Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s2.t11.6
Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c7.s2.t11.6
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c7.s2.t11.6
From the Chinese sources³ we are informed that Nāgārjuna in his commentary on the Prajñāpāramitā, called the Mahāprajñāpāramitā śāstra, speaks of two kāyas, rūpakāya and dharmakāya. The former is the body born of parents, possessing the qualities of sentient beings, and is subject to human frailties. It was born in Kośala while his dharmakāya was born at Rājagṛha. The material body was necessary for "earthly truth". It was for the deliverance of beings that Buddha assumed different bodies, different names, birth-places and ways of emancipation. This interpretation of rūpa- and dharma-kāyas is also followed in the Chinese Parinirvāṇasūtra and Sandhinirmocanasūtra.⁴