The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature c9.4

c9.4

The six *pāramitās* are really the chief factors in a *bodhisattva’s* discipline, and the four additional *pāramitās* are merely supplementary in character. The six *pāramitās* are mentioned and discussed in many passages of Buddhist Sanskrit literature,⁷ while the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth *pāramitās* are mentioned only in a few passages and are not explained at great length.⁸ Thus the *Bo. Bhū.* classifies each of the six chief *pāramitās* under nine separate headings, but it dismisses the other four *pāramitās* in a few sentences in another chapter. The *M. S. Al.* adopts the same method of treatment. The *Dh. S.* gives six *pāramitās* in one section and ten in another; but the *M. Vy.* speaks only of ten *pāramitās*. The *Da. Bhū.* definitely increases the number of the *pāramitās* to ten, as it teaches that a *bodhisattva* practises one of the *pāramitās* in each of the ten *bhūmis* (stages) of his career. This alteration may have been due to the rivalry with the Hīnayānists, who had devised the Pāli formula of the ten *pāramīs* (*dāna*, liberality; *sīla*, virtuous conduct; *nekkhamma*, renunciation; *paññā*, wisdom; *viriya*, energy; *khanti*, forbearance; *sacca*, truthfulness; *adhitthāna*, resolution; *mettā*, love or friendliness; *upekkhā*, equanimity).⁹ But it is more probable that the number of the *pāramitās* (and the *bhūmis*) was raised to ten as a consequence of the invention of the decimal system of computation in the science of arithmetic in the third or fourth century A.D. A. F. R. Hoernle assigns the subject-matter of the Bakhshālī manuscript to that period.¹⁰ The oldest epigraphical evidence for this remarkable discovery dates from the sixth century, and the literary evidence belongs to the same period, as the system is employed by Varāhamihira.¹¹ Many old formulae of Indian philosophy and religion were recast according to the decimal system on account of the enthusiasm evoked by this epoch-making invention. Even the time-hallowed *yamas* and *niyamas* of the *Yoga* system are increased to ten in the later treatises.¹² The *Samādhi-rāja-sūtra* mentions ten advantages of each *pāramitā* (chapter xxviii). The *Bo. Bhū.* assigns ten causes for the phenomena.¹³ In the *Da. Bhū.*, a *bodhisattva* acquires ten qualities in each stage, must beware of ten faults, and so on. The *M. S. Al.* speaks of ten marks, and the *M. Vy.* raises the number of *caryās* from four to ten.¹⁴ There is a sudden transition to the decimal system in many categories and formulae of Indian religion and philosophy. Previous teachers had preferred the numbers Seven and Eight (e.g. seven bhūmis, fourteen guṇa-sthānas of the Jainas, the eightfold Way, the eight aṅgas of Yoga, etc.). But the number Ten is associated with many lists and items after this period. The six pāramitās were also increased to ten, when the bhūmis were reckoned as ten instead of seven.