Chapter V: Buddhist Philosophy (1)

Many scholars are of opinion that the Sâ@mkhya and the Yoga represent the earliest systematic speculations of India. It is also suggested that Buddhism drew much of its inspiration from them. It may be that there is some truth in such a view, but the systematic Sâ@mkhya and Yoga treatises as we have them had decidedly been written after Buddhism. Moreover it is well-known to every student of Hindu philosophy that a conflict with the Buddhists has largely stimulated philosophic enquiry in most of the systems of Hindu thought. A knowledge of Buddhism is therefore indispensable for a right understanding of the different systems in their mutual relation and opposition to Buddhism. It seems desirable therefore that I should begin with Buddhism first.

The State of Philosophy in India before the Buddha.

It is indeed difficult to give a short sketch of the different philosophical speculations that were prevalent in India before Buddhism. The doctrines of the Upani@sads are well known, and these have already been briefly described. But these were not the only ones. Even in the Upani@sads we find references to diverse atheistical creeds [Footnote ref 1]. We find there that the origin of the world and its processes were sometimes discussed, and some thought that "time" was the ultimate cause of all, others that all these had sprung forth by their own nature (_svabhâva_), others that everything had come forth in accordance with an inexorable destiny or a fortuitous concourse of accidental happenings, or through matter combinations in general. References to diverse kinds of heresies are found in Buddhist literature also, but no detailed accounts of these views are known. Of the Upani@sad type of materialists the two schools of Cârvâkas (Dhûrtta and Sus'ik@sita) are referred to in later literature, though the time in which these flourished cannot rightly be discovered [Footnote ref 2]. But it seems

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[Footnote 1: S'vetâs'vatara, I. 2, _kâla@h svabhâbo niyatiryad@rcchâ bhutâni yoni@h puru@sa iti cintyam._]

[Footnote 2: Lokâyata (literally, that which is found among people in general) seems to have been the name by which all carvâka doctrines were generally known. See Gu@naratna on the Lokâyatas.]

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probable however that the allusion to the materialists contained in the Upani@sads refers to these or to similar schools. The Cârvâkas did not believe in the authority of the Vedas or any other holy scripture. According to them there was no soul. Life and consciousness were the products of the combination of matter, just as red colour was the result of mixing up white with yellow or as the power of intoxication was generated in molasses (_madas'akti_). There is no after-life, and no reward of actions, as there is neither virtue nor vice. Life is only for enjoyment. So long as it lasts it is needless to think of anything else, as everything will end with death, for when at death the body is burnt to ashes there cannot be any rebirth. They do not believe in the validity of inference. Nothing is trustworthy but what can be directly perceived, for it is impossible to determine that the distribution of the middle term (_hetu_) has not depended upon some extraneous condition, the absence of which might destroy the validity of any particular piece of inference. If in any case any inference comes to be true, it is only an accidental fact and there is no certitude about it. They were called Cârvâka because they would only eat but would not accept any other religious or moral responsibility. The word comes from _carv_ to eat. The Dhûrtta Cârvâkas held that there was nothing but the four elements of earth, water, air and fire, and that the body was but the result of atomic combination. There was no self or soul, no virtue or vice. The Sus'ik@sita Cârvâkas held that there was a soul apart from the body but that it also was destroyed with the destruction of the body. The original work of the Cârvâkas was written in sûtras probably by B@rhaspati. Jayanta and Gu@naratna quote two sûtras from it. Short accounts of this school may be found in Jayanta's _Nyâyamañjarî_, Mâdhava's _Sarvadars'anasa@mgraha_ and Gu@naratna's _Tarkarahasyadîpikâ_. _Mahâbhârata_ gives an account of a man called Cârvâka meeting Yudhi@s@thira.

Side by side with the doctrine of the Cârvâka materialists we are reminded of the Âjîvakas of which Makkhali Gosâla, probably a renegade disciple of the Jain saint Mahâvîra and a contemporary of Buddha and Mahâvîra, was the leader. This was a thorough-going determinism denying the free will of man and his moral responsibility for any so-called good or evil. The essence of Makkhali's system is this, that "there is no cause, either proximate or remote, for the depravity of beings or for their purity. They

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become so without any cause. Nothing depends either on one's own efforts or on the efforts of others, in short nothing depends on any human effort, for there is no such thing as power or energy, or human exertion. The varying conditions at any time are due to fate, to their environment and their own nature [Footnote ref 1]."

Another sophistical school led by Ajita Kesakambali taught that there was no fruit or result of good or evil deeds; there is no other world, nor was this one real; nor had parents nor any former lives any efficacy with respect to this life. Nothing that we can do prevents any of us alike from being wholly brought to an end at death [Footnote ref 2].

There were thus at least three currents of thought: firstly the sacrificial Karma by the force of the magical rites of which any person could attain anything he desired; secondly the Upani@sad teaching that the Brahman, the self, is the ultimate reality and being, and all else but name and form which pass away but do not abide. That which permanently abides without change is the real and true, and this is self. Thirdly the nihilistic conceptions that there is no law, no abiding reality, that everything comes into being by a fortuitous concourse of circumstances or by some unknown fate. In each of these schools, philosophy had probably come to a deadlock. There were the Yoga practices prevalent in the country and these were accepted partly on the strength of traditional custom among certain sections, and partly by virtue of the great spiritual, intellectual and physical power which they gave to those who performed them. But these had no rational basis behind them on which they could lean for support. These were probably then just tending towards being affiliated to the nebulous Sâ@mkhya doctrines which had grown up among certain sections. It was at this juncture that we find Buddha erecting a new superstructure of thought on altogether original lines which thenceforth opened up a new avenue of philosophy for all posterity to come. If the Being of the Upani@sads, the superlatively motionless, was the only real, how could it offer scope for further new speculations, as it had already discarded all other matters of interest? If everything was due to a reasonless fortuitous concourse of circumstances, reason could not proceed further in the direction to create any philosophy of the unreason. The magical

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[Footnote 1: _Sâmaññaphala-sutta_, _Dîgha_, II. 20. Hoernlé's article on the Âjîvakas, E.R.E.]

[Footnote 2: _Sâmaññaphala-sutta_, II. 23.]

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force of the hocus-pocus of sorcery or sacrifice had but little that was inviting for philosophy to proceed on. If we thus take into account the state of Indian philosophic culture before Buddha, we shall be better able to understand the value of the Buddhistic contribution to philosophy.

Buddha: his Life.

Gautama the Buddha was born in or about the year 560 B.C. in the Lumbini Grove near the ancient town of Kapilavastu in the now dense terai region of Nepal. His father was Suddhodana, a prince of the Sâkya clan, and his mother Queen Mahâmâyâ. According to the legends it was foretold of him that he would enter upon the ascetic life when he should see "A decrepit old man, a diseased man, a dead man, and a monk." His father tried his best to keep him away from these by marrying him and surrounding him with luxuries. But on successive occasions, issuing from the palace, he was confronted by those four things, which filled him with amazement and distress, and realizing the impermanence of all earthly things determined to forsake his home and try if he could to discover some means to immortality to remove the sufferings of men. He made his "Great Renunciation" when he was twenty-nine years old. He travelled on foot to Râjag@rha (Rajgir) and thence to Uruvelâ, where in company with other five ascetics he entered upon a course of extreme self-discipline, carrying his austerities to such a length that his body became utterly emaciated and he fell down senseless and was believed to be dead. After six years of this great struggle he was convinced that the truth was not to be won by the way of extreme asceticism, and resuming an ordinary course of life at last attained absolute and supreme enlightenment. Thereafter the Buddha spent a life prolonged over forty-five years in travelling from place to place and preaching the doctrine to all who would listen. At the age of over eighty years Buddha realized that the time drew near for him to die. He then entered into Dhyana and passing through its successive stages attained nirvâna [Footnote ref 1]. The vast developments which the system of this great teacher underwent in the succeeding centuries in India and in other countries have not been thoroughly studied, and it will probably take yet many years more before even the materials for

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[Footnote 1: _Mahâparinibbânasuttanta_, _Dîgha_, XVI. 6, 8, 9.]

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such a study can be collected. But from what we now possess it is proved incontestably that it is one of the most wonderful and subtle productions of human wisdom. It is impossible to overestimate the debt that the philosophy, culture and civilization of India owe to it in all her developments for many succeeding centuries.

Early Buddhist Literature.

The Buddhist Pâli Scriptures contain three different collections: the Sutta (relating to the doctrines), the Vinaya (relating to the discipline of the monks) and the Abhidhamma (relating generally to the same subjects as the suttas but dealing with them in a scholastic and technical manner). Scholars of Buddhistic religious history of modern times have failed as yet to fix any definite dates for the collection or composition of the different parts of the aforesaid canonical literature of the Buddhists. The suttas were however composed before the Abhidhamma and it is very probable that almost the whole of the canonical works were completed before 241 B.C., the date of the third council during the reign of King Asoka. The suttas mainly deal with the doctrine (Dhamma) of the Buddhistic faith whereas the Vinaya deals only with the regulations concerning the discipline of the monks. The subject of the Abhidhamma is mostly the same as that of the suttas, namely, the interpretation of the Dhamma. Buddhaghos@a in his introduction to _Atthasâlinî_, the commentary on the _Dhammasa@nga@ni_, says that the Abhidhamma is so called (_abhi_ and _dhamma_) because it describes the same Dhammas as are related in the suttas in a more intensified (_dhammâtireka_) and specialized (_dhammavisesatthena_) manner. The Abhidhammas do not give any new doctrines that are not in the suttas, but they deal somewhat elaborately with those that are already found in the suttas. Buddhagho@sa in distinguishing the special features of the suttas from the Abhidhammas says that the acquirement of the former leads one to attain meditation (_samâdhi_) whereas the latter leads one to attain wisdom (_paññâsampadam_). The force of this statement probably lies in this, that the dialogues of the suttas leave a chastening effect on the mind, the like of which is not to be found in the Abhidhammas, which busy themselves in enumerating the Buddhistic doctrines and defining them in a technical manner, which is more fitted to produce a reasoned

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insight into the doctrines than directly to generate a craving for following the path of meditation for the extinction of sorrow. The Abhidhamma known as the _Kathâvatthu_ differs from the other Abhidhammas in this, that it attempts to reduce the views of the heterodox schools to absurdity. The discussions proceed in the form of questions and answers, and the answers of the opponents are often shown to be based on contradictory assumptions.

The suttas contain five groups of collections called the Nikâyas. These are (1) _Dîgha Nikâya_, called so on account of the length of the suttas contained in it; (2) _Majjhima Nikâya_ (middling Nikâya), called so on account of the middling extent of the suttas contained in it; (3) _Sa@myutta Nikâya_ (Nikâyas relating to special meetings), called sa@myutta on account of their being delivered owing to the meetings (_sa@myoga_) of special persons which were the occasions for them; (4) _A@nguttara Nikâya_, so called because in each succeeding book of this work the topics of discussion increase by one [Footnote ref 1]; (5) _Khuddaka Nikâya_ containing _Khuddaka pâ@tha, Dhammapada, Udâna, Itivuttaka, Sutta Nipâta, Vimâna-vatthu, Petavatthu, Theragathâ, Therîgathâ, Jâtaka, Niddesa, Pa@tisambhidâmagga, Apadâna, Buddhava@msa, Caryâpi@taka._

The Abhidhammas are _Pa@t@thâna, Dhammasa@nga@ni, Dhâtukathâ, Puggalapaññatti, Vibha@nga, Yamaka_ and _Kathâvatthu_. There exists also a large commentary literature on diverse parts of the above works known as atthakathâ. The work known as _Milinda Pañha_ (questions of King Milinda), of uncertain date, is of considerable philosophical value.

The doctrines and views incorporated in the above literature is generally now known as Sthaviravâda or Theravâda. On the origin of the name Theravâda (the doctrine of the elders) _Dîpava@msa_ says that since the Theras (elders) met (at the first council) and collected the doctrines it was known as the Thera Vâda [Footnote ref 2]. It does not appear that Buddhism as it appears in this Pâli literature developed much since the time of Buddhagho@sa (4OO A.D.), the writer of _Visuddhimagga_ (a compendium of theravâda doctrines) and the commentator of _Dîghanikâya, Dhammasa@nga@ni_, etc.

Hindu philosophy in later times seems to have been influenced by the later offshoots of the different schools of Buddhism, but it does not appear that Pâli Buddhism had any share in it. I

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[Footnote 1: See Buddhagho@sa's _Atthasâlini_, p. 25.]

[Footnote 2: Oldenberg's _Dîpava@msa_, p. 31.]

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have not been able to discover any old Hindu writer who could be considered as being acquainted with Pâli.

The Doctrine of Causal Connection of early Buddhism [Footnote ref 1].

The word Dhamma in the Buddhist scriptures is used generally in four senses: (1) Scriptural texts, (2) quality (_gu@na_), (3) cause (_hetu_) and (4) unsubstantial and soulless (_nissatta nijjîva_ [Footnote ref 2]). Of these it is the last meaning which is particularly important, from the point of view of Buddhist philosophy. The early Buddhist philosophy did not accept any fixed entity as determining all reality; the only things with it were the unsubstantial phenomena and these were called dhammas. The question arises that if there is no substance or reality how are we to account for the phenomena? But the phenomena are happening and passing away and the main point of interest with the Buddha was to find out "What being what else is," "What happening what else happens" and "What not being what else is not." The phenomena are happening in a series and we see that there being certain phenomena there become some others; by the happening of some events others also are produced. This is called (_pa@ticca-samuppâda_) dependent origination. But it is difficult to understand what is the exact nature of this dependence. The question as _Sa@myutta Nikâya_ (II. 5) has it with which the Buddha started before attaining Buddhahood was this: in what miserable condition are the people! they are born, they decay, they die, pass away and are born again; and they do not know the path of escape from this decay, death and misery.

How to know the Way to escape from this misery of decay and death. Then it occurred to him what being there, are decay and death, depending on what do they come? As he thought deeply into the root of the matter, it occurred to him that decay and death can only occur when there is birth (_jâti_), so they depend

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[Footnote 1: There are some differences of opinion as to whether one could take the doctrine of the twelve links of causes as we find it in the _Sa@myutta Nikâya_ as the earliest Buddhist view, as Sa@myutta does not represent the oldest part of the suttas. But as this doctrine of the twelve causes became regarded as a fundamental Buddhist doctrine and as it gives us a start in philosophy I have not thought it fit to enter into conjectural discussions as to the earliest form. Dr E.J. Thomas drew my attention to this fact.]

[Footnote 2: _Atthasâtinî_, p. 38. There are also other senses in which the word is used, as _dhamma-desanâ_ where it means religious teaching. The _La@nkâvatâra_ described Dharmma as _gu@nadravyapûrvakâ dharmmâ_, i.e. Dharmmas are those which are associated as attributes and substances.]

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on birth. What being there, is there birth, on what does birth depend? Then it occurred to him that birth could only be if there were previous existence (_bhava_) [Footnote ref 1]. But on what does this existence depend, or what being there is there _bhava_. Then it occurred to him that there could not be existence unless there were holding fast (_upâdâna_) [Footnote ref 2]. But on what did upâdâna depend? It occurred to him that it was desire (_ta@nhâ_) on which upâdâna depended. There can be upâdâna if there is desire (_tanhâ_) [Footnote ref 3]. But what being there, can there be desire? To this question it occurred to him that there must be feeling (_vedanâ_) in order that there may be desire. But on what does vedanâ depend, or rather what must be there, that there may be feeling (_vedanâ_)? To this it occurred to him that there must be a sense-contact (_phassa_) in order that there may be feeling [Footnote ref 4]. If there should be no sense-contact there would be no feeling. But on what does sense-contact depend? It occurred to him that as there are six sense-contacts, there are the six fields of contact (_âyatana_) [Footnote ref 5]. But on what do the six âyatanas depend? It occurred to him that there must be the mind and body (_nâmarûpa_) in order that there may be the six fields of contact [Footnote ref 6]; but on what does nâmarûpa depend? It occurred to him that without consciousness (_viññâna_) there could be no nâmarûpa [Footnote ref 8]. But what being there would there

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[Footnote 1: This word bhava is interpreted by Candrakîrtti in his _Mâdhyamîka v@rtti,_ p. 565 (La Vallée Poussin's edition) as the deed which brought about rebirth (_punarbhavajanaka@m karma samutthâpayali kâyena vâcâ manasâ ca_).]

[Footnote 2: _Atthasâlinî_, p. 385, upâdânantida@lhagaha@na@m. Candrakîrtti in explaining upâdâna says that whatever thing a man desires he holds fast to the materials necessary for attaining it (_yatra vastuni sat@r@s@nastasya vastuno 'rjanâya vi@dhapanâya upâdânamupâdatte tatra tatra prârthayate_). _Mâdhyamîka v@rtti_, p. 565.]

[Footnote 3: Candrakîrtti describes t@r@s@nâ as _âsvadanâbhinandanâdhyavasânasthânâdâtmapriyarûpairviyogo mâ bhût, nityamaparityâgo bhavediti, yeyam prârthanâ_--the desire that there may not ever be any separation from those pleasures, etc., which are dear to us. _Ibid._ 565.]

[Footnote 4: We read also of phassâyatana and phassakâya. _M. N._ II. 261, III. 280, etc. Candrakîrtti says that _@sa@dbhirâyatanadvârai@h k@rtyaprak@riyâ@h pravarttante prajñâyante. tannâmarûpapratyaya@m @sa@dâyatanamucyate. sa@dbhyas`câyatanebhya@h @sa@tspars`akâyâ@h pravarttante. M.V._ 565.]

[Footnote 5: Âyatana means the six senses together with their objects. Âyatana literally is "Field of operation." Sa@lâyatana means six senses as six fields of operation. Candrakîrtti has _âyatanadvârai@h_.]

[Footnote 6: I have followed the translation of Aung in rendering nâmarûpa as mind and body, _Compendium_, p. 271. This seems to me to be fairly correct. The four skandhas are called nâma in each birth. These together with rûpa (matter) give us nâmarûpa (mind and body) which being developed render the activities through the six sense-gates possible so that there may be knowledge. Cf. _M. V._ 564. Govindânanda, the commentator on S'a@nkara's bhâsya on the _Brahma sûtras_ (II. ii. 19), gives a different interpretation of Namarûpa which may probably refer to the Vijñanavada view though we have no means at hand to verify it. He says--To think the momentary as the permanent is Avidya; from there come the samskaras of attachment, antipathy or anger, and infatuation; from there the first vijñana or thought of the foetus is produced, from that alayavijnana, and the four elements (which are objects of name and are hence called nama) are produced, and from those are produced the white and black, semen and blood called rûpa. Both Vacaspati and Amalananda agree with Govindananda in holding that nama signifies the semen and the ovum while rûpa means the visible physical body built out of them. Vijñaña entered the womb and on account of it namarupa were produced through the association of previous karma. See _Vedantakalpataru_, pp 274, 275. On the doctrine of the entrance of vijñaña into the womb compare _D N_ II. 63.]

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be viññâna. Here it occurred to him that in order that there might be viññâna there must be the conformations (_sa@nkhâra_) [Footnote ref 1]. But what being there are there the sa@nkhâras? Here it occurred to him that the sa@nkhâras can only be if there is ignorance (_avijjâ_). If avijjâ could be stopped then the sa@nkhâras will be stopped, and if the sa@nkhâras could be stopped viññâna could be stopped and so on [Footnote ref 2].

It is indeed difficult to be definite as to what the Buddha actually wished to mean by this cycle of dependence of existence sometimes called Bhavacakra (wheel of existence). Decay and death (_jarâmarana_) could not have happened if there was no birth [Footnote ref 3]. This seems to be clear. But at this point the difficulty begins. We must remember that the theory of rebirth was

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[Footnote 1: It is difficult to say what is the exact sense of the word here. The Buddha was one of the first few earliest thinkers to introduce proper philosophical terms and phraseology with a distinct philosophical method and he had often to use the same word in more or less different senses. Some of the philosophical terms at least are therefore rather elastic when compared with the terms of precise and definite meaning which we find in later Sanskrit thought. Thus in _S N_ III. p. 87, "_Sankhata@m abdisa@nkharonta_," sa@nkhara means that which synthesises the complexes. In the _Compendium_ it is translated as will, action. Mr. Aung thinks that it means the same as karma; it is here used in a different sense from what we find in the word sa@nkhâta khandha (viz mental states). We get a list of 51 mental states forming sa@nkhâta khandha in _Dhamma Sangam_, p 18, and another different set of 40 mental states in _Dharmasamgraha_, p. 6. In addition to these forty _cittasamprayuktasa@mskâra_, it also counts thirteen _cittaviprayuktasa@mskara_. Candrakirtti interprets it as meaning attachment, antipathy and infatuation, p 563. Govindananda, the commentator on S'a@nkara's _Brahma sutra_ (II. ii. 19), also interprets the word in connection with the doctrine of _Pratityasamutpada_ as attachment, antipathy and infatuation.]

[Footnote 2: _Samyutta Nikaya_, II. 7-8.]

[Footnote 3: Jara and marana bring in s'oka (grief), paridevanâ (lamentation), duhkha (suffering), daurmanasya (feeling of wretchedness and miserableness) and upayasa (feeling of extreme destitution) at the prospect of one's death or the death of other dear ones. All these make up suffering and are the results of jâti (birth). _M. V._ (B.T.S.p. 208). S'a@nkara in his bhâsya counted all the terms from jarâ, separately. The whole series is to be taken as representing the entirety of duhkhaskandha.]

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enunciated in the Upani@sads. The B@rhadâra@nyaka says that just as an insect going to the end of a leaf of grass by a new effort collects itself in another so does the soul coming to the end of this life collect itself in another. This life thus presupposes another existence. So far as I remember there has seldom been before or after Buddha any serious attempt to prove or disprove the doctrine of rebirth [Footnote ref 1]. All schools of philosophy except the Cârvâkas believed in it and so little is known to us of the Cârvâka sûtras that it is difficult to say what they did to refute this doctrine. The Buddha also accepts it as a fact and does not criticize it. This life therefore comes only as one which had an infinite number of lives before, and which except in the case of a few emancipated ones would have an infinite number of them in the future. It was strongly believed by all people, and the Buddha also, when he came to think to what our present birth might be due, had to fall back upon another existence (_bhava_). If bhava means karma which brings rebirth as Candrakîrtti takes it to mean, then it would mean that the present birth could only take place on account of the works of a previous existence which determined it. Here also we are reminded of the Upani@sad note "as a man does so will he be born" (_Yat karma kurute tadabhisampadyate_, Brh IV. iv. 5). Candrakîrtti's interpretation of "bhava" as Karma (_punarbhavajanakam karma_) seems to me to suit better than "existence." The word was probably used rather loosely for _kammabhava_. The word bhava is not found in the earlier Upani@sads and was used in the Pâli scriptures for the first time as a philosophical term. But on what does this bhava depend? There could not have been a previous existence if people had not betaken themselves to things or works they desired. This betaking oneself to actions or things in accordance with desire is called upâdâna. In the Upani@sads we read, "whatever one betakes himself to, so does he work" (_Yatkraturbhavati tatkarmma kurute_, B@rh. IV. iv. 5). As this betaking to the thing depends upon desire {_t@r@s@nâ_}, it is said that in order that there may be upâdâna there must be tanhâ. In the Upani@sads also we read "Whatever one desires so does he betake himself to" (_sa yathâkâmo bhavati tatkraturbhavati_). Neither the word upâdâna nor t@rs@nâ (the Sanskrit word corresponding

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[Footnote 1: The attempts to prove the doctrine of rebirth in the Hindu philosophical works such as the Nyâya, etc., are slight and inadequate.]

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to ta@nhâ) is found in the earlier Upani@sads, but the ideas contained in them are similar to the words "_kratu_" and "_kâma_." Desire (ta@nhâ) is then said to depend on feeling or sense-contact. Sense-contact presupposes the six senses as fields of operation [Footnote ref 1]. These six senses or operating fields would again presuppose the whole psychosis of the man (the body and the mind together) called nâmarûpa. We are familiar with this word in the Upani@sads but there it is used in the sense of determinate forms and names as distinguished from the indeterminate indefinable reality [Footnote ref 2]. Buddhagho@sa in the _Visuddhimagga_ says that by "Name" are meant the three groups beginning with sensation (i.e. sensation, perception and the predisposition); by "Form" the four elements and form derivative from the four elements [Footnote ref 3]. He further says that name by itself can produce physical changes, such as eating, drinking, making movements or the like. So form also cannot produce any of those changes by itself. But like the cripple and the blind they mutually help one another and effectuate the changes [Footnote ref 4]. But there exists no heap or collection of material for the production of Name and Form; "but just as when a lute is played upon, there is no previous store of sound; and when the sound comes into existence it does not come from any such store; and when it ceases, it does not go to any of the cardinal or intermediate points of the compass;...in exactly the same way all the elements of being both those with form and those without, come into existence after having previously been non-existent and having come into existence pass away [Footnote ref 5]." Nâmarûpa taken in this sense will not mean the whole of mind and body, but only the sense functions and the body which are found to operate in the six doors of sense (_sa@lâyatana_). If we take nâmarûpa in this sense, we can see that it may be said to depend upon the viññâna (consciousness). Consciousness has been compared in the _Milinda Pañha_ with a watchman at the middle of

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[Footnote 1: The word âyatana is found in many places in the earlier Upani@sads in the sense of "field or place," Châ. I. 5, B@rh. III. 9. 10, but @sa@dâyatana does not occur.]

[Footnote 2: Candrakîrtti interprets nâma as _Vedanâdayo' rûpi@nas'catvâra@h skandhâstatra tatra bhave nâmayantîli nâma. saha rûpaskandhena ca nâma rûpam ceti nâmarûpamucyate._ The four skandhas in each specific birth act as name. These together with rûpa make nâmarûpa. _M. V._ 564.]

[Footnote 3: Warren's _Buddhism in Translations_, p. 184.]

[Footnote 4: _Ibid._ p. 185, _Visuddhimagga_, Ch. XVII.]

[Footnote 5: _Ibid._ pp. 185-186, _Visuddhimagga_, Ch. XVII.]

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the cross-roads beholding all that come from any direction [Footnote ref 1]. Buddhagho@sa in the _Atthasâlinî_ also says that consciousness means that which thinks its object. If we are to define its characteristics we must say that it knows (_vijânana_), goes in advance (_pubba@ngama_), connects (_sandhâna_), and stands on nâmarûpa (_nâmarûpapada@t@thânam_). When the consciousness gets a door, at a place the objects of sense are discerned (_ârammana-vibhâvana@t@thâne_) and it goes first as the precursor. When a visual object is seen by the eye it is known only by the consciousness, and when the dhammas are made the objects of (mind) mano, it is known only by the consciousness [Footnote ref 2]. Buddhagho@sa also refers here to the passage in the _Milinda Pañha_ we have just referred to. He further goes on to say that when states of consciousness rise one after another, they leave no gap between the previous state and the later and consciousness therefore appears as connected. When there are the aggregates of the five khandhas it is lost; but there are the four aggregates as nâmarûpa, it stands on nâma and therefore it is said that it stands on nâmarûpa. He further asks, Is this consciousness the same as the previous consciousness or different from it? He answers that it is the same. Just so, the sun shows itself with all its colours, etc., but he is not different from those in truth; and it is said that just when the sun rises, its collected heat and yellow colour also rise then, but it does not mean that the sun is different from these. So the citta or consciousness takes the phenomena of contact, etc., and cognizes them. So though it is the same as they are yet in a sense it is different from them [Footnote ref 3].

To go back to the chain of twelve causes, we find that jâti (birth) is the cause of decay and death, _jarâmara@na_, etc. Jâti is the appearance of the body or the totality of the five skandhas [Footnote ref 4]. Coming to bhava which determines jâti, I cannot think of any better rational explanation of bhava, than that I have already

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[Footnote 1: Warren's _Buddhism in Translations_, p. 182, _Milinda Pañha_ (628).]

[Footnote 2: _Atthasâlinî_, p. 112...]

[Footnote 3: _Ibid._ p. 113, _Yathâ hi rûpâdîni upâdâya paññattâ suriyâdayo na atthato rûpâdîhi aññe honti ten' eva yasmin samaye suriyo udeti tasmin samaye tassa tejâ-sa@nkhâtam rûpa@m pîti eva@m vuccamâne pi na rûpâdihi añño suriyo nâma atthi. Tathâ cittam phassâdayo dhamme upâdâya paññapiyati. Atthato pan' ettha tehi aññam eva. Tena yasmin samaye cittam uppanna@m hoti eka@msen eva tasmin samaye phassâdihi atthato aññad eva hotî ti_.]

[Footnote 4: "_Jâtirdehajanma pañcaskandhasamudâya@h,_" Govindânanda's _Ratnaprabhâ_ on S'a@nkara's bhâ@sya, II. ii. 19.]

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suggested, namely, the works (_karma_) which produce the birth [Footnote ref 1]. Upâdâna is an advanced t@r@s@nâ leading to positive clinging [Footnote ref 2]. It is produced by t@r@s@nâ (desire) which again is the result of vedanâ (pleasure and pain). But this vedanâ is of course vedanâ with ignorance (_avidyâ_), for an Arhat may have also vedanâ but as he has no avidyâ, the vedanâ cannot produce t@r@s@nâ in turn. On its development it immediately passes into upâdâna. Vedanâ means pleasurable, painful or indifferent feeling. On the one side it leads to t@r@s@nâ (desire) and on the other it is produced by sense-contact (_spars'a_). Prof. De la Vallée Poussin says that S'rîlâbha distinguishes three processes in the production of vedanâ. Thus first there is the contact between the sense and the object; then there is the knowledge of the object, and then there is the vedanâ. Depending on _Majjhima Nikâya_, iii. 242, Poussin gives the other opinion that just as in the case of two sticks heat takes place simultaneously with rubbing, so here also vedanâ takes place simultaneously with spars'a for they are "produits par un même complexe de causes (_sâmagrî_) [Footnote ref 3]."

Spars'a is produced by @sa@dâyatana, @sa@dâyatana by nâmarûpa, and nâmarûpa by vijñâna, and is said to descend in the womb of the mother and produce the five skandhas as nâmarûpa, out of which the six senses are specialized.

Vijñâna in this connection probably means the principle or germ of consciousness in the womb of the mother upholding the five elements of the new body there. It is the product of the past karmas (_sa@nkhâra_) of the dying man and of his past consciousness too.

We sometimes find that the Buddhists believed that the last thoughts of the dying man determined the nature of his next

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[Footnote 1: Govindananda in his _Ratnaprabhâ_ on S'a@nkara's bhâ@sya, II. ii. 19, explains "bhava" as that from which anything becomes, as merit and demerit (_dharmâdi_). See also _Vibhanga_, p. 137 and Warren's _Buddhism in Translations_, p. 201. Mr Aung says in _Abhidhammatthasa@ngaha_, p. 189, that bhavo includes kammabhavo (the active side of an existence) and upapattibhavo (the passive side). And the commentators say that bhava is a contraction of "_kammabhava_" or Karma-becoming i.e. karmic activity.]

[Footnote 2: Prof. De la Vallée Poussin in his _Théoric des Douze Causes_, p. 26, says that _S'âlistambhasûtra_ explains the word "upâdâna" as "t@r@s@nâvaipulya" or hyper-t@r@s@nâ and Candrakîrtti also gives the same meaning, _M. V._ (B.T.S.p. 210). Govmdânanda explains "upâdâna" as prav@rtti (movement) generated by t@r@s@nâ (desire), i.e. the active tendency in pursuance of desire. But if upâdâna means "support" it would denote all the five skandhas. Thus _Madhyamaka v@rtti_ says _upâdânam pañcaskandhalak@[email protected]ñcopâdânaskandhâkhyam upâdânam. M.V._ XXVII. 6.]

[Footnote 3: Poussin's _Théorie des Douze Causes_, p. 23.

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birth [Footnote ref 1]. The manner in which the vijñâna produced in the womb is determined by the past vijñâna of the previous existence is according to some authorities of the nature of a reflected image, like the transmission of learning from the teacher to the disciple, like the lighting of a lamp from another lamp or like the impress of a stamp on wax. As all the skandhas are changing in life, so death also is but a similar change; there is no great break, but the same uniform sort of destruction and coming into being. New skandhas are produced as simultaneously as the two scale pans of a balance rise up and fall, in the same manner as a lamp is lighted or an image is reflected. At the death of the man the vijñâna resulting from his previous karmas and vijñânas enters into the womb of that mother (animal, man or the gods) in which the next skandhas are to be matured. This vijñâna thus forms the principle of the new life. It is in this vijñâna that name (_nâma_) and form (_rûpa_) become associated.

The vijñâna is indeed a direct product of the sa@mskâras and the sort of birth in which vijñâna should bring down (_nâmayati_) the new existence (_upapatti_) is determined by the sa@mskâras [Footnote ref 2], for in reality the happening of death (_mara@nabhava_) and the instillation of the vijñâna as the beginning of the new life (_upapattibhava_) cannot be simultaneous, but the latter succeeds just at the next moment, and it is to signify this close succession that they are said to be simultaneous. If the vijñâna had not entered the womb then no nâmarûpa could have appeared [Footnote ref 3].

This chain of twelve causes extends over three lives. Thus avidyâ and sa@mskâra of the past life produce the vijñâna, nâmarupa,

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[Footnote 1: The deities of the gardens, the woods, the trees and the plants, finding the master of the house, Citta, ill said "make your resolution, 'May I be a cakravarttî king in a next existence,'" _Sa@myutta_, IV. 303.]

[Footnote 2: "_sa cedânandavijñâna@m mâtu@hkuk@sim nâvakrâmeta, na tat kalalam kalalatvâya sannivartteta_," _M. V._ 552. Compare _Caraka, S'ârîra_, III. 5-8, where he speaks of a "upapîduka sattva" which connects the soul with body and by the absence of which the character is changed, the senses become affected and life ceases, when it is in a pure condition one can remember even the previous births; character, purity, antipathy, memory, fear, energy, all mental qualities are produced out of it. Just as a chariot is made by the combination of many elements, so is the foetus.]

[Footnote 3: _Madhyamaka v@riti_ (B.T.S. 202-203). Poussin quotes from _Dîgha_, II. 63, "si le vijñâna ne descendait pas dans le sein maternel la namarupa s'y constituerait-il?" Govindânanda on S'a@nkara's commentary on the _Brahma-sûtras_ (II. ii. 19) says that the first consciousness (vijñâna) of the foetus is produced by the sa@mskâras of the previous birth, and from that the four elements (which he calls nâma) and from that the white and red, semen and ovum, and the first stage of the foetus (_kalala-budbudâvasthâ_} is produced.]

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@sa@dâyatana, spars'a, vedanâ, t@r@s@nâ, upâdâna and the bhava (leading to another life) of the present actual life. This bhava produces the jâti and jarâmara@na of the next life [Footnote ref l].

It is interesting to note that these twelve links in the chain extending in three sections over three lives are all but the manifestations of sorrow to the bringing in of which they naturally determine one another. Thus _Abhidhammatthasa@ngaha_ says "each of these twelve terms is a factor. For the composite term 'sorrow,' etc. is only meant to show incidental consequences of birth. Again when 'ignorance' and 'the actions of the mind' have been taken into account, craving (_t@r@s@nâ_), grasping (_upâdâna_) and (_karma_) becoming (_bhava_) are implicitly accounted for also. In the same manner when craving, grasping and (_karma_) becoming have been taken into account, ignorance and the actions of the mind are (implicitly) accounted for, also; and when birth, decay, and death are taken into account, even the fivefold fruit, to wit (rebirth), consciousness, and the rest are accounted for. And thus:

Five causes in the Past and Now a fivefold 'fruit.'

Five causes Now and yet to come a fivefold 'fruit' make up the Twenty Modes, the Three Connections (1. sa@nkhâra and viññâna, 2. vedanâ and tanhâ, 3. bhava and jâti) and the four groups (one causal group in the Past, one resultant group in the Present, one causal group in the Present and one resultant group in the Future, each group consisting of five modes) [Footnote ref 2]."

These twelve interdependent links (_dvâdas'â@nga_) represent the pa@ticcasamuppâda (_pratâtyasamutpâda_) doctrines (dependent origination) [Footnote ref 3] which are themselves but sorrow and lead to cycles of sorrow. The term pa@ticcasamuppâda or pratîtyasamutpâda has been differently interpreted in later Buddhist literature [Footnote ref 4].

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[Footnote 1: This explanation probably cannot be found in the early Pâli texts; but Buddhagho@sa mentions it in _Suma@ngalavilâsinî_ on _Mahânidâna suttanta_. We find it also in _Abhidhammatthasa@ngaha_, VIII. 3. Ignorance and the actions of the mind belong to the past; "birth," "decay and death" to the future; the intermediate eight to the present. It is styled as tri@kâ@n@daka (having three branches) in _Abhidkarmakos'a_, III. 20-24. Two in the past branch, two in the future and eight in the middle "_sa pratîtyasamutpâdo dvâdas'â@ngastrikâ@n@daka@h pûrvâparântayordve dve madhye@s@tau_."]

[Footnote 2: Aung and Mrs Rhys Davids' translation of _Abhidhammatthasa@ngaha_, pp. 189-190.]

[Footnote 3: The twelve links are not always constant. Thus in the list given in the _Dialogues of the Buddha_, II. 23 f., avijjâ and sa@nkhâra have been omitted and the start has been made with consciousness, and it has been said that "Cognition turns back from name and form; it goes not beyond."]

[Footnote 4: _M. V._ p. 5 f.]

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Samutpâda means appearance or arising (_prâdurbhdâva_) and pratîtya means after getting (_prati+i+ya_); combining the two we find, arising after getting (something). The elements, depending on which there is some kind of arising, are called hetu (cause) and paccaya (ground). These two words however are often used in the same sense and are interchangeable. But paccaya is also used in a specific sense. Thus when it is said that avijjâ is the paccaya of sa@nkhâra it is meant that avijjâ is the ground (_@thiti_) of the origin of the sa@nkhâras, is the ground of their movement, of the instrument through which they stand (_nimitta@t@thiti_), of their ayuhana (conglomeration), of their interconnection, of their intelligibility, of their conjoint arising, of their function as cause and of their function as the ground with reference to those which are determined by them. Avijjâ in all these nine ways is the ground of sa@nkhâra both in the past and also in the future, though avijjâ itself is determined in its turn by other grounds [Footnote ref 1]. When we take the betu aspect of the causal chain, we cannot think of anything else but succession, but when we take the paccaya aspect we can have a better vision into the nature of the cause as ground. Thus when avijjâ is said to be the ground of the sa@nkhâras in the nine ways mentioned above, it seems reasonable to think that the sa@nkhâras were in some sense regarded as special manifestations of avijjâ [Footnote ref 2]. But as this point was not further developed in the early Buddhist texts it would be unwise to proceed further with it.

The Khandhas.

The word khandha (Skr. skandha) means the trunk of a tree and is generally used to mean group or aggregate [Footnote ref 3]. We have seen that Buddha said that there was no âtman (soul). He said that when people held that they found the much spoken of soul, they really only found the five khandhas together or any one of them. The khandhas are aggregates of bodily and psychical states which are immediate with us and are divided into five

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[Footnote 1: See _Pa@tisambhidâmagga_, vol. I.p. 50; see also _Majjhima Nikâya_, I. 67, _sa@nkhâra...avijjânidânâ avijjâsamudayâ avijjâjâtikâ avijjâpabhavâ_.]

[Footnote 2: In the Yoga derivation of asmitâ (egoism), râga (attachment), dve@sa (antipathy) and abhinives'a (self love) from avidyâ we find also that all the five are regarded as the five special stages of the growth of avidyâ (_pañcaparvî avidyâ_).]

[Footnote 3: The word skandha is used in Chândogya, II. 23 (_trayo dharmaskandhâ@h yajña@h adhyayanam dânam_) in the sense of branches and in almost the same sense in Maitrî, VII. II.]

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classes: (1) rûpa (four elements, the body, the senses), sense data, etc., (2) vedanâ (feeling--pleasurable, painful and indifferent), (3) saññâ (conceptual knowledge), (4) sa@nkhâra (synthetic mental states and the synthetic functioning of compound sense-affections, compound feelings and compound concepts), (5) viññâna (consciousness) [Footnote ref 1].

All these states rise depending one upon the other (_pa@ticcasamuppanna_) and when a man says that he perceives the self he only deludes himself, for he only perceives one or more of these. The word rûpa in rûpakhandha stands for matter and material qualities, the senses, and the sense data [Footnote ref 2]. But "rûpa" is also used in the sense of pure organic affections or states of mind as we find in the _Khandha Yamaka_, I.p. 16, and also in _Sa@myutta Nikâya_, III. 86. Rûpaskandha according to _Dharmasa@mgraha_ means the aggregate of five senses, the five sensations, and the implicatory communications associated in sense perceptions _vijñapti_).

The elaborate discussion of _Dhammasa@nga@ni_ begins by defining rûpa as "_cattâro ca mahâbhûtâ catunnañca mahâbhntanam upâdâya rûpam_" (the four mahâbhûtas or elements and that proceeding from the grasping of that is called rûpa) [Footnote ref 3]. Buddhagho@sa explains it by saying that rûpa means the four mahâbhûtas and those which arise depending (_nissâya_) on them as a modification of them. In the rûpa the six senses including their affections are also included. In explaining why the four elements are called mahâbhûtas, Buddhagho@sa says: "Just as a magician (_mâyâkâra_) makes the water which is not hard appear as hard, makes the stone which is not gold appear as gold; just as he himself though not a ghost nor a bird makes himself appear as a ghost or a bird, so these elements though not themselves blue make themselves appear as blue (_nîlam upâdâ rûpam_), not yellow, red, or white make themselves appear as yellow, red or white (odâtam upâdârûpam), so on account of their similarity to the appearances created by the magician they are called mahâbhûta [Footnote ref 4]."

In the _Sa@myutta Nikâya_ we find that the Buddha says, "O Bhikkhus it is called rûpam because it manifests (_rûpyati_); how

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[Footnote 1: _Sa@myutta Nikâya_, III. 86, etc.]

[Footnote 2: _Abhidhammatthasangaha_, J.P.T.S. 1884, p. 27 ff.]

[Footnote 3: _Dhammasa@nga@ni_, pp. 124-179.]

[Footnote 4: _Atthasâlinî_, p. 299.]

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does it manifest? It manifests as cold, and as heat, as hunger and as thirst, it manifests as the touch of gnats, mosquitos, wind, the sun and the snake; it manifests, therefore it is called rûpa [Footnote ref 1]."

If we take the somewhat conflicting passages referred to above for our consideration and try to combine them so as to understand what is meant by rûpa, I think we find that that which manifested itself to the senses and organs was called rûpa. No distinction seems to have been made between the sense-data as colours, smells, etc., as existing in the physical world and their appearance as sensations. They were only numerically different and the appearance of the sensations was dependent upon the sense-data and the senses but the sense-data and the sensations were "rûpa." Under certain conditions the sense-data were followed by the sensations. Buddhism did not probably start with the same kind of division of matter and mind as we now do. And it may not be out of place to mention that such an opposition and duality were found neither in the Upani@sads nor in the Sâ@mkhya system which is regarded by some as pre-Buddhistic. The four elements manifested themselves in certain forms and were therefore called rûpa; the forms of affection that appeared were also called rûpa; many other mental states or features which appeared with them were also called rûpa [Footnote ref 2]. The âyatanas or the senses were also called rûpa [Footnote ref 3]. The mahâbhûtas or four elements were themselves but changing manifestations, and they together with all that appeared in association with them were called rûpa and formed the rûpa khandha (the classes of sense-materials, sense-data, senses and sensations).

In _Sa@myutta Nikâya_ (III. 101) it is said that "the four mahâbhûtas were the hetu and the paccaya for the communication of the rûpakkhandha (_rûpakkhandhassa paññâpanâya_). Contact (sense-contact, phassa) is the cause of the communication of feelings (_vedanâ_); sense-contact was also the hetu and paccaya for the communication of the saññâkkhandha; sense-contact is also the hetu and paccaya for the communication of the sa@nkhârakkhandha. But nâmarûpa is the hetu and the paccaya for the communication of the viññânakkhandha." Thus not only feelings arise on account of the sense-contact but saññâ and sa@nkhâra also arise therefrom. Saññâ is that where specific knowing or

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[Footnote 1: _Sa@myutta Nikâya_, III. 86.]

[Footnote 2: _Khandhayamaka_.]

[Footnote 3: _Dhammasanga@ni_, p. 124 ff.]

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conceiving takes place. This is the stage where the specific distinctive knowledge as the yellow or the red takes place.

Mrs. Rhys Davids writing on saññâ says: "In editing the second book of the Abhidhamma pi@taka I found a classification distinguishing between saññâ as cognitive assimilation on occasion of sense, and saññâ as cognitive assimilation of ideas by way of naming. The former is called perception of resistance, or opposition (_patigha-saññâ_). This, writes Buddhagho@sa, is perception on occasion of sight, hearing, etc., when consciousness is aware of the impact of impressions; of external things as different, we might say. The latter is called perception of the equivalent word or name (_adhivachânâ-saññâ_) and is exercised by the _sensus communis_ (mano), when e.g. 'one is seated...and asks another who is thoughtful: "What are you thinking of?" one perceives through his speech.' Thus there are two stages of saññâ-consciousness, 1. contemplating sense-impressions, 2. ability to know what they are by naming [Footnote ref 1]."

About sa@nkhâra we read in _Sa@myutta Nikâya_ (III. 87) that it is called sa@nkhâra because it synthesises (_abhisa@nkharonti_), it is that which conglomerated rûpa as rûpa, conglomerated saññâ as saññâ, sa@nkhâra as sa@nkhâra and consciousness (_viññâna_) as consciousness. It is called sa@nkhâra because it synthesises the conglomerated (_sa@nkhatam abhisa@nkharonti_). It is thus a synthetic function which synthesises the passive rûpa, saññâ, sa@nkhâra and viññâna elements. The fact that we hear of 52 sa@nkhâra states and also that the sa@nkhâra exercises its synthetic activity on the conglomerated elements in it, goes to show that probably the word sa@nkhâra is used in two senses, as mental states and as synthetic activity.

Viññâna or consciousness meant according to Buddhagho@sa, as we have already seen in the previous section, both the stage at which the intellectual process started and also the final resulting consciousness.

Buddhagho@sa in explaining the process of Buddhist psychology says that "consciousness(_citta_)first comes into touch (_phassa_) with its object (_âramma@na_) and thereafter feeling, conception (_saññâ_) and volition (_cetanâ_) come in. This contact is like the pillars of a palace, and the rest are but the superstructure built upon it (_dabbasambhârasadisâ_). But it should not be thought that contact

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[Footnote 1: _Buddhist Psychology_, pp. 49, 50.]

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is the beginning of the psychological processes, for in one whole consciousness (_ekacittasmi@m_) it cannot be said that this comes first and that comes after, so we can take contact in association with feeling (_vedanâ_), conceiving (_saññâ_) or volition (_cetanâ_); it is itself an immaterial state but yet since it comprehends objects it is called contact." "There is no impinging on one side of the object (as in physical contact), nevertheless contact causes consciousness and object to be in collision, as visible object and visual organs, sound and hearing; thus impact is its _function_; or it has impact as its _essential property_ in the sense of attainment, owing to the impact of the physical basis with the mental object. For it is said in the Commentary:--"contact in the four planes of existence is never without the characteristic of touch with the object; but the function of impact takes place in the five doors. For to sense, or five-door contact, is given the name 'having the characteristic of touch' as well as 'having the function of impact.' But to contact in the mind-door there is only the characteristic of touch, but not the function of impact. And then this Sutta is quoted 'As if, sire, two rams were to fight, one ram to represent the eye, the second the visible object, and their collision contact. And as if, sire, two cymbals were to strike against each other, or two hands were to clap against each other; one hand would represent the eye, the second the visible object and their collision contact. Thus contact has the characteristic of touch and the function of impact [Footnote ref 1]'. Contact is the manifestation of the union of the three (the object, the consciousness and the sense) and its effect is feeling (_vedanâ_); though it is generated by the objects it is felt in the consciousness and its chief feature is experiencing (_anubhava_) the taste of the object. As regards enjoying the taste of an object, the remaining associated states enjoy it only partially. Of contact there is (the function of) the mere touching, of perception the mere noting or perceiving, of volition the mere coordinating, of consciousness the mere cognizing. But feeling alone, through governance, proficiency, mastery, enjoys the taste of an object. For feeling is like the king, the remaining states are like the cook. As the cook, when he has prepared food of diverse tastes, puts it in a basket, seals it, takes it to the king, breaks the seal, opens the basket, takes the best of all the soup and curries, puts them in a dish, swallows (a portion) to find out

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[Footnote 1: _Atthasâlinî_, p. 108; translation, pp. 143-144.]

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whether they are faulty or not and afterwards offers the food of various excellent tastes to the king, and the king, being lord, expert, and master, eats whatever he likes, even so the mere tasting of the food by the cook is like the partial enjoyment of the object by the remaining states, and as the cook tastes a portion of the food, so the remaining states enjoy a portion of the object, and as the king, being lord, expert and master, eats the meal according to his pleasure so feeling being lord expert, and master, enjoys the taste of the object and therefore it is said that enjoyment or experience is its function [Footnote ref 1]."