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Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s1: First Period: A. Early or Pure Hinayāna Buddhism

Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c5.s1

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English

First Period: A. Early or Pure Hinayāna Buddhism

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(i.e., circa 450 to 350 B. C.)

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There has already arisen a fairly large amount of literature upon the first period (i.e., the first century after the inception of Buddhism), offering us solutions of many problems—a result which has been made possible by the strenuous labours of the Pāli Text Society in regard to the publication of the Pāli canonical texts. By the early or pure Hinayāna Buddhism, we mean only that form of Buddhism which is presented to us by a considerable portion of the Vinaya and the four Nikāyas.¹ For the present purpose of drawing a rough sketch of the period of transition from Hinayāna to Mahāyāna we shall state some of the conclusions reached by scholars about the Buddhism of this period in order to ascertain how it changed in course of time and gave rise to the different schools. These conclusions are as follows:—

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¹ Not all the suttas of all the Nikāyas, because there are many that were incorporated in a later period. The Khuddaka Nikāya contains a few early works, but many are of much later date. The Divyāvadāna always speaks of four Āgamas, implying that the four Nikāyas or Āgamas were the only recognised canonical texts even at the time of the compilation of the Divyāvadāna. See Divyā., pp. 17, 253, 333. Prof. Bapat contends in his article, "The different strata in the literary material of the Dīgha Nikāya" in the Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute (vol. VIII, pt. i) that the Pāli canon like all other sacred literatures is 'a mosaic of earlier and later material.' His view is that the suttas, containing among other things, accounts of miracles, mythological, and metaphysical or Buddhological speculations, are later than those which contain simple teachings of sīla, samādhi, and paññā. It is difficult to agree with some of his conclusions, specially his remarks that the suttas of the first volume of the Dīgha Nikāya are earlier than those of the second, and that the suttas of the second are earlier than those of the third, for in the first volume there are suttas like Kevaddha, Ambattha, containing materials, which, according to his own statement, should be of a later date.

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Hinayana" und seiner verschiedenen Richtungen, d. h. der älteste Buddhismus; die Periode des Entstehens des Mahayana und seines Kampfes mit dem Hinayana; die Periode des Sieges und des Aufblühens des Mahayana. The first two periods of Rosenberg's division cover our three.

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As early as 1911, Prof. Winternitz in his learned review of the translations of the Dīgha Nikāya in the J.R.A.S. raised this point of the Nikāyas being a mosaic of materials, early and late. He analysed the Mahāparinibbāna-sutta and the Mahāpadāna-sutta, and showed the various strata contained in them. Prof. Bapat does not seem to have noticed this review as otherwise he could have seen many other means of testing the different strata. These matters, however, are still far from a complete solution.

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1. The spread of Buddhism was confined to a few towns or villages situated in the central belt of India from the east to the west. Of these the more noteworthy are (commencing from the east): Kajaṅgala, Campā, Rājagaha, Gayā, Kāsī, Nālandā, Pāṭaliputta, Vesāli, Sāvatthi; the dominion of the Licchavis, Vajjis, Videhas, Mallas, Bhaggas, and Koliyas; Kosambi, Saṅkassa, Ujjeni, Avanti, Madhurā, and Verañja. There were a few adherents who came from the northern country of Maddaraṭṭha, and two brāhmaṇa villages of Kuru, and also from the southern places like Paṭiṭṭhāna. Gandhāra and Takkhasilā were as yet unknown to them.¹

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¹ See my *Early History* etc., pp. 82 ff.; E. J. Thomas, *Life of the Buddha*, Map.

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2. The kings and clans mentioned in them are all pre-Asokan, e.g., Bimbisāra, Ajātasattu, Pasenadi Kosala, and Caṇḍa Pajjota, and the clans like the Bulis, Koliyas, and Vajjis.²

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² *Ibid.*

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3. The place of the laity was not yet well defined. Laymen appeared more as supporters of the Saṅgha than as its actual members. They only revered Buddha and his disciples, heard their teachings, and observed some of the precepts and, on occasions, uttered the formulae of *tisaraṇa*—the only mark that distinguished a devotee of Buddha from others. This, however, did not affect their social status, which in India has always been associated with religion, as they continued to be the members of the society to which they belonged.³

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³ N. Law, *Studies in Indian History and Culture*, ch. v, “Early Buddhism and the Laity.”

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4. The religion in its full form was meant exclusively for those who would retire from the household life, enter the order of monks, and observe the Pātimokkha rules, the observance of which was not possible for a householder. Householders could not observe even the ten *sīlas*.

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5. The Pāramitās were yet unknown. The *Life of Buddha* usually commenced from the time of retirement to the attainment of Bodhi with occasional references to his previous existences, as in the *Mahāgovinda sutta* or the *Mahāsudassana* sutta. The conception of the life of a Bodhisattva performing *pāramis* was hazy, if not unknown.¹

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¹ See *E. R. E.*, II, sv. Bodhisattva.

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6. The *Jātakas*, as one of the nine *Aṅgas*, referred to only some of the stories relating to the previous births of Buddha as found in the *Mahāgovinda*, *Mahāsudassana*, *Makhādeva* and other *Jātakas* traced by Dr. Rhys Davids in the *Nikāyas* and *Vinaya* but they did not appear as yet as a separate collection depicting the Bodhisattva's practice of the *pāramitās*.²

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² See infra., pp. 6 f.

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7. Buddha was a human being but possessed of omniscience, supernatural powers, and other attainments unattainable by other beings.³ The appearance of a Buddha is exceedingly rare in the world, only one occurring in several *kalpas*.

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³ See Saunders, *Epochs in Buddhist History*, pp. xviii-xix for a scheme of Buddhology.

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8. The doctrines were confined to the three essentials, *Anicca*, *Dukkha*, and *Anatta*, and the four *Ariyasaccas*, the *Paṭiccasamuppāda*, and the *Aṭṭhaṅgika-magga*; practices were limited to the thirty-seven *Bodhipakkhika dhammas*. The practices were usually divided under three heads: *sīla* (moral precept), *samādhi* (mental training), and *paññā* (development of insight and knowledge enabling one to realise the Truth).

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9. The goal of life was Arhathood and rarely Pacceka-buddhahood, but never Buddhahood. The stages of progress to Arhathood were four, *viz.*, *sotāpanna*, *sakadāgāmi*, *anāgāmi* and *arahatta*.

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10. *Nibbāna* was a state of absolute rest and marked the end of all *kilesas* (afflictions) and hence of all *dukkha*. It was an extremely happy and peaceful (*sānta*, *paṇīta*, *accantasukha*) condition.

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