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Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra

by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön | 2001 | 941,039 words

This page describes “lists of auxiliaries (bodhipakshika or bodhipakkhiya)� as written by Nagarjuna in his Maha-prajnaparamita-sastra (lit. “the treatise on the great virtue of wisdom�) in the 2nd century. This book, written in five volumes, represents an encyclopedia on Buddhism as well as a commentary on the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita.

I. Lists of auxiliaries (ǻ󾱱ṣi첹 or bodhipakkhiya)

The title of the fourth noble truth preached by the Buddha in his sermon at Benares is the path of cessation of suffering (ḥk󲹲Ծǻ󲹲峾ī pratipad). It deals with the noble eight-membered Path ( ṣṭṅg), the culmination of a method of liberation involving an infinite number of more or less efficacious spiritual practices. The most important � among which are included the eight Path members � are designated by the name ‘Auxiliaries to Enlightenment�, bodhipakkhika or bodhipakkhiya in , ǻ󾱱ṣi첹, ǻ󾱱貹ṣi첹, ǻ󾱱貹ṣy or ǻ󾱱貹ṣa dharma in Sanskrit.

Definition of the Vibhāṣ� (T 1545, k. 96, p. 496b18�21): “Why are they called ǻ󾱱ṣi첹? The two knowledges of the saint, the knowledge of the cessation of the impurities (ṣaⲹñԲ) and the knowledge that they will not arise again (Գܳٱ岹ñԲ) are given the name of Bodhi because they consist of the complete understanding of the four Truths. If a dharma is favorable to this complete understanding, it is given the name of ǻ󾱱ṣi첹.�

Definition of the ś, (VI, p. 282�284): �ṣaⲹñԲ and Գܳٱ岹ñԲ are Bodhi which, due to the difference of the saints who attain it, is threefold: ś屹첹ǻ, pratyekabodhi, anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Indeed, ignorance is completely abandoned (śṣāvṇāt) by these two ñԲ: by means of the first, one knows truly that the task has been accomplished; by means of the second, one knows that the task will no longer have to be accomplished. Inasmuch as they are favorable to this Bodhi, thirty-seven dharmas are its auxiliaries (tadanulomyata� saptatriṃśat tu tatpakṣāḥ)� All these auxiliaries to Bodhi are also a group of pure () or impure () qualities of hearing (śܳٲ), reflecting (Գ) and meditating (), arising from practice (Dz첹).�

But the classical list of the thirty-seven auxiliaries to enlightenment (saptatriṃśad bodhipākṣikādharmā�) was slow in being formulated:

1. In the and the Ā the term ǻ󾱱ṣi첹 dharma is rather rare and still poorly defined. The Aṅguttara, III, p. 70, 300 (cf. վṅg, p. 244) includes among them: the guarding of the senses (Իṣu ܳٳٲ屹, sobriety (bhojane mattaññutā) and heedfulness (jāgariy� ānuyoga). For the ṃyܳٳٲ, V, p. 227, 239, the ǻ󾱱ṣi첹 are the five spiritual faculties (indriya); for the վṅg, p. 249, they are the seven members of enlightenment (ṅg).

2. In the Canon there is frequently a list of 37 dharmas divided into seven classes: 1) the four foundations of mindfulness (ṛtܱ貹ٳ󲹲Բ), 2) the four right efforts (ⲹԲ), 3) the four bases of magical powers (ṛd󾱱岹), 4) the five spiritual faculties (indriya), 5) the five strengths (bala), 6) the seven members of enlightenment (ṃbǻⲹṅg or ǻⲹṅg), 7) the seven members of the path (ṅg).

Except for the Ekottarāgama, the ⲹ and the Ā do not enumerate these dharmas which are 37 in total, and do not describe them as ǻ󾱱ṣi첹.

See, for example, ī, II, p. 120 (cf. Sanskrit Ѳ貹Ծṇa, ed. Waldschmidt, p. 196, 224); ī III, p. 102, 127; Majjhima, II, p. 238�239; III, p. 296; Aṅguttara, IV, p. 125, 203; Բ, p. 56. It is the same for the Vinaya, II, p. 240; III, p. 93; IV, p. 26, etc. � Madhyamāgama, T 26, k. 8, p. 476c20�21; k. 9, p. 479a18�19; k. 52, p. 753c6�7; Saṃyuktāgama, T 99k. 2, p. 14a7�8; k. 3, p. 19c5�6; k, 13, p. 87c3�4; k. 24, p. 176c14�15; k. 26, p. 188b26�27.

The Ekottarika, a late text crammed with Mahāyānist interpolations, is the only Ā to enumerate these dharmas and describe them as ǻ󾱱ṣi첹: cf. T 125, k. 3, p. 561b20�22; k. 7, p. 579c26; k. 13, p. 612a19�20; k. 18, p. 635b25�26; k. 26, p. 696c9; k. 40, p. 765c15.

3. Sometimes the seven classes are incorporated into a list of more than 37 dharmas, e.g., Majjhima, II, p. 11�12; Anguttara, I, p. 39�49; and also for the Greater Vehicle, ʲñṃśaپ, p. 203�308; Śatasāhasrikā, p. 1427�1439.

4. Paracanonical or postcanonical texts, whether or Sanskrit, the ūٰ and śٰ of the Greater Vehicle list the seven classes in question, number their components and give them a name, ‘the 37 ǻ󾱱ṣi첹 dharmas�, that will remain classical.

For the sources, see Nettippakaraṇa, p. 197, 261; Milinda, p. 30; Visuddhimagga, ed. Warren, p. 582�583; commentaries by Buddhaghosa on the ṃyܳٳٲ, I, p. 104; II, p. 139; III, p. 136; and on the Aṅguttara, I, p. 85; II, p. 11; III, p. 56; IV, p. 111; Compendium of Philosophy, p. 179.

For the Sanskrit-Chinese sources, see an infinity of texts on the two Vehicles: Divyāvadāna, p. 350, 616; Avadānaśataka, I, p. 340; Vibhāṣ�, T 1545, k. 96, p. 495c27�28; ś, VI, p. 281; Abhidharmadīpa, p. 57 seq.; Lalitavistara, p. 9; ʲñṃśaپ, T 223, k. 18, p. 350b9; Kāśyapaparivarta, p. 75; Saddharmapuṇd., p. 458; վīپ, p. 117, 139, 144, 201�202, 216, 378; Sūtrālaṃkāra, p. 140�146; Madhyantavibhāga, p. 89�94; Yogācāraū, T 1579, k. 28, p. 439c�440a (for the ś屹첹): Bodh. ū, p. 259 (for the bodhisattvas); Dharmasaṃgraha, ch. 43; Arthaviniścaya, p. 569�575; Mahāvyut., no. 952�1004.

5. As well as the classical list of 37 ǻ󾱱貹ṣi첹s which is by far the most widespread, there are also aberrant lists:

a. The Nettippakaraṇa, which notes (p. 31, 261) the list of 37, mentions (p. 112, 237) a list of 43 bodhipakkhiyas beginning with six ññ: anicca, duhkha, anatta, 貹Բ, and nirodhaññ.

b. In his commentary on the Anguttara (I, p. 85) Buddhaghosa mentions as heretical (adhamma) a list of 38 bodhipakkhiyas, consisting of 3 sati, 3 貹Բ, 3 徱岹, 6 indriya, 6 bala, 8 ṅg and 9 ṅg.

c. According to the Vibhāṣ� (T 545, k. 86, p. 499a14�15), the Vibhajyavādins have a list of 41 ǻ󾱱ṣi첹s, by adding the four ⲹvaṃśas ‘Ārya stock� � being content with clothing, food and seat, and taking delight in cessation and the Path � to the 37 traditional ones.

d. According to Bhavya (M. Walleser, Die Sekten des alten Buddhismus, 1927, p. 90: A. Bareau, Trois Traités, JA 1956, p. 186) place the four ṇa, also called 󳾲, loving-kindness, etc., among the ǻⲹṅgs.

[In ś, VI, p. 281, note, de La Vallée Poussin comments that the Anguttara, I, p. 53, recognizes only six ǻⲹṅgs, memory being omitted. This is wrong, for memory (پṃbᲹṅg) is mentioned in the first line on p. 53.]

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