Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra
by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön | 2001 | 941,039 words
This page describes “great loving-kindness and great compassion according to the mahayana� 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.
II. Great Loving-kindness and Great Compassion according to the ѲԲ
Taken separately or together, the 峾ٰī and 첹ṇ� of the Buddha literally invade the ѲԲ ūٰ where they appear on almost every page. It will suffice here to refer to the citations collected by ŚԳپ𱹲 in his Śikṣāsamuccaya, p. 286�290.
In their way of dealing with the subject, the śٰ of the Greater Vehicle are evidently inspired by the Sarvāstivādin masters mentioned above: see, e.g., the Abhidharmasamuccayavyākhyā, T 1606, k. 14, -p. 761c1�4, the Bodh. ū, p. 247�248, and above all, the Upanibandhana on the ṃg, p. 301�302 as note. The Two Vehicles agree on an essential point: the lesser 첹ṇ� practiced in the course of the Բ is of no use to beings, whereas the 첹ṇ� of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas is an efficacious skillful means.
There are, however, important points on the subject of which the Hināyāna and ѲԲ scholars disagree:
1) The Mahāyānists did not know or, in any case, did not retain the 82 miseries of human society given by the ʲṭi (I, p. 126�131) as bringing forth the great compassion of the Buddhas. In their place, they have a list of 32 ղٳ岵ٲⲹ 첹ṇāḥ drawn up by the Brahmaviśeṣacintiparipṛcchā (T 585, k. 1, p. 9b23�10a16; T 586, k. 2, p. 41c6�42a25; T 587, k. 2, p. 72b26�73b9) and reproduced in the Mahāvyut., no. 154�186.
2) In contrast to the Sarvāstivādins, they do not accept that the great compassion of the Buddhas is a conventional (ṃvṛtñԲ) and impure () knowledge on the pretext that it deals with non-existent beings. For the Mahāyānists, all the attributes of the Buddha are pure ().
The Sūtrālaṃkāra, p. 127 says: Mātāpitṛprabhṛtīnā� hi tṛṣṇāmaya� snehaḥsāvadhyā�, laukika첹ṇāvihāriṇām niravato ’pi ܰ쾱첹�, bodhisattvānā� tu 첹ṇāmayā� sneho niravadyaś ca laukikātikrāntaś ca. �
� In the mother, the father, etc., affection, made of desire, is blameworthy; in those who dwell in worldly compassion, affection is beyond reproach, but nevertheless worldly. But among bodhisattvas, affection, made of (pure) compassion is both beyond reproach and supraworldly.
The Bodh. ū, p. 247�248, says in turn:
ܱśܻ ca bhavati tadyathā niṣṭhāgatānā� bodhisattvānā� bodhisattvaūviśuddhyā tathāgatānā� ca tathāgataūviśuddhyā. �
“Great compassion is also very pure as is the case among the bodhisattvas who have attained the summit and in the ղٳ岵ٲ, by virtue of their respective levels.�
If the Sarvāstivādins take the great compassion and omniscience of the Buddhas to be conventional knowledges, worldly and impure, it is because they are concerned, more or less, with non-existent beings and things. But in the eyes of the Mahāyānists, the argument does not hold. Indeed, according to the Akṣayamatisūtra (see above, p. 1245F, 1272F), apart from the 첹ṇ� having beings and things as object, there is a 첹ṇ� without object (Բ). It is that of the Buddhas and also of the great bodhisattvas who, beginning at the eighth ū, are no longer disturbed by objects and notions: this eighth level, , is rightly called ԲṃsDz or DzԾٳٲ (cf. Sūtrālaṃkāra, p. 178; Bodh. ū, p. 367; ṃg, p. 202). In simple words, the great compassion of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas acts spontaneously outside of any consideration relating to beings and things. This is why it is so effective.
3) Finally, the Mahāyānists, instead of locating 峾ٰī and 첹ṇ� in the fourth Բ as the Sarvāstivādins do, place it in the great of the Buddhas, the Ჹ and Siṃhavikṛīdiṭasamādhi.
These are the ideas which the հé is going to develop in the following pages.