A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.171

v2.c19.s6.t4.171

Chapter I gives a very detailed description of the meeting of Buddha with Rāvaṇa, the king of the Rākṣasas in Laṅkā. Encouraged by the Bodhisattva Mahāmati, Rāvaṇa asks Buddha questions about the difference between true and false doctrine (Dharma and Adharma). With Chapter II, which has no connection whatsoever with Chapter I, Mahāmati, after he has praised Buddha and obtained permission to ask him questions, begins to ply Buddha with a long series of over one hundred questions: these questions bear on all the details of the doctrine, on release ("Whither does the released one go? Who is bound? By whom is he released?"), on Ālaya,³ Manovijñāna and other main notions of the Vijñānavāda, on Śūnyatā, enlightenment, etc. But we also find such questions as: "How do food and drink of all kinds come into existence? How does copulation come about? What is the nature of a king, a ruler of the world (Cakravartin), a ruler of a district (Maṇḍalin)?...How is it that you are descended from the Śākya race, through whom and how are you a scion of Ikṣvāku?...Why are you alone seen in all lands?," etc. Buddha does not only deal with these questions and give his assent to them, but adds many more questions to the list, having reference to general knowledge (medicine, the arts, geography, etc.) which Mahāmati should have asked.¹ Then comes an enumeration of 108 subjects which have been explained by former Buddhas. The main portion of Chapters II-VII is entirely philosophic in content, and actually treats of the whole system of the Buddhist doctrine, mainly from the standpoint of the Vijñānavāda. The question: "What is Nirvāṇa?" and the various opinions on it, are discussed in two places.² In Chapter III, we find, among other things, a discussion on the paradoxical utterance of Buddha: "Between the night during which the Tathāgata attained to enlightenment, and the night during which he will be completely extinguished, in that time not one syllable was spoken by the Tathāgata, and he will not speak a single syllable: the Buddha word is a non-word" (p. 142 ff.). In the same chapter (p. 192 f.) we also come across a remarkable list of names of Buddha. We are told here that, just as in other cases there are several names for one and the same thing, *e.g.*, Indra and Śakra, hasta and pāṇi (both of which mean "hand "), etc., similarly, there are countless names for Buddha too; some call him Tathāgata, others Svayambhū, Nāyaka, Vināyaka, Pariṇāyaka, Buddha, Ṛṣi, Vṛṣabha, Brāhmaṇa, Viṣṇu, Iśvara, Pradhāna,³ Kapila,⁴ Bhūtānta (the end of the beings, death), Ariṣṭanemi,⁵ Soma (moon), Bhāskara (sun), Rāma, Vyāsa, Śukra, Indra, Bali, Varuṇa; and others again: Anirodhānutpāda (non-destruction and non-originating), Śūnyatā, Tathatā, Truth, Reality, Highest Being, Dharmadhātu, Nirvāṇa, That which is Eternal, the Four Noble Truths, etc. Chapter IV treats of the ten Bhūmis.