The bodhisattva in the supplements to the Minor Class and other Classes

Among the prajnaparamita texts of the Minor Class, the P SV appears to conclude with Chapter 25. However, the current edition consists of 29 chapters, which suggests four additional chapters were composed at some later period.605 These four chapters we take as supplements that may be divided into two groups, namely Chapter 26, the Anugama-parivarta

which in turn is an appendix of the Minor Class, and chapters 27-29, which were perhaps grafted from the prajnaparamita texts of the Medium Class. The interesting aspects of the bodhisattva ideal in these supplements may be outlined as follows:

(i) In Chapter 26,606 the Anugama-parivarta, it is taught that the bodhisattva ought to approach and practise the prajnaparamita by non-attachment to all dharmas and the sameness

/iA7 * ■

of all dharmas (sarvadharmasamata), and should act in a maimer corresponding to the

prajnaparamita course of bodhisattvas. It teaches further that “all dharmas are equal in the sense of being unaffected by change, and that all talk of dharmas consists of mere words.” Some new elements appeal' in this chapter such as the great ocean, the firmament, the rays of the sun, the lion’s roar, the multicoloured Meru, the earth, water, fire, air and space. All represent analogies to illustrate the fact that the prajnaparamita cannot be altered by external factors. These analogies are also used in the oldest version of the Kasyapaparivartam and other sutras.609 In fact, most introductions to the Mahayana Sutras employ the same analogies

605 As for the Asta, Conze has suggested the following additions: (i) Chapters 30 and 31 - the story of Sadaprarudita; (ii) Chapter 29 - an independent essay in the form o f a litany; (iii) Chapter 13 - an independent treatise. But (ii) and (iii) are not supported by the Chinese translations, and (i) has been considerably altered. Moreover, the avadana o f Sadaprarudita has considerable similarities with Chapters 22 o f the Saddharmapinidanka and Chapter 33 o f the Samadhirajasutra. All three versions are concerned with the sacrifice o f the body out o f a desire for the dharma. The sacrificed limb is then restored by a declaration o f truth. Conze, in his Thirty Years o f Buddhist Studies (p. 170 ff.), points out that a book with seven seals appears in a curious passage in Chapter 30, p. 507, 12-18. Incidentally, this offers a striking parallel to a passage in the Revelations o f St. John - “I saw lying in the right hand o f Him a book written within and without closely sealed with seven seals;”. This o f course does not prove that Chapter 30 was composed in the first century o f the Christian era, especially since the passage in question is absent in the two oldest Chinese translations: the Daoxing (T224, AD.

180) and the Darning{T225, 225 CE).

606 In the P S V and the PD, the corresponding chapter is entitled as The Chapter on the Approach to Knowledge (KS^Pnp); but in the Daoxing and the Darning, it is entitled as The Chapter on the Approaches (anugama- parivarta, Jjtnri) which is similar to Chapter 29 of the Asta.

607 Asta, pp.475-480; T8:470abc, 503bc, 579b-580a,667a-668a.

608 Ti l : 633ab; { AWSfilM)) # 112 ( i l f ; Index to the Sanskrit Text o f the Kasyapaparivarta,

Weller, F., Mass.: Harvard - Yenching Institute, 1935; The Kasyapaparivarta: A Mahaya Sutra o f the Ratnakuta Class, Stael-Holstein, A. von, ed., Shanghai, 1963.

to praise the bodhisattva’s merit. The analogies of the Anugama-parivarta used to explain the course of the prajnaparamita must have been influenced by the Mahayana sutras which were current at the time when the Anugama-parivarta was committed to writing.

(ii) Of the remaining three chapters, namely the Sadaprarudita-parivarta (ch. 27), the

Dharmodgata-parivarta (ch. 28) and the Paiindana-parivarta (ch. 29), Chapters 27 and 28 give the story of bodhisattva Sadaprarudita (The ever-weeping), who sought the prajnaparamita

and was willing to sacrifice everything to gain it. Chapter 29 gives a very brief summary of the P SV and indicates that the Buddha entrusted the Sutra to Ananda.610 Taking a comparative approach, we assume that these three chapters were originally included in the texts of the Medium Class and moved into the texts of the Minor Class. We base this conclusion on the following evidence:

1. It is said in the P SV that “the holy bodhisattva Dharmodgata has acquired the

dharanls, and possesses the supernormal powers”.611 DharanTs are also referred to in the Daoxing, the Darning and the PD. However, there is no mention of dharanTs in the first 25 Chapters of the Minor Class. The dharanTs, as short formulas which enable one to remember the salient points of the doctrine, are the Mahayana-paryaya,

which originated in the prajnaparamita texts of the Medium Class.

2. Sadaprarudita, wholeheartedly wishing to see the bodhisattva Dharmodgata, 10

established himself in various concentrations (samadhis) and as a result, produced a form of perception that did not rely on any dharma. After meeting and listening to the bodhisattva Dharmodgata expounding the prajnaparamita, he acquired six million doors of concentration.613 The names of the concentrations {samadhis) that are enumerated in Chapters 27 and 28 are identical to those found in the prajnaparamita

texts of the Medium Class.

3. In the first 25 chapters of the PSV, the Buddha’s merit and qualities are listed in four places as (1) the ten powers, the four grounds of self-confidence and the eighteen

610 T8: 477b (in the Daoxing), 507c (in the Darning), 586bc (in the PSV), 676bc (in the PD). The Panndana- parivarta begins on Chapter 28 o f the Asta, p.460, 14, up to p. 464, and is resumed again in Chapter 32, p.527. p.525 logically follows from p.464. See ConzeJs Thirty Years o f Buddhist Studies, p. 178.

611 T8: 582a, ffflMhliTj.” In the Asta, p.497, the supernormal powers or super-knowledges o f the

Bodhisattva Dharmodgata are five in number. 612 Asta, pp.490-492; T.8.p.581bc.

special dhaimas of the Buddha,614 (2) the powers, the grounds of self-confidence and the dharmas, of the Buddha;615 (3) the perfect purity of the powers, the grounds of self-confidence, and of the Buddha-dhaimas?16 All these qualities are identical in the texts belonging to the Minor Class. But in Chapter 27, the qualities of the Buddha such as great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great impartiality, the ten powers, the four ground of self-confidence, the four analytical knowledges and the eighteen special dharmas of a Buddha617, are identical to those in the text belonging to the Medium Class.

Thus it is reasonable for us to infer that the main sources of Chapters 27 and 28 are contained in the Medium Class. The most compelling argument which locates the sources of these chapters is the development in the practices of the bodhisattvas found in the texts of the Minor

Class, which originally belonged to the texts of the Medium Class.

We know that the spread of the original prajnaparamita course was due to the establishment in the concentrated insight of non-appropriation o f all dharmas through the conduct of non-dispute (arana-carya). Therefore, in the texts belonging to the Medium Class, though the proponents teach the four-fold disciples (sons and the daughters of good families) how to emulate the bodhisattvas and course in the prajnaparamita, they maintain the traditional concept that life of a householder is undesirable, disgustful, and hinders spiritual progress. This concept is clearly evident in the Daoxing and the PSV,

"When a [bodhisattva] householder meets his wife, he has no love for pleasure, but has the feeling o f fear within. When he has intercourse with his wife, he thinks: “impure are these foul elements and ports; it is not my dharma. I will not come near it again for the rest o f my life. I should depart and go away from the foul.” He should abandon the lust and get away from it just as a man who walks in a wilderness infested with robbers constantly thinks o f getting away, of getting out of the dangerous road in this wilderness. And also he does not talk o f the faults o f others. And why? Because he has incited all sentient beings in the world to win supreme happiness . . . It is in this spirit that bodhisattvas live the life o f householders, inasmuch as they have been impregnated with the power o f the prajnaparamita™

When a bodhisattvas lives the life o f a householder, he has no great love for pleasant things, and he does not want them too much. One possesses all pleasant things with fear and disgust. Situated in a wilderness infested with robbers, one would eat one’s meal in fear, and with the constant thought o f getting away, o f getting out o f the wilderness, and not with repose. Just so an irreversible bodhisattva who lives the life o f a householder possesses the pleasant, but he sees the

614 T8:544c, 574a.

615 In Chapter 24 o f the PSV, T8:577b; Chapter 27 o f the Asta, p,455. 616 In Chapter 21 o f the PSV, T8: 574b; Chapter 25 o f the Asta., p.428.

617 T8:582c, Asta,'p.499.

618 Daoxing, T8:455b;

faults o f it. His mind is not greedy; he earns his livelihood in a clean way, not in a wrong way. He would rather lose his own body and life than inflict injuries on others. And why? Because the bodhisattvas have incited all sentient beings to win supreme happiness. It is in this spirit that bodhisattvas live the life o f householders, inasmuch as they have been impregnated with the power o f the prajnaparamita."6I9

Comparing the attitudes of the bodhisattva-householders concerning pleasurable objects and lust in the versions of the Prajnaparamita text, we see that the bodhisattva householders in the older versions such as the Daoxing and the PSV, are portrayed differently than those in the later versions, namely Unit 1, The bodhisattva householder’s attitude towards the sexual and the pleasant in the oldest texts of the Minor Class is identical in spirit to that of traditional Buddhism. But these attitudes change in the texts belonging to the Medium Class and the

Large Class, and evidenced in Unit 1,

"The bodhisattva has the life o f a householder, endowed with the skill-in-means. Although he is involved in the five kinds o f sensuous pleasures, he does not become attached to them. Whatever he does is to give to and rescue all sentient beings . . . he gains treasures and wealth through his great wish and supernormal powers . . . Although he lives the life of a householder, he constantly practices continence (brahmacarya), and he is never interested in its excellent and pleasant consequences. He gains a variety of treasure and wealth, but he does not become addicted to it."620

The type of bodhisattva householder in Unit 1 of the Large Class is also founded in the

prajnaparamita texts belonging to the Medium Class. According to the Sutias, the life of an irreversible bodhisattva was purposely chosen. It is in order to help sentient beings ripen that through skill-in-means, the bodhisattva lives the life of a householder and is involved in the five kinds of sensuous pleasures. It is worth noting that although the practice of continence is mentioned, the sense that a bodhisattva dislikes the life of a householder has completely disappeared in the Medium Class and the Large Class. Since the bodhisattva may exercise great and super-normal powers, he is no longer a normal human, but a celestial bodhisattva.

Furthermore, comparing the irreversible bodhisattva householder in the Minor Class with those of the Medium Class, there are significant differences. In the Minor Class, the irreversible bodhisattva householder is a real householder, a human being who has coursed in the prajiiapaiamita and reached the stage of irreversibility from full enlightenment.621 But in

the Medium Class, the dhannakaya and the Mahasattvas are regarded as irreversible, and both

skilful in maturing and enlightening sentient beings. The sense of the Medium Class is expressed in the story of Sadaprarudita. When the young layman Sadaprarudita went to seek

619 T8: 565a. However, in the Asta, p.332-3, the same passage was expanded by adding some details. 620 T6: 673c-674a.

the prajnaparamita, he was accompanied by a wealthy daughter o f a merchant and her five hundred maidens in five hundred carriages. At that time, the interlocutor of the Dharma was the bodhisattva Dharmodgata, who lived with sixty-eight thousand women. With his retinue, 622 he found joy in the parks and ponds, and felt and tasted the five types of sensual pleasure. He also accepted the five hundred maidens and five hundred well-decorated carnages that Sadaprarudita presented to him. These examples show that both bodhisattvas Sadaprarudita and Dharmodgata were householders who accepted and lived with women, and felt and tasted the five types of sensual pleasure. Although they were the wealthiest, and enjoyed the life of the householder, they established themselves in the prajnaparamita and skill-in-means to guide, mature and train others in the same way. The Medium Class thus presents a new model of the bodhisattva.

But in order to remove any confusion surrounding the new model of the bodhisattva, some attitudes and instructions are found in the texts belonging to the Medium Class. Thus when the bodhisattva Sadaprarudita was searching for the prajnaparamita; from the air he heard a voice say,

"You must also see through Mara’s deeds. For there is also the Evil One, who may suggest that your teacher tends, enjoys and honours things that can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched, when in truth he does so through skill-in-means, and has really risen above them. You should not therefore lose confidence in him, but say to yourself, “I do not know that skill-in-means as he wisely knows it. He tends, enjoys and honours those dhannas in order to discipline sentient beings, in order to win wholesome roots for them. For no attachment to objective supports exists in bodhisattvas.”623

According to this advice, bodhisattvas do not attach themselves to any dharma. On seeing that the proponents of the dharma felt and tasted the five kinds of sensual pleasure, the bodhisattva does not produce the thought of impurity, but honours and worships them, present gifts to them and follows their example,624 all in order to hear the prajnaparamita and skill-in-means.

The historical significance of the story of Sadaprarudita in the Medium Class is that for the first time, both a laywoman and layman learn the dharma from a lay teacher. In the story, young Sadaprarudita and the daughter of the richest merchant are the foremost lay disciples, and the bodhisattva Dharmodgata is the foremost lay teacher. Although this story is contained in the prajnaparamita texts belonging to the Minor,; Medium and Large Class, the

622 Asta, p.488. The Bodhisattva Dharmodgata did this only for a certain time, and therefore he always used the occasion to demonstrate the prajnaparamita.

623 T8:580b; Asta,p.483. 624 Asta, pp.519-522;

event of a bodhisattva accepting and enjoying the five types of sensual pleasure through skill- in-means portrays a new bodhisattva ideal, Sadaprarudita and Dharmodgata represented a new model of the bodhisattva for lay followers.

Chapter Six: The Paramitas

In this chapter we analyse two systems of the paramitas present in early non-Mahayana texts and later developed in Mahayana texts. The first system is that of six paramitas and the second of ten paramitas. In previous chapters we have analysed the paramitas in the context of early non-Mahayana texts and early-Mahayana texts. In later Mahayana texts there is a conceptual development in the interpretation of the paramitas. For example, in the earlier texts, the perfection of generosity is described in terms of material giving, and in Mahayana texts it is expanded and developed to include the Dharma teaching (dharmadesana) as a superior kind of giving. It is this type of development that will be discussed here.

It is not our purpose in this analysis to suggest that the system of six paramitas was developed into a system of ten paramitas, nor that a theory of ten become compressed into a system of six. Rather, by the time Mahayana texts were composed, two separate systems were followed and developed into systems distinct from each other. All texts refer exclusively to one of these two systems. It is thus possible to divide all Mahayana texts which treat the

paramitas into two groups, those numbering six,625 and those numbering ten626 paramitas. It is left to examine the development of each paramita, and the ways in which these ideas were refined and expanded. Since the subject of the paramitas is very vast and covers many aspects of the bodhisattva career, our analysis is limited to the system of six paramitas and its doctrinal evolution in the Chinese sources.