Abhidharmakośakārikā

Translations of
Abhidharmakośakārikā
English Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma
Sanskrit Abhidharmakośakārikā
Chinese 阿毗達磨俱舍論
阿毗达磨俱舍论
Japanese 阿毘達磨倶舎論
(rōmaji: Abidatsuma-kusharon)
Korean 아비달마구사론
(RR: Abidalma-Gusaron)
Tibetan ཆོས་མངོན་པའི་མཛོད་་
(Wylie: chos mngon pa'i mdzod )
Glossary of Buddhism

The Abhidharmakośakārikā or Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma is a key text on the Abhidharma written in Sanskrit verse by Vasubandhu in the 4th or 5th century.[1] It summarizes the Sarvāstivādin tenets in eight chapters with a total of around 600 verses. The text was widely respected and used by schools of Buddhism in India, Tibet and East Asia.

Vasubandhu wrote a commentary to this work called the Abhidharmakośabhāsya. In it, he critiques the interpretations of the Sarvāstivādins, Vaibhāṣikas and others of the tenets he presented in his previous work from a Sautrāntika perspective.[2] This commentary includes an additional chapter in prose refuting the idea of the "person" (pudgala) favoured by some Buddhists of the Pudgalavada school. However, later Sarvāstivādin master Samghabhadra considered that he misrepresented their school in the process, and at this point designated Vasubandhu as a Sautrāntika (upholder of the sutras) rather than as an upholder of the Abhidharma.

Chapters

An English translation of the chapter titles, including the title of the 9th chapter of Vasubandhu's commentary, is:

1: The Dhātus
2: The Indriyas
3: The World
4: Karma
5: The Latent Defilements
6: The Path and the Saints
7: The Knowledges
8: The Absorptions
9: Refutation of the Pudgala

Karma

Chapter four of the Kośa is devoted to a study of karma, and chapters two and five contain formulation as to the mechanism of fruition and retribution.[3] This became the main source of understanding of the perspective of early Buddhism for later Mahāyāna philosophers.[4]

Vasubhandu elaborates on the causes[note 1] and conditions[note 2] involved in the production of results,[note 3] karma being one source of causes and results, the "ripening cause" and "ripened result."[web 1] Generally speaking, the conditions can be thought of as auxiliary causes. Vasubhandhu draws from the earlier Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma treatises to establish an elaborate Buddhist etiology with the following primary components:

Six Causes:

Four Conditions

Five Types of Results:

Translations

Ancient translations of the Abhidharmakośa were made into Chinese by Paramārtha (564-567) and by Xuanzang (651-654). Other translations and commentaries exist in Tibetan, Chinese, Classical Mongolian and Old Uyghur; modern translations have been made into English, French and Russian.

English translations include:

Commentaries

There are many commentaries written on this text, including an autocommentary by Master Vasubandhu entitled Abhidharmakoshabhyasa. The First Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drup (1391-1474) composed a commentary titled Illumination of the Path to Freedom.

The Nalanda scholar Yasomitra, wrote a sub-commentary on the Abhidharmakoshabhyasa, the Sputarth-abhidharmakosa-vyakhya.

See also

Notes

  1. S. hetu, Tib. rgyu
  2. S. pratyaya, Tib. rkyen, Pāli: paccaya
  3. S. vipākaphalam, Tib. rnam-smin-gyi 'bras-bu
  4. S. kāraṇahetu, T. byed-rgyu
  5. S. sahabhuhetu, T. lhan-cig 'byung-ba'i rgyu
  6. Skt. saṃmprayuktahetu, T. mtshungs-ldan-gyi rgyu
  7. S. sabhagahetu, T. skal-mnyam-gyi rgyu
  8. S. sarvatragohetu, T. kun groi rgyu
  9. Skt. vipākahetu, T. rnam-smin-gyi rgyu
  10. S. hetupratyaya, T. rgyu-rkyen
  11. S. samanantarapratyaya, T. dema thag rkyen
  12. S. alambanapratyaya, T. dmigs-rkyen
  13. S. adhipatipratyaya, T. bdag-rkyen
  14. S. vipakaphalam, T. rnam smin gyi 'bras-bu
  15. S. niṣyandaphalam, T. rgyu-mthun gyi 'bras-bu
  16. S. adhipatiphalam, bdag poi bras bu
  17. S. puruṣakāraphalam, T. skyes bu byed-pa'i 'bras-bu
  18. S. visamyogaphalam, T. bral 'bras

References

  1. Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abhidharmakosa". Encyclopedia Britannica. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.
  2. Gold, Jonathan C., "Vasubandhu", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2015/entries/vasubandhu/>.
  3. Lamotte 2001, p. 18.
  4. Lamotte 2001.
  5. 1 2 Ronkin 2005, p. 25.
  6. A Study of Dependent Origination: Vasubandhu, Buddhaghosa, and the Interpretation of Pratīyasamutpāda. by Susan C. Stalker Ph.D. thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1987 pg. pg 25

Sources

Printed sources

  • Lamotte, Etienne (2001), Karmasiddhi Prakarana: The Treatise on Action by Vasubandhu, English translation by Leo M. Pruden, Asian Humanities Press 
  • Ronkin, Noa (2005), Early Buddhist Metaphysics: the Making of a Philosophical Tradition, Routledge, ISBN 0-203-53706-8 
  • Vallée Poussin, Louis de la, trad. (1923-1931). L’Abhidharmakosa de Vasubandhu, Paris: Paul Geuthner, Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Vol. 6.
  • Pruden, Leo M. (1991), Abhidharmakosabhasyam, translated from the French translation by Louis de la Vallée Puossin, Asian Humanities Press, Berkeley.

Web-sources

External links

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