成唯識論述記 2.50

2.50

These merely possess functionality; they are not form transformed by great elements existing separately outside the mind. This word "functionality" refers to the function that gives rise to the five consciousnesses. By observing the function one knows the entity, just as by observing the function of producing a sprout, one inferentially knows that its entity exists. The Ālambanaparīkṣā also states: "The functionality of form upon consciousness is logically termed the five sense faculties." Because by means of function one inferentially knows that the essential nature exists, on this basis it is said that the sense faculties are merely seeds. The Viṃśikā says: "Consciousness arises from its own seed, and evolves resembling the marks of an object-domain." This is because the Ālambanaparīkṣā does not say "manifest form", but says "functionality". However, regarding this meaning now, the various assertions differ. The Mahāsāṃghikas and others say that the five kinds of material faculties have the flesh-mass as their entity; the eye does not see form, up to the body does not feel touch, because the sūtras say that the sense faculties are defined as the respective hardness, etc., transformed by the four great elements, and hence they are the flesh-mass; the flesh-mass is impure, and therefore does not see form, but being slightly superior to other forms, it is called pure. The Sarvāstivādin masters maintain that there are separate four great elements, and the five causes, such as production, serve as their primary cause (hetupratyaya) to transform the faculties, object-domains, and so forth; the great elements are solely the tangible of the body, and although the sense faculties are aggregations, being dharmas apart from the mind, they still truly possess real entity. The Tattvasiddhi-śāstra master, named Harivarman, originally went forth into the religious life within the Sāṃkhya tradition; based on this, he established their tenet, saying: from the four object-domains of form, sound, smell, and taste, the four great elements are transformed, which are impermanent dharmas; here, the four great elements collectively come to form the faculties, serving as the entity of the five faculties. According to the Sautrāntikas, although the entities of both the five material faculties and their domains are nominal, they are composed of real subtle atoms. The Prajñaptivāda encompasses both the nominal and the real, because they are subsumed separately under the gates of aggregates (skandha) and bases (āyatana). The Ekavyāvahārika school says that there is only the name, without any substantial entity whatsoever. The Lokāyata non-Buddhists posit that they are simply the four great elements. According to the Vaiśeṣikas, the four great elements are all subsumed under the category of substance (dravya); hardness, moisture, warmth, and motion are subsumed under the category of quality (guṇa). The eye perceives only three, excluding only the air element; the body faculty perceives four, and also perceives hardness, and so on. However, their school says: the eye faculty is fire; the ear faculty is space; the nose faculty is earth; the tongue faculty is water; the skin faculty is air. The Sāṃkhya masters say that primordial nature produces the great (mahat), the great produces egoity (ahaṃkāra), and egoity produces the five subtle elements (tanmātra)—namely form, sound, smell, taste, and touch; these five are objects experienced by the self, and when objects are experienced, there must be functions. The faculties refer to the eleven faculties; they cannot arise of themselves, but must rely on the five great elements. Because they rely on the five great elements, from the five subtle elements the five great elements are again produced; only after the five great elements are produced are the eleven faculties completed, since they are instruments capable of experiencing. Some say form transforms fire, and fire forms the eye; sound transforms space, and space forms the ear; the ear is unobjectionable (unobstructed), and sound is also unobstructed; smell transforms earth, and earth forms the nose; taste transforms water, and water forms the tongue; touch transforms air, and air forms the skin. Regarding the mental faculty (manas), there are two theories: one says it is the flesh-mass; one says it is non-material. For the one that is non-material, transformation is not spoken of; for the one that is material, transformation is spoken of, or it is said to be transformed only by earth, or that the five great elements can all transform the other faculties, and there is also the theory that the five great elements can universally transform it. However, now within the Mahāyāna, one explanation is: internal seeds of its own serve as its primary cause, and the manifest four great elements of the nimittabhāga transformed within the mind serve as the conditioning cause (adhipatipratyaya) to transform the form of faculties and domains; therefore this treatise says: they are not transformed by real great elements outside the mind. The second explanation says: the sense faculties are just seeds, because they are called functionality, and because they are called seeds, citing the scriptures as before. Among them there are three theories, which should be known below. Since their entity is not material form, they are not transformed by the four great elements of the external bases. The third explanation says: strictly speaking, the five faculties both encompass the manifest and seeds; however, the treatises mostly designate manifest form as the faculty. Here, the meaning of transformation is analyzed through various gates, as in the Commentary on the Abhidharma-samuccaya.