revealed to us this treatise” And (Saint Asaiga I salute, the teacher) Who has explained (to us) its meaning. To analyse that meaning now 1 will (myself) attempt an effort. {3. 6] What merit it attained by this salutation (of Vasubandhu)? The~ worship" of exalted" and benignant™ persons is a meritorious act. When (one is equipped) with such accretion of moral merit, the right effort® will not be frustrated by accidents and obstacles," it will be (crowned) by success without great worry.'*“6 MADHYANTA-VIBLIANGA . [3.8] It is also possible to assume that, by proposing to give a thorough-~ going explanation'® of what has been revealed by the divine author and commented upon by his expositor, the salutation stanza pursues in its totality!” the aim of inspiring a reverential feeling towards both these authors, the author of the Revelation and the author of the Exposition, as well as to their works, the sacred text!® and its commentary. [3. 12] A reverential feeling is first of all inspired towards the sacred text, because it shows what ‘has been revealed by its divine author.” Saint Maitreya has revealed this work in the form of stanzas. He is (a divine Bodhisattva) separated (from final Nirvana only by his present) last rebirth (in Tusita heaven). He is a being who has gone through all the conscculive stages of a Bodhisattva’s career and has completely deliver- ed himself in each stage from the respective defects of (a limited will and a limited knowledge). He is thus a being whorhas attained the highest perfection (of all the miraculous powers of a Bodhisattva), viz. his (six kinds of) supernatural knowledge,” his unlimited memory,” his (four modes of) analytic insight" his (proficiency in entering various kinds of) trance, his (ten kinds of) supernatural powers,” his firm realization (of the Monistic idea),” and his (eight successive degrees of) complete liberation (from the illusion of materiality). [3. 17} Indiroctly® a reverential feeling is also inspired towards this (second) conynentary, because it In assumed that it containg the authentic explanations of the (first) expositor. ‘This (first expositor) is Saint Asanga. The revered teacher Vasubandhu™ has studied this sacred text under his guidance and, after that, has composed a commentary. (of his own). ‘ [3. 19] These two (great men) were in the highest degree endowed with an analytical understanding.** They were therefore capable of understanding (the sacred text) unmistakably, of retaining its meaning and of commu- nicating it to others. Thus in the conviction that they teach the correct meaning of the sacred text, a reverential feeling is also produced towards this commentary (of Vasubandhu). [4. 1] And thus it is that those who rely upon the personal authority (of grent names)" will feof high respoct to this encrod text and to its commentary. Thoso, on the other hand, who rely upon dogma™ know (a priori) that the meaning of the sacred toxt and of its commentary are good, but when (by analysis) a definite (logical) knowledge will be produced" in them, they will realize that it is also due to the learning of the divine author and of his commentator, not alone to the dogma and its (understanding by) dialecticians. Thus a feeling of respect will be produced (in them also) towards both the divine author (of the Revelation) and to his expositor. {4. 7]. Now, what is the nature™ of Revelation and why is it designated by (the sanscrit wor.) Sas-tra? Revelation proceeds from pure intimationsCH 1. INTRODUCTION 1 appearing to us in the form of words, phrase- and articulate-round- complexes.” But (Buddhist) Revelation moreover” procedes from inti- mations appearing as special verbal (declarations) ® conducive to supra- mundane (Absolute) Knowledge” (and the attainment of Buddhahood). How can intimations (which are arising automatically out of the subconsciousness of the individual) be revealed and explained to him (by others)? This objection is futile, because the revealer and the explainer from which our intimations are supposed to arise are themselves nothing beyond our ideas of them.‘ (However that does not interfere with the fact that) a man training" on the Path towards Buddhahood altains special inoral merits, special degrees of mental ecstasy and special direct intuition;? he abstains from deeds — corporeal, vocal and mental — which would be unfavourable (for attainment of Nirvana) and attends to such actions which are favourable for it, (4. 14] Further‘ (why is Revelation called) 3astra? It is so called because it conforms“ with what this word 3astra (etymologically) means. It means (that what rules— as, and what saves— tra"), what by repeated instruction in religion rules out all vices together with all their germs and saves from a miserable rebirth (in hell), a rebirth which is frightful by long, uninterrupted, manifold and intense suffer- ing.* Therefore by ruling out our enemies— the vices, and by saving from rebirth in hell it conforms with tho definition of a work of Revelation.” ‘These two features (extinction of vice and salvation from rebirth) are characteristic of all MahaySna and all works devoted to its eluci- dation, They are to be found nowhere else. Therefore this work is a work of Revelation. Accordingly it has been stated: [4. 20} That what controls our foes, the passions, What from rebirth and misery delivers Js (our) Revelation, since it rules and saveth, All other creeds do not possess it, This double benefit (of Mahayéina).* § 2. Every word of the anlutation stanza singly exptatned {4. 24] The word ,thia" (in the phrase ,who has composed «this» treatiso") is a direct" indication. (The author) has in his mind the’ stanzas of the work on Revelation called Madhyanta-vibhanga, i. e. Discrimination between Middle and Extremes. (This work) deals systematically ® with seven topics (to be detailed later on) in order“ to elucidate the three different Buddhist theories of Salvation® and is conducive to a complete extinction of all the moral and intellectual defects of (human nature).oe MADHYANTA.VIBHANGA [5. 1] The words ,,who has revealed“ (in the salutation stanza) mean ,who has created“. Although the root ni (from which pranita is detived) means ,tolead“, this meaning is changed into ,,to create“ by the addition of the preposition pra. Indeed it is said: Forcibly changed is the meaning of a root By the addition of a preposition, “Just as the sweet water of the Ganges Mixed with (salt) water of the ocean®* {5.°5] ,Flaving fervently saluted means having directly worshiped, having saluted or worshiped directly as though (the Bodhisattva were person- ally present) atanding before or near him; having saluted by gesture, speach and in thought. [5. 6] (Maitreya is called the son of the Accomplished Buddha in the sense of being) produced out of the essence of perfect Buddhahood, The Buddha is called the Accomplished,” because starting from™ the tations imposed (on all living beings) by desire and ignorance together with their seeds he well went (up to their complete annihilation and) the accomplishment of an Absolute Mahiydnistic Nirvana.” [5. 7] He indeed is the Accomplished", because he has completely liberated himself from the limitations of a human nature; because he has become identical witl? (Omniscience, i. c.) with the knowledge of all the Elements of existence, (their knowledge) in every respect; because he has become the possessor of a (miraculous) body whose might is as inconceivably limitless as the might of the allyielding miraculous gem, (a body) through which he exercises all his wonder working powers; because he has the faculty to contrive that all the aims of all the sentient beings (of the Universe) shall be fulfilled at once, automati- cally, by theniselves; because he is identical with that special direct non-discursive highest knowledge“ (which is Omniscience),"" [5. 1] ‘The words ,his essence“ mean (the Absolute), the Ever-Self-Same the (Transcendent) Pure Reality. Since the direct” mystic intuition ™ (of the Absolute) is produced by this (transcendent Reality), therefore (Maitreya, i.e. his Omniscignee) is said to be born from“, or born win" (that Absolute). in this sense he is the son of the Accomplished Buddha. [5.12] (The words produced from the essence” of the Accomplished Buddha“) also (carry the implication that Maitreya) is essentially iden- tical with the Buddha. We find indeed in a scriptural work a passage which declares ,he is born in the lineage of the Buddhas, (he is a Buddha by birth), because he possesses those miraculous powers which constitute the essence of Buddhahood“, (Indeed the distance between him and a Buddha is insignificant). -He is a Bodhisattva in the tenth (final) stage of his career and all things cognizable in every one of their aspects”‘OM, 1. METRODUCTION are clear to him as though they were a myrobolan grain seen on | palm of his hand by a man whose eyes are covered by a thin veil silk mousseline. With the Buddha this veil is as though withdra from his eyes and this is all the difference. {5. 17] Here the words ,,born from the essence of the Accomplish Buddha“ are an indication of the fact that the divine author of tl treatise has attained to the highest pitch (of knowledge), the dirc intuition of the Absolute. And since he has composed the treati regardless of profit and honours (exclusively for the weal of mankin he at the same time has proved that he equally possesses the high degree of commiseration (for all living creatures) as wel degree of knowledge.” {5. 20} (The words ,the teacher} who has explained" point to the author the (first) commentary. They must be connceted with the words ,havit fervently, saluted and also, according to other (authorities), with t words produced from the essence of the Accomplished Buddha" (i. this teacher possesses likewise tho essence of a Buddha). This auth: of the (first) commentary is Saint Asai ga. Having received the bles ing of Saint Maitreya, and entering with his help (the trance calle: nintuition of the stream of the Elements of Existence”! he discovere this treatise and explained it? as the highe [5. 23] The word ,and“ (in the phrase of the salutation stanza — ,and Sait Asanga | salute") cither simply establishes the (grammatical) connectio (of Asatga with Maitreya in this phrase) or (it may have no speci. meaning at all and is introduced for metrical reasons only), to fill u the verse.” It also may refer to an additional (number of salute persons). Other Buddhas and Bodhisaltvas, whosoever they. shoul be,” are saluted, not alone that one who has revealed and the one who has explained this treatise. [5. 25] To whom has he explained it? (It is snid in the salutation st nto us etc.", This means ,beginning with us to other people als them, nt . €. to us and to others (has he explained it). Being himsei infallible (he posscsscs the authority) to give instruction (in the ri comprehension of the text).” ‘ (5. 26] In answer to the question what shall you do after having saluted thy author and the expositor, it is said ,,l will strive, i. e. I will emplo; my efforts, ,,to explain ils meaning“. ,To explain ‘its meaning* mean to disclose its intention or it also means to analyse its contents it separate (topics). The form of the locative case™ indicates (here it the sanserit original) the aim, it means ,with the aim of disclosing the intention (of the work will] employ my efforts)". As to the topics which here constitute the so called ,,body" o. the work, they are seven; they are discussed in this treatise.EU) MADHYANTA-VIDHANGA § 3. The aim of the treatise and the topics discussed in it {6. 5] Whatfore is this treatise revealed? It has been revealed in order to (teach) the production of that direct highest: intuition (of Absolute Reality) which is (the exclusive property) of the Buddhas, our Lords.” By teaching that all (single) Elements of existence do not contain any abso- (that singly all are relative), a non-discursive direct intuition (of their absolute totality) is produced. By an intense concentration ® of the mind upon this (intuition) a complete annihilation of the phenomenal mirage, of all its emotional and all intellectual obscurations with all their germs (lying hidden in ‘subconsciousness)" is attained. (and the Gnosis is produced). [6. 8) Thus this work is undertaken with the aim of establishing the (really) right theory of Absolute Reality, i. e. the theory of the relativity of every Element singly and the collective Reality of their sum-total. This is done by repudiating a double error, viz. 1) the error that the Relativity of every Element singly implies the unreality of all the Elements collectively (Nibilisin) and 2) tho error that the denial of substantive Soul ax an internal controllor (nf the parsonality) implies the denial of an Absolute (jn the collective totality of the Eloments of the Universe)! [6. 11] However others maintain that the aim of the work is to repudiate ignorance and misconception by promoting the right comprehension on the part of those who are ignorant or are mistaken in regard of the (double) essence of Reality, of its illusive Appearance and all other (topics here discussed). {6. 12] There also is another aim. The Bodhisattvas may think it very dif ficult to arrive (at Omniscience), because infinite are the particular objects contained’ in the five departments of knowledge, viz. the knowledge of the worlds, of the classes of living beings, of the elements of existence, of the rules of behaviour, and of the path towards perfec- tion.” They can loose their energy and in order to combat this their inind-depression (Vasubandhu) quotes (the first atanza of the treatise, containing its table of contents, viz.) ,Reality, its Essence and Appear- ance, the Absolute“ etc. § 4. The sovon topica {V. 1. B. 2.] (Vasubandhu introducing the first stanza says)— here, just at the beginning of the body of the work it is stated — [Stanza 1.1] The essence of Reality and its Appearance; The Absolute and its Unveiling By Trance and Meditation; Their Degrees and their Results; Preeminence of Mahayana.cH. 1. INTRODUCTION uu IV. 1. b. 3] The following seven topics are discussed here, i.e. in this treatise, viz. 1) the (double) Essence of Reality, 2) its illusive Appear- ance, 3) the Absolute Reality, 4) ils Purification (by ecstasy and meditation), 5) Degrees of Purification, 6) its final Result, 7) preemi- nence of Mahayana. Sthiramati’s comment : {6. 16] (Vasubandhu says)—,heré, i, e. just at the beginning of the work, its body (je. its contents) will be established“, Here means either in this analysis of the topics, or in this work. , Just at the beginning“ means at first. What a Revelational work (Sdséra) is, has been already explained.® Its body" (is mentioned) either in the sense of a summary, or of its abbreviation, or of its foundation. Just as the careas (containing the exterior and interior Elements“ of an individual) is called his body, just so the body of a work consists of the topics which are discussed in it, which are its foundation. They are seven, viz. the Essence (of Reality, its Appearance etc,). Vasubandhu says— they are established". This is (the predicate which) must be referred (to the seven topics), it means they are discussed. {6. 23] It ean be asked whatforo is thin table of contents mentioned at the beginning of the work? Will it not be aufficiently known when the work itself will be gone through? Nol the table of contents (stated at the beginning) is not useless! It is mentioned for the benefit of the student, Indeed a student who knows (in advance) what topics will be discussed will more easily follow the detailed exposition (of the subject), just asa horse running swiftly ona well known race ground.”* Not otherwisel® [7. 1.] »These seven topics are discussed in this work“ (says Vasubandhu), this means that they represent the complete work. The word ,theso refers to the topics indicated by the words Essence of Reality, (Appeat ance) etc. Seven is their number. This is mentioned in order to point out their inclusive nunber. Topics" are the points that are aimed at, that are explained, ln this work“ means in tho work called ,,Discrim- ination between Middle and Extremes". ‘They aro discussed", taught or definitely settled. ,,Thus* is a particle indicating that such is the meaning. {7. 6] (Vasubandhu) says Essence“ (of Reality). That by what something is essentially characterized is called its essence. Now the essenco of Reality is double, impure and pure." Of them the impure (or pheno- menal) Reality is ninefold (it appears in nine different aspects), begin- ning with that (transcendental, but still phenomenal aspect which is the Constructor of phenomena, as stated in stanza 1. 1), ,,the Universal Constructor of phenomena exists“, and ending (with stanza 1. 11 where it is stated) that ,sevenfold are the phenomena proceeding from this Universal Constructor of phenomena.” The remaining part of thea MADLUVANTASVIGHANGA treatise, (of its first part, viz. stanzas 1. 12—1. 21) is devoted to an analysis of Pure Reality (j. e. of the Absolute). [7. 9] If we understand by ,,essence“ that through what something is essen- tially characterized, then it should be something different from both the phenomenal and tho absolute reality?” But that is not so;' because the essence of a thing is just the thing itsclf." E. g. density (or mas)” is the essential characteristic of a solid body,"' but the solid element is not something existing apart from density (or inass). {7. 13] (The word) ,essential characteristic’ can also he conceived (not as an instrument ,through“ which something is being characterized, but) as an object which itself is being characterized."’ Thus indeed (Reality) impure and pure is esscutially characterized (as such), i. €, as having the essence of Reality impure and pure (or Reality phenomenal and absolute), . [7. 15] (The division of Reality into impure and pure carries) still another (implication): in accordance with being either phenomenal or absolute it also is cither the Particular or the Universal, (in the sense of the extreme concrete and particular, the ‘Ihing-in-ltself, and of the extreme abstract and universal, which is the Absolute Totality of all exist. ence)” [7. 16] (The second topic) is the Veil (of illusive Appearance covering Reality). It conceals the Elements propitious (to Salvation), by prevent- ing them to appear. These Elements are concealed through it. In this sense Appearance is a veil. It consists of 53 varieties (of moral and intellectual defects which are obstacles on the Path towards the percep- tion of Ultimate Reality). [7. 18] (The third topic is) Absolute Reality. (When we think) ythis is merely this“, (i. ex the bare fact of the. reality of something’, the condition (of being merely this, ,Thisness* or ,Suchness") represents the Abso- lute; it can be nothing else (than merely this, nothing empirically defi- nite). It can be considered froin 10 different (viewpoints), [7. 19] (The fourth topic) is the Antidote (against phenomenal impurity. It is so called because it represents) that part which annihilates the coun- terpart, (it is the enemy of impurity). It is the Path (of Purity, or Path to Salvation). ‘It consists of Meditation (in rapturous trances). (The Path is Meditation, because its different stages) are created™ by pro- found meditation. U. 21] (The fifth topic) is the Degree, i. ¢. the special degree: of that very Path which is (gradually) developing in (uninterrupted) continuity. it has nineteen stages, e. g. the stage of ,,the Lineage", (i. e. that degree of trance when the certainty of belonging to the spiritual family of Buddhas is reached), and other stages.” (7. 22] (The sixth topic is called) Reaching the Result, i. e. attaining the fruit, It has fifteen vafietics, viz. the result of moral retribution ete. »et, INTRODUCTION 3 {7. 23] (The seventh topic) is the‘ unsurpassable preeminence of Mahiyana (among all doctrines of Salvation). Yana means a vehicle by which one moves, (by which one is carried). It is a progress and its exccllency “ is unsurpassable in three respects, the excellency of equipment, (of the start and of the result), 5] It is stated (in the stanza that the topics) aro seven, The topics ure just.so many. ‘This is said for the sake of limiting their number and for the sake of pointing to their conscention. They are specified as being just so many, not more (than seven). Their consecution is established in conformity (with the aim of the system) which is the attainment of (the Gnosis), the transcendent highest Intuition of the Absolute. i. § 5. The consecution of the topics First explanation (8. 3] The future Buddha at the beginaing of his carcer (while still in the preliminary stage, the so called) stage: of Faith, chiefly attending to- his duties of a (higher) morality, should nevertheless beyin cleverly to distinguish between impure (or phenomenal) and pure (or absolute) Reality, since every Element of virtue propitious to Salvation is checked by some corresponding phenomenal impurity which must be known. If it is not cleared away, Salvation is impossible, but if it is not known, it cannot be extinguished, because its influence remains unnoticed. He then will realize that the object upon which he must concentrate in order to free his mind from impurity is (the pure or absolute) Reality." With this object ™ he will then apply the method which extinguishes the cover (of phenomenal impurity). He will realize that (transic) medi- tation is the remedy (against the cover of phenomenal Appearance). [8. 9] After that comes a process. of concentration upon the Elements which counteract (the gloom of phenomenal Appearance), wh annihilate the corresponding obseurations, which incrense tho foree of the antidotes against them, (The future Buddha) must know the (respective) stage which he has reached in this process of meditation, c. g. ,The stage of Certainty" regarding his belonging to the Spiritual Lineage of the Buddhas." [8 11] After that (the future Buddha) attains the result (of his career). The Elements of Transcendent (Transphenomenal) Reality clearly appear to him. (This-first vision of Nirvana is the so called) result of Entering the Stream' (attained at the 16th moment of the Path of Enlight- ment). {8. 12] All these (six consecutive degrees in the moral and intellectual development of the future Buddha) are the common feaiures of (the Path) of Bodhisattvas, Srivakas, (Pratyekas) and their noviees,' I. e. of Mahayana and Hinayana and of afl the three differont Paths towards“uw ! MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA Salvation). This agrees with Seriptura (where wa find tho following injunction) —,,this recluse is training for progress along the method of the Sravakas; he is also training for progress along the method of the Pratyekas; he also is training for progress along the method of the Bodhisattvas“. (This proves that all the three methods applied on {the Path towarda Salvation havo common features). But tho match- less preeminence! of Mahay&na, which constitutes the seventh tople, deals with the special properties of a Bodhisattva which nothing can pass. Second explanation [8.17] But others maintain that tho (double) Essence of Reality (tho first topic) is mentioned at the beginning) in order to produce a more clever (not naive) conception” of the (double) essence of Oppression and Deliverance, for, Oppression here meana the veil (of phenomenal Appearance) and Deliverance means Absolute Reality. Through the knowledge of Absolute Reality the mirage (of phenomenal Appearance) is dispersed. Therefore (both) Appearance and Reality (are pointed out at the beginning). [8. 20].After that (the next topic is the Path). In order to teach the expe- dient serving to annihilate the (mirage of phenomenality) its antidote, the Path (of Purity) with all attaining details, is mentioned. [8.21] The Path has beginning, middle and end. In ench stage can it be lightly or middleway or intensely practised. This produces different varieties. In order to point to them the next topic are the (comparae tive) stages (of the Bodhisattva’s progress). [8 22] Every stage brings a corresponding result. The next topic is there- fora the Rosult (reached at ench stage), All these six topics (are con- corned with facts) which aro the common feature of @ Bodhisattva with tho Sravakas and other (Saints). Bat the last topic ix the preomis nence of Mahayana. It pursues the aim of indicating the non-common (special) features (of that religion). Third explanation [8. 25) Others again maintain that the (double) Essence of Reality has been given the first plaeo because wo cognize Reality cither in its real (i. e. ultimate) essence or in its unreal.(i, e. phenomenal) essence. After having realized this essential (difference), the mirage of Appear ance can be rejected and Absolute Reality directly intuited, Therefore the next topics are Appearance (on one side) and Absolute Reality (on the other). [9. 1] Next comes intense Meditation on the remedy against (the gloom ‘of phenomenal Appearance), since this is the right expedient for both the rejecting (of the unreal) and the immediate realization (of the real).CH. & INTRODUCTION 1s After that comes the spocial stage which is but the comparative degreo, high or low, which meditation has reached. The Result consists in tho annihilation (of the mirage ‘of phenomenal Appearance) through this « ititense meditation. After that the supreme vehicle of Salvation (Mah&. yina) is reached, The consecution of the seven topics has the aim of illustrating this process. Fourth explanation 19. 5] Again others think? that, since we are liable to be mistaken in regard of what Elements arc real and what are unreal, the Essence (of Reality) must have been indicated (at first) in order to put an end to both an (exaggerated) denial and an (exaggerated) imputation (of Reality). (The doctrine: of the origin of the phenomenal) mirage (should be then expounded) in order to promote its clever distinction on the part of those who strive to get rid of that illusion. But ultimate Reality is hidden under the veil (of phenomenal Appearance), therefore in order to promote a scholarly conception of Reality, the next topic is the (ultimate or absolute) Reality. The phenomenal mirage can be dispelled by a penetrating analysis of what is (essentially) real. Therefore after having given (the definition) of Reality, the counteracting (anti-phe- nomenalistic) profound Meditation (must be explained). The condition (reached in the progress of this Meditation must be next described in order to construct) a scholarly theory" of its different stages. Every stage produces its (corresponding) result," therefore next to the theory of the stages'their result must bo (also) considered in order to produce a scholarly,,conception of what the Result is. (Finally), since all these topics (nre here represented in that their aspect on which the Mahayana religion is founded), since they serve as.an introduction to MahRyRna,”! therefore, waa concluding topic, the precminenco of tho Mahayana {among all other religions) is discussed.Chapter Il THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY § 1. General Statement With reference to the (double) essence of Reality we have the following } atatementi [Stanza 1. 1) The Universal Constructor of phenomena exists! (But he himself) does not contain any division® Jn two parts, (the apprehended and the apprehending). The Absolute® however is contained in him, And in the Absolute again he is included. Vasubandhu's comment [V. 2. a, 1] Among them (i. e. among the seven topics) this stanza deals (with the first, viz.) the Essence (of Reality). [V. 2. a, 2] Under j,the Universal Constructor of phenomena“ we here (must understand) our Productive Imagination ¢ which constructs (the pheno- inenal world by splitting concrete reality in two parts) the one grasping the other, This duality is here just the relativity’ of the grasped (objective) part and the subject grasping it. (He, the Constructor himself) is quite free of this (division). [¥. 6, a, 2], The Absolute however is contained in him“ (says the stanza). The Absolute is (hero the Non-Relativity), it is this sane (but uni- versal) nbscnce in every Constructor of phenomena of this (his construc ted) division into object and subject. [V. 2. a. 3] (The stanza further says) that ,in this (Absolute) he is include (yHe* means) the Universal Creator of phenomena. (Thus the Absolute is ,devoid“ of the relativity of subject and object, but this relativity is included in him as a phenamenal cover). Indeed the correct defini- tion of the Absolute is given in the (following scriptural words): ,when something is absent in a receptacle, this receptacle is then rightly regerded as edevoid> of it, such. edevoidness> ef the receptacle is the empty receptacle, the receptacle itsclf. It then represents reality as it really is (j. e. absolute reality), (because) what remains as existing (after the deduction of the thing absent) is rightly regarded as being Reality as it really is, (i. e. as the Absolute)".CH, i THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY w Sthiramati’s comment {9. 12} With reference to the (double) essence of reality, (phenomenal and absolute), it is stated: ~ The Universal Constructor of phenomena exists! (But he himself) does not contain any division dn two parts (the apprehended and the apprehend The Absolute however. is contained in him, And in the Absolute again he is included. [9. 16] (Vasubandhu says) among thom“, this means among the just mentioned seven topics, viz. the Essence of Reality, Appearance ete. cte. With reference to (the first of them, viz.) to the Essence of Reality, thin atanza haa been composed: y'The Universal Constructor of phen mena" ote, (Tho order) of explanation follows (the order) of enaneiation, ‘Therefore the (double) essence of Realily being the topic meutioned in the first place, (it is natural) that its explanation is given before {all the others). § 2. Tho firat meaning of tho stanza. Repudintion of cxtremo scepticiom 19. 20] There are some (philosophers, viz. the Madhyamika school, who maintain) that all the Elements of existence ® are in no way realities, (In the early schools all existence was analyzed into Elomonts assumed to represent ultimate realities. But according to the Madhya- inikus) they are as unreal as a pair of horns on the head of a bare, (they do not exist at all)’ Therefore, in order to repudiate this whole- sale negation, it is stated —,,The Universal Constructor of phenomena exists!" This proposition must be supplemented by the words ilsell™, (It exists in itself, i.e. absolutely), it is the ‘Thing-in-ltself." {9. 22] However is this.not contradicted by Scripture? (Mahayanist) Scripture indeed declares ,all the Elements are devoid (of this absolute realily in itself)". Nol there is no contradiction, because it is (further) stated that whe contains no duality“, (i. ¢. this constructor contains no division in two parts, the one grasping the other). [9. 24) The Constructor of phenomena is devoid of the distinction into an apprehended object and an apprehending subject, in this sense (only) is he ,devoid", but not in the sense of being deprived of all reality in itself. Therefore there is no contradiction with (Mahayana)-scripture. (The Constructor is devoid of empirical but not of transcendental reality). ©. Hi ton erenot 218 MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA, [9. 26] But ifethat be so, then , duality", (i. ©. every subject-object couple) will it not be totally non-existent, just as the hare’s horns (which ‘do not exist at all)? The Constructor of phenomena will then (alone)'represent absolute existence (existence in itself). This would imply a denial (of the other, the ultimate): Absolute. {10. 1] That is not sol because this (other) Absolute is contained in him. (What indeed is this other Absolute?) Just this universal non-exist- ence of the division into object and subject in (every) Constructor of phenomenal appearance is the Absolute. Therefore it cannot be (deduced that the ultimate) Absolute does not exist.” [10. 3] (Now) if this Absolute contains no duality (and if it is inherent in every Constructor of a phenomenon), why is it that we are not omni- scient2® If it is present (before us) why is it not perceived? In order to solve this doubt it is stated (in the stanza) ,and in this Absolute he is included”. [10. 6] (Because this Absolute is ‘not pure), because the Constructor of phenomenal (illusion) is also found in it, therefore you are not saved (and omniscient). Just for this reason, just because the pure Absolute is covered by (phenomenal) impurity, it is impossible to perceive it, just a8 it is impossible to perceive the (genuine) purity of the water- element, when it is soiled by filth. § 3. The second moaning of the stanza. Repudiation of extreme realism . [10..9] (The stanza) also aims at repudiating (the other extreme), the opinion of those who maintain that not only the Mind and mental phenomena exist as realities (or things by themselves), but that the (external) material objects likewise exist (as things by themselves).'' (To their address) it is said that the Constructor (or the foundation) of pheno- mena (alone) exists."*"He alone exists as a Thing in itself. There is no Matter outside him, i, e. Matter does not exist as a reality (or as a thing in itself, it'exists merely as an idea). [10. 12] Why is it that there is nothing (besides ideas)? (The answer is) whe contains no duality“. (This means) that neither does this (Element which is) the Constructor of phenomena apprehend something, nor is he apprehended by some one. He represents (Monism, i. e.) pure (transcendent) Reality, the merger” of subject and object. [10. 14] Indeed no sensible objects are at all perceived outsidé conscious- ness. (This is proved) by dreams and (hallucinations), Consciousness itself appears (in dreams) in the garb of external, sensible objects. Supposing a“ is the cause of yb", it is then impossible that ,b" should appear in the absence of a." (If our ideas were produced by external objects, they could not arise in dreams). We thereforeCH. I THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY D must know that consciousness containing ideas of objects arises without any external objects at all; just as it arises in dreams and (hallucina- tions) it also arises (in waking) and other conditions, it arises exclu- sively from a (subconscious) germ (which lays dormant in the Store- house of ‘subliminal consciousness and arises in due time to produce an idea) when it becomes ripe for that. . [10. 18] If there are no apprehended external objects, there (evidently) is no one who apprehends them. It is (absolutely) impossible that there should be an apprehending part where there is no (corresponding) apprehended part.'® Therefore there are beyond the illusive constructions of our imagination * no (external) material objects"? (and no consciousness apprehending them), {10. 20] ‘However, if there is absolutely nothing to be apprehended, Salvation (and omniscience) become impossible, beeause (this would mean that) there neither is any Pure Objectivity (transcending the limits of the phenomenal world). That is not so, because (says the stanza) ,The Absolute however is contained in him‘. The word ,howevor" here replaces the word ,because". This Absolute indecd constitutes the Pure (Transcendent) Objec' It constitutes that (Absolute) Univer- sal Reality in which (empirical) subject and object disappear.” It is contained (hidden) in the Constructor of (the illusive) phenomena (of phenomenal worlds). Therefore Salvation (and Omniscience) are not . impossible, : {10. 24] But if it really is contained in the Constructor of the pheno- menal world, we should perceive it, since it,is present (before us). Why then do we not perceive it? (We do not perceive it), because it is concealed by the Constructor of phenomena, not because it does not exist, just as the ether is not perceived because it is transparent, not because it does not exist. §4. The third meaning of the stanza. The middle way between the two extremes of scepticism and realism [11. 3] (The stanza) can also (be interpreted so that its first phrase is directed against radical scepticism and its second phrase against realism). Indeed (the phrase) ,,the Universal Constructor of pheno- mena exists!" has the aim of repudiating the total negation of every {ultimate reality by extreme scepticism). It is not true that all {the Elements) are neither unreal, nor are they real (as maintained by the Madhyamikas). (All Elements) are real, (but real only) inas- much as, they represent modifications (of the Element of pure) con sciousness, [11. 6] (The second phrase of the stanza) he contains no duality“ aims at repudiating a wrong imputation of reality." It is directed (against dualism), against those who -maintain that the external world exists »20 MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA just as it appears, namely as something real in itself, (both subject and object being ultimately real), independently from (that consciousness) which is the Constructor of phenomena.™ The aim (of the text is to emphasize) that the Constructor of phenomena alone exists, (but not the illusive phenomena which are constructed by him). {11. 9] However there are also some philosophers who think that the absence of both (a subject and an object) means an absolute blank,” such as the son of a barren women. On the other hand, there are others who think that the negation of all substance * (and its replacement by mere qualities—dharmas) refers only to the negation of a substan. tial Soul? regulating life from within (without affecting the full reality of all other Elements). Therefore, in order, on the one hand, to repu- diate the negation of the Universal Absolute, and in order, on the other hand, to deny the reality of a substance in every single thing it is stnted that ,,the Absolute however is contained in him“, {1L.12] If the Absolute is contained in this Universal. Consteuctor of phenomenal (i. e. in every real thing), then all living beings will per- ceive it and will easily attain (omniscience and) Salvation. However this does not happen, because (the stanza says) ,And in the Absolute again he is included". ([t exists under the cover of phenomena). As + long as the Absolut not disclosed Salvation is not possible, It-is concealed*’ and a great effort is needed for purifying it. Therefore ~ there is no easy Deliverance. § 5. The fourth interpretation of the stanza. The contrast between Phenomenal and Absolute Reality [11.17] There is a further (interpretation, but as a matter of fact) it is not different from what has been stated above” regarding’ the essence of Reality. (Reality is double), impure and pure (or phenomenal and absolute). According to this interpretation the stanza ,,The Universal Constructor of phenomenal (illusion) exists, etc. etc.“ pursues the aim of calling attention® (to this aspect of the problem, viz.) the corrup- tion (of pure Reality through the phenomenalizing forces) and its purification (on the Path towards Nirvana). Phenomenal Reality (or the 12 stages of ever revolving life) is identical with the Constructor of illusion, because the essence of this construction is nothing but the (phenomenal) illusion® (of a mentally constructed quasi real world). [11. 20] But how is this to be understood? How can’ the essence of. the Constructor of phenomenal reality represent an illusion? (Was it not stated above that ,he exists absolutely“, being a reality-in-itself). He represents nevertheless an illusion, inasmuch as he does not really contain that duality (of subject and object as which he appears in phenomenal life). This subjective-objective form is Appearance,CHL il, THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY au it does not exist (ultimately) in itself. (In itself ultimate reality is moni- stic). [t is therefore evident that (from this point of view) the essenca of the Constructor of phenomena is nothing but a (transcendental) Mlusion.®2, -[11. 22] Now (the next words of the stanza, viz.) ,The Absolute however [11. 23] The essence of purification consists in (thor is contained here (i. ©. in him)" (according to this interpretation) refer to a consideration (of absolute reality) as a purifying (force counteracting the defiling forces of transcendental illusion). lization) of the Absolute, since (pure or absolute Reality) means non-duality (or Monisin). We must morcover consider that (it is not Nievaga alone which is here taken as*the Absolute, but) Nirvina as well as the Path towards it, becauso both Nirvana and the Path (or, in other words, the Buddha and the Saint) are brought in full relief by (the iden of) the Absolute, The puro Reality (of the Absolute or of Nirvana) inust he converted into the Path towards Nirvina (by the Saint) taking his stand in phenomenal reality. (Nirvana) is not something existentially separate (from phenomenal reality). In order to point out (this relation between absolute and phenomenal reality); the stanza says ,here" (i, ¢. in ,him"), in the phenomenal reality, (sc. the Absolute is immanent in the Pheno- menal).3 [12. 2] Now, if this division (of reality into object and subject) does not ‘ really exist, why is it that simple people are mistaken and think that (both the object and the subject) really exist? In answer to this question (the stanza stgtes)— ,,and in the Absolute again he is included“; ahe“, i. e. the Constructor of the division * (of reality) into an objective, grasped part and into a subjective, grasping part, (he is contained merged in the monistic Absolute). It is just as the images of elephants and other (animals) which appear in a magically evoked phantom in which no real elephants® are contained. (The subject-object image of the world is a phantom concealing the absolute monistic world- reality). [12, 5] The term Creator of phenomena“ means that one in whom this division does not exist or that one by whom it is constructed. {12 6] The word ,phenomena" (or unreality, not-genuine reality) suggests that the form in which reality here appears to us, the form divided into an object grasped and a subject grasping it, does not (ultimately 80 exist). [12. 7] The word Constructor" suggests that the objects do not exist in that form into which they are converted (by creative imagination). We have thus emphatically stated that the essence of reality is some- thing quite free from the division into two parts, the one grasping the other.2 MADHVANTA-VIBHANGA § 6. The two Absolutes: the extrome concrete and particular and the extreme abstract and universal [12. 10] This Creator of the phenomenal world who is he finally? (He is our consciousnessl). The Mind and Mental. phenomena in all the three spheres of existence (the sphere of men and gods of gross sensual desire, the sphere of ethereal beings with. purified desires and the sphere of gods with no sensuous desires); the past, the present and the future, so far ag they, being in ses and effects, agree as constituting phenomenal lifo, begii in time and lasting until the moment of Nirvana—are cach of them, without any difference, creators of phenomenal illusion. (They are the causally interrelated but mental Elements -ef the phenomenal world—samskrta- dharma). A difference between them (is introduced with) the separa- tion® into an apprehended and an apprehender parts. The apprehended, objective part is constituted by the ideas representing (the external world), inanimate things and living bodies. The apprehending, sub-, jective part is constituted by ideas representing the Ego and its sensa- tions, Their duality consists of the apprehended and the apprchending parjs, the apprehended is e. g. a coloured (surface), the apprehending part.is the (corresponding) visual sensation. [12. 15] The fact of the unreality of the relation between a grasped and a gras~ ping part, the universal fact of its unreality® (or relativity), this fact repre~ sents (the part) of the Absolute which is inherent in the Creator of the worldcillu-sion2* But that docs not mean that the Creator of this unreal rolation, (of this relativity), is himself unreal. (Ho is himself quite real, jon). Just as when wo mistake arope for a serpent of the reality of a serpent, devoid of it at any time, but it is not devoid of the essence of the rope; just so in the case under consideration (the moment which creates phenomenal appearance is itself devoid of this appearance, but it is not devoid of the nature of being its creator). ' [12. 18] (The stanza says) ,And in the Absolute again he is included*, i. e. the Constructor of appearance is included. Thus (by these words) it is suggested that the (easy) cognition of the Absolute (i. ¢. easy Omniscience) is impossible, since it (j, e. the Absolute) lays (hidden and) oppressed ® by accid :ntal obscurations. [12. 20] Accordingly it is snid (in Scripture): he (the Bodhisattva) rightly perceives that if something is absent ([rom a receptacle, this receptacle) is thon considered as devoid of that thing". And here, (in the case under consideration), what is absent? and in what (recoptacle) is it absent? The division (of conerete reality) into two parts (is absent and it is absent) in the Creator of phenomenal illusion. Therefore (the'Bo- dhisattva) intuits that (the Element which is) the Creator of the phenomenalCH. Ml, THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY 2B world is devoid" of the division into two parts. But that residue which remains after all duality has becn rescinded is (ultimately) real. And what is it that here remains? (Two items remain, viz. the Element) which is the Creator of phenomenal reality and the Absolute, * (i, ¢. the extreme Particular and the extreme Universal), Both these items are (ultimately) real (the ultimate Particular and the ultimate Universal). This (the Bodhisattva) intuits (directly), without any wrong imputation of reality and without denying it where it exists. This he intuits accord- ing to reality as it renlly is. (12. 25] Indeed by intuiting that (tho Element whieh is) the Creatar of the world-illusion contains in himself’ no duality (of one part grasping the other), the imputation of a wrong reality is obviated. And.by intuiting that (the particular moment) creating illusion, as well as the Absolute (or the totality of these moments both) really exist, an extreme scep- ticism is set aside. [13. 1] We thus have elicited the correct definition (of that principle which conventionally is known by the name of) ,Voidness", because (we have established) that the thing which is devoid of something, exists, but the thing of which it is devoid does not exist. {13. 2] (This our definition of the principle of , Voidness” is the only right one. According to it one part of the Elements of existence are not ultimate realities, but the other, the part which remains" after the deduction of the first, is absolutely real, Both the definitions of the Madhyamikas and Sarvastividins, on the other hand, are) wrong defini- tions, (The first maintain that) not a single Element is real, (the second) that yevery thing (i. ¢. every Elenient) really exists". The consequence’ of both these definitions would be to make fmpossible the principle of Voi elf." (Indeed if wo with the Madhyamikas declare that not a single Element is real, that) there is no such particular thing wl we could characterize ns the real thing which is devoid" (of the object- subject relation,) then there can also be no general principlo of ,Void- ness" (in that sense), because indeed a general principle is dependent on the reality of particular things, as e, g. the prineiple of , instantaneous , being“ (is dependent on the reality of particular instantaneous single things). [13. 5] (On the other hand if we with the Sarvastivadins maintain that ,every thing exists,“ i. e, that whatsoever is an Eleinent is co ipso real), then both (objset and subject) will be ultimately rent and there evidently will be no Voidness (in the sense of the ultimnte unreality of this relation). (13, 6) (The Sarvastivadin objects). If the relation of object to subject is something absolutely unreal, unreal as the horns on the head of a hare, what does it then mean that the Constructor of phenomena is ,,devoid" of this division? (Does it mean that he is ,devoid" of nothing?).4 MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA, Experience shows that only a real thing can be deprived of another real thing, ase. g, a cloister can be deprived of monks (not otherwisel).!* [13. 8] (The Yog¥eara answers). That is not sol (It is justas in the case of illusions and hallucinations). Supposing a rope (lying on the road in the dark) is mistaken for a serpent, or (supposing we have) a magically evoked vision (of a man); supposing then somebody, in order to clear off thé misrepresentation,” declares ,,there is here no serpent" or nthere is here no (real) man“; just so, in order to induce naive men to quit their (realistic) habits of thought (and in order to bring home to them the notion of the Absolute), it is declared to them ,,the Constructor of this phenomenal world is rid of the double form of subject and object, this form is Appearanct; it does not exist in itself (it is not an ultimate reality at all)!‘ § 7. The Middle Path [Stanza 1. 2] Neither is it asserted : That all (the Elements) are unreal, Nor are they all realities; Because there is existence, And also non-existence, And (again) existence: This is the Middle Path!" . Vasubandhu's Comment [V. 2. b. 1-5] Neither unreal arc (all the Elements of existence), because there are (two items that are real, viz, the eternal, all-embracing) Absolute and the (instantaneous) Constructor of phenomena. Nor are they not-unreal (i. e. not all are real). Inasmuch as there is separation into two parts (the one grasping the other) there is no (genuine) reality. wAll (the Elements)“ means (the two main groups into which the 75 Elements of existence established in the Hinayana are divided, vir} the ,,caused ones which are (also) the constructors of phenomena ani the ,uncaused" ones which is the Absolute.” ,It is asserted" means it is established, ,Becauso there is existence" — this refers to the real exist- ence of the Constructor of phenomena; ,and (also) non-existence", this refers to the division (into an object and a subject); ,and (again) existence", this refers to the presence of the Absolute in the Constructor and of the Constructor in the Absolute. ,, This is the Middle Path“, these words intimate that neither are all Elements exclusively unreal nor are they exclusively real,®' Such an interpretation of the Middle Path agrees with (many) passages from the ,,Discource on Transcendent Intuition" and other (scriptural) works where it is stated that ,all this is neither unréal, nor is it real. (This means that there are some Elements that are real and others that are unreal). :CH. tl, THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY 25, Sthiramati’s comment [13. [15] With what aim has this stanza been composed? Its aim is to declare that all (the Elements of reality), the caused (or instantancous) ones and the uncaused (or eternal) ones are (in their ultimate essence) not affected by the division into one part grasping the other. This. indeed also appears as the real meaning of the passages from the ,,Discourse on Transcendent Intuition* which declare that ,all this is neither unreal nor is it real". It repudiates the radical (theories of extreme scepti which declares that not a single Element is real, and of extreme real which maintains that whatsoever is an Element is 0 ipso real). Other= wise the first half of this text (,not unreal) would stand in contradiction to the other half (,not real"). [13.19] (The stanza) moreover’ has the aim of establishing (the doctrine of) the Middle Path —otherwise either the unreality or the reality (of all Elements) would be onesidedly asserted —- and also of making a conclu- sive alatement regarding the repudiation of an exaggerated denial of reality, as well as of an exaggerated agsertion of it, (Asscried is a4 real first of all) the causally interdependent Element," which is the Con- structor (or the basis) of phenomena, because it obtains its own real tion in strict dependence on causes and conditions. (Asserted is as real) also the Absolute, the uncaused Element, since it docs not depend on (causes and possesses an independent, absolute reality of its own), uThis is asserted" sc. in the ,Discourse on Transcendent Intuitios and similar works. : [13. 23] (The words of the stanza) because there is existence" ‘refer to (that Element of existence which is) the Constructor of phenomena, (they mean that all Elements cannot be unrcal, because admilled must be the reality of the Constructor of the phenomenal worlds). That essence of every causally interrelated Element of existence which is the Constructor of the (corresponding) phenomenon, (it alone) is not unreal, (it is absolutely real as a Thing-in-Itself). But that other essence of this Element which converts it into either an apprehended object or an apprehending subject is (a construction of our productive imagination), it is not ultimately real. (This is expressed in tho further words of Vasubandhu) ,because there is non-existence", non-existence namely of this duality” [14. 1] (The repetition in the stanza of the words) ,and again because of existence” refers to the jresensc of the Absolute in the Constructor as being its universal property* and (vice versa) of the Constructor in the Absolute as being the possessor® of that property. ‘Thus it is that the ,uncaused“ (i, e, the eternal Element or the Absolute) is not unreal, (not relative), inasmuch as it represents the ,,Elcementness* {or absolute totality of all the genuinely real Elements of existence).”26 MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA, [14. 3] When (the Scripture) maintains that it is not real (in saying that it ia neither not devoid nor devoid"), this should be interpreted so that in itself it is essentially devoid, (but devoid only) of the division in two parts, (the one grasping the other). {14. 4] (It is said in the stanza)—,And this is the Middle Path". Indeed in the Ratnakiita® and other (scriptural works) we find the following deliverance: ,,O, Kasyapal It exists is one extreme, ,,it docs not exist“ is another extreme. The intermediate altitude between these two extre- mes, O, Katyapal is called the Middle Path, It represents the (deepest) intuition of that reality (which is hidden at the bottom) of every Ele~ ment of Existence. This is the Middle Path, In this manner the Middle Path is made to agree (with our System).? |. 7) The word ,all (used in the sacred texts in such phrases as ,all is real“ —sarvam asti, and yall is unreal“—sarvam 3anyam) refers to (both categories of the Elements of existence as established in the early schools, viz.) the causally dependent (or instantancous ones — samskriq) and the causally independent (or eternal ones —asamskrta). The Elements are not all exclusively (relative and) unreal, because there are among them two Eleinents that are (absolutely) real; they are the {ingtantancous) Constructor lying at the bottom of every phenomenon and the’ (eternal Element). of the (allembracing) Absolute.” 9] Nor is it exclusively real*,®' since (their appearance, viz. their divi- sion) into two parts (the one grasping the other) does not (in ultimate reality) exist at all. [14. 10] Whether we assume that all the Elements (into which reality has been analyzed in Buddhism) are real or that all are unreal, in both these cases, we shall have extremes, but not the Middle Path. B i = i § 8. The categories of ideas in which the Creator of the phenomenal worlds manifests himself Vasubandhu's Comment [V. 2. b, 5.] After having thus characterized (our Productive Imagination), as the Creator of phenomenal reality from the positive side (as existent) and from the negative side (as the absence of a real division into ind and Matter), its particular essence (i. ¢. the different categories of ideas in which he manifests himself) will be now" indicated: [Stanza 1.3] The Mind itself appears to us As a projection of things (inanimate), As well as living bodies, (As the ideas) of a Self and his sensations. Their objects do not exist however, And without them unreal are also These (ideas).CH, ll, THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY 7 [V. 2. b. 6] (There are four categories of ideas, idens of inanimate things, of living bodies, of a Self and of his different sensations). Among them the ideas of things (inanimate reduce) to sense-data, such as coloured (surfaces and different shapes) ete. they are projections appearing to us as real (external) objecis. ‘the ideas of animate things (or living bodies reduce) to the five organs of sense which appear as projections con- nected with one's own or with another man’s continuity of life (in sor ~ bodily frame). The idea of the Self is the Mind (itself, but not the pure Mind of the Absolute), it is the phenomenal Mind intimately connected with egotism, The ideas of sensation are the six kinds of sense-perception {including the perceptions, or apperceptions, of the internal sense). {V. 3. a. 1] The stanza says ,their objects do not exist“, because the things inanimate and the living bodies are projections of nothing, they do not exist at all; and the ideas of a (phenomenal) Ego and of sense-percep- tion are (perceptive ideas, but) wrong ideas, (inasmuch as the external objects corresponding to them do not exist). And since these (external) objects do not exist the perceptions apprehending them do not (really) exist likewise. : Sthiramati's Comment ‘ [14. 12] (Vasubandhu says) ,after having thus characterized the Creator of phenomenal reality from the positive and from the negative sides — (these words have the following meaning), A ,,positive characteristic means here a characteristic through reality, to wit »The Constructor of phenomena exists". The (ultimate) reality of the Creator of the world-illusion is thus indicated, such is the meaning. [14. 15] In the same way is he characterized by non-existence. The non- existence of something is a negative characteristic. (This non-existence here refers) to the non-existence in the (double) form of an apprehended object and of the subject apprehending it. Because this double form does not really exist in the Creator of phenomenal reality, therefore this Creator himself also does not exist, (i. ¢. he does not exist) so far this his double form ia concerned. This is asserted, (14. 18] (Vasubandhu says) ,now the particular essence will be indicated", What indeed is (here) the difference between ,real essence” and wParticular essence"? (Is not the particular essence of a thing its real essence?)" The real essence is here the general, the particular essence is the special. If the particular cases (in which the Constructor mani- fests himself) will not be indicated, what will happen? The ,body“ (or the compass) of the Constructor of phenomenal reality will not be indicated, Therefore, in order to indicate that compass, the following stanza has been composed: The Mind (itself) appears to us As a projection of things (inanimate) As well as living bodies, | As the ideas of an’ E;28 MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA. And of his sensations. Their objects do not exist, however, And without them Unreal are also these ideas. The first meaning of this stanza (14. 24] (This stanza has) also" (the following meaning). It has been here established that the Mind, undifferentiated into subject and object, is the unique (Reality), it is the Constructor of the phenomenal worlds. (However formerly the, Elements of Reality have been distributed in 18 different groups, viz. six sense-organs including the internal sense, six kinds of corresponding sense-objects, including the internal objects of the internal sense, and six kinds of sensations including the internal apperceptions or reflections of the Mind upon himself).** It remains unknown how are these groups to be rightly redistributed (in-order to tally with the new conception). (15. 1] In order to declare that (the items of the old division) can be syste- » matized under the head of the Mind-Constructor as special categories of ideas in which he manifests himself, the particular items of the Constrution of the phenomenal world are indicated. (The Category of the ideas of things corresponds to the six categories of sense-objects; the category of the ideas of living beings corresponds to the six cate- gories of sense-organs; the category of the ideas of sensations corres- ponds to the six kinds of sensations in the old division, and the category of the ideas of Ego is an additional item absent in the old classification). A second interpretation of the stanza {15. 3] There also is (another interpretation of this stanza), (The initial stanza, in the words) , The Universal Constructor of phenomena exists" merely asserts his existence, but says nothing about his essence. Nor is the reason indicated why notwithstanding the unreality of the division into object and subject, there is an inveterate belief in its reality. Neither has the reason been indicated why (instead of believing in the reality of the external world) we. should believe in the unreality of the division of existence into an objective part and a subject grasping it.” Therefore in order to indicate all this, the stanza says: The Mind itself appeurs to us As a projection of things and living bodies And as ideas of an Ego and Sensations. [15. 8] The essence of the Creator of the world illusion is the Mind (himself, his creative imagination), The Mind is here understood together with the mental phenomena inherent in him, but predominantly the Mind himself (the pure Mind) is here referred to.”CH. IL THE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY 29 (15. 9] The cause of our inveterate belicf in the real existence of a subject and his objects (consists in the character) of our ideas of inanimate and living things (which always appear as projections into the external world). (15. 11] The reason why we should believe in the unreality of the division into object and subject is stated (in the words of the stanza): Their objects do not exist however And without them unreal are also these ideas.” § 9. Another division of Ideas In three, resp. elght, classes. Mind-store ideas, Ego-ideas, six kinds of sensational ideas” [15.12) Among these four classes, the two first classes, viz. ideas of things inanimate and of animate bodies constitute the Mind-store together with its satellites of mental phenomena.” It consists (exclusively) of the process of maturation in the Subconsciousness (of the influence of former good or bad deeds) and has therefore no outspoken moral character of ist own.” [15. 13] (The second class is constituted by) the idea of ‘a Self (or Ego), it represents the phenomenal Mind with the inherent satellites (of egotistic feelings)..Since it always possesses the vices (of Egotism), it is morally not quite indifferent, it is an element (always) slightly vicious.” [15. 14] (The third class is constituted) by sensation ideas. They are the six classes of sense-perceptions (inclusive of the apperceptions by the inuer sense), perceptions visual and others with their satellites” (of feelings and volitions). (From the moral point of view) they are either good (i. . propitious to Nirvana) or bad (unfavourable for Nirvana) or indif- ferent, (accordingly as they are associated with a good, bad or indif- ferent volition). : [15. 16] Thus we have (in our system together) eight categories of ideas, viz. 1) ideas of things inanimate and animate, (or of the external world), 2) ideas of a Self (or Ego) and 3—8) six kinds of perceptive ideas (inclusively of the apperceptions of the inner sense). They are accompa- nied by their satellites (of feelings, ideas and volitions). They all arise out of the subliminal Mind Store’(the Psyche) under the influence of cooperating forces (which bring their germs to maturity). They mani- fest themselves in the five modes of phenomenal existence (as infernal beings, as ghosts, brutes, men and gods) in accordance with the poss bilitics (of each individual being). (The subconscious Mind-Store-theory thus represents) the second (of the four) great principles (intuited by the Saint directly at the moment when he attains omniscience, viz. the so called) Truth of the Origin of Phenomenal Li [15. 18] (The difference in the fate of all the classes of living beings is con- ditioned) by a difference *? which is produced in the subliminal Mind-30 MADHYANTA-VIBHANGA, Store in accordance with the influence of former moral, immoral or neutral deeds, owing to which ideas arise of mutually discrepant cha- racter, (these ideas constitute the whole of all the manifold, phenomenal individual existences in all the spheres of life)."* . [15. 21] How is it that our ideas take the form of external objects if there are none in existence? (We sometimes mistake at a distance a post for a man), but if there were altogether nomen in existence, never would a post appear to us in the form of a man. This objection is futile! (Whe- ther known or unknown the object always appears az something external to consciousness). Indeed: when an idea of a thing arises there isin the mind of simple people” an inveterate habit of thought to believe in the real existence of the object outside our consciousness; e. g. people suffering from cye-disease have a constant vision of flying locks of hair, (they naturally perceive them as external to their consciousness). In order that they should quit this their belief (in the reality of things existing outside their consciousness), it is said to them ,it is a mere idea, it only has the form of an external thing or of a living body, just as with ophthalmic people the vision of flying hair (has the appear- ance of an external thing) without the reality“. 15. 26] Thus it is that the interdependent Elements* of the phenomenal + world are (nothing but ideas), mental realities of eight different kinds.” It is here asserted that they represent the Constructors of phenomenal reality (i. e. they represent our Mind or its creative imagination), Vasubandhu's Comment analyzed by Sthiramati [16. 1] (Vasubandhu says that ,,the ideas of things inanimate reduce to sense- data), such as coloured (surfaces and shapes appearing as external) things“, i, ¢. they (the inanimate things) in their essence represent coloured (surfaces), sounds, smells, tastes, contacts and objects of the inner sense. They are projections“ because they aro produced as images having such forms, [16.2] ,,ldens of animate things are ideas of one’s own or another one's continuity of life superimposed on the five sense-organs” says (Vasu- bandhu), (j.-c. superimposed) on the five sense-orgnns which are the indication of animal life, beeauso they represent the places to which (the beings) are extraordinarily attached. Sticking to them or attached to them is the living organisin. On the basis of the production of such images (of organized bodies) we have ideas which are their projection (into the external world).™ [16. 6] (Vasubandhu says) »the idea of the Self is the Mind (itself, but not the pure Mind of the Absolute), it is the phenomenal Mind since it is intimately connected with egotism". Because the phenomenal Mind is always intimately connected” with egotism, with a belief in the reality of a Self, with the love of the Sclf and a pride in it and because theseCH, .1HE UNIVERSAL CONSTRUCTOR OF PHENOMENAL REALITY a feelings are directed towards the Sclf, it is quite all right (to consider) the phenomenal mind as tho idea of tho Self. (16. 9) The six sense-perceptions (five according to the number of outer senses and pne apperception by the inner sense) are idens (founded) fon sensations (says Vasubandhu), They are sensation-ideas because they appear in the form of apprehender-ideas. On the basis of their production in this active form of sn apprehending (consciousness) they are (called) sensation (or intimation) ideas, [16. 11] ,, Their objects do not exist however“ (says the stanza), i. e. there are no external objects corresponding to these four classes of ideas. {16. 12] (Vasubandhu says) because there are no (separately)-formed ideas of things inanimate and living bodies (beyond the ideas which appear as apprehending them); and because (the ideas apprehending them as external objects, viz.) the ideas of the Ego and his sensations, are wrong perceptions, (since they represent to us as existing in the external world things that do not exist there at all)","® (therefore there are no external objects at all). [16. 13} This means that the ideas (of external things), of inanimate things and living bodies, since they represent the objective (passive) part (of cognition), cannot be said to represent wrong perceptions. (They are no perceptions at all). Just their deficiency in having a separate form of their own,” (their coalescence with the ideas apprehending them), proves that there are no external objects (separate from the idcas grasping them). {16. 15] But other philosophers maintain that the external object is not alto~ gether formless, since it has that form which the perceiver imposes on it. However the unreality of the external world is sufficiently established by the illusive character of these ideas.” {16. 16] (But what indeed is the form of an object?) It is either the manner" in which it is conceived, e, g. as being something instantancous, This (perceptive character) the external object docs nol possess, since it represents an apprehended, (but nol an apprehending) part. This means that if something is nol aa apprehender, (i. ¢. isnot a perceptive idea), it can have ao form (and therefore docs not exist at all), Or the form of an abject, may mean (ie projection, i «.) the distinet fooling of the presence of the ybject in the ken.” This the two categories of external things, inanimate aud animate, do not possess, (because they appear as the objective part lying outside consciousness), Hence the formlessness (which we are obliged to ascribe to the external object) establishes its non-existence.” [16. 19] (Now, we have established-that inanimate things reduce to sensc-data and the animate ones to the presence of sense-organs). If both these categories are formless, how isit that they are different, (their difference is it not a difference of form?) Indeed on the one side we have colours32