Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c6.s12.5

c6.s12.5

The Laṅkāvatāra² also incidentally deals with the gotras, saying that there are five abhisamaya-gotras (i.e., classification of persons with reference to the attainment of enlightenment), viz., Śrāvakayānābhisamayagotra, Pratyekabuddhāyā°, Tathāgatayā°,³ Aniyatagotra, and Agotra. The Śrāvakayānābhisamayagotras are those who are enraptured by the teaching of the generic properties of the various constituents of the body (skandhadhātvāyatanasvasāmānyalakṣaṇa) and who acquire an insight into the properties of things associated with the causal law (pratītyasamutpādavinirbhāgalakṣaṇaparicaye). Being in the fifth or sixth bhūmi (stage of progress), they are free from all forthcoming afflictions, but not vāsanā-kleśa (sufferings due to impressions⁴). They reach a stage from which there is no fall, and by virtue of same they proclaim that they have led the holy life of a saint, realised the egolessness of individuals, attained Nirvāṇa, and are no longer subject to rebirths. The author of the Laṅkāvatāra makes a digression here and says that some of these Śrāvakas think that they have attained Nirvāṇa by realising the egolessness of individuals, and some think that they have attained it by comprehending the causal relation of things, but in fact, there is no real Nirvāṇa without the realisation of the essencelessness of all things (dharmanairātmya). They consider to be an exit (niryāṇa) that which is not really so and hence they hold only one of the many wrong views. The Pratyekabuddhayānābhisamayagotras are those who are enraptured by the hearing of discourses relating to the enlightenment of particular individuals, do not like others' company, and are impressed much by miracles. The Tathāgatayānābhisamayagotras, according to the Laṅkāvatāra, are of three kinds, (i) those who realise the essencelessness of all the so-called existent things, (ii) those who hold that the realisation of the truth can happen only within one's own self, and (iii) those who realise the greatness of all Buddha-kṣetras.