大乘法苑義林章 3.12

3.12

Regarding the differences among the various schools: The Lokāyata non-Buddhists say that all dharmas take the four primary elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—as their nature; hence the five faculties are in their essence simply the four primary elements. The Vaiśeṣikas say: the eye faculty is fire; the ear faculty is space; the nose faculty is earth; the taste faculty is water; the skin faculty is wind. The five primary elements are all subsumed under the category of substance (dravya); solidity, moisture, heat, and motion are all inherently non-obstructive and are subsumed under the category of quality (guṇa). The eye obtains only three, excluding only the wind element. The body faculty obtains four, and also obtains solidity and the rest. The Sāṃkhyas say: the primal nature forms the great (mahat); the great forms the 'I'-maker (ahaṃkāra); the 'I'-maker forms the five subtle elements (tanmātra); the five subtle elements form the five primary elements (mahābhūta); the five primary elements form the eleven faculties (indriya). Some say: fire forms the eye faculty, space forms the ear faculty, earth produces the nose faculty, water forms the tongue faculty, and wind produces the skin faculty. Regarding the mind faculty there are two explanations: one says it is a fleshly mass produced solely by the earth element, or produced collectively by the five primary elements; another says it is non-material. Among those six faculties, only the ear is unobstructed; for those who say the mind faculty is non-material, it too is unobstructed; the remainder are all obstructed, and all are eternal by nature. The Mahāsāṃghikas and others hold that their essence is simply the four dusts, with the fleshly mass as their nature; there is no distinct clear matter, and they cannot grasp objects. Being slightly superior to other matter, they are called clear. The Sarvāstivādins hold that there are distinct four primary elements which, through the five causes of production and so forth acting as cause and condition, produce the five faculties, the eye and the rest. The primary elements are solely tangible objects of the body. Although the faculties are aggregations, they are all real entities. The author of the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra was named Harivarman; he originally went forth in the Sāṃkhya tradition, and based on this established his doctrine, saying: the four dusts form the four primary elements, and the four primary elements form the five faculties. The Sautrāntikas say: although the faculties are derived, they nonetheless apply to both the provisional and the real; subtle atoms are real, whereas the coarse is provisional. The Prajñaptivādins say: they also apply to both the provisional and the real; within the aggregate gate they are real, while in the realm and base gates they are provisional. The Ekavyāvahārikas say: the faculties are merely nominal, completely lacking any material entity. The Lokottaravādins say: defiled faculties are provisional, while undefiled faculties are real. Now, according to the Mahāyāna, there are briefly four explanations, which will be fully demonstrated in the section on identifying their essential nature.